Yohan
10-31-2009, 01:20 PM
An era of TFC has ended with Danny Dichio's retirement, and the long ball to target man striker game. (I'm not saying long ball is gone btw)
Dichio was the classic English target man striker. Strong, good in the air to win balls and deft first touch and ability to hold the ball while waiting for teammates to arrive.
Using Dichio was pretty much the only potent offence TFC had in year 1 and 2. Though TFC tried to move away from long ball to target striker game, and tried to introduce more possession oriented offence, long ball game was still there.
This is not a criticism of Dichio's game. But it is a look into TFC's offensive game.
I watched Bolton play Chelsea earlier today, and I realized how effective a SMART target man long ball game could be.
Bolton has a target man in Kevin Davies. He wins a lot of balls in the air, and he can hold the ball and let his teammates get into the play. He created 2 good chances for his teammates in 1st half.
BUT, long ball is not Bolton's first option. They play also a possession game where if they can, they will try to move the ball up the field using their midfielders trying to use the entire pitch to create offence.
Only when they do not have an option, or they see an opening for a quick counter to take advantage of opposition's defence not being set, or an opening do the backline or the DM launches a long ball to Davies, who will more often or not, create something.
This is smart football. Bolton is not the most talented or gifted individually, but they are well organized. They don't use long ball as the sole or the primary option for offence, unlike TFC.
One of the reasons why TFC's offence was so stifled in year one was the sole reliance on Dichio to create offence, because TFC had no other reliable offensive option.
Predictability gets you killed.
But the target man offence did work. And I still think it could be part of TFC options.
Problem is, I wonder if the overreliance on Dichio taught TFC a bad habit of launching long balls and hope that someone gets on the end of it.
TFC isn't exactly a team with a lot of footy IQ, if this season proved anything.
But a target man striker, with DeRo playing just behind could provide an offensive option. Target man wins the long ball in the air. First touch to DeRo to run onto. This would be a secondary option.
Primary option is to move up the ball through the middle, utilizing JDG/Guevara as creator as CM to play possession based offence.
This would require a smart manager to implement the plan, and also finding a target man striker who is right for TFC. The problem is, classic target man striker is harder to find nowadays.
Food for thought
Dichio was the classic English target man striker. Strong, good in the air to win balls and deft first touch and ability to hold the ball while waiting for teammates to arrive.
Using Dichio was pretty much the only potent offence TFC had in year 1 and 2. Though TFC tried to move away from long ball to target striker game, and tried to introduce more possession oriented offence, long ball game was still there.
This is not a criticism of Dichio's game. But it is a look into TFC's offensive game.
I watched Bolton play Chelsea earlier today, and I realized how effective a SMART target man long ball game could be.
Bolton has a target man in Kevin Davies. He wins a lot of balls in the air, and he can hold the ball and let his teammates get into the play. He created 2 good chances for his teammates in 1st half.
BUT, long ball is not Bolton's first option. They play also a possession game where if they can, they will try to move the ball up the field using their midfielders trying to use the entire pitch to create offence.
Only when they do not have an option, or they see an opening for a quick counter to take advantage of opposition's defence not being set, or an opening do the backline or the DM launches a long ball to Davies, who will more often or not, create something.
This is smart football. Bolton is not the most talented or gifted individually, but they are well organized. They don't use long ball as the sole or the primary option for offence, unlike TFC.
One of the reasons why TFC's offence was so stifled in year one was the sole reliance on Dichio to create offence, because TFC had no other reliable offensive option.
Predictability gets you killed.
But the target man offence did work. And I still think it could be part of TFC options.
Problem is, I wonder if the overreliance on Dichio taught TFC a bad habit of launching long balls and hope that someone gets on the end of it.
TFC isn't exactly a team with a lot of footy IQ, if this season proved anything.
But a target man striker, with DeRo playing just behind could provide an offensive option. Target man wins the long ball in the air. First touch to DeRo to run onto. This would be a secondary option.
Primary option is to move up the ball through the middle, utilizing JDG/Guevara as creator as CM to play possession based offence.
This would require a smart manager to implement the plan, and also finding a target man striker who is right for TFC. The problem is, classic target man striker is harder to find nowadays.
Food for thought