We should have been up by 12 goals by then. So who is switching to behind the ball defense? The coaching staff? the players? If it is the coaching staff, they should be sacked because we saw in 2015 it is not a winning formula. If it is the players, the coaching staff should still be sacked for not doing something about it. It is not a one-off thing. It happens too regularly. That makes me certain it is game plan and strategy, not player led.
McCarthy's reluctance to handball over the top is a coaching problem, because the coaches do not condone all out attack. Players are told not to take risks. That is obvious all over the ground.
I'll say it again, when defenders look up and all they can see is a bunch of players clogging up the wing, they are going to hesitate. this will put pressure on their decision making which will lead to
I) a long bomb to a pack
ii) An attempt to kick across the ground
iii) running around in circles before handballing to a teammate under the pump.
All of the above lead to a high percentage of turnovers. Look at the successful sides. They have players on the wings sure, but only a couple. This gives space for them to lead into, which gives the defender an immediate and positive target, which results in an immediate and positive kick. The result of that is a kick into the forward line to (hopefully) a player leading up the ground into the space that the opposition haven't clogged up.
At the moment most of our kicks forward are to a stationary target who is easy meat for a couple of nearby defenders. We do have the skills to play the fast, open, play on game as is evidenced when we do try it. It should be our stock in trade, not just some desperate move after half time for 20 minutes when nothing else has worked.
