Time is up for Total Football: Roger Moore scores

Last updated : 23 December 2008 By Roger Moore
They say that less is sometimes more. And while my better half, and possibly yours, was availing herself of the generous discounts on the high street, we saw a little bit less of our own on Saturday - gutless, clueless and spiritless to name but three of many possible descriptions.

Time is sadly now up on the Lowe-inspired experiment with Total Football.

Regular readers will know I have extended every patience to the inexperienced coaching and playing team at Saint Mary's. But Saturday's display, coming hard on the heels of one woeful and one disappointing away performance, surely is endemic of a wider malaise?

Or are we really to believe that the lack of positional sense, tactical organisation and effort were just, as one player would have us believe, 'a bad day at the office'?

While there have been flashes of genuine style this season, recent performances must now surely point to an underlying problem as players continue to make basic errors, fail to deliver on their promise and look bereft of confidence and belief. The occasional earlier-season brilliance has been replaced by regular dereliction of duty and our failure to score or defend is a dangerous combination with only one probable outcome.

When Jan Poortvliet admitted at the start of the season that he had been surprised by the quality of football in the Championship it was easy to forgive his admirable humility and honesty. His decency and willingness to engage with fans are beyond doubt. But these qualities alone, while genuine, are simply not delivering on the field of play. And no points or Championship survival are awarded for being a bloody good bloke.

The reality is slowly dawning that inexperience led by inexperience is simply too tough a task, even for the most willing of candidates. While a team can afford to carry one or two players who are learning on the job, I fear our current reliance on unproven youth is helping neither us nor them.

As the season has unfolded so their mental and physical fragility has been exposed. And I am now left wondering, have we just been expecting too much? Of course, these players will tell you they are ready. But ready to be relied on in a relegation battle? I wonder.

Right now, what we need are some size ten balls - the kind that would be instilled by a Boothroyd or Davies. These are the managers who understand the delicate balance between brute force and skill needed to thrive in the Championship.

Of course, whether we have the raw materials is another matter. And while I enjoy and would not discourage the idea of playing high-tempo football on the ground where our good Lord intended, we also need steel through our spine.

Today either the players or formation currently lack the grit needed to grind out results. They also lack the power - a string of under-delivered corners testament to this problem.

Even the most successful Arsenal side boasted a forceful Patrick Viera to marshal not just the midfield area, but to lead by potent example on the park. And this organisation is what we appear to lack.

Perhaps because Jan's fluid formation is just a step too far for our players, of late we have started to look shapeless and disorganised. They appear to lack the discipline needed for any formation, let alone the 4-2-2-1-1 espoused and favoured by the current coaching team.

Most galling on Saturday was the lack of really simple link-up play through the midfield from back to front. And I'm beginning to question whether the instructions and thought needed for a 'Total Football' approach are just a little too complicated for our boys.

While Lee Holmes ploughed an honest furrow on the left, there appeared to be no right side at all and the supposed spearhead striker was too often behind the ball and the play. As a result those crosses that were delivered into the opposition penalty area proved absolutely useless.

The crowd's insistence that the manager play 4-4-2 was apparently rewarded on seventy minutes, but such was the disorganisation it was impossible to tell. Right now, ask me who played the last twenty minutes in the striking positions and I would hazard a guess at Jason Euell and Bradley Wright-Phillips, but only because neither touched the ball!

So, we're left to ruminate on whether the players, the system or the coach are to blame for the lacklustre efforts of late. And while normally I find myself supporting the coach and urging patience and time, after half a season we really do appear to have gone nowhere.

Impressive victories over Birmingham and Derby are now a distant memory and the unexpected win at Reading now looks an exception to the rule.
What's clear is that something has to change and soon; otherwise another relegation beckons.

And on that cheery note, I wish you and yours and our football club a very Happy Christmas and a much more prosperous 2009!