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This was the most interesting thing, I watched all of the second half and Elfsborg were well worth their win. I would go as far as to say that despite their low possession there wasn't many points that they didn't look completely in control of the game. Malmo are clearly used to having lots of the ball and Elfsborg would let them have it in their own half (unless trying to regain just lost possession) but once into Elfsborgs half they kinda herd them into specific areas then pounce on them and invariably take the ball. Then they break. And every time they break with purpose, players flood forward and within a few seconds a lot of the time the defenders are facing their goal and panicking. One of the most notable things was there was a couple of passages of play where they had just taken the ball and they had be very tidy with it not to lose it again straight away. In other words don't let the low possession stat make you think Elfsborg can't pass the ball and keep it, they absolutely can and I'm sure could play a possession strategy if they so wished. The fact they don't wish to is what makes this such a very interesting setup and I genuinely can't recall seeing anything quite like it before. After watching that game I am now quite glad Thelin isn't coming till June, you could not come into a team midseason and try and implement this way of playing. It could also be argued the league cup group stage could provide a useful testing ground to what is going to be a drastic change in strategy for the first team.

It's what Robson tried and failed to do. It works well against good teams, but we're not going to be sacrificing 70% of the possession against County or Killie at home. It doesn't take long for teams to figure out a team's style either. You need to have at least two ways of playing in the SPFL (unless you're a Livingston or Hamilton or whoever). I agree that passing out from the back falls down massively when we recruit a hoofer at the back because that's what we can afford.