ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Playground tactics

It seems that it`s not only Everton supporters who get frustrated at their teams tactics. Last night, my local paper carried some comments from the Worcester City manager, John Preece, on his team`s recent performance in a Blue Square Premier game:-

`We got into positions but the options we were taking smacked of the local park. We do so much in training on attacking teams and engaging the last defender before passing to our overlapping players. It`s just unbelievable how professional players just kept putting balls into the box from deep positions when we should be getting round the back of their defenders. These were the tactics of the playground and I won`t have it.`

Now Preece is a part-time manager of a part-time side but he has the nous to recognise the futility of hoof-ball football. I do think he`s being a little hard on his players who probably take home a couple of hundred a week. David Moyes and Everton, who seem to favour these `playground tactics` have no excuse!
Harry Meek, Worcester Posted 26/09/2007 at 11:10:59

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Martin Wallace
1 Posted 26/09/2007 at 14:40:37

If Moyes said something along those lines, I’d be ten times happier - at least he’d be recognising the problem. But for him to complain about ’bad defending’ smacks of him just sticking his head in the sand. It’s our lack of anything resembling a threat that’s the problem. And by that I?m talking about tactics rather than players ? how do we expect to score and what are our attacking strengths? (We?ve certainly explored the hoofing option thoroughly enough in recent weeks).

Maybe he doesn’t want to point the finger in case what little confidence the team has left evaporates. But I don’t agree - he has to set the standard and not shy away from it. And of course he?d have to point the finger at himself too.

I think there?s a culture of acceptable dishonesty amongst managers when dealing with the media because the media?s always looking to whip up a story (ie conflict) whenever they can. But the way Moyes is going, it just sounds increasingly like self-deceit.

John Holmes
2 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:05:16

"We were rubbish in both boxes whether it was scoring or whether it was in defence. "

"We never looked like scoring"

Sounds to me like a man who recognises the problem... and from a story linked off the Toffeeweb homepage... Incidentally, most people seem to be of the opinion that playing this hoofball has been a feature of Moyes reign. It can’t be that futile then? I mean it got us into the Champion’s League and the UEFA Cup and sealed our status as perennial challengers for places in the tophalf. Maybe not pretty, maybe not the BEST tactic, but hardly futile.
Incidentally, if you watched Sunday’s game you might have noticed there wasn’t actually that much long-ball football going on. The problem was the lack of penetration.

Geoff Miller
3 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:02:17

Last time I looked at the non-league tables,Worcester were only in the Blue Square Northern Division so I do think they can be excused for hoofing it!On the other hand,I suspect Moyes favours this approach which is the real cause for concern.
PS.I wonder if John Preece would be interested in the Everton job?

Brian Noble
4 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:13:27

He doesn’t recognise it at all,John.He actually said ’I thought we played pretty well but were rubbish in both boxes’,which seems to indicate a total failure to recognise the real problem.But if you are happy with what we’ve seen under the manthat’s your perogative!

John Holmes
5 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:23:13

Actually he said he thought we’d played better than we had done in recent games and that we’d played a bit better with the ball.

I’d dispute neither of those. At times we kept the ball well and passed it around the midfield and defence but never looked like we could penetrate. There was certainly less in the way of aimless long balls (apart from the usual panicking by Hibbert whenever he was in possession and even he was looking infield some of the time).

I didn’t say I was happy with the style, just that it had been effective and part of the reason that Moyes has some achievements to point to, no matter how irrlevant some people consider them.

Ben Howard
6 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:26:50

No rabbit in a hat tricks!

Robin Byrne
7 Posted 26/09/2007 at 15:30:43

Hoofball was successful and effective for Wimbledon and the Norwegian national team for a time too - one went up the proverbial creek and the other ditched the tactic when they discovered it wasnt quite so effective anymore. The frustrating thing with Moyes at the moment is that at times (Portsmouth in May, Spurs in August) we play really attractive football, but then the next game we’re back to lumping balls forward and getting AJ to bust a gut running after them. When was the last time we scored from a cross into the box, corner kicks notwithstanding? Sure when was the last time we even TRIED crossing into the box?? The football we’re playing at the moment is a disgrace - we’ve spent a bundle on players who can actually play the ball along the ground and like it to feet, so why not play to their strengths?

Fergus McCarthy
8 Posted 26/09/2007 at 16:09:47

School of Science playing "hoofball". My dad will be spinning in his grave! I feel like spinning in mine!

rob burke
9 Posted 26/09/2007 at 20:17:38

haha coincidence im am from worcester and noticed exaclty that interview haha