Torquay United Fans Forum

Well that was embarrassingly inept in front of another 4000+ crowd, what a let down.
Plus points - Scored twice from set pieces and resultant goalmouth scrambles, Hamon's handling under pressure from whipped-in corners and smart save to prevent an own goal, Omar Mussa's introduction for his skill and desire to use the ball positively, Salisbury missing at least 3 golden opportunities to score.
Negatives - No leadership, no cohesion, few chances created in open play, overhitting killer through balls, casual passes sideways and backwards with insufficient purpose to progress forwards, caught offside on multiple occasions, scant service to front men hence no interplay between them and strung-out midfield.
Promotion material? - alas not based upon this uncreative, disfunctional, unprofessional performance. As said above, 6 months into the season and we still can't play as an organised team. And so we have to ask why not..

As ever lots of effort, and an encouraging debut by AZ, and class from MJ. However, 6 months into the season the gulf in style of play/tactics was oh so evident (yet again). I'm just left wondering where in the TU Coaching Manual it says:
- no need to control the midfield or to communicate with one another
- no need to keep possession, it's fine to hack the ball upfield to the opposition
- no need to throw-in to a teammate, you can just keep lobbing the ball to the opposition
- no need to try to create many goal-scoring chances, you might just nick a goal or two
- no need to stop the opposition making loads of chances to score, they are bound to miss some of them
- you can play triangles in the warm-up but no need to during the match
- it's sensible to substitute an energetic midfielder when another one is limping.
It's a good job we are a professional outfit, we might look a bit shambolic and clue-less otherwise.
COYY, you can play much smarter football than what was on display yesterday particularly in the second half but also after going 2 up.

Forget making comparisons, let's enjoy having a communicative club now and the buzz around Plainmoor.
PW had little time to cobble together a squad, but made clear his passion and mostly signed players who had some local Westcountry connections, hoping the passion would be in them too.
6 months into the season my concerns are about the tactics - far too many high balls which often lead to giving away possession, lack of leadership and togetherness in midfield which leads to loss of any control of the game, failure to keep hold of the ball in order to see out a match, passing backwards/sideways without apparent intent which shows lack of taking responsibility on the ball.
Maybe this is attributable to having a young squad, but with his higher league playing experience I would like to see our PW team playing more as a team and less as isolated individuals stretched across the park; opposition sides seem to be able to show the basics of teamwork and support for the man on the ball and for the forward players despite being part-timers, and it is frustrating to see us being carved apart with ease at times.
However, we are where we are, and are thankful to be in contention for promotion.

We have been lacking midfield generalship all season so really need someone to put their foot on the ball and to direct play; but modern football seems to be all about going backwards as the default option - surely better communication would lead to carrying the ball forwards with purpose, and so maintaining tempo before the opposition have time to organise themselves in a solid defensive line(s).
It was interesting to see Hampton draw us into a 6-man press and then exploit the huge void in the centre of the park between our midfield and back line, which then gave their man in the centre circle at least 15 yards of space in which to control possession and to pass to supportive team-mates. That void was better managed when, particularly, Hasani was introduced as he actually got the ball down to play positively instead of going in reverse or casually sideways.

Indeed, far from winning the midfield battle we totally ceded it and reverted to long ball tactics against a team which didn't have much difficulty playing to feet or outmuscling us. It would be interesting to see a scientific survey into how effective our long ball and long throw-in tactics were - Cooke as ever tried hard in the air, but I wonder : i. how many times he won the aerial battle, ii. how many times a win gave us possession, iii. how many scoring opportunities were created by a headed flick. Realistic answer to ii. and iii., very few.
And when we actually tried to get into the HH penalty area on the ground we earned the winning penalty..
But well done the defence for keeping a clean sheet again.
COYY, you can be a lot more professional and show a lot more intent for controlling a game, especially in front of a big crowd at home - do we really need a deep holding midfielder at home who spent as much of the first half playing behind the back 3 as just in front of it?

Well, 3 points but not a pretty spectacle with our second half tactics of hoofing out the ground and constant long throws to give away possession.
Luckily Farnborough didn't have the cutting edge to match their tidy and industrious approach play.
But why on earth do we not value possession? It is hardly rocket science, if you keep the ball it is rather difficult to concede, and you control the game, especially at home, and relieve any pressure.
Terrific run and strike by WJD, and he assisted for the second goal, but became strangely anonymous in the second half when we only sought to protect the lead with such a deep midfield.

Indeed, with having played at a much higher standard of football, it is unfathomable that PW can keep sending out his team to play such unpurposeful, uncreative, and unthreatening long ball tactics. I use the word team loosely, as we resemble more a collection of individuals.
We just do not seem to value possession, whether from throws-in or passing (either with intent or accuracy). At least when Mussa came on he was demanding the ball to feet; our forwards never get the ball to feet, our midfield is disfunctional, and although CC tries hard in the air we hardly ever gain possession from high balls. It is not surprising then that we score fewer goals than we should at this level. It is hardly rocket science. It is about playing as a team and imposing ourselves on the opposition with control of the ball.
So how can PW watch us being shown how to play on the deck by opponents and do nothing to correct our style of play?

It will certainly be interesting to see us play without Cooke - the problem with having a big target man is overplaying in the air, as we have done all season, which has enabled opponents to play football on the ground and walk through us (as shown again yesterday).
Why are we not learning from fruitless hoofball - it would be interesting to see the stats for i. how often Cooke wins an aerial battle and ii. (more importantly) how often we gain possession from his headers; the result must be that in the vast majority of cases we lose possession....so why persist with a tactic which has a low percentage outcome?
Another big weakness is at throws-in; at least with Mussa in midfield and with the very impressive Young wanting the ball, the thrower should normally be able to throw it to feet, but oh so often we take an age to throw the ball, allow the opposition to mark up, and then either lob it hopefully in the air or go backwards, and backwards, and back to the keeper who then hoofs it upfield so that we can mostly lose possession.
It really isn't rocket science, so COYY please play with more purpose, with more control, and play forwards on the deck. And try not to sit so deeply that we just panic at the back and hack the ball anywhere in trying to protect a slender lead.

We still need to be more creative, more purposeful in controlling games from midfield and to play as a team instead of being strung out across the field with our strikers coming closer together and being brought into the game more on the ground.
COYY, we should be making chances and scoring more freely at this level.

RE any action by the League, from an off-the-ball incident decades ago Utd v Hull, a deliberate elbow injury to our central defender, prior to Hull taking a freekick, which reduced us to 10 men and Hull thereby scored the winner, the League will only review if any of the officials saw and noted the incident (hence nothing happened!). I think the club can only mark the referee poorly and explain clearly why a low mark is given...?

What a shambles, frustrating ref whose decisions or lack of them favoured the opposition, and our own tactics which consist of play backwards by default, play slowly to get everyone marked, do not play cohesively in midfield, hug the touchlines so that teams play easily through us down the middle, hoof the ball forwards hopefully and lose possession...then keep repeating.
And yet PW thinks his boys were magnificent...yes there was effort, but all running round doing their own thing is so ineffective..what on earth do they do in training?? Our pattern of play shows a lack of teamwork and doing the basics well, hence we do not even try to control a game.
Have to feel sorry for all us passionate fans and our passionate owners, to be served up this unprofessional, uncreative, and unproductive park stuff.

Yes we were saved from extinction, we have a new management and a new squad, hence are in transition...however, althpugh I have only seen home games (just as well as we have failed to score in 3 away games), but the pattern of play must be called into question. The back line tend to play across the park or backwards, the midfield is strung out across the field but do not play together, we have no discernible play-maker (surely should be the captain's job?), the front two are not near one another, hence do not link up, do not come off their man to get the ball to feet and bring team-mates into play, are fairly static if they get into the penalty area. Our throws-in are slow and laboured and are usually lobbed forwards to hopeful heads, hence loss of possession. During the warm-up we see give-and-go movement and triangles..but not so much during the match.
It all seems somewhat disfunctional at present, and long balls cannot work if we have 2 small forwards up front.
Dorking showed how to build from the back with purposeful passing but couldn't shoot straight and lost to a superb strike from outside the penalty area, Chippenham were overwhelmed in the first half when we had 7 players in their half, but in the second half they played one-touch passing and movement but despite them having most of the play we defended strongly.
COYY, improve the basics and and be professional, take responsibility and make us promotable.

Taunton play Hemel Hempstead on Saturday, so something has to give in our favour ...

Injuries or not the basic facts are that we started the season with much the same squad as got us relegated, and with the same long ball tactics which saw us relegated. Without Jarvis we cannot play long ball, but spent all the first half v Truro passing between the backline and the goalkeeper, then a 40-yard wonder ball which went for a goalkick.
Injuries or not, the team is set up to play by the coaching staff;when I was learning the game I was told to know what I wanted to do with the ball before getting it - that doesn't seem to be the way now; you want the ball, get it, then just pass it backwards.
Injuries or not, the individual players must take more responsibility for creative teamwork.

Our lack of teamplay and of desire for the ball at feet is just so obvious, so what do we do in training?
When we warm up there is shooting practice, mostly at the goal - in a match mostly over the bar; there is give and move and passing - in a match there is hoofball and both the forward line and midfield line are strung out over the pitch and never near enough to one another to create a possession sequence; the defensive line practices heading the ball long, so in a match heading to the opposition.
Our throws-in are so slow and predictable, we rely so much on a long throw but how much possession and goal-scoring opportunities do they create (I can think of one goal in last and this season)?
Why are our tactics so old-school? Why can't we learn from being outplayed in midfield and attack (Nouble and Murphy showed how front men combine effectively with one another and their teammates)? Why do we keep lofting the ball into the penalty area when the majority of goals are scored with feet not head? Why do we bring every player back to defend a corner, then lose a goal to a direct header or only have recourse to boot the ball back to the opposition because we have no outlet upfield?