Should we set up like Iceland Vs Argies to get better results in europe

I know there has been plenty of threads and debates on how we play in Europe before ect but I think the Iceland Argentina game yesterday shows a great example that you can sit back and surrender possession but still have a number of chances to a win a game against a side miles better than you and not look absolutely gash.

There is an excellent skill in the art of defending and even more so in solid defensive shape, takes hours of practise and when it comes off it looks half decent like yesterday for Iceland, the Aussies also had a very good defensive unit but didn't look quite as threatening on the break. Of course everyone wants to see teams play fast fluid and attacking football and at home in Europe against sides that aint of the ilk of Madrid, Psg Barca ect ect I'm all for that and even more so in the league where I think we play a negative formation half of the time, however, I personally think its pure ignorance that we play an attacking/pressing style against sides like PSG and Barca, we simply are not and never will be good enough to go toe to toe with these sides anymore, so when set up as if we are going to press the * out of these teams and they rattle us 7-0 ect, its * frustrating and I don't care how admirable it is, no team should lose 7-0 and we are shooting ourselves in the foot to play "The Celtic Way"

There is absolutely no shame in sitting back and remaining compact and frustrating these sides and hitting them on the break, for anyone who watched that game yesterday, Iceland looked dangerous going forward a number of times and I feel we could see up like they did in Europe against the better sides, particularly away and we can still get chances to go on and win the game or at least get a draw, we have great counter attacking talent in Kt,Forrest, Sinclair, Thumb ect ect and if we get it right like Iceland did, its not an absolute drain for 90 mins we will get chances! It might not be the prettiest thing to watch and of course its * when other teams have the ball loads, but Iceland and ourselves against Barca in 2012 have shown that it is an effective and positive method to get results and for me I don't give a * personally how we play in Europe against the bigger teams I just want the result, because results mean more money and more money ovbs means better players, It winds me up to * when people are happy to watch us try play better football against sides that are simply beyond us and then we go on to lose 5,6,7 nil. There is no shame in sitting back and frustrating the * out of sides to get a result, we don't have to prove anything to any team or try to show these sides that we can "Play football" and I think Iceland showed yesterday that solid defensive units doesn't always have to be a drain to watch.

 

Undoubtedly the answer is yes. If we take some of these teams on at their own game we can & have been annihilated. Being far more pragmatic is the best chance we have against some of these mega squads.

 

We have enough control and speed to be able to play counter-attacking football in Europe.

Definitely going to need to see a better showing this year (in Europe) in the defensive areas, both from the players and manager, without question.

 

Yes. It takes serious drilling of tactics into the players, but it would mean that the likes of Boyata get to look competent, as opposed to us having to buy a really pricey CB. Griffiths and Odsonne up front would be a mare for many defenses.

 

Many of the Icelandic guys play for their clubs in a similar fashion to the way they are asked to play for the national team. The virtues of intelligence, strength, organisation and calmness are all ingrained in their domestic youth coaching. They understand there's a time for 'flair', but it is measured.

Us? Our fans demand that we play open and attacking football with open and attacking players. Week-in, week-out.

And therein lies the problem - most of our current players would be horribly compromised if asked to play defensively for a handful of games a year against the European elite.

MON almost got the balance right between strength and flair... he was probably only a couple of players away from having a team that could have done SERIOUS damage in the CL.

Sadly, I feel it's our domestic competition that will always hold us back.

 

We probably should in order to give ourselves a serious chance of causing an upset, but we probably won't can't see Brendan ever willingly giving up possession and just sitting back with everyone behind the ball and trying to mark a couple of players out of the game.

And yeah it'll be extremely hard to all of a sudden go from playing attacking football domestically to then getting all these players brought in because of their attacking potential to then defend like Iceland, who play pretty much the same way no matter who they face.

In saying that plenty of lesser sides have got positive results from pressing, attacking and generally out-working superior opposition without needing to surrender possession completely. It's tough to do but I'd imagine that's the ultimate goal from Brendan out of this team. I mean we did manage to play excellently and excitingly in a 3-3 draw with City in his first season. I also mind a team like Bilbao under Bielsa outplaying Fergie's Manchester United, so it can be done.

 

It's upto us to strike a balance between being able to adapt to playing domestic teams who sit in with 10 behind the ball or up against European Elite teams who relentlessly attack.

Of course we have a fraction of the budget Atletico Madrid have but to me they are the blueprint. On the domestic front they are the aggressor in all matches other than Barcelona or Madrid but in Europe tend to play compact and dogged counter-attacking football.

Of course you need the personnel to play that system effectively, we'd need upgrades on our defence to be able to play this way with any success.

 

You can't set up how Iceland do in a midweek champions league tie. Then expect to play like Barcelona at the weekend. They're specific systems that require certain players and training. You can't flip between the two and expect them to both work effectively.

 

Lennon against Barca 2012?

 

Lennon’s team did exactly that when we beat Barcelona and almost got a draw with them away.

 

There were three instances in this World Cup already where a team with vastly more possession than the opponent failed to get a result.

These possession obsessed strategies are outdated and should be done away with. It's brutally boring to watch, would rather a thousand times watch a small team defending bravely like Iceland than sending the ball back to keeper from a corner

 

Yes we should but not with the defence or keeper we have now, too many moany * think that defending has no place in the game and if you’re not throwing every * forward then you’re playing anti football.

I’ll gladly watch us defend like we did in the barca game because it’s the only way we have a chance against the likes of those teams in this era of football.

Talk about developing into an attack minded team that can go toe to toe with Europe's elite all you want but until we’re spending 30/40 million a year it will never happen and as soon as we get the players good enough to do it if that even ever happens they’ll be sold to the highest bidder with no second thought.

We have a great manager and the club are doing well with keeping players tied down, but Rodgers doesn’t know how not to lose a game and the money men will never say no to a cheap replacement for the next big outgoing transfer.

We just broke our transfer record on a striker(which I’m delighted about btw) when we have a goalkeeper that’s useless in Europe, no back up left back and an ancient right back with no pace. What good will Édouard be if we’re still conceding 5,6,7 goals next season?

 

A * fine post.

 

'pace' is the first word that came into my head....especially if wanting to do damage on the counter when we're goig to be under the cosh for long spells........totally different from the guile needed for domestic.....2 different teams required.

The thing is, will our manager do it......i have my doubts BUT i don't personally think we're learning anything from 6/7-0 doings!!

ps- if i did have one slight criticism of Brandan so far it would be our set-up away in Europe against powerhouses. However, in another thread someone did come back at me and say we did change it up for Paris, most notably, and still got trashed!!

 

And how.

 

With the players we have now, we'd get murdered. Would make no difference. We need Wanyama, Ledley, Samaras styled players who played the night we beat Barca who can be a bigger physical presence on the pitch as well as workhorses when it comes to playing in Europe with the amount of chasing about we do after the ball.

The game against Barca is always used as the template in these debates but we should remember we also witnessed one of the very best goalkeeping displays certainly I've ever seen in my life watching football. So many things came together that night like that so it's difficult to say there was any kind of formula to the result as if it wasn't for Forster, we'd have still been murdered.

I can also say with some degree of certainty though that I have no confidence in Craig Gordon pulling off that kind of performance although he is a very good shot stopper.

 

Agree with a lot of that up till you say Gordon is useless in Europe away......tell me this,what would you do when your manager is wanting you to play from the back and he has little or very often no options. Punt it up the park Craig but you're damned if you, damned if you don't!!

And the main problem......these teams are better than than us OFF the ball as well as destroying when they have it!

If i was Gordon away from home in Europe i would punt it long just about every time....you just can't trust our lot to keep it for any length of time against quality.......not a dig just the way it is against top opposition.

 

I hate Gordon.

 

we know!!