I'm more than happy for our players to get better at all skills but I'd certainly put the emphasis on creating space/working in tight areas ahead of crossing.
Yeah, when I generalise crosses it's mostly because of the ones that I would describe as being the old English method of scoring. Ones where the ball is "whipped into the danger area" as pundits like to call it, for a big striker to bully his way onto.
Crosses that are on the end of a through ball into the dangerous areas that Lennon used to get into for what I'd term a cut back (but some would call a cross) are not only enjoyable football but a fairly effective method of scoring. These become more and more difficult to work as teams are less willing to attack us though, and we'd need a lot of skill to work them.
As I said in an earlier post, I can accept that a pressured player can use a long ball to relieve pressure - obviously that should open up a bit of space under a heavy press. Ideally, in the longer-term, I'd like to see our players able to play their way through and out of a heavy press. Obviously I do realise that usually only the very best teams do that and we're not there yet.
I still believe, in principle, that using the long ball as a method of attack when there are other options is not only a low-return style of play but also incredibly unattractive.
