Quote Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory View Post
Thankfully, we’ve ditched the suicidal high backline. Was reading Arseblog today or one of the columns and didn’t we manage to beat Southampton during the home tie because we pressed them when high up the pitch? Goalkeeper mistakes? I thought our defensive tactic was to press within the first few seconds of losing the ball then back off and contain if unsuccessful. We’ve stopped pressing as hard and it’s not the first time we’ve seen this. I remember when we first started playing a 4-3-3 we were pressing hard and as a unit but that stopped as the season went on. We’d also see a high pressing game in odd games like that one game against Chelsea and then we’d abandon that tactic. We’ll see what we do over the next few games.
Yeah the game was in stark contrast to the other game against them. I'm not the biggest fan of high backlines but if we want to press and squeeze the opposition in their own half, then the backline does need to follow suit and play a higher line themselves.