That's really not how it worked with NI under LS, since I simply don't recall our defenders hoofing it down the middle and certainly never the big guy (Quinn or Lafferty) ever "nodding it out to the wingers". (Granted, Taylor did set up a couple of goals for Healy via a quick punt down the field, but that was an ad hoc response to heavy pressure, where the opposition were caught forward, rather than a pre-planned tactic)Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
Sanchez relied heavily on wide players (Gillespie or Jones on the right, Elliott, Brunt or Sproule on the left), who hit a mixture of early crosses, through passes or pull-backs from the byline.
His centre midfield was usually a combination of a ball-winner (Johnson or Clingan) alongside a more creative player (Davis).
In all cases, they were instructed to get the ball forward quickly, but it was as often to Healy cutting in from either flank or timing a late run as it was to the big guy, it was as often via the wings as it was through the middle and it was more often along the deck than up in the air, since regardless of position, Healy was the usual target. As such, his goals were of every type (close-in, from distance, headers, either foot, through on the keeper, chipped from the edge of the box etc).
Therefore, the key was in Healy's mobility, perpetual work rate and accuracy, with the player on the ball to get it forward quickly and all the other players instructed to provide physical support and take defenders away from him.
As UEFA's stats show, Healy was actually flagged offside more times than any other player in the Euro qualifiers:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eur...t=o/index.html
For most players, you'd just say that he was inept, except that he scored more goals than anyone else:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eur...=gs/index.html
He also had the 3rd highest number of attempts on target:
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eur...=sg/index.html
However, when it came to the number of shots off target, he was only 10th equal (alongside Robbie Keane!)
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eur...=sw/index.html
What this says is that Healy worked incredibly hard, forever pushing defences to the limit all along the front line, so that when he did get the ball away from a defender within scoring range, his extremely accurate finishing (i.e not just on target, but beyond the keeper) did the rest.
And the other significant statistic about Healy is that he played every one of the 13 scoreless games before Sanchez took over.
Therefore, it is clear to me that with NI, Sanchez quickly found a system to suit the players available to him, without that system being Route One (long ball).
Which is why I feel that if he were given the ROI job, he'd also have to work with the players available to him, and therefore have to find the system which best suited them.
Moreover, on the question of attitude, he'd quickly sort out those whose attitude is suspect, thereby concentrating on the players he trusted.
If I were Delaney, I'd instruct the Selection Panel to camp out on Sanchez's doorstep every night until he signed, since he's proven with NI that he can transform an underperforming team at international level, and with the better basic talent available to him in the ROI squad, I think he'd be as good a bet to qualify as anyone esle who is realistically available.
But as I say, I doubt if he'd accept ;)
