Quote Originally Posted by SWv2 View Post
I was always a staunch conscientious objector to the nonsense of how we used to dominate but lose games, arguing about the futility of possession stats when failing to ultimately capitalise and make it count.

It was often used after valiant European defeat when the opposing team knew they had probably done enough in the first leg and didn’t need to force the issue.
It always seemed to me to be based on the misapprehension that football is a game like rugby where possession is the be-all and end-all. It blatantly isn't. Counter-attacking is a time-honoured and legitimate tactic and - because football only has one means of scoring - the idea that you can almost attritionally grind opposition teams down by virtue of possession alone is fundamentally flawed.