Yorkie Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Did it look at all likely that we would concede after those changes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy84 Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I think the ability to be able to choke a game out is one of Rafa's main strengths. Has a way to go yet with us but once we get that right we will win plenty of games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Job done then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I thought when bringing Lascalles on we'd go to three at the back and push the full backs right on as an experiment type thing. Nope it was a flat back 5....then Colback. Too cautious, lets get after games and teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Shutting the game down is a much better idea against Championship teams with little attacking fret. They don't have the ability to apply the same kind of pressure as better sides. I wouldn't want to see it every time but we really needed to just get the points bagged last night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Shutting the game down is a much better idea against Championship teams with little attacking fret. They don't have the ability to apply the same kind of pressure as better sides. I wouldn't want to see it every time but we really needed to just get the points bagged last night. we've also got a defence that gifts goals to the opposition due to the smallest bit of pressure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Did it look at all likely that we would concede after those changes? No We didn't look like conceding before the changes either. The changes allowed Reading further up the pitch and more possession. We gave the ball away too easily and Dummett headed behind for a corner under no pressure at all. We need better footballers if we are to go that defensive. I'd have taken Shelvey off, his work rate was better but after he hit that pass that led to the free kick for the 1st goal he again wasted the ball and possession by trying far too many 40 yard passes from the middle of his own half. I really do hope that we can replace him for a CM who can go past a man and carry the ball. I can see he's been praised by some but I don't see it. He's in a vital position and he's not what we need there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 /keep the score down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowlingcrofty Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Not to mention we have another game in less than 72 hours when the opposition will have had an extra 24 hours to prepare. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Reading had a lot of the ball and were winning lots of corners for the 5 or 10 minutes prior to Lascelles coming on anyway; his introduction just meant we had an extra body in there to clear our lines, as Perez looked shagged by that point anyway and wasn't going to contribute much else. I questioned it a bit at the time but it was a decent sub. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Did it look at all likely that we would concede after those changes? No Great question Yorkie, and good to hear hindutimes. The nitpicking on here is hilarious we needed to preserve our first 3 points in this league more than ANYTHING else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I love how Rafa is a bog fan of squad rotation. Clark was hit and miss yesterday, but that run out will have done him the world of good. It keeps players on their toes as well when they know that a drop in standards is going to see them benched. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoot Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I love how Rafa is a bog fan of squad rotation. Clark was hit and miss yesterday, but that run out will have done him the world of good. It keeps players on their toes as well when they know that a drop in standards is going to see them benched. Hopefully Lascelles will up his game after being dropped yesterday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hopefully Benitez settles a back 4 soon. Three games, three different CB pairings. Argueably the position that profits the most from stability. Hopefully within a couple of games he has made a decision. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hopefully Benitez settles a back 4 soon. Three games, three different CB pairings. Argueably the position that profits the most from stability. Hopefully within a couple of games he has made a decision. I'm not sure he will unless we go the odd week where we don't have 2 games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I forgot how quickly the games come around in this league, yikes! Genuinely think Rafa is going to keep shuffling the pack to keep players fresh, and also to ensure everyone is involved and getting games, so they stay sharp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hopefully Benitez settles a back 4 soon. Three games, three different CB pairings. Argueably the position that profits the most from stability. Hopefully within a couple of games he has made a decision. I'm not sure he will unless we go the odd week where we don't have 2 games. Yeah I think he'll have a preferred pair, probably Lascelles and Mbemba, but he'll be using the other two extensively as well. He seems more about systems than individuals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Not sure where I saw this but I thought Rafa’s rotation was generally not in the spine of the team? He always seemed to have a core set of players through the middle, at Liverpool, but would rotate wider options a lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Not sure where I saw this but I thought Rafa’s rotation was generally not in the spine of the team? He always seemed to have a core set of players through the middle, at Liverpool, but would rotate wider options a lot. I could be wrong, but I think that might change with the championship where there are quite a few midweek games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 They would have played in Europe a lot under Rafa, though. Also, TBF, it's hard to rotate wide players, when we only have two genuine wingers and I think only one of them is starting quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leazes1986 Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Article on Hart by Carragher. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3749475/Joe-Hart-12-months-prepare-Pep-Guardiola-don-t-feel-sorry-him.html Maybe Guardiola's outlook on keepers is the same as Benitez. He never liked English goalkeepers and he would ask why they dived all over the place in training, when they only have five or six saves to make each game. Benitez was always of the opinion they should work more on their feet, positional play and decision making. Does he see something different in Sels to our other keepers? Interesting snippet anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xLiaaamx Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 If he wants good kicking he won't like Krul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Sels' distribution was pretty poor on Wednesday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Our keepers have all had pretty poor distribution since Mike Hooper. So yeah, over 20 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Our keepers have all had pretty poor distribution since Mike Hooper. So yeah, over 20 years. And he was all around poor. Bar the beaut of that Klinsmann penalty save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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