Possession heavy football will never work at Everton

[Lanolin]

Yeah agreed, it's a legacy of that. We were taught to be 'plucky little Everton' by Moyes, tempering expectations to save his own neck, and that legacy continues.

It's precisely why I was disgusted by Moyes late into his tenure here, because it was clear as day what he was doing and the harm it was doing. When we went ahead against City and he immediately battened down the hatches to try and survive, because we'd stuck our heads above the parapets - just one example.

Threads like this are the legacy. It's basically saying "Everton should stop trying - we'll never win anything again so stop trying to be a top team."

It's honestly just so bizarre that despite us being considerably worse both before he came and after he left, people somehow still come to the conclusion that Moyes is the one responsible for our ills. He was a long way from perfect, but expectations (and reality, usually) were a lot higher when he was here than they are now.

 

[Thomasc]

You've heard of Thatcher's Children? We have Moyes' Children. Born into and weaned on hoofball, and who think that's what's representative of Everton, and what we should "aspire" to.

The Moyes side of Arteta, Peinaar, Baines, Lescott, Jags, Cahill, Osman, Donovan, Yakubu etc so so far removed from “hoofball” as you put it, you couldn’t be wider off the mark.

The sentiment of “being happy to be there” and playing the plucky underdog I can’t disagree with.

But let’s not make out all Moyes teams played one way.

 

[Bennett14]

I am a big fan off posession based football. When it works in your 4231 formations it can be really effective and good to watch. We saw this against the likes of Man U and Arsenal last season. It is not as exiting but it can sure as hell be special.

Marco Silva's sides are known for fast counter attacking football which is what he wants to do here. I am a big fan off his and i believe when we have a full fit side and we can play in the 433 he wants it will come good. He can pull it off with time. Sure results have been bad but it is not his way of playing.

We just need patience and a open mind when it comes to his tactics.

 

[Tel001]

id rather have 11% possesion and win 3 nil...

So the polar opposite of when Bobby was here

 

[Tel001]

4-2-4 Heavy possesion Counter Attack

---Southall---
Xavier--Distin--Unsworth--Drenthe
--Barkley---Rodwell-------------
Anichebe --Yak--Beattie--Lukaku-


I do realise there is a lot heavier players in past
but just done a quickie.

get this line up sorted Marco lid

How has costillo not made the list ... one of his thighs weighs as much as Barkley

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Possession footy works if the end product is you putting it in the back of the net, the problem is, we don't. Even our shots on target in games is an absolute joke considering how much possession we have.

 

[Tony1985]

Any type of football doesn’t work at Everton, i wouldn’t be arsed if they just packed it in altogether if I’m honest.

 

[Tipp blue]

I think this thread should be titled.....Possession heavy football will never work at Everton with the current set of players so one has to ask why does Silva continue with such a formation and tactics... All we need to do is copy Liverpool's tactics they look to have 2 formations one when they have the ball and another when they don't and it's working obviously well for them, 4-3-3 when they have the ball and when they don't have the ball it's more like a 4-4-1-1, and it's all done with pace and intensity. Someone said on here that Liverpool play from the first minute like its the 85th minute and they are in need of a goal, where as our players just stroll around and seem happy enough just doing the bare minimum.We have players who could manage it talent and pace wise but they just dong give a F*** it's as simple as that. I hate complementing Liverpool but i wish our players would show even half of the commitment and intensity that they do.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Possession football still works, but it has to be done with speed and purpose now. You can’t just faff around and pass the ball back and forth aimlessly like the worst of Martinez’s time here. Man City holds the ball for ages but they are always probing and looking to set up a scoring chance.

These are the key words for me.

For Silva's style to work we need an entire team of 'quick' players whom are good on the ball and constantly moving around to find the spaces.

The glaring issue there is that we, well, don't....

 

[Thomasc]

I think this thread should be titled.....Possession heavy football will never work at Everton with the current set of players so one has to ask why does Silva continue with such a formation and tactics... All we need to do is copy Liverpool's tactics they look to have 2 formations one when they have the ball and another when they don't and it's working obviously well for them, 4-3-3 when they have the ball and when they don't have the ball it's more like a 4-4-1-1, and it's all done with pace and intensity. Someone said on here that Liverpool play from the first minute like its the 85th minute and they are in need of a goal, where as our players just stroll around and seem happy enough just doing the bare minimum.We have players who could manage it talent and pace wise but they just dong give a F*** it's as simple as that. I hate complementing Liverpool but i wish our players would show even half of the commitment and intensity that they do.

The bit in bold is the key to all this.

Liverpool players are clearly playing with pride, passion and hunger. They know if they fall below the manager will be ruthless with them.

So either our manager isn’t sending out the right message to his players, or they don’t respect him enough, or they are confused by what he wants.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Sure and that's the only redeemable thing about Marco's style. However we can't break down a team to save our life. So why even bother with meaningless and momentum draining slow and sideways/backwards passing. I'm not saying hoof it over the top every time, but we must be far more direct and less worried about keeping possession.

We're just as cack when we do go more direct mate.

 

[firefighterblue]

Possession football is good but it has to be fast not the slow side to side stuff we play. Play the possession stuff but inject the pace at the right time. We have some fast players in the squad but the midfield is slow.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Possession football, no matter how good the squad, can be utterly tedious to watch. I much prefer to see the ball moved quickly, with quick direct movement from the players into positions where they can cause damage. Mix it up between short balls and long searching balls - keep the opposition guessing. In my mind that's how Kendall mk1 and Fergie"s Man U used to play and it was both successful and entertaining.

Agree mate. We are just so predictable tactically it's ridiculous.

 

[Lanolin]

The bit in bold is the key to all this.

Liverpool players are clearly playing with pride, passion and hunger. They know if they fall below the manager will be ruthless with them.

So either our manager isn’t sending out the right message to his players, or they don’t respect him enough, or they are confused by what he wants.

Or their players are just loads better than ours?

 

[WA Toffee]

We're not Man City, Barcelona, Ajax, PSG or whatever top domestic club you want to name. And because of that we will never succeed playing possession heavy football. We will never have the best players, nor the depth needed to succeed in playing that way.

We can however succeed playing progressive pressing and counter attacking football. Such as the Red Bull teams do. We could also do well playing in the style of the Klopp's teams, which is why is killed me when the other lot signed him.

Thoughts? I know this has been mentioned on other threads, but I'd like to make this one solely about the style of football we need to play to succeed.

To say “Never” is a bit ridiculous. 15 years ago some Man City fans would have said they would never win back to back league titles with some of the best players in the world in their squad.