The Most Important Area of the Pitch

[HalifaxWhite]

This is my first thread I think and just wanted to post something I have come to realise is particularly important in the Championship....Midfield.

It must be something to do with the way football is played in this league but if you look at the top few teams from the last few years they have all had the best midfields in the league. Conversely if you look at some teams who always seem to go close but not quite, or have a good period followed by bad and end up nowhere (previously us) then they have poor midfielders but sometimes excellent strikers. A good example of this is Middlesborough and Forest, really good forwards in their teams last year, both ended up nowhere as there midfields were poor. Whereas us, poor forwards in comparison to most of the league, but in my opinion the best midfield in the league and we spent more time at the top than anybody else, just a poor run at the end leaving us 3rd.

I am just interested to see what the views of others are around this topic, firstly the idea that midfield is the most important area, you can have all the strike power you like but if they're not either being supported (in the way our team works) or not able to run free knowing the midfielders will help the defence out (as some other teams) then it just wont work. Also what everyones thoughts are on my statement of us having the best midfield in the league. I cannot think of a better 3 than Phillips, Klich and Forshaw at the moment. Add to that the wingers Pablo and Harisson. I believe it is those that have seen us rise to promotion contenders. It is they who pt in the work both offensively and defensively giving our team balance and allowing us to outnumber the opposition all over the pitch.

[Selby White]

All areas of the pitch are equally important that's why it's a team sport.
Difficult to break a team into specific areas, we attack as a unit and defend as a unit. From Kikos destribution starting attacks to Bamford height defending set pieces everyone has their part to play.
Poor strike rate but don't concede many 1-0 win, score lots concede almost as many win 4-3, both scenarios get you 3 points.
In reality somewhere in between is what we should be striving to achieve. I would say a team scoring on average 2 per game while conceding an average of only one are likely to be promoted.

[johnh]

The most important area of the pitch is the bit of turf between the opponents goal line and back of the net.

[Deleted User 728]

There is a school of thought that you build from the back and without a solid defence you won't be successful. Clough reckoned Shilton was worth 12 points a season but I can't remember if that was when it was 3pts for a win or just 2 - either way he had a point.
From that, the spine is crucial : GK, DC, DMC, AMC, SC.
They also say the game is won and lost in midfield, which is where you seem to be coming from.
This is all without talking tactics, which really muddy the waters.

I've seen Maradona win the World Cup on his own and you could argue that if you put him in any of the last eight of Mexico 86 they would've gone on to lift the trophy, so that works against you.
John Beck lumped it in the bottom two divisions and did well with Cambridge. Wingbacks are the most creative force and arguably the most important position at the top level these days.

Everything is possible and football isn't simple.

I think luck and timing are the two most important factors in this division, year in, year out. Have three or four players having the season of their careers, coupled with fewer injuries than you'd normally get, a couple of kids coming through, some keys signings hitting the ground running and a strong late season surge from the team itself and you can hit the top two and do it just when everyone else is stuttering. Look at the last few seasons and while one team generally stands out the second one if often a bit more left field..

Let's just hope it's us this time round...

[EastYorkie]

I don't think you can single out the midfield particularly. As SW says, all areas are equally important at some point or another during a match.

I also don't believe that our midfield players are greatly superior to other teams, they are probably on a par with others and there may well be some individuals who are better than ours.

As SW says it is a team game and I think you need to consider the role of Bielsa in coaching our players in how to play the game differently to what they've been asked to do before. I think that is the big difference.

It appears that the way our players move off the ball to create space and passes for one another, to try retain possession, try and set traps to win back the ball. They are reading the game differently in what they are doing to other teams. Apparently, they spend alot of time practising drills and learning Bielsas tactics to then apply during the game.

I can't say, I can explain what these are necessarily but it is clearly effective most of the time but obviously not all of the time, since other teams do score, and we will get beat several times this season. It won't be plain sailing because some of what Bielsa does is to gamble on an attacking mentality at the expense of the defensive side of the game. Sometimes in football bad luck and mistakes happen and it costs you the game - the classic example being the 2nd leg of the playoffs last year. You just have to shrug your shoulders and carry on when it happens.

The way Bielsa is coaching our players is enabling the team to bring out the best in itself, I think this is the main difference. Also, there are a few players who are clearly playing better this year than last - probably this being down to being injury free and being able to play regularly.

I think it also comes down to the professionalism which emanates from Bielsa and his coaching team - its a 24/7 kind of professionalism. It dictates the entire set up at Thorp Arch, the analysis of opponents , the quality of players, how they are asked to be fit, how they have to play - every little thing is obsessed over in order to give just that little bit of competitive edge. Its what the Japanese used to called Total Quality Culture when applied to business.

So to summarise, I think its a lot of things coming together and our midfield players are just part of something much, much bigger and more complex than perhaps we appreciate.

[Leicester White]

There is a school of thought that you build from the back and without a solid defence you won't be successful. Clough reckoned Shilton was worth 12 points a season but I can't remember if that was when it was 3pts for a win or just 2 - either way he had a point.
From that, the spine is crucial : GK, DC, DMC, AMC, SC.
They also say the game is won and lost in midfield, which is where you seem to be coming from.
This is all without talking tactics, which really muddy the waters.

I've seen Maradona win the World Cup on his own and you could argue that if you put him in any of the last eight of Mexico 86 they would've gone on to lift the trophy, so that works against you.
John Beck lumped it in the bottom two divisions and did well with Cambridge. Wingbacks are the most creative force and arguably the most important position at the top level these days.

Everything is possible and football isn't simple.

I think luck and timing are the two most important factors in this division, year in, year out. Have three or four players having the season of their careers, coupled with fewer injuries than you'd normally get, a couple of kids coming through, some keys signings hitting the ground running and a strong late season surge from the team itself and you can hit the top two and do it just when everyone else is stuttering. Look at the last few seasons and while one team generally stands out the second one if often a bit more left field..

Let's just hope it's us this time round...

I got to know John Beck at Histon... he let me know over a pint of ale that Dion Dublin had a goal wrongly disallowed which would've taken Cambridge United into the premier league so he did well in our current division too.

[isrodger]

This is my first thread I think and just wanted to post something I have come to realise is particularly important in the Championship....Midfield.

It must be something to do with the way football is played in this league but if you look at the top few teams from the last few years they have all had the best midfields in the league. Conversely if you look at some teams who always seem to go close but not quite, or have a good period followed by bad and end up nowhere (previously us) then they have poor midfielders but sometimes excellent strikers. A good example of this is Middlesborough and Forest, really good forwards in their teams last year, both ended up nowhere as there midfields were poor. Whereas us, poor forwards in comparison to most of the league, but in my opinion the best midfield in the league and we spent more time at the top than anybody else, just a poor run at the end leaving us 3rd.

I am just interested to see what the views of others are around this topic, firstly the idea that midfield is the most important area, you can have all the strike power you like but if they're not either being supported (in the way our team works) or not able to run free knowing the midfielders will help the defence out (as some other teams) then it just wont work. Also what everyones thoughts are on my statement of us having the best midfield in the league. I cannot think of a better 3 than Phillips, Klich and Forshaw at the moment. Add to that the wingers Pablo and Harisson. I believe it is those that have seen us rise to promotion contenders. It is they who pt in the work both offensively and defensively giving our team balance and allowing us to outnumber the opposition all over the pitch.

Firstly welcome - Sides that dominate midfield invariably win the game; however using Leeds as an example we dominated midfield and possession however lost as a result of poor finishing and appalling defending including goalkeeping lapses last season.

I throw into the mix; and the mixer (see what idid there ) sides which circumvented midfield and were at the time very successful. Aesthetically the style of play is taboo, however in terms of a tactical contrast it will be interesting to see an old school version of Warnock’s Cardiff vs us this season.

[HalifaxWhite]

Some good responses here to my initial post, pretty much all disagreeing with what I said but in different ways and all very valid.

ISR your reply stating those teams that play the Warnock style and become successful is a good one but I feel those cases are rare and often ride on a lot of luck and good fortune. Look at Huddersfield's promotion, did they even win a play off game? finished the season with -2 goal difference but still went up. However some very fortunate results (this could be said I suppose of most teams who go up, with a pinch of luck we would have too).

Now I am typing I cannot see who put it but one of the replies stated us not having the best midfield 3 and there being better in the league, interested to hear others opinions on this and who you think have the best midfield if not us?

[kk white]

As a trio, I think our midfield is as good as is out there. Individually, there are better, but they are playing with lesser partners.

I remember back to the brilliant Speed-Batty-Strachan-McAllister-(Wallace-Hodge?) midfield... Were there 4 better individuals playing in England/Europe? You bet there was. But as a combo, they were top of the pile.

[Deleted User 728]

Speed-Batty-Strachan-McAllister

Great point, well made.