Are We Helping Teams Sit In Against Us?

The talk after plenty of games is always the same: “They sat in a low block against us.” Sometimes that’s true, but I’m not convinced it’s the full picture. A lot of the time it feels like we’re allowing the block to form because our build-up is so precise, so careful, that the opposition have time to shuffle back into their shape.

It’s not that we’re doing anything “wrong” in isolation. Keeping the ball, controlling the tempo, not forcing it too early, all of that is sound. But there’s a trade-off. If you take two or three extra passes at the back or in midfield, you might keep possession… and still end up attacking ten men behind the ball anyway.

Quick forward play changes the picture

What I keep coming back to is bravery, really. Not Hollywood stuff, not constant hit-and-hope, just the willingness to play the forward pass a touch earlier. One pass quicker into feet. A sharper ball into the half-space. A switch before the full-back has reset his position. Little moments that stop the opposition getting comfortable.

Earlier in the season there were spells where we looked a bit open in transition because we committed bodies. That happens. But we were still winning games, and you could at least see teams worrying about what was coming back at them.

The worst of both worlds

Now it can feel like we’re ending up in a strange middle ground. We still get plenty of bodies forward eventually, so we’re not exactly sitting off. But because the ball arrives later, the opponent is compact, close together, and waiting for the moment we overplay or lose it.

And when we do give it away, the counter is on anyway. That’s the frustrating bit. You can accept being done on the break if you’re taking risks that create big chances. It’s harder to swallow when the risk comes after a long spell of sterile possession and you still end up facing a 2v2 or worse a couple of times a match.

Width, 1v1s, and the ‘inverted’ question

Against compact defences, you want players who can win a duel and force a second defender to help. That’s why it’s fair to ask why young Rio isn’t getting more minutes in those situations if his 1v1 ability is there. Sometimes you don’t need another neat passer, you need someone to break the first line of resistance.

It also makes you question the insistence on inverted wingers when the box is already crowded. There are games where a right-footed winger on the right (and left on the left) just to hold the width, go outside, and put the full-back under pressure feels like the simpler answer. Not every problem needs the cleverest solution. Sometimes it just needs the quickest one.

Written by long term view: 10 January 2026