We have a seasons worth of performances that show little correlation between possession/domination & results in comparison to the importance of simply having a very strong defensive system and attackers that will do enough to get the points. If teams have a very hard time scoring against you & you are good at putting the ball in the net, you will win games against most sides. Pardew has put in place the defensive system that achieves that & bought the attackers that do the business the other side. In what way is it likely that this will suddenly stop working?
I wouldn't delegate that much praise on Pardew's doorstep, for systematically & deliberately targetting 'finishers' that are capable of killing sides with very few chances created in open play.
The team's genuine matchwinners are Ba, Ben Arfa and now Cisse - with special mention to Collo as an additional threat from set-pieces. And those attackers mentioned falls into the overall policy of identifying & pursuiing players whose current value has opportunistically slipped below their true market worth, and can be moved-on for a profit.
Arfa: damaged goods (at Marseille, prior to his loan) with his contract running into it's final two years. OM attempts to tout him (to bigger spending clubs, for a higher transfer fee) failed.
Ba: we cashed in on a contractual release clause.
Cisse: Freiburg's valuation far exceeds ours in the Summer, and we're appropriately rebuffed. Freiburg's table predicament changes later in the year (unexpectantly poor season) and the spectre of relegation forces an unexpected firesale of arguably their top asset, as they seek to reinforce the playing list (on a limited budget) for the post-Jan relegation fight .
While they're on our books , with Ba hopefully secured to a new deal, all three are capable of putting 40m, into the coffers, for outgoing transfer deals. HBA is the wildcard in that lot, if he fully realizes his potential and doesn't become distracted, namely by man-management issues.
The attacking trio in particular, thanks to their technique and athletic ability alone, are capable of scoring against the run-of-play. They'll survive in a turgid playing system of anti-football, on talent alone, but likewise we won't get the best out them over the long haul - just sporadic bursts. This type of Souness/Fat Sam/Kinnear/Pardew defensive anti-football goes against every principle they've been taught, and it will likely chip away at their morale over time. Ben Arfa has already made called-out Pardew's style of football, in that it goes against everything that he has been taught at Clairefontaine, by directly comparing it against & making reference to Brendan Rodger's pass-and-move football. They deserve better.
It's sucker-punch football which is being coached by Pardew, and those genuine match-winners with resale value (who can conjure a score out of nothing) in many of our narrow wins this season will be difficult to replace. Within the constraints of our budget, by consistently attempting to acquire this calibre of player on the cheap, top-6 finishes (let alone top half) is unsustainable. Ba's and Ben Arfa's don't grow trees for a combined transfer fee of less than 10m.
And it's a self-defeating style of play for any club hoping to develop raw talent from within the academy set-up, as the gulf in football coaching philosophies (between a more technical base at the academy level, and Pardew's) too wide a dividing gap. The Barcelona's, Ajax's and Arsenal's of the footballing world are consistent (re: their overall tactical philosophy) from academy to first team. Positive judgement is always passed on the rapidfire development once their youngsters are finally blooded into the first team picture. They look like seasoned already. Natural talent obviously has to be there, but the transition to first-team football is seamless. The gameplan and tactics are already entrenched, and that's thanks to having a consistent coaching & tactical mindset at all levels.
Agree with most of that. What's the thing about Ben Arfa and the style of football?
It was post-match after our first clash with Swansea, whether it was directly after or during the following week i can't specifically remember. He made mention of & admired Swansea's style of play, after they outpassed & outmoved us in that said match. It was the type pass-and-move footy that he was taught, back in his junior/academy days at Clarefontaine.
Surprised he said that as Swansea were awful against us and played probably their most 'defensive' game of the season - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16124233
