For all of us, I would venture to suggest that in footballing terms we fall somewhere along the continuum that has pragmatism at one end and idealism at the other. Football managers I think also fall into the same categories. Allardyce, Pullis, Hodgson and probably McCarthy are at the pragmatic end with the results being their sole determinate. They look at percentages, set-pieces and the result is the be-all and end-all of their approach. At the other end we have Wenger, Redknapp and possibly Holloway and Di Matteo for whom the performance is as important as the result. What is striking about this list (assuming you agree!) is that neither of the 2 most successful managers (Ferguson and Ancelotti) can be directly linked to either end of the continuum.
So where do we place Moyes?
I think by his own admission he is much closer to the pragmatic end of the continuum... although I would not suggest he is as far down as Allardyce ? but he probably was 6/7 years ago, when he needed to be! Monday's game was a classic pragmatic approach by Moyes to a difficult match when at times the 4-5-1 became 4-6-0 even before Vic?s dismissal. The tactics worked and the result was excellent, suggesting that when the result is total focus (ie, not losing, rather than the performance), Moyes appears able to send out a team prepared for that outcome. However, when the onus is more on idealism and winning games, Moyes appears to stumble badly (eg, Wigan, WBA, Wolves etc).
Ferguson, in particular, appears able to move between the two ends more easily. United's approach to Arsenal last week was far more pragmatic than idealistic but the approach to Blackburn the previous week more idealistic. Wegner seems to struggle with the pragmatic end, not just in tactics but also in personnel, with his reluctance to get a result rather than play well obvious to all. Redknapp seems more willing to move towards pragmatism but may not have the players able to do that, having invested heavily in creative attacking players. The danger of too much idealism is that it can often fail on the rocks of hard pragmatism, which is probably why under Mowbray WBA got relegated the other season despite playing some very attractive football.
Clearly the players are also key because if you have a team full of ?cloggers? there?s only one way to play and equally if you have a team of ?Fancy Dans? the outcome is obvious. So a balance is essential, something that winning teams and managers strive for. I think many of us believe that the squad we have is as well balanced as we have had in many years and not withstanding the obvious problems of scoring (was that predicted before the season by many?), there is lots of potential within the team to be both pragmatic as well as idealistic. So why does it fail? The obvious answer is that Moyes finds it far too difficult to set up the team to be more fluent and free scoring when the onus is on us ? ie, moving along the continuum towards idealism ? hence the rigidity of the system with 4-5-1 at all costs irrespective of the opposition and the circumstances.
Where does that leave Everton, Moyes and us? It would seem that, unless Moyes has a tactics / personality transplant, we are faced with a continuation of the same approach. The games against the so-called Sky 4 will require pragmatism and no doubt the end will justify the means... but what price Birmingham this weekend? Will the end justify the means in our approach to this?
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When you are at the wrong end of the table winning is all that counts ? never mind the style: points are all that matters. This season, the end justifies the means.
We are playing to our strengths which are effort and tenacity but artistically we are bereft in most games.
At home we struggle in the main because we do not possess enough guile and pace to open up dour defences and we are expected to take the game to the opposition when at home and we tend to be predictable. DM I suspect knows even better than we that we lack pace and guile so the result is the only thing that matters.
Luckily I have watched EFC in their heyday when we could win a game in the first half, often going in at half time 3, 4 or even 5 goals ahead and then coasting the second half... I have watched Vernon, Young and Co tear Man Utd including Best, Charlton and Law to shreds and be five up at half time... those days are gone and I cannot see anything in our tactics or players in our squad nowadays to put that right.
We qualified for the Champions League a few years ago with a NEGATIVE goal difference and that must be a record. We tend to attack far more once we are behind eg; Man Utd this season... but when we go a goal up it's a question of "what we have we hold" ? and often that backfires.
I watched us winning 2-0 at City and then backing off for almost the rest of the game and that includes the period before Vic was sent off... this is disturbing for the nerves of the fans and we are playing like highway robbers instead of with confidence.
Let's hope I am proved wrong and see us take Brum for at least three.
According to you, maybe... but all of those strikers you mentioned don't do half as much work or are as effective in defense as Cahill. What a load of tripe.
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