Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We're playing his way and looking pretty imperious doing it. We just don't have good enough players in key positions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howaythetoon Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Our football is not quick enough, it's quite simple for a well organised side to keep us out if we are not at the very top of our game or if our key performers are not playing or playing well. Nullify Shelvey and Gayle and we are one dimensional and predictable for example and as we huff and puff we eventually run out of ideas. For all our possession, we are a slow paced, one dimensional kind of side and it's effecting some of our players such as Ritchie, Perez and even Diame. If we played a quicker tempo game and used the flanks more, I think we would convert chances into goals even more and nor lose so many, even at the expense of dominating possession which for us is almost 60% nothing football played between the defence and sideways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Anyone considered the fact he's used to working with significantly superior players than he has at his disposal at present? Not just in terms of talent, but intelligence and ability to follow tactics and instruction. I bet he's as frustrated with them as any of us. This is obviously giving him the benefit of the doubt but whilst it's easy to say losing Shelvey shouldn't have had such an impact, if he's one of the players Benitez has seen the quality in and has therefore invested time and effort into building the team around him then it's less of a surprise his absence is being felt so much. I rate him far too highly to think that. He's been in football a long time and doesn't miss much from what I've seen. Shelvey is a quality player, but when you consider how many options we have in other areas of the pitch, I'd be surprised if Rafa built his whole game plan on him playing every game. Colback is a shit replacement, and it cost us the game today, no getting around it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Honestly the issues we have are not anything new. Width, creativity, tempo and depth in midfield have been issues since before the season started. I just felt like we'd get away with it for longer than we have, also I fear we won't get the required quality in the said department until next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Our football is not quick enough, it's quite simple for a well organised side to keep us out if we are not at the very top of our game or if our key performers are not playing or playing well. Nullify Shelvey and Gayle and we are one dimensional and predictable for example and as we huff and puff we eventually run out of ideas. For all our possession, we are a slow paced, one dimensional kind of side and it's effecting some of our players such as Ritchie, Perez and even Diame. If we played a quicker tempo game and used the flanks more, I think we would convert chances into goals even more and nor lose so many, even at the expense of dominating possession which for us is almost 60% nothing football played between the defence and sideways. We play at a high tempo until the crunch moment. A lot of 1-2 touch passing in our build up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Our football is not quick enough, it's quite simple for a well organised side to keep us out if we are not at the very top of our game or if our key performers are not playing or playing well. Nullify Shelvey and Gayle and we are one dimensional and predictable for example and as we huff and puff we eventually run out of ideas. For all our possession, we are a slow paced, one dimensional kind of side and it's effecting some of our players such as Ritchie, Perez and even Diame. If we played a quicker tempo game and used the flanks more, I think we would convert chances into goals even more and nor lose so many, even at the expense of dominating possession which for us is almost 60% nothing football played between the defence and sideways. Totally agree. Rafa is a cup specialist and those tactics work fine in a short form KO format. In this league where the finishing is usually abysmal we should have far more confidence in our own strike power and let them loose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Easy to forget it's these tactics that had us as the highest scorers in the country and were winning games for fun upto a month ago. It's a bad spell which we'll get out of. Villa spunked millions on 'guaranteed Championship goals' in the summer and look where they are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Easy to forget it's these tactics that had us as the highest scorers in the country and were winning games for fun upto a month ago. It's a bad spell which we'll get out of. Villa spunked millions on 'guaranteed Championship goals' in the summer and look where they are. You're right, it's incredibly easy to forget. There also seems to be this Keegan-esque insistence that we don't need to focus on defending much/have a defence that can cope. We've been a great unit for the first half of the season, top scorers and one of the meanest defences - that's tremendous balance. I don't think we're really good enough at the back, unlike last time, to open up as much. We seem very susceptible to counters whenever we try and chase games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovejoy Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Easy to forget it's these tactics that had us as the highest scorers in the country and were winning games for fun upto a month ago. It's a bad spell which we'll get out of. Villa spunked millions on 'guaranteed Championship goals' in the summer and look where they are. This. We're having a sticky patch, one which was always likely to come at some point but had luckily came now when we're able to bring some new players in. He'll have flaws, he'll make mistakes, but don't forget he's trying to change an entire culture at the club, all whilst playing in a league which is new to him with a lot of new players. We'll still win it imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Imagine the uproar if Pardew/Carver/McClaren had bought the totally out of form Perez on today to change the game and then waited until the dying seconds to throw on Murphy. He may be a fantastic manager but he's getting a lot wrong at the moment and it worries me that he keeps persisting with the same mistakes. With the squad we have in this league there is simply no excuses for the shit that we've had to witness today and in previous weeks. We may have had winning runs but we are still 2nd and ever increasingly in danger of being caught. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyPalAl Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Imagine the uproar if Pardew/Carver/McClaren had bought the totally out of form Perez on today to change the game and then waited until the dying seconds to throw on Murphy. He may be a fantastic manager but he's getting a lot wrong at the moment and it worries me that he keeps persisting with the same mistakes. With the squad we have in this league there is simply no excuses for the shit that we've had to witness today and in previous weeks. We may have had winning runs but we are still 2nd and ever increasingly in danger of being caught. This Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shays Given Tim Flowers Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 If mcclaren or pardew had come in very late in the season and failed to save us from relegation, before clearing out the squad, and getting us off to the equivalent points total as our last promotion season, I doubt there would be much uproar at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Exactly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think a big part of the issue is that we're not only dropping points; we're losing to the league's worst teams and playing very poorly in doing so. When we go 1-0 down it's game over and everyone knows it. If we go up and carry that same trend into next season we'll be lucky to get 35 points. It's something to needs to be addressed with a revision of the team's setup when we have the ball and imminent investment in at least two attacking players - not squad players, players who push shite like Alsoran and Colback out of the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We lost today because: a.) Colback b.) Shelvey We need to buy a creative midfielder as back up for Shelvey as Collback should never wear the Black and White shirt again. He's cost us a good few points just by being on the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiotes Witch Doctor Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We cant spend 3-4 seasons blaming managers for how awful we are and not criticise Benitez for the utter shite hes served up lately. The man is stubborn and has the team playing in one way and one way only, he needs to adapt and be flexible with the expensive squad HE put together. Make subs to influence the game BEFORE we concede would be a great start. Outfoxed by Owen Coyle twice in the space of a few months.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pons Alias Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Lack of experience in the Championship? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We cant spend 3-4 seasons blaming managers for how awful we are and not criticise Benitez for the utter shite hes served up lately. The man is stubborn and has the team playing in one way and one way only, he needs to adapt and be flexible with the expensive squad HE put together. Make subs to influence the game BEFORE we concede would be a great start. The stubbornness with 4231 is getting on my nerves, this for me explains the subs situation as well. His changes are always like for like, until the striker comes on if we are losing. I just think you have to adapt at times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Lack of experience in the Championship? I don't think he was expecting the way teams would defend against us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seymour Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The most frustrating thing about Rafa was that I don't even think he had to do much different today Just make the subs earlier and I feel we would have won Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsley Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We cant spend 3-4 seasons blaming managers for how awful we are and not criticise Benitez for the utter s**** hes served up lately. The man is stubborn and has the team playing in one way and one way only, he needs to adapt and be flexible with the expensive squad HE put together. Make subs to influence the game BEFORE we concede would be a great start. So we have to criticise Rafa to be fair to Pardew and McClaren? As if a temporary blip in an otherwise impressive campaign is on a par with the masses of shite that we've had to put with in recent times? If anything, the sorry state of Rafa's predecessors should offer some perspective on the extent of the rebuild job he's currently overseeing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mighty__mag Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think a big part of the issue is that we're not only dropping points; we're losing to the league's worst teams and playing very poorly in doing so. When we go 1-0 down it's game over and everyone knows it. If we go up and carry that same trend into next season we'll be lucky to get 35 points. It's something to needs to be addressed with a revision of the team's setup when we have the ball and imminent investment in at least two attacking players - not squad players, players who push shite like Alsoran and Colback out of the team. Have we come from behind to win yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Norwich. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimpy474 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We cant spend 3-4 seasons blaming managers for how awful we are and not criticise Benitez for the utter s**** hes served up lately. The man is stubborn and has the team playing in one way and one way only, he needs to adapt and be flexible with the expensive squad HE put together. Make subs to influence the game BEFORE we concede would be a great start. So we have to criticise Rafa to be fair to Pardew and McClaren? As if a temporary blip in an otherwise impressive campaign is on a par with the masses of shite that we've had to put with in recent times? If anything, the sorry state of Rafa's predecessors should offer some perspective on the extent of the rebuild job he's currently overseeing. In some respects that is perfectly true but in regard to subs, formations and tactics during a game it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Not making subs until it's too late, playing a system that needs a tweak during a game has nothing to do with Pardew, McClaren or anyone else. It's perfectly fair for any of us to say it isn't working when it clearly isn't at any given time. It's not hysterical or wrong to comment on flaws in what Rafas doing. The man and what he's doing with the club are brilliant, the football side will follow i've no doubt at all, but to ignore clear failings in something i've no doubt he'll sort out is ridiculous just because he's Rafa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mighty__mag Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Norwich. Ah of course. The game where subs were made sooner rather than later and we were forced to play two strikers. Amost makes sense to try this more when we are behind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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