Don't get me wrong I wouldn't mind if we played Long Ball if we were winning like when AB came and we were awesome up until about November.
The passing game was mostly the same towards the end of last season where we would have it near their corner flag, do about 15 passes when it eventually gets to Murphy who gets pressured by their striker and has to hoof it anyway.
I think Wood is a good defender who can stop goals from going in and win balls in the air but doesn't playing the ball out of defense. Malaga looked to want to play a pass whenever he could from the back.
It annoys me that we are willing to hoof it and give possession away but we never try shots from outside the box in case it goes wide and gives them a goal kick.
There's a difference between playing long ball as a tactic, and having players who lack composure resorting to a hoof when the lack of movement in front of them provides precious little in the way of passing options. All you "why the long ball?!" posters are totally misinterpreting what's going wrong: right to criticise, but it's the movement and lack of composure at the back you should be criticising.
Ha, fact, you make me laugh! What do you know based on facts? Jack. It's just obvious to me, based on everything I see watching the game added to what the coaching staff say. I'm sure there's a lot of points gettable on Thorn Bingo for "that's not what we're about" whenever we do go blatantly long!