A big part of the beauty of football is the simplicity, you make the rules messy and convoluted and people will hate it.
Also I don’t think it’s fair to punish teams because of how their opponents set up against them. Last season everyone realised you can’t give us space centrally, and you have to double team our wingers. Now we have to play the lowest block in the world on average, and 90% of teams don’t even press us, they just lock down the middle and hope they can deal with the crosses.
In these games it can be impossible to score four (especially since teams like Everton, Burnley and Sheffield don’t even change their tactics after going down a goal). And I also don’t feel like they should be punished for playing to their strengths, if that’s the best chance they have to get something from the game then let them play like that.
Instead what we should focus on removing is the unsportsmanlike behaviour which often (but not always) comes with these types of performances. I’m talking about rotational fouling certain players the moment they get in a position to hurt them. Incessant time wasting, often even while a goal down because they want to keep it 1-0 until the 85th and then score a corner/free kick so you don’t have time regain the lead. The diving as soon as they get into the opposition half, big strikers throwing themselves to the ground in every aerial duel because a free kick they can put into the box is the best chance they’ll get at a goal.
These are the unsportsmanlike parts of traditional “parking the bus”, and that’s the part we should focus on getting rid of imo. Not sitting deep and defending well, that’s a skill too
A big part of the beauty of football is the simplicity, you make the rules messy and convoluted and people will hate it.
Also I don’t think it’s fair to punish teams because of how their opponents set up against them. Last season everyone realised you can’t give us space centrally, and you have to double team our wingers. Now we have to play the lowest block in the world on average, and 90% of teams don’t even press us, they just lock down the middle and hope they can deal with the crosses.
In these games it can be impossible to score four (especially since teams like Everton, Burnley and Sheffield don’t even change their tactics after going down a goal). And I also don’t feel like they should be punished for playing to their strengths, if that’s the best chance they have to get something from the game then let them play like that.
Instead what we should focus on removing is the unsportsmanlike behaviour which often (but not always) comes with these types of performances. I’m talking about rotational fouling certain players the moment they get in a position to hurt them. Incessant time wasting, often even while a goal down because they want to keep it 1-0 until the 85th and then score a corner/free kick so you don’t have time regain the lead. The diving as soon as they get into the opposition half, big strikers throwing themselves to the ground in every aerial duel because a free kick they can put into the box is the best chance they’ll get at a goal.
These are the unsportsmanlike parts of traditional “parking the bus”, and that’s the part we should focus on getting rid of imo. Not sitting deep and defending well, that’s a skill too