Boro vs. Bristol City 2-1 (Friend, Ayala)

[Duvel 2,446]

 

The stats that you are quoting tells us that we play more long passes than we did under Monk and you've taken that as we are now a long ball team.

 

You seem to be suggesting that I'm refusing to listen to stats and have nothing to back my opinion up, I have made a few points so I don't know why you think that.

 

You still haven't told me what constitutes a long pass, where does the long cross field pass to Traore fit into the stats? How come we are getting so much out of Traore if we are a long ball team surely a pact winger wouldn't fit into a long ball team would he?

 

If you are telling me we make more long passes than other teams then I'll take your word for it. All I'm saying is that we do both, we're not just a team that throws it long all the time.

 

In my first reply I said that our long passes/balls had gone up by a certain percentage and that I believed this was well above the league average.  I thought that was fairly clear but you replied by saying you didn't care about stats.  I mentioned Monk by way of a comparison between the last two managers and the collection of the data i.e. that we became a more direct side following Pulis becoming our manager.

 

I don't know what constitutes a long pass because I don't collect the data.  I'm not sure why it's relevant in the sense that the same criteria was used at the start of the season and is used for other teams.  If it shows more long passes then we're making more long passes! 

 

Why do you keep mentioning Traore as though him being in the side couldn't possibly make us direct?  If it helps then how about we say that we've had two basic ways of playing, one direct and one getting the ball to Traore and hoping he makes something happen?.  I think that's a bit too simplistic myself but there's an explanation for you if you really need it.

 

Finally and again, I never said we go long all the time.  I didn't say it earlier and I haven't said it before either.  You said 'I don't think we've ever been a long ball team under Pulis' and this is what I was replying to earlier.  The stats show otherwise and my eyes tell me otherwise and that's the point I made to you when you decided that you don't care about stats.

 

You started using the stats to back up your quote that we are a long ball team, even though you are admitting you don't really know what the stats mean.

 

In my first post where I said "we've never been a long ball team" I should have said we've never been a team that only plays long balls and saved us having this stupid debate.

 

If you watch us regularly I'm sure you'll see we're not a team who's first thought is to hit the ball long every time. That to me is a long ball team.

[Changing Times 12,339]

You started using the stats to back up  your quote that we are a long ball team, even though you are admitting you don't really know what the stats mean.

 

In my first post where I said "we've never been a long ball team" I should have said we've never been a team that only plays long balls and saved us having this stupid debate.

 

If you watch us regularly I'm sure you'll see we're not a team who's first thought is to hit the ball long every time. That to me is a long ball team.

 

I admitted that I don't know what the stats mean?  No, I really didn't.  I said I don't know the specifics but I can see data that shows long passes and short passes and I can see the percentage of long passes we play went up when Pulis was appointed.  I can also watch a game of football and have some basic understanding of what I'm seeing.

 

Maybe you should have said that originally but you didn't and as I'm not psychic it's difficult for me to know what people mean if they say something else.  I do watch us regularly, which is why I know we are a more direct team since Pulis took over.

[Duvel 2,446]

You started using the stats to back up  your quote that we are a long ball team, even though you are admitting you don't really know what the stats mean.

 

In my first post where I said "we've never been a long ball team" I should have said we've never been a team that only plays long balls and saved us having this stupid debate.

 

If you watch us regularly I'm sure you'll see we're not a team who's first thought is to hit the ball long every time. That to me is a long ball team.

 

I admitted that I don't know what the stats mean?  No, I really didn't.  I said I don't know the specifics but I can see data that shows long passes and short passes and I can see the percentage of long passes we play went up when Pulis was appointed.  I can also watch a game of football and have some basic understanding of what I'm seeing.

 

Maybe you should have said that originally but you didn't and as I'm not psychic it's difficult for me to know what people mean if they say something else.  I do watch us regularly, which is why I know we are a more direct team since Pulis took over.

 

There's a difference between being more direct and being a long ball team, I think that's the whole point I'm trying to make.

 

That's why I was trying to understand what constitutes a long ball, I'm not trying to catch you out I'm genuinely interested. I'm not totally disregarding stats either but I think there's usually a lot more context behind football than just long vs short passes.

 

I'm not trying to defend Pulis or his style but I think sometimes people (I'm not saying you) go over the top with the Pulisball/long ball stuff. It's not always the most pleasing on the eye, I think we are overly cautious, we defend too deep and give some teams in this league way too much respect.

 

Sometimes though we should give some credit where it's due. I keep hearing people on here saying hes been lucky to have Traore or 'give it to Traore's is our only tactic. Pulis has got more out of Traore than his last 3 managers put together.

Maybe we are overly reliant on Adama but at times he's looked unplayable and if we are getting the ball to him quicker rather than making 3 passes before then I don't have a problem with it.

 

I don't think I've got much else to say on the subject. I'm spending far too much time on here I think I'll have a few days off and pop back for the game at Derby on Saturday. I might get some work done this week now!

[FilBoro 3]

Wow. So much over so little.

[Changing Times 12,339]

I don't know, talking about Boro's style of play seems at least slightly relevant to this forum and if that is so little then so is everything else that gets discussed on here. We should just have a page with the results on it and leave it at that.

[ChipBarrington 315]

Long ball

[Dynamo Kev 1,557]

pulis does not play the long ball game. however he does refuse to keep passing sideways for meaningless possession. hes like SD at burnley and even BFS play the percentages. prefers a more direct approach. we need a few big link players to make it more successful here. we also need a more physical team to impose it. our little midfielders and forwards are not really suited to a direct game, you need to be quick.

[BearSmog 1,382]

When Gestede was fit we did tend to look for the ball to him straight away, but with Bamford and Britt there is very little point in this so we play in a different way

[wilsoncgp 9,280]

Don't know the stats for it but I haven't noticed a difference in the amount of long balls we play since Gestede went out. Might be wrong as it would make more sense to try hitting an actual target man but I know Bamford has at least been up and challenging for that kind of ball and sometimes getting something out of it.

[Will 2,958]

Like Wilson I'm not convinced our long balls have gone down without Gestede, Ayala still regularly picks up the ball and launches it over Bamfords head.

[Boro 86 517]

I have made my feelings know that I don't like the current style of football but I will give credit for Pulis getting a result in a tough game.

 

Still don't think he is the right man for us going forward but if he can grind out 5 points from whats left to play for then that should be enough for the playoffs

[Tom 2,492]

I have made my feelings know that I don't like the current style of football but I will give credit for Pulis getting a result in a tough game.

 

Still don't think he is the right man for us going forward but if he can grind out 5 points from whats left to play for then that should be enough for the playoffs

 

Yes, I agree with this. It's not the best performance I've ever seen by a long stretch, not even the best one under Pulis, but from the moment Friend scored I felt like we were in control and did a very professional job of getting the 3 points.

[Brunners 7,982]

our cbs definitely like to go long. I've lost count of the amount of times I've watched ayala or Gibson aimlessly put one somewhere in the general vicinity of bamford.

[mendieta420 1,006]

The direct play works better at home when teams are less likely to press and pick up loose balls. Away from home it just gives possession away to easily.

[Humpty 3,260]

It drives me round the bend when I see the back four punting a long ball upfield when we’ve got three centre midfielders on the park.