We need to concentrate on our play in the final third. The quality of crossing is fairly abysmal, its unimaginative, as if the players only know one way.
I watch a fair amount of Ajax, a team which rely even more heavily on wing play and overlapping backs than we do. A lot of their goals are scored from wing play. They tend to get the ball down to the by-line, but instead of just slamming it across the goalmouth, like 95% of our crosses, they often work the ball in from the wings in stages and then cut it back to a player 10 yards out or around the penalty spot. Or they use a right footed player on the left wing or a right footed player on the left wing to curl crosses in goalwards, which incoming runners try to get on the end of. In short, they have a lot more variety.
An extra problem for us is that it needs players in the middle, including onrushing midfielders, on the same wavelength. That's where midfielders like Mulumby or Livermore are completly the wrong type of player. We could probably be waiting the next 5 seasons without seeing them make runs forward into the box.
The fact is we need far better link up between those delivering crosses, and those meeting them. Of course we should be coaching them to make them better, but it may be that certain players are just too limited.
