Matt1892

You are actually proving my point with this post, in that if a player is missing who has a particular skill set you play towards and the back up player doesn’t share that skill set, then you cannot keep playing the same tactics and hope they work.

I think the club should put the feelers out through an intermediary to see who is available and would be interested in joining in the summer. If we can’t attract a manager of quality then I would stick with him and hope he learns, although if we do stick with him then we need to be prepared to give him the whole of next season, rather than moving him on in November if next season starts like this one is going.

You are missing the point too, as nobody is saying that you should still be as good when your better players are out. Where he is tactically limited is where we set up with having a goalkeeper that sweeps up in Pope, meaning we can get away with a higher line, yet when Pope is out and replaced with a keeper that isn’t comfortable sweeping up, we still play with the high line and are done with long balls constantly.

There you go, bucko. https://www.scribbr.co.uk/fallacy/straw-man-argument/

It seems you are the one missing the point now, as you seem to be quoting me and arguing against a point that I haven’t even made. A good old straw man fallacy.

What the injuries this season has shown is how tactically limited Howe is, he has made hardly any adjustments to the formation or tactics despite having key players missing that make the system work. It appears he has no idea how to compensate for not having a keeper that comes out to sweep up, yet still goes with the same tactics meaning that we are conceding goals for fun. Despite the injuries Europe is still achievable, the chasing pack seem that much worse this season so hopefully we can get it.

Again, I was just replying to his point.

The other thing about today was the referee for their second goal, at the time I didn’t think he should of allowed play to continue but I am wondering if Schar is becoming the boy who cried wolf with him going down holding his face at least once per game, that refs are not going for it anymore.

Gordon played for the first one in a similar way he did for the penalty against Bournemouth, he is clever in how he does it.

I’m not the one flouncing here.?

No, but I didn’t say he did, more pointing out that he hadn’t.

I thought you said you were not replying any more?

I don’t think Gordon took possession of the ball, he tried to reach it but didn’t and at no point did he appear to shepherd the ball.

I am not too bothered if you think I’m talking rubbish or not, you said you didn’t understand why people would think it wasn’t a penalty and I am explaining to you their thought process in why it wouldn’t be. There is a reason why when defenders make tackles they attempt to block the ball, rather than trying to put their foot in between the player trying to kick the ball and the ball. It isn’t worth getting worked up about.

I don’t need to clarify it as we have all seen the footage, you come across as taking this to heart in your response like it is some sort of attack. I can’t think of any penalties off the top of my head but if one of our players was through on goal and was about to kick the ball, then a defender put his foot in the way to stop me having a clear strike of the ball and instead kicked his leg, then I would be arguing for the penalty to us, rather than a foul the other way.

He puts is foot in between Philips foot and the ball, without actually playing the ball, which is where the subjective side of it comes in. I think it is a difficult call and would be as annoyed as West Ham fans if it happened to us.

I think the issue with the penalty is if the same piece of play happened in our penalty box, where Philips went to kick the ball and Gordon put his foot in the way, then it would have been seen as a foul to West Ham and they would have had a penalty themselves, which is why they are arguing that it was a foul by Gordon.

Krafth wasn’t injured but I don’t know what subs were planned and what was forced, as I don’t think he would have brought Tino and Krafth off at the same time if Tino wasn’t injured. It was as if some of the subs were already planned and then Tino being injured added to it. I don’t think Krafth was that bad today by the way, it was that Howe bringing him on meant that there was a complete shift around at the back apart from Schar, which was when we got caught out, rather than bringing Hall on and shifting Burn inside. That situation I put down to Howe not wanting 2 attack minded fullbacks on the pitch at the same time, which is something he tries to avoid unless we have no other options or have hit the shit or bust button.

You don’t need to spend £30 million on a second choice keeper, only 7 goalkeepers in history have cost more than that. What you do if you know a keeper having the ability to sweep is vital to the way you play, is you go out and sign someone for not a lot of money as a back up to Pope that is comfortable coming off their line.

Bizarre decision to bring Krafth on in the first half than Hall, everything he does with the ball is tidy.

Dubs is a decent shot stopper, he isn’t suited to what we want from a keeper though from a sweeping point of view and I am surprised it hasn’t been addressed already, considering we have spent near £400 million on players over the last 3 years.

It was a great finish to the game but it isn’t one I would point to as a masterclass in management, if anything it had the same feeling as the 4-4 against Arsenal about it. What it did show is when the crowd get behind the team and we go on the front foot then teams will crumble under it, it was especially enjoyable after the Ole’s from the West Ham fans when they were cruising early in the second half.

The only points we have from losing position is the 3 points today, and then one point each from Bournemouth and Luton at home. So 5 points from losing positions this season.

This is the first league game we have won from a losing position this season.

They didn’t start well but to be fair to Mike Williamson he recognised that and made some early subs which changed the game for them.