Alfred C. Jolibois, PhD
01-20-2013, 07:42 PM
Doesn't matter how good other aspects of his game are. Smart opponents will target him when he gets the ball from the CBS and our entire team has already pushed forward.
By all means, keep the ball if there is no one pressing you. Drive forward in the last third. But never try to dribble, nutmeg, or run past a player if you are in your own half. Pass quickly and neatly the ball if pressed. Look at the smart pivot: Arteta, for example, but also the Busquets and Alonzos of this world. Far more talented than Diaby, yet would never be caught dead trying a fancy turn into their own half if pressed.
In many ways, we have the same problem in Ramsey and it's creeping in with Cocquelin. Too many touches and the absence of the quick 'simple pass' reflex when you are the holding MF or find yourself as the last man in front of the CBs. Song was the same. Frimpong is the same.
A flaw in our training of home grown players in that position?
By all means, keep the ball if there is no one pressing you. Drive forward in the last third. But never try to dribble, nutmeg, or run past a player if you are in your own half. Pass quickly and neatly the ball if pressed. Look at the smart pivot: Arteta, for example, but also the Busquets and Alonzos of this world. Far more talented than Diaby, yet would never be caught dead trying a fancy turn into their own half if pressed.
In many ways, we have the same problem in Ramsey and it's creeping in with Cocquelin. Too many touches and the absence of the quick 'simple pass' reflex when you are the holding MF or find yourself as the last man in front of the CBs. Song was the same. Frimpong is the same.
A flaw in our training of home grown players in that position?