Match Thread Oxford FA Cup

Too cold for the pirates

For anyone who hasn't done the fa level 1 coaching course or know the rules for junior football, they encourage from an early age in England to play out from the back. Juniors have a retreat line when the opponents have a goal kick and this is 1 of a few reasons why they do that.

Our passing has been sh1t for years if playing out means we’ll end up playing the ball on the deck then surely that has to be a good thing?

The more we do it the better we’ll get at it.

To say we give away goals playing out from the back misses the point. We have in the past conceded goals by consistently hoofing it and gifting it back to the opposition, putting us under constant pressure, leading to silly goals.
Gifting goals is part and parcel of football, because it is played by human beings

For the record I actually don’t mind playing it around at the back but this is quite funny!

Quoted from smokey111

Anaesthetic is over rated. I always thought whisky and biting a wooden stick was better.

No need for that modern excrement. An old urine bucket from under the bed and aunty Doris's flange flannel was all we needed back then. Bloody bunch of nancy boys these days. Tsk.

Neither of the goals we conceded today were a result of "playing around at the back". One came on a counter from a town corner and the second involved Maher losing the ball practically in Oxford's half with plenty of opportunity for town to defend the resulting counter attack. We've looked very good generally in possession in the first two games of Artellball, and anyone already suggesting we revert to direct tactics has lost the plot

I’m not against passing out from the back. But there’s a difference between building from the back, and fannying around with it at the back unnecessarily.

I think the phrase ‘passing out from the back’ has come to mean fannying around at the back unnecessarily.

So, would I like to see the keeper roll it out to a full back, and us knock it around until we find a way to play it forward and between the lines? Yes. Still takes care and skill, and good judgment, but anyone who calls themselves a pro footballer should be capable of this.

Would I like to see us pass the ball across the face of our goal with opposing players closing in from all directions, simply because we ‘play out from the back’? No.

At this level at least, there comes a point when, if there’s no reasonable pass on, we have to hit it long.

This is where there’s a grey area. We’ve all seen defenders lose the ball or make silly errors that cost goals because they’re passing it around in dangerous areas.

Maybe some managers believe this is still a risk worth taking, but unfortunately average football fans are t able to measure how successful this approach is because when a goal is scored it’s hard to credit it on a moment two minutes earlier when the team drew the opposition out. It doesn’t have the clarity of a set-piece.

It’s an interesting discussion but as with everything in life it’s all about balance. By all means, play out from the back… but have a cut-off point. When it gets tight, you have to lump it.

And just because you lump it, it doesn’t make you any less intelligent a player. If anything, knowing when to abandon the passing is demonstrating intelligence.

Can I just be clear - I’ve given an opinion on the modern take on ‘playing out from the back’. I’m in no way suggesting we lump it. whack it, launch it, play long ball etc. My view is that we should be better at decision making. If the opposition high press, I’d want our first pass to be quick and fairly long. If they sit off, then we can build slowly. It’s d1cking about on the edge of our own box just to retain possession, and playing short passes sideways and back to the keeper just for the sake of not gambling that I think is very risky. However you play, you need good decision makers, and technically sound defenders. In my view, there are many teams who get this wrong, and I don’t want to see us do this. If we watch highlights shows tonight/tomorrow, I’d be willing to bet that there will be ample examples of teams getting this badly wrong and conceding goals. Our defence is porous and vulnerable enough to be compounding that with needless and niaive faffing of the type described above.  

No one was moaning after Tuesday when we played it out from the back .

People will have to get used to it anyway , but suspect the regulars who moan 'keep it on the ground ' when we go long will be saying 'get it forward ' when we roll it around at the back .

Didn't go today but  not too bad by the sound of it .

Onto a big one on Saturday