Our attack - or lack of | Vital Football

Our attack - or lack of

OneSirKeefy

OneSirKeefy

Vital Football Hero
This came up on a gills forum. On Total Football Analysis, a very interesting “scout report” about Gills and our lack of attacking threat so far. Especially for the team at the top of the table.

Seems to be a lot of valid points. What say ye armchair fans?

totalfootballanalysis.com

Gillingham 2023/24: Their attacking issues – scout report

This scout report provides tactical analysis of Gillingham, looking at their tactics in attack as we look to explain their poor form in front of goal.
totalfootballanalysis.com totalfootballanalysis.com
 
Don't think you can argue with much of that tbh.

We don't get enough players into areas of the pitch often enough to cause teams problems.

Yes were doing well results wise but performances are being masked by results.

Saturday was the first time since Accrington that we've actually played well as an attacking force with what looked like some improvisation and instinct rather than rigid lines we've seen for the most part of this season.

Playing two holding midfielders at home for me is a negative too and IMO that's purely because NH doesn't trust Coleman or Williams on their own.

If you get the whole team 15 yards further up the pitch every player starts playing in more positive area and is likely to have more of a positive influence on the game
 
It’s quite obvious really.
We are playing with six defenders and four attacking players.
The balance of the team leads to a slightly more defensive position.
We could try five and five but if that leads to us conceding more, the fans will have to accept that.
I’d like us to bring on the game changers a bit earlier in the match.
Maybe after 60 minutes to give them time to influence.
 
shotshy said:
It’s quite obvious really.
We are playing with six defenders and four attacking players.
The balance of the team leads to a slightly more defensive position.
We could try five and five but if that leads to us conceding more, the fans will have to accept that.
I’d like us to bring on the game changers a bit earlier in the match.
Maybe after 60 minutes to give them time to influence.
Click to expand...

I think fans want to win. If it compromises that, we may see it being rowed back.

I can't stand the use of two deep lying midfielders when we don't utilise them in the forward game at all. England do it, but to be fair the 4 up top are a combination of Kane, Saka, Rashford, Foden, Bellingham and co. They will create regardless.

We need a bit more caution to the wind at home...
 
It mentions the two players that we signed from Championship sides and they are both defenders.

It also seems to think we have had Jonny Williams since January.

Both Brian Clough and Bob Paisley stressed what a simple game football is, but this sort of analysis just seems to complicate it. So we choose to play some sideways and backwards passes? That's pretty common in the modern, possession based game.

Build up play or probing, I think it is called.
 
GillsBluenose said:
It mentions the two players that we signed from Championship sides and they are both defenders.

It also seems to think we have had Jonny Williams since January.

Both Brian Clough and Bob Paisley stressed what a simple game football is, but this sort of analysis just seems to complicate it. So we choose to play some sideways and backwards passes? That's pretty common in the modern, possession based game.

Build up play or probing, I think it is called.
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but looking at the author's profile, he's a giant bag of nothing.

His linkedin lists his stint as a coach at an U11 grassroots team. Sounds like he's trying too hard. I've met more than my fair share of 'talent scouts' who love to trade off the brand of the club they represent (usually for them, not anyone else)
 
GillsBluenose said:
It mentions the two players that we signed from Championship sides and they are both defenders.

It also seems to think we have had Jonny Williams since January.

Both Brian Clough and Bob Paisley stressed what a simple game football is, but this sort of analysis just seems to complicate it. So we choose to play some sideways and backwards passes? That's pretty common in the modern, possession based game.

Build up play or probing, I think it is called.
Click to expand...

There's possession for the sake of keeping possession (ala Russell Martin sides) and then there's possession football, moving the ball quickly with good movement which creates openings and stretches teams defensively. We saw some of the later on Saturday in the first half and it caused problems.

NH has moaned/commented how we've given the ball away cheaply in some games. It's not so much how much of the ball you have it's more about what you do with it when you have it.

We have got players quite capable of causing teams problems playing good football at this level and we've proved it in sporadic patches. The key is letting the players do it and getting them in the right areas for it to be effective and influence games
 
NWBluesFan said:
I think fans want to win. If it compromises that, we may see it being rowed back.

I can't stand the use of two deep lying midfielders when we don't utilise them in the forward game at all. England do it, but to be fair the 4 up top are a combination of Kane, Saka, Rashford, Foden, Bellingham and co. They will create regardless.

We need a bit more caution to the wind at home...
Click to expand...
How much fans want "to win" is an interesting question.

There is no doubt that for some fans only winning matters.

Surely it is also likely that there is some number of fans for whom "entertainment" matters....
...or the "match-day experience" ?

Some fans could live with the occasional 3-5 loss rather than mostly grinding out 1-0 wins.
There may even be a physiological explanation.
Something about adrenaline rushes verses whatever is generated from negative tension (worry).

I'd guess that the more a fan is "die-hard" the more they favour winning over entertainment.
Just not sure that's the way to get larger crowds - who pay the money - which can fund progress.
 
shotshy said:
A 3-5 defeat spoils my weekend as much as any other defeat.
A 1-0 win puts a smile on my face for days. :grinning:
Click to expand...
Can I put you in the "die hard" group ?;)

Does it make a difference whether watching at Priestfield or on TV ?

I do know that plenty of fans "hated" the end of 2022.
Waiting and waiting for that one goal - usually against - knowing it unlikely we would score.

By contrast some of us remember a few seasons back, when our strikers were average - but goals came from midfield and defenders.
Going 0-1 down was not so utterly depressing.

Of course taking only two results side-by-side winning 1-0 is better than a loss...
.....just not something to aspire to (or pay for ?)
 
Fair points but ….. if you talk to any professional footballer and even quite a few amateur players as well, they will happily tell you it’s about the victory.
Everything else is secondary.
I’ve been watching a documentary about players trying to get back into the professional game and the manager, Gifton Noel Williams is constantly explaining that it’s about winning.
Look good, great.
But ultimately, it’s about the victory.
 
shotshy said:
Fair points but ….. if you talk to any professional footballer and even quite a few amateur players as well, they will happily tell you it’s about the victory.
Everything else is secondary.
Click to expand...

But putting in good performances week in week out increases the chances of winning. At our level if we put in decent performances the results will take care of themselves.

We got results without playing well in alot of our games, imagine what could happen if we played well.
 
Tarian said:
How much fans want "to win" is an interesting question.

There is no doubt that for some fans only winning matters.

Surely it is also likely that there is some number of fans for whom "entertainment" matters....
...or the "match-day experience" ?

Some fans could live with the occasional 3-5 loss rather than mostly grinding out 1-0 wins.
There may even be a physiological explanation.
Something about adrenaline rushes verses whatever is generated from negative tension (worry).

I'd guess that the more a fan is "die-hard" the more they favour winning over entertainment.
Just not sure that's the way to get larger crowds - who pay the money - which can fund progress.
Click to expand...

It's a good shout. I guess we all get different things from it.

I know against Harrogate, I didn't enjoy about 94 minutes from an entertainment perspective but that late goal meant I was happy for the rest of the day. And yet I watched PNE this weekend as a neutral and loved it all despite having no horse in the race. It's odd isn't it.
 
shotshy said:
Fair points but ….. if you talk to any professional footballer and even quite a few amateur players as well, they will happily tell you it’s about the victory.
Everything else is secondary.
I’ve been watching a documentary about players trying to get back into the professional game and the manager, Gifton Noel Williams is constantly explaining that it’s about winning.
Look good, great.
But ultimately, it’s about the victory.
Click to expand...
I’ve watched that series too, there’s even a cameo from our Bayo. Hugely interesting and well worth a watch (BBC iplayer).
 
NWBluesFan said:
It's a good shout. I guess we all get different things from it.

I know against Harrogate, I didn't enjoy about 94 minutes from an entertainment perspective but that late goal meant I was happy for the rest of the day. And yet I watched PNE this weekend as a neutral and loved it all despite having no horse in the race. It's odd isn't it.
Click to expand...

Exactly that for me. If I’m watching a game as a neutral I want to be entertained, and I nearly always enjoy games between other sides. If I’m watching Gills it’s simply the victory and I’m ecstatic. If we do play well, I’m even more ecstaticker 😁

A further point, as I’ve got older I can really enjoy watching a game between 2 other teams. But every time my team is playing I’m just a bag of nerves and stress. The 90 mins is never enjoyable (except maybe if 4-0 up after 30 mins, but that never happens), but the rest of the weekend is great after a win. Horrible after a loss.

Not just gills, but my AFL team, Rugby league team or even watching England at football or cricket. Always stressful.
 
Ditto
I often use the phrase to Mrs S , “it makes your nerves bad”
Can’t really relax until the whistle is blown.
I’m a bit more content this season that we won’t blow it as we have previously because our defence is pretty solid.
However, I still can’t wait for the whistle.
Why do we put ourselves through it?
It’s inexplicable.
 
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