Playing styles

[PatrickA]

I was debating whether to put this in the nostalgia section or not , but I think it has enough relevance to be included in the current section.

It relates to an interview given by the forner West Ham player, Alan Devonshire, about the absence of dribblers in the modern game.

Personally, I can see where he's coming from and have always enjoyed players who can go past 2 or 3 players in the blink of an eye.
Think of our own Don Rogers, Peter Taylor, Vince Hilaire ,Zaha and Eze.

It has largely disappeared from the game with the emphasis on not losing possession.
I'm sure it still has a place though when facing defences that sit deep.

 

[Plumpton eagle]

I can relate to this. Now that we have lost Eze, do we have any natural dribblers? Mitchell very rarely takes a defender on preferring to play the ball back, square it or hit an early cross. Munoz is a brilliant wing back but again rarely takes a player on. His game seems to be more about exploiting/finding space and getting change from attackers not tracking back.

Sarr is similar, preferring to run onto a through/wide ball rather than receive it, turn and take on a defender. Pino may be different, it is still early days for him, and he does occasionally look to dribble past defenders.

I'm not suggesting it is a bad thing as Palace now have a "way" of playing that works, can be exciting and the whole team seems to have bought into it. However, I do miss the expectation and instinctively sitting forward in my seat whenever Wilf got the ball in the final third.

 

[MrRobbo]

I'll put my tin hat on.

I love a dribbler. My favourite times as a Palace fan were watching Wilf and Yannick just running at people.

However its, just not efficient. Passing is quicker than running. More dribbles are failed than completed.

Watching Olise and Wilf (granted at slightly reduced powers) was such a good example of the efficiency.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

I'm torn on this one. It's about the decision making when if there's no clear ball on going past a player can create space and watching someone dribble round defenders is one of the best sights in the game but there can be a tendency to overdo it - go past two and lose it trying to beat the third or just hang on to the ball too long.
Still it's great to watch when it's one of ours doing it.

 

[park the bus]

Pass and move is far more efficient than an individual trying to beat 3 defenders. Some dribbling types tend to get greedy and overdo it, Wilf Zaha being a prime example. This is not to say it can be very entertaining or not have its place, it is and does, but the modern game is about tight control and movement, on and off the ball. In the current side Pino and Kamada are good examples of the modern player, and it's no coincidence that they both start regularly under Glasner.

 

[PatrickA]

Pass and move is far more efficient than an individual trying to beat 3 defenders. Some dribbling types tend to get greedy and overdo it, Wilf Zaha being a prime example. This is not to say it can be very entertaining or not have its place, it is and does, but the modern game is about tight control and movement, on and off the ball. In the current side Pino and Kamada are good examples of the modern player, and it's no coincidence that they both start regularly under Glasner.

This is all true, and the most common word that Glasner uses in press conferences is 'efficiency. '
You can't argue with the results and he's a great manager, but I'm sad about the decline of dribblers in the modern game, not just at Palace.
Those players who do take people on often rely on sheer pace rather that clever footwork and trickery.
Prime Salah seems to be the last of a dying breed , following on from the earlier days of the like of Jimmy Greaves and George Best.
Older Palace fans still talk of the Don Rogers goal v Manchester United when he sat down a couple of defenders.
The last Palace goal I can record with a mazy dribble past a few players was Ayew's goal v West Ham, although Zaha had a few and Eze got one v Sheffield United.

 

[park the bus]

This is all true, and the most common word that Glasner uses in press conferences is 'efficiency. '
You can't argue with the results and he's a great manager, but I'm sad about the decline of dribblers in the modern game, not just at Palace.
Those players who do take people on often rely on sheer pace rather that clever footwork and trickery.
Prime Salah seems to be the last of a dying breed , following on from the earlier days of the like of Jimmy Greaves and George Best.
Older Palace fans still talk of the Don Rogers goal v Manchester United when he sat down a couple of defenders.
The last Palace goal I can record with a mazy dribble past a few players was Ayew's goal v West Ham, although Zaha had a few and Eze got one v Sheffield United.

An all time favourite, he danced round those defenders like he was trying to avoid stepping on lego bricks...

 

[Palace Old Geezer]

This is all true, and the most common word that Glasner uses in press conferences is 'efficiency. '
You can't argue with the results and he's a great manager, but I'm sad about the decline of dribblers in the modern game, not just at Palace.
Those players who do take people on often rely on sheer pace rather that clever footwork and trickery.
Prime Salah seems to be the last of a dying breed , following on from the earlier days of the like of Jimmy Greaves and George Best.
Older Palace fans still talk of the Don Rogers goal v Manchester United when he sat down a couple of defenders.
The last Palace goal I can record with a mazy dribble past a few players was Ayew's goal v West Ham, although Zaha had a few and Eze got one v Sheffield United.

Yep, it's true football poetry to watch a nimble player drifting past a few players. I love to see it. This is what I adored in Eze when he first joined us. Made it look easy.

Trouble is, many players who try this without the natural ability end up running into blind alleys before making the crucial pass. I see it all the time watching games on the box and I sit there seeing the pass that the player with the ball clearly hasn't spotted so his run ends. A lot of effort with no end result.

Didn't we all think it was the reason Ollie pulled Esse off after about 12 minutes? He didn't approve of his show boating.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

Pass and move is far more efficient than an individual trying to beat 3 defenders. Some dribbling types tend to get greedy and overdo it, Wilf Zaha being a prime example. This is not to say it can be very entertaining or not have its place, it is and does, but the modern game is about tight control and movement, on and off the ball. In the current side Pino and Kamada are good examples of the modern player, and it's no coincidence that they both start regularly under Glasner.

This is true but football has it's trends so at some stage dribbling may come back into fashion and we might see another Okocha/Zola/Ronaldinho type running at defenders. Hope so anyway.

 

[CPFCSaturn]

I can relate to this. Now that we have lost Eze, do we have any natural dribblers? Mitchell very rarely takes a defender on preferring to play the ball back, square it or hit an early cross. Munoz is a brilliant wing back but again rarely takes a player on. His game seems to be more about exploiting/finding space and getting change from attackers not tracking back.

Sarr is similar, preferring to run onto a through/wide ball rather than receive it, turn and take on a defender. Pino may be different, it is still early days for him, and he does occasionally look to dribble past defenders.

I'm not suggesting it is a bad thing as Palace now have a "way" of playing that works, can be exciting and the whole team seems to have bought into it. However, I do miss the expectation and instinctively sitting forward in my seat whenever Wilf got the ball in the final third.

Esse is probably as close to it as we now have.

Uche seems fairly direct in running at people, from the limited game time I've seen!

Probably something in the fact neither of them seem to be favourites of Glasner.

 

[MrRobbo]

Pino seams the most capable in the squad.

However compared to Eze, who liked to hold the ball a little. Pino is always looking to pass quickly.

Regardless I still find us a pretty good watch. Brentford game was hardly one for the ages, but was an interesting tactical battle. And its always easy to watch when we are in control.

 

[CPFCSaturn]

Pino seams the most capable in the squad.

However compared to Eze, who liked to hold the ball a little. Pino is always looking to pass quickly.

Regardless I still find us a pretty good watch. Brentford game was hardly one for the ages, but was an interesting tactical battle. And its always easy to watch when we are in control.

He doesn't have the athleticism for it I don't think - he's neither quick nor strong, and so even though his footwork is good, he's rarely going to fully get away from people or hold off challenges.

But agree with you that his speed of thought is really impressive.

 

[ASCPFC]

We're more direct runners now. You see our players "knock the ball past the opponent" and burst through. You don't see a lot of close control from Sarr and Mateta. We will see it a bit from Pino as he lacks their pace and power.
We have no Olises or Ezes now - but I think there's a place for them. Particularly someone as good as Olise. He's not massively quick or strong but a great dribbler, comes inside, curls it onto the corner of the net. Lovely to watch. Both Eze and Olise seem to have a low centre of gravity which allows them to glide past people. With deceptive pace at times.

 

[beak]

We're more direct runners now. You see our players "knock the ball past the opponent" and burst through. You don't see a lot of close control from Sarr and Mateta. We will see it a bit from Pino as he lacks their pace and power.
We have no Olises or Ezes now - but I think there's a place for them. Particularly someone as good as Olise. He's not massively quick or strong but a great dribbler, comes inside, curls it onto the corner of the net. Lovely to watch. Both Eze and Olise seem to have a low centre of gravity which allows them to glide past people. With deceptive pace at times.

I hope we see a lot of something he seems to get picked for Spain who are no pushovers. I'm expecting A Jorge Besto. 😆

 

[PatrickA]

A wider observation is that football has reverted to a slightly more sophisticated version of the Wimbledon Bassett era, with long throws, set pices, physicality and reliance on tall players.

Man City and Arsenal no longer play easy on the eye football.

For Arsenal it's all about winning free kicks and corners to allow their dominance at set pieces show.

Man City just hit Haaland as early as possible and in space and leave the rest up to him.

No doubt the staticians will tell them this is the 'efficient' way to go and it helps if you got better players to execute it.

It was evident that we beat Brentford at their own game on Saturday and it could be argued that our better quality showed through on the day.
Nonetheless, Glasner made a decision ti include Lerma recognising the physical challenge that Brentford would pose.

It will be interesting to see how the Champions League games against teams like PSG, Real Madrid and Barcelona who still play through the team in the old fashioned way.

Personally I welcome different styles but I sometimes cringe at the lack of originality displayed in the Premier League this season.
Leaving aside the preponderance of long throws by clubs there's also the sight of them whacking the ball forward at kick off to avoid the possibility of conceding an early goal.
I recall Coppell doing this around 40 years ago at Palace .

 

[RubinsCube]

We're more direct runners now. You see our players "knock the ball past the opponent" and burst through. You don't see a lot of close control from Sarr and Mateta. We will see it a bit from Pino as he lacks their pace and power.
We have no Olises or Ezes now - but I think there's a place for them. Particularly someone as good as Olise. He's not massively quick or strong but a great dribbler, comes inside, curls it onto the corner of the net. Lovely to watch. Both Eze and Olise seem to have a low centre of gravity which allows them to glide past people. With deceptive pace at times.

Agreed and I think these players will become a real premium as sides effectively learn how to minimize the impact of more direct tactics.

 

[cryrst]

Dribblers need an outlet so like minded players around them reading the game. Wright and Bright did it well.

 

[PatrickA]

Just saw Ndiaye score a brilliant goal for Everton where he beat 3 Sunderland players and tucked it in the corner.
No pass and move , but very efficient!