Motherwell fans need to lose 'get rid' urges amid new style

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

Ok, I admit it. When Calum Ward was dribbling the ball out from the back the other day and trying to thread passes on the edge of his 18-yarder as if he was Franz Beckenbauer in his pomp (he isn't) my heart was in my mouth just a little.
I don't know if it's a reflexively Scottish thing to immediately get the heebie jeebies when your team tries something as 'continental' and 'woke' as playing the ball out from the back, but watching the Motherwell players trying to execute the philosophy of Jens Berthel Askou for the first time, even in a pre-season kickabout, seemingly sparked a dose of the vapours among a good chunk of the support.
One can only imagine how many of the Fir Park punters would react if the team attempts this on the opening day of the league campaign against Rangers. Though, we don't really need to imagine it at all, because we can simply recall the reaction when Jim Gannon and then Graham Alexander initially tried it during their own tenures as manager.
(Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group) With the greatest of respect to the likes of club legend Stephen Craigan and then later on, cult hero Bevis Mugabi, they didn't look altogether comfortable with the notion, to say the least. And as for the fans? Well, the good folk from St John's better be on alert for a sharp increase in medical incidents just above the dugouts.
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These managers soon ripped up Plan A, and tailored their style to suit the tools with which they were working. And after the friendly defeat to FC Twente, many speculated online that Berthel Askou would soon come to a similar realisation that his players just weren't good enough to pull this sort of thing off. That a modern, progressive style just isn't for the likes of us.
But here's the thing. I'm not sure he will.
Granted, he might not have his keeper playing quite so high up the pitch at times, and he clearly doesn't intend him to be on the ball quite as often as he was in the midweek game. Much of that was caused by the players ahead of the defence not quite executing the sort of movement he wants from them, by the by, hence the frequent shouts accusing them of 'hiding' from the dugout.
There will be tweaks to what we saw against Twente when the competitive stuff gets underway, for sure, but when Berthel Askou arrived, his pitch was that a more 'dynamic' and 'aggressive' approach with 'more dimensions' was vital to the success of his team.
Having met him, he doesn't seem the type to be swayed from that belief by groans from the crowd and people imploring him 'to get the ball up the f****** park'.
Let's not forget, this is what a large section of the fanbase (me included) wanted. An end to years of predominantly long hoofs, 50/50s, and scrapping for second balls. Entertaining and enterprising football. Players taking the ball under pressure and being comfortable on it. High pressing, high intensity. And yes, a little higher risk.
There were glimpses of it under Michael Wimmer, and now it seems from early impressions that Berthel Askou is going to crank that up another notch.
(Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times) He has time to bring in players more suited to such a game model, but there were signs on Tuesday that even with the current group, this can work. When it came off, and when Motherwell broke the Twente press, they created opportunities.
A proper balance will have to be found. There's nothing wrong with going long when the occasion demands it, and as some of the pitches deteriorate towards the winter, those occasions will increase.
I can understand the reticence from some to embrace this sort of style. In a division where the margins are razor thin, increasing the risk around your own area seems counter-intuitive.
But the rewards could be great.
Brendan Rodgers picked up on this theme a couple of years ago. Ok, he has far better players at his disposal than Motherwell do, but when discussing taking his Celtic side into the Champions League, he hit back at those who criticised him for playing out against teams better than his own.
"People don't pick up on the balls that get smashed up the pitch that come right back at you and it ends up in a goal,' Rodgers said.
'No-one ever talks about that. But the minute a short build-up leads to a goal?
'I guarantee the stats are greater for mistakes in the long ball build-up. Any top team in the world will build from the back. If you make a mistake, you can't kill your goalkeeper. It's about decision making.'
This isn't Berthel Askou reinventing the wheel, here, after all. Teams around Europe have been doing this for years. And the players, no matter what you may think about some of them and their technical limitations, are capable of controlling the ball and passing it 10 or 15 yards.
It all boils down to their decision-making, and with more practice and repetition, that will get better. But it will also take patience from the crowd.
If we want to move away from the drudgery of the past and towards a more sophisticated and entertaining brand of football, we have to give Berthel Askou a chance to implement it.
Therefore, I am hereby banning myself from uttering the words 'get rid!' in the early stages of the season, and I politely suggest you do the same. Even if we all know that little voice inside of us, who wants us to play it safe and to pretend it's still 1987, will be screaming at us to do so.
Even if one hand is over my eyes, I'll be keeping the other one over my gub.