The pressing game

[sunshine1875]

Last night watching ManU, I was really impressed by the work ethic of Park (especially), Fletcher, Carrick and Rooney to close down the player with possession and the player about to receive possession. Even Ronaldo (World Player of the Year) works hard to close people down. They all work harder without the ball than they do when they have it.

To use a Mixu term, their work ethic really is fantastic!

Contrast that to our lot and you see a lack of desire to close people down. I can accept that our players have less skill compared to those of ManU, but I cannot accept that our players will not work as hard as the ManU players.

I want Mixu out now, but the players must also shoulder a lot of the blame - their attitude over the last 3-4 years (even when Mowbray was here) has been unacceptable IMO.

Discuss?

Players - if you are reading this, Thursday evening 7:45pm is time to "pull the finger out".

[down the slope]

Agree our lot do not press as hard as most teams whether this is a fitness thing i just don't know, maybe they just don't have the engine for the modern game or is it just the manager ?.

[clerriehibs]

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Last night watching ManU, I was really impressed by the work ethic of Park (especially), Fletcher, Carrick and Rooney to close down the player with possession and the player about to receive possession. Even Ronaldo (World Player of the Year) works hard to close people down. They all work harder without the ball than they do when they have it.

To use a Mixu term, their work ethic really is fantastic!

Contrast that to our lot and you see a lack of desire to close people down. I can accept that our players have less skill compared to those of ManU, but I cannot accept that our players will not work as hard as the ManU players.

I want Mixu out now, but the players must also shoulder a lot of the blame - their attitude over the last 3-4 years (even when Mowbray was here) has been unacceptable IMO.

Discuss?

Players - if you are reading this, Thursday evening 7:45pm is time to "pull the finger out".

Bring back JC ...

Can you imagine Sir AF being made to look a mug by a bunch of players heading off to the Man U chief exec's front door to have a good blub about him being a hard task master?

[millarco]

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Last night watching ManU, I was really impressed by the work ethic of Park (especially), Fletcher, Carrick and Rooney to close down the player with possession and the player about to receive possession. Even Ronaldo (World Player of the Year) works hard to close people down. They all work harder without the ball than they do when they have it.

To use a Mixu term, their work ethic really is fantastic!

Contrast that to our lot and you see a lack of desire to close people down. I can accept that our players have less skill compared to those of ManU, but I cannot accept that our players will not work as hard as the ManU players.

I want Mixu out now, but the players must also shoulder a lot of the blame - their attitude over the last 3-4 years (even when Mowbray was here) has been unacceptable IMO.

Discuss?

Players - if you are reading this, Thursday evening 7:45pm is time to "pull the finger out".

Totally agree, to a man (except Berbatov) the players are pressing and closing down the opposition. Didn't see Barcelona tonight but the last couple of times I've seen them they've been exactly the same; even the 'superstars' like Messi and Henry are doing a lot of groundwork. Collins had the team playing like that when he first came in, but by the end it had faded. Just don't think our players have the fitness or work ethic to play a game like that, which is unacceptable. You can't do an awful lot with the quality of player, but working on this side of the game would improve our team considerably.

[heretoday]

One asks oneself "Why can't Hibs do that?" Well it's not fair to compare any side to Man Utd but .......

Hibs are obviously not fit, fast or smart enough.

The Man Utd players are immediately responsive to what their manager wants.

There are people at Old Trafford who have been there for years and who embody a United ethic whereas Hibs oldest servant is probably the groundsman.

[bobbyhibs1983]

agree 100%

Thats one of a number of things i have noticed over the last 6 or so months and i am sick to death moaning about it and i do moan alot.lol


The thing imo with regards closing down , i think all the big clubs, man united,barca etc, is im sure they practice this in training.
do hibs? if not why not

i remeber one game , man u against someone and wayne rooney was going with he ball towards the other teams goal and loses the ball, and what does he do?
he chases after it even though it was in man u half, he chased all the way back and wins it back.


I remeber john collins syaing training is hard because if you wanna become a good or world class player you gotta practice, practice and train and train and so on and its boring.

[banarc7062]

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Agree our lot do not press as hard as most teams whether this is a fitness thing i just don't know, maybe they just don't have the engine for the modern game or is it just the manager ?.

Then why do they all happen to land at E.R

[stubru59]

Closing opposition players down is one thing. Passing to your won team-mates helps too.

Tactics that work and that can can be changed to suit come in handy. Making subs when down to nine men with minutes to go is also useful.

Ensuring players are fit enough to last 90 minutes would take us in the right direction.

The list goes on..... and on.

[sunshine1875]

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Last night watching ManU, I was really impressed by the work ethic of Park (especially), Fletcher, Carrick and Rooney to close down the player with possession and the player about to receive possession. Even Ronaldo (World Player of the Year) works hard to close people down. They all work harder without the ball than they do when they have it.

To use a Mixu term, their work ethic really is fantastic!

Contrast that to our lot and you see a lack of desire to close people down. I can accept that our players have less skill compared to those of ManU, but I cannot accept that our players will not work as hard as the ManU players.

I want Mixu out now, but the players must also shoulder a lot of the blame - their attitude over the last 3-4 years (even when Mowbray was here) has been unacceptable IMO.

Discuss?

Players - if you are reading this, Thursday evening 7:45pm is time to "pull the finger out".

Looks like the guys "pulled the finger out" - but for the guys who attended the game, was our pressing a strong part of our game. Do you see this level of performance continuing?

It is interesting that Chisholm was good in this role against Ferguson/The Huns in the past. So, hopefully, he will be in the team on Wednesday. Did I really say that? - I still remember his non-performance away to ICT.

[Sir David Gray]

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Looks like the guys "pulled the finger out" - but for the guys who attended the game, was our pressing a strong part of our game. Do you see this level of performance continuing?

It is interesting that Chisholm was good in this role against Ferguson/The Huns in the past. So, hopefully, he will be in the team on Wednesday. Did I really say that? - I still remember his non-performance away to ICT.

Very much so. Chisholm, Stevenson and Rankin all did that on Thursday to very good effect.

[ceecee]

Charleroi doing better every week and currently winning 2-0 tonight. Maybe JC was the right man with the wrong players.

He had all the right philosophies imo. including the need to be in top athletic condition to become a top player and a top team. "Hunting" the ball down when you are not in possession was one of those. Basic but what every good team does. You can't score if you don't have the ball...and if you have the ball then the other team can't score!

{now 3-0}
{oh..and Torben Joneleit getting his game}

[wazoo1875]

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Looks like the guys "pulled the finger out" - but for the guys who attended the game, was our pressing a strong part of our game. Do you see this level of performance continuing?

It is interesting that Chisholm was good in this role against Ferguson/The Huns in the past. So, hopefully, he will be in the team on Wednesday. Did I really say that? - I still remember his non-performance away to ICT.

Yes , i would say that played a large part in our win the other night , our willingness to hunt the ball down when not in posession(sp) . Our midfield sweated their balls off on thurs night and the Hearts midfield never got to grips with them at all . Long may it continue

[sunshine1875]

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Yes , i would say that played a large part in our win the other night , our willingness to hunt the ball down when not in posession(sp) . Our midfield sweated their balls off on thurs night and the Hearts midfield never got to grips with them at all . Long may it continue

Not a surprise for me, we have the players but not the desire to work. Combine the two and we will see results improve.

Listen Mixu...........looks like a winning formula, a midfield that "hunts" to regain possession then pass forward to Riordan and let him do his magic.

[mim]

The big difference against Hearts was basically down to two players - Michael Stewart and Lewis Stevenson.

Stewart is the guy that usually grafts away to give Hearts the edge in midfield. On Thursday Lewis Stevenson not only stopped Stewart from dominating that area but also performed that role for Hibs to perfection.

The other midfielders contributed as well, but Lewis was the man that made the big difference.

[lapsedhibee]

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Our midfield sweated their balls off on thurs night and the Hearts midfield never got to grips with them at all . Long may it continue

Midfield did work hard at the PBS but it was clearer to me than ever that as a team we are nowhere near fit/hardworking enough to play good football. Mixu's tactics have had a bit of praise for the victory but as usual he completely failed to instruct the team properly in this respect: Stop appealing for disputed throw-ins. The more we appeal, the more we are likely to get, and hence the more ball we will lose (because no-one ever makes space for the thrower). Mixu should be either getting Roger Propos in or telling the players to look at their feet when the ball goes out at the sides, because currently this winning throw-ins is destroying our possession stats.

We got more possession from Jobbie's throw-ins than our own.

[Big Ed]

I don't get this bit about Hibs players not being fit. Where is the evidence?
Bobby's teams weren't fit enough and the evidence was in the fact that we lost last minute goals on a weekly basis.
Hibs players might not be as fit as teams competing in the Champions League Final, but I suspect that there aren't many teams around the world that are.
What you see at ER is a Manager who has no interest in a passing game. Other teams pass the ball around us and as a result, our guys have to nash around trying to retrieve posession. Doing that for 90 minutes is going to make anyone look *****ed in the later stages of a game.
I doubt that the present team are any less fit than Mowbray's team, but the difference was that Mowbray encouraged the ball to do the work.

[Killiehibbie]

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I don't get this bit about Hibs players not being fit. Where is the evidence?
Bobby's teams weren't fit enough and the evidence was in the fact that we lost last minute goals on a weekly basis.
Hibs players might not be as fit as teams competing in the Champions League Final, but I suspect that there aren't many teams around the world that are.
What you see at ER is a Manager who has no interest in a passing game. Other teams pass the ball around us and as a result, our guys have to nash around trying to retrieve posession. Doing that for 90 minutes is going to make anyone look *****ed in the later stages of a game.
I doubt that the present team are any less fit than Mowbray's team, but the difference was that Mowbray encouraged the ball to do the work.

Why shouldn't we be as fit as Man Utd & Barcelona? Our players are not as good as them at playing football but fitness and work ethic are not gifts it is all about getting out what you put in.

[Big Ed]

In an ideal world, I'd agree. Unfortunately the motivation to be as fit as the players at Manchester United or Barcelona comes from being world famous and on astronomical salaries.
These guys are at the top of their profession and have to constantly keep their edge to make sure that they stay there.
You could argue that any full time player should strive for these levels of fitness, including the likes of Airdrie, Raith Rovers etc.
How likely is that?

[Killiehibbie]

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In an ideal world, I'd agree. Unfortunately the motivation to be as fit as the players at Manchester United or Barcelona comes from being world famous and on astronomical salaries.
These guys are at the top of their profession and have to constantly keep their edge to make sure that they stay there.
You could argue that any full time player should strive for these levels of fitness, including the likes of Airdrie, Raith Rovers etc.
How likely is that?

So apart from the guys at the very top the rest are just playing at it?

[down the slope]

I don't see why we cannot be as fit as the best in the world ffs all we are asking them to do is RUN, if the players are unable to get fit to do this then they are passengers and are carried by there team mates-for example Fletcher for one, on thursday he was a joke.

[sauzee_4]

I don't see why we cannot be as fit as the best in the world ffs all we are asking them to do is RUN, if the players are unable to get fit to do this then they are passengers and are carried by there team mates-for example Fletcher for one, on thursday he was a joke.

Fitness is more to do with genetics than you think.
Speed- Largely determined by how many type 2 fibres you have
strength and power much the same. Even aerobic endurance or vo2 max is difficult to change to a massive degree.

Not saying it can't be improved but the boys at the top are probably a different breed genetically- even fitness-wise. It's not just about having better technique or football inteligence.

[Big Ed]

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So apart from the guys at the very top the rest are just playing at it?

What do you think?

[ancient hibee]

The most important part where speed is needed is in the small part of the body between the ears.If you don't have it there you get what we have at ER.

[Big Ed]

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The most important part where speed is needed is in the small part of the body between the ears.If you don't have it there you get what we have at ER.

I disagree with your glib assesment. We have some very good, very sharp players at ER. Sadly the Manager does not play them to their potential.
Hibs are excellent on the break. One touch stuff involving the likes of Riordan, Rosa, Fletcher and Nish. What they can't do is hold on to the ball in midfield for more than a couple of seconds.
Think about the goals that we have scored this season and you'll see that we have decent players. Just not a decent Manager.

[sunshine1875]

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Last night watching ManU, I was really impressed by the work ethic of Park (especially), Fletcher, Carrick and Rooney to close down the player with possession and the player about to receive possession. Even Ronaldo (World Player of the Year) works hard to close people down. They all work harder without the ball than they do when they have it.

To use a Mixu term, their work ethic really is fantastic!

Contrast that to our lot and you see a lack of desire to close people down. I can accept that our players have less skill compared to those of ManU, but I cannot accept that our players will not work as hard as the ManU players.

I want Mixu out now, but the players must also shoulder a lot of the blame - their attitude over the last 3-4 years (even when Mowbray was here) has been unacceptable IMO.

Discuss?

Players - if you are reading this, Thursday evening 7:45pm is time to "pull the finger out".

What a contrast to the Mixu dark days - but you don't have to be a top-class football manager to see what Hibs problems were last year when all would agree that we under-achieved with the players that we had. Yesterday, the work-rate without the ball was immense.

Now my next bit of guidance comparing again to Man U is get the ball into the box from the wings quicker - see Man. U third or fourth goal yesterday (can't remember which). The ball played out wide to the winger who first timed it into the box giving the defence no time to react and a tap-in goal. Are you listening Zemmama?