Eddie Howe Returns!

[andyc35i]

I’m really confused by what we wall seemed to have watched yesterday. I thought we played really well for a lot of the game (and the stats show that clearly). We deserved the win and the only real threat was the transition, but let’s be honest if the team is not on it, then a player like Kudus is so hard to stop and will cause big problems. 
 

Point taken that we keep conceding the same type of goal and Eddie needs to think about that, but that’s the way we play, squeeze the space and have a keeper that sweeps. We’ve just dropped our intensity for obvious reasons and it’s led to the opposition having more time on the ball to hurt us. Eddie gets next season for me without a shadow of a doubt and then I’ll go for him if the same problems aren’t being addressed in a new season 

[ShootShoot]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:12, greydos said:

Sir Eddie doesn’t believe in playing possession football for possession’s sake. I think that’s where he has to adapt going forward. Well coached possession football reduces the amount of high intensity reactive running a team has to do. It means matches are played at our intensity and not the opposition’s intensity. If games are played at your intensity, and you train for that intensity, you’re less likely to suffer injuries. 
 

it’s like in rugby where teams play France trying to keep the ball on the park to tire their massive forwards. Their forwards don’t train for high ball in time play, so they get tired and need replacing or risk getting injured. 
 

We need to control games so they’re played on our terms. Then we can conserve energy against minnows rather than go toe-to-toe to the death with Luton and the likes!

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Yep make the opposition run around like lunatics not us

[Holmesy]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:05, Vinny Green Balls said:

and helping make a win miserable for everyone else after beating your point into a ground isn't toxic? And that's coming from me, who has been guilty of that a number of times in the past. A little metacognition from you would be nice.

 

 

 

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Everyone?! 6 people on a football forum who could easily just ignore it ?.

You don’t have to read every post buddy, it doesn’t work like that

[Yorkie]

  On 31/03/2024 at 16:51, The Butcher said:

Papering over the cracks innit.

 

We've had the same issues all season and nowt has been done to fix it.

 

And that is a big worry imo.

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Find that a very inaccurate summary, especially seeing as the cracks are extremely visible. 

 

We spent years watching the likes of Pardew and Bruce paper over cracks with occasional wins or rare stretches of form - snatching undeserved results to mask fundamental flaws and keep them in post, despite it being clear as day that the team was going nowhere. 

 

This isn't what's happening here by a long stretch. The team is flawed but there's dossiers of evidence to prove that it's a very good one when there's a bit less adversity. Yet still we're picking up wins to keep us in the Euros chase.

[Zero]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:13, andyc35i said:

I’m really confused by what we wall seemed to have watched yesterday. I thought we played really well for a lot of the game (and the stats show that clearly). We deserved the win and the only real threat was the transition, but let’s be honest if the team is not on it, then a player like Kudus is so hard to stop and will cause big problems. 
 

Point taken that we keep conceding the same type of goal and Eddie needs to think about that, but that’s the way we play, squeeze the space and have a keeper that sweeps. We’ve just dropped our intensity for obvious reasons and it’s led to the opposition having more time on the ball to hurt us. Eddie gets next season for me without a shadow of a doubt and then I’ll go for him if the same problems aren’t being addressed in a new season 

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Raising questions and concerns doesn’t mean calling the sack now. However, I do think most of the people would agree if things keep on like this next season, we will have a new manager as soon as January.

[Holmesy]

Let me just clarify, I don’t want Eddie sacked. I want him to stay AND I want him to address the awful defensive scenarios and worrying team selections. If he learns from his mistakes and we come back stronger, I hope he stays for years. 
If he doesn’t, and we continue shipping loads of goals and missing out on points we should’ve had, THEN I think he will have proven he’s not the top class, ruthless winner we need to fulfil our ambitions.

[madras]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:23, Zero said:

Raising questions and concerns doesn’t mean calling the sack now. However, I do think most of the people would agree if things keep on like this next season, we will have a new manager as soon as January.

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If things keep on like this we'll be forfeiting games due to not getting a squad out 

[KaKa]

People wouldn't know a good thing if it kicked them square in the nuts.

[The Butcher]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:23, Yorkie said:

 

Find that a very inaccurate summary, especially seeing as the cracks are extremely visible. 

 

We spent years watching the likes of Pardew and Bruce paper over cracks with occasional wins or rare stretches of form - snatching undeserved results to mask fundamental flaws and keep them in post, despite it being clear as day that the team was going nowhere. 

 

This isn't what's happening here by a long stretch. The team is flawed but there's dossiers of evidence to prove that it's a very good one when there's a bit less adversity. Yet still we're picking up wins to keep us in the Euros chase.

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This team hasn't looked like it's going anywhere this season, especially in the last 6 months. We're rarely looked like a collective unit.

 

The lack of defensive structure this season compared to last season is a massive worry, and it will cost Howe his job if it doesn't improve.

 

 

 

[Vinny Green Balls]

That doesn't sound like a particularly good thing.

[Theregulars]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:08, Smal said:

 

this is it. Yesterday ended up being a great day but performances are how you should judge football - not just results - and yesterday's performance was flat-out bad for the overwhelming majority of it, and we showed the same glaring weaknesses as we have done in practically every game since November.

 

Like, we clearly need to do something about how we defend transitions but we're just doing the same clownshoes stuff every game.

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It’s not accurate to say it was flat-out bad for overwhelming majority. We attacked really well for a lot of the game - we missed 3/4 sitters as well as the 4 we scored, and hit the bar, and fabianski made a great save from Barnes. We defended poorly, which is surely at least in part due to the fact that the defence is currently heavily injured and players having to play out of position and multiple positions per match. 
 

Certainly things to work on in defence, but - like everything this season - obvious caveats which you need to go out of your way not to see to continue this line of enquiry. 

[Theregulars]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:24, Holmesy said:

Let me just clarify, I don’t want Eddie sacked. I want him to stay AND I want him to address the awful defensive scenarios and worrying team selections. If he learns from his mistakes and we come back stronger, I hope he stays for years. 
If he doesn’t, and we continue shipping loads of goals and missing out on points we should’ve had, THEN I think he will have proven he’s not the top class, ruthless winner we need to fulfil our ambitions.

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What selections would you have made differently and how would they have produced a preferable outcome?

[Gallowgate Toon]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:32, The Butcher said:

This team hasn't looked like it's going anywhere this season, especially in the last 6 months. We're rarely looked like a collective unit.

 

The lack of defensive structure this season compared to last season is a massive worry, and it will cost Howe his job if it doesn't improve.

 

 

 

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Disagree with this. Some of the stuff we played between Milan away and Chelsea home is the most balanced football I've ever seen from us and, imo, looked a step up on last year. 

[KaKa]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:32, The Butcher said:

This team hasn't looked like it's going anywhere this season, especially in the last 6 months. We're rarely looked like a collective unit.

 

The lack of defensive structure this season compared to last season is a massive worry, and it will cost Howe his job if it doesn't improve.

 

 

 

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The delusions of grandeur man. My goodness.

[The Butcher]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:39, KaKa said:

 

The delusions of grandeur man. My goodness.

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Piss off, Kaka

[Gallowgate Toon]

Have we scored as many as City so far in the league? That's absolutely mad, considering context.

[KaKa]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:40, The Butcher said:

Piss off, Kaka

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[gbandit]

Think you need to take a break man, Butcher. Last six months? Howay, we’ve been absolutely fucked by injuries to the point we couldn’t change the team for months. Then when people come back they’re not match fit and others then get injured, it’s impossible to build any fluency.

 

Our defence is terrible, that’s not up for debate. Our shielding of the defence in midfield isn’t right either. There are massive mitigating factors but it’s also a minor concern that Howe hasn’t found any solutions. I just don’t know that there are that many solutions with the team of players we have currently. 
 

It’s almost impossible to draw proper conclusions about anything right now and anyone trying to make a strong case for anything needs to take a step back and accept that this season has been mental with many things outside of our control 

[madras]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:12, greydos said:

Sir Eddie doesn’t believe in playing possession football for possession’s sake. I think that’s where he has to adapt going forward. Well coached possession football reduces the amount of high intensity reactive running a team has to do. It means matches are played at our intensity and not the opposition’s intensity. If games are played at your intensity, and you train for that intensity, you’re less likely to suffer injuries. 
 

it’s like in rugby where teams play France trying to keep the ball on the park to tire their massive forwards. Their forwards don’t train for high ball in time play, so they get tired and need replacing or risk getting injured. 
 

We need to control games so they’re played on our terms. Then we can conserve energy against minnows rather than go toe-to-toe to the death with Luton and the likes!

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He said last season that we needed to become more possession  based, hence Tonali. Instead we've been firefighting the worst injury crisis I've known so changes are hard if not impossible le to implement.

[Thumbheed]

We need to concede less and score even more. I'd even go as far as saying we should win more games and lose less. 

 

Thank you for reading my tactical analysis - think I've covered most the points made recently.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2024 by Thumbheed

[The Butcher]

Aye, I'm out

 

[Holmesy]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:35, Theregulars said:

What selections would you have made differently and how would they have produced a preferable outcome?

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Keiran Trippier went through a run of terrible form where he individually cost us goals in multiple games (possibly due to fatigue). Never even looked like being dropped despite us having a fully fit Livra on the bench, who has been one of our players of the season despite his lack of minutes.

 

Botman looked crap for ages. Never dropped despite not even being fully fit. Swap him with Burn or Lascelles and bring in a proper left full back.

 

Dan Burn has largely been a disaster for the past 4-5 months and has cost us goals individually in a good number of games. Never looked like being dropped despite us having a fully fit Livra and Hall on the bench, both of whom have looked excellent when they’ve played recently. This is the biggest head scratcher for me. When Bruce continued playing Ciaran Clark and leaving Schar on the bench people went mental. What’s the difference here?

 

This is more of a shape thing. Every set piece, we throw 9 men forward, leaving one back. This, despite having probably the slowest defence and midfield in the league. We are more threatened from our own set pieces than we are threatening - constantly. Leave more players back. We rarely score from set pieces anyway so it’s a shit risk to take - see Bowen’s goal yesterday 

 

Our midfield is cut open so easily, leaving our pedestrian back 4 totally exposed. Dropping one midfielder back to fill the gap between defence and midfield would give us loads more protection. I would suggest Longstaff given that he offers nothing from an attacking standpoint.

 

Against superior teams, sit deeper to negate our defensive fragility. Press hard when they cross the halfway line and use our pace and passing accuracy to play on the counter. 
 

Not all player-related but I also don’t think any of them would be considered crackpot suggestions.

[KaKa]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:46, gbandit said:

Think you need to take a break man, Butcher. Last six months? Howay, we’ve been absolutely fucked by injuries to the point we couldn’t change the team for months. Then when people come back they’re not match fit and others then get injured, it’s impossible to build any fluency.

 

Our defence is terrible, that’s not up for debate. Our shielding of the defence in midfield isn’t right either. There are massive mitigating factors but it’s also a minor concern that Howe hasn’t found any solutions. I just don’t know that there are that many solutions with the team of players we have currently. 
 

It’s almost impossible to draw proper conclusions about anything right now and anyone trying to make a strong case for anything needs to take a step back and accept that this season has been mental with many things outside of our control 

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Happy clapper!!!

 

[SUPERTOON]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:46, gbandit said:

Think you need to take a break man, Butcher. Last six months? Howay, we’ve been absolutely fucked by injuries to the point we couldn’t change the team for months. Then when people come back they’re not match fit and others then get injured, it’s impossible to build any fluency.

 

Our defence is terrible, that’s not up for debate. Our shielding of the defence in midfield isn’t right either. There are massive mitigating factors but it’s also a minor concern that Howe hasn’t found any solutions. I just don’t know that there are that many solutions with the team of players we have currently. 
 

It’s almost impossible to draw proper conclusions about anything right now and anyone trying to make a strong case for anything needs to take a step back and accept that this season has been mental with many things outside of our control 

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Agree with this, however the defence/defending is a massive concern for me. Hopefully players returning will help, but maybe that’s to simplistic.

[KaKa]

  On 31/03/2024 at 17:49, Holmesy said:

Keiran Trippier went through a run of terrible form where he individually cost us goals in multiple games (possibly due to fatigue). Never even looked like being dropped despite us having a fully fit Livra on the bench, who has been one of our players of the season despite his lack of minutes.

 

Botman looked crap for ages. Never dropped despite not even being fully fit. Swap him with Burn or Lascelles and bring in a proper left full back.

 

Dan Burn has largely been a disaster for the past 4-5 months and has cost us goals individually in a good number of games. Never looked like being dropped despite us having a fully fit Livra and Hall on the bench, both of whom have looked excellent when they’ve played recently. This is the biggest head scratcher for me. When Bruce continued playing Ciaran Clark and leaving Schar on the bench people went mental. What’s the difference here?

 

This is more of a shape thing. Every set piece, we throw 9 men forward, leaving one back. This, despite having probably the slowest defence and midfield in the league. We are more threatened from our own set pieces than we are threatening - constantly. Leave more players back. We rarely score from set pieces anyway so it’s a shit risk to take - see Bowen’s goal yesterday 

 

Our midfield is cut open so easily, leaving our pedestrian back 4 totally exposed. Dropping one midfielder back to fill the gap between defence and midfield would give us loads more protection. I would suggest Longstaff given that he offers nothing from an attacking standpoint.

 

Against superior teams, sit deeper to negate our defensive fragility. Press hard when they cross the halfway line and use our pace and passing accuracy to play on the counter. 
 

Not all player-related but I also don’t think any of them would be considered crackpot suggestions.

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The issues with our defence have mostly stemmed from the midfield missing our best presser and ball winner as well as missing our sweeper keeper.

 

This idea that the solution is simply chopping and changing people in the backline due to individual errors is awful.