Akron dominated possession. Not only did they value the ball when they had it, but when they lost it they pressured high and filled gaps to get the ball back quickly. But what about the type of possession? That's where I had a few questions.
I liked that the defenders wanted to get the ball on the floor and play through midfield. I liked that they looked to switch the field after a series of short passes. I liked that they usually played quickly and without too many touches. But there was that oh-so familiar feeling for United fans: dominating the middle of the park, but having it all break down as play approached the box.
And there were worrying signs at the back as well. You like that the defense wanted to play, but when under pressure from forwards or direct balls (particularly set pieces), things started to look fragile. Sound familiar?
In the end, it's hard to make a blanket judgement on the basis of a record and one game's viewing (what the hell, FB--you're a blogger, that's what you do right?), but you can see what the FO likes in Porter's approach...
Or they've been reading the DCU|FM Challenge and decided that an inexperienced manager in his mid-thirties with a penchant for possession ball and getting width from his fullbacks was the way to go after all... ;-)
I noticed the same. Akron was easy to root for because their style of play just felt so familiar.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed though that, for the most part, Akron's players didn't seem to be as athletically gifted or as physically impressive as North Carolina's. Yet Akron still looked like the far superior team. Hopefully that had something to do with Porter, and hopefully that will translate at the professional level, if Porter is indeed our choice.