Eddie Howe

[Thumbheed]

34 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I don’t think I buy the Trippier argument -each time he’s been forced to play two actual fullbacks we looked more balanced and more effective as a team. 

 

We qualified for the CL with the tactic 'you don't buy'. 

[The Prophet]

7 minutes ago, Magpie said:

Interesting 

 

https://twitter.com/bendinnery/status/1775431949621805260?s=46&t=CRVDoC05Fds07k8Kbn-wdg

 

Am I reading this wrong? It doesn't feel like we had that many injuries last season.

[Thumbheed]

20 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

This is going to sound like it's reactionary based on last night.  But I think I've mentioned it a few times on here and others have.  But we are really bad at building from the back in possession.  I'd love to see that as the next step in our development and evolution under Howe next season.  

 

Teams have worked out to stop the pass into Bruno.  Meaning we struggle to move the ball up the pitch along the deck.  As he's the only real technician in the midfield capable of retaining  possession under pressure and progressing it upfield.  We then often rely on Schar spotting a diagonal or when Trippier is playing, managing to break the lines with a sharp pass into feet.  But all too often, we just slowly pass the ball along between the CB's, Dubs sometimes getting involved and sometimes we go out to the full backs, who never seem to have a decent option ahead of them.  It never looks like we're close to working an opening or setting something up.  It's all really ponderous and laboured.   

 

Again, injuries, fatigue and then more recently, constant, enforced shuffling of players hasn't helped at all.  There were actually some flashes last night with Murphy coming off the wing, Bruno when he found space, Anderson, Hall and Barnes all linked up well down the left at times, too.  So that is promising.  But I would like to see us go after players in the transfer market who are more technically sound and not just a team full of athletes who keep breaking down for whatever reason.  Whether that is because they're bodies aren't up to playing in the system, the system isn't fit for purpose for a long season, training methods, the medical team, bad luck or all of the above.  

 

I often look at players we are linked with and think 'wouldn't suit our system.  Not a Howe player.'  But I'm now starting to lean the other way.  Howe has spoken about wanting more control over games and more possession this season.  So for example, a player like Smith-Rowe, injuries aside.  Would be a much better use of finances than someone like Onana, who I thought was atrocious last night and is terrible on the ball. 

 

I don't specifically mean those two players BTW.  Just using a couple of examples that sprung to mind as we have been linked with them multiple times. 

He made a point about how Man City players were so good at working the ball in tight spaces so for me that's at least a great sign of him recognising the sort of qualities that make a team great. 

 

I'm hoping it's at the forefront of his recruitment strategy.

[Holmesy]

2 minutes ago, Thumbheed said:

 

We qualified for the CL with the tactic 'you don't buy'. 

And it was great while it lasted. But it doesn’t work now. Whether we’ve been found out, the fixture congestion has fucked all of our players, Joelinton being injured etc. 

People keep pointing to last season. Last season isn’t this season. We have the 5th worst defence in the league. That’s the reality! 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

And it was great while it lasted. But it doesn’t work now. Whether we’ve been found out, the fixture congestion has fucked all of our players, Joelinton being injured etc. 

People keep pointing to last season. Last season isn’t this season. We have the 5th worst defence in the league. That’s the reality! 

Injury crisis anything to do with it? 

[Kid Icarus]

17 minutes ago, Magpie said:

Interesting 

 

https://twitter.com/bendinnery/status/1775431949621805260?s=46&t=CRVDoC05Fds07k8Kbn-wdg

None of this really means anything without context and what the numbers mean anyway, but I don't see how last season is higher and this season is pretty average. This season has been at a level I haven't seen before anywhere, never mind at Newcastle and under Howe.

 

 

Edited April 3 by Kid Icarus

[STM]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

And it was great while it lasted. But it doesn’t work now. Whether we’ve been found out, the fixture congestion has fucked all of our players, Joelinton being injured etc. 

People keep pointing to last season. Last season isn’t this season. We have the 5th worst defence in the league. That’s the reality! 

 

Absolute nonsense. "Being found out". 

 

Funny how Peps sides haven't been found out after 15 years. Everyone knows what Peps sides are going to do, they are just too good to stop.

 

Last season we were fortunate with injuries. This season we've been very unfortunate.

[Holmesy]

15 minutes ago, STM said:

 

Absolute nonsense. "Being found out". 

 

Funny how Peps sides haven't been found out after 15 years. Everyone knows what Peps sides are going to do, they are just too good to stop.

 

Last season we were fortunate with injuries. This season we've been very unfortunate.

Pep has constantly evolved his teams and ways of executing his plan throughout his entire career. His Man City team now looks nothing like his dominant Barca team for example. It’s such a poor reference mate. You’ve literally done the opposite of what you thought you were doing by referencing Pep. 
We’ve seen the need to evolve this season because what worked last season is a point of vulnerability this season. Injuries will have played a part for sure, but you have to adapt your system to the personnel you have available, right?

 

 

Edited April 3 by Holmesy

[STM]

1 minute ago, Holmesy said:

Pep has constantly evolved his teams and ways of executing his plan throughout his entire career. His Man City team now looks nothing like his dominant Barca team for example. It’s such a poor reference mate. You’ve literally done the opposite of what you thought you were doing. 
We’ve seen the need to evolve this season because what worked last season is a point of vulnerability this season. Injuries will have played a part for sure, but you have to adapt your system to the personnel you have available, right?

 

Peps sides have evolved? They play virtually the exact same way man. Seldom have I seen Pep sit back and hoof it long. 

 

Good managers don't make negotiations on their system. 

 

Honestly, you haven't a clue what you are talking about. 

[Holmesy]

3 minutes ago, STM said:

 

Peps sides have evolved? They play virtually the exact same way man. Seldom have I seen Pep sit back and hoof it long. 

 

Good managers don't make negotiations on their system. 

 

Honestly, you haven't a clue what you are talking about. 

You clearly have the expert’s eye, STM. Quite the analyst.

[STM]

Just now, Holmesy said:

You clearly have the expert’s eye, STM. Quite the analyst.

 

I'm not the one schooling Eddie Howe on a football forum. 

[80]

26 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Am I reading this wrong? It doesn't feel like we had that many injuries last season.

Don't know for sure about that data, but we had quite a few injuries last season.

 

Big difference was a) they were very well-timed e.g. Wilson returning from injury the very same week as Isak getting injured, and b) they were less severe - 6 weeks rather than 6 months. That data references incidences rather than severity. Would be interesting to compare minutes lost to injury across seasons.

 

We definitely were very lucky with injuries last season, but we've paid for it in spades this time around. I'm truly open minded on why that is. People understandably say lots of them were freak occurrences, but you're more likely to be harmed by an event if you're deconditioned, too.

[Kid Icarus]

 

Narrator: it was not a better metric 

[Zero]

Pretty sure Pep did not exploit the half space that much during his Barca era. He kinda completed his work at Man City. 

[Holmesy]

7 minutes ago, Zero said:

Pretty sure Pep did not exploit the half space that much during his Barca era. He kinda completed his work at Man City. 

 good luck!

[Groundhog63]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

Ironically, earlier in the season, it felt like building from the back was one of the things we'd improved at most. 

We have, he's talking shit

[TheBrownBottle]

I’m not willing to put everything down to bad luck, and I’m also not willing to pin everything on Howe’s methods.  I don’t like it all being pinned on ‘bad luck’, because that’s unlikely to fix owt. 

 

I do think the truth will be somewhere between the two - Howe’s version of gegenpressing must require unbelievable fitness levels and have high demands of the body even of professional athletes.  But some of the injuries we’ve had have also just been rotten luck.

[Erikse]

2 hours ago, Groundhog63 said:

 

What's next week's lottery numbers, Mystic? 

 

I will save it for next season, you will see.

[80]

6 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’m not willing to put everything down to bad luck, and I’m also not willing to pin everything on Howe’s methods.  I don’t like it all being pinned on ‘bad luck’, because that’s unlikely to fix owt. 

 

I do think the truth will be somewhere between the two - Howe’s version of gegenpressing must require unbelievable fitness levels and have high demands of the body even of professional athletes.  But some of the injuries we’ve had have also just been rotten luck.

Plus medical guidance he's received, nutrition, the training pitch itself, the natural constitutions of the players he inherited... There are a lot of factors to take into account.

[Lush Vlad]

5 minutes ago, Groundhog63 said:

We have, he's talking shit

 

At least respond with some sort of argument against if you think that.  Most of the season, I think our build up play from the back has been poor and we don't have enough players with quality on the ball when it matters, to help us control possession and methodically progress the ball up the pitch.

 

I have referenced injuries.  Not having Tonali and Botman available has hardly helped.  But I do think teams have figured out to press Bruno all the while and we struggle.  I do also think that the technical quality of the players we have in the squad is lacking.  Hence why I'd like to see us go after players with more ability on the ball. 

[TheBrownBottle]

10 minutes ago, 80 said:

Plus medical guidance he's received, nutrition, the training pitch itself, the natural constitutions of the players he inherited... There are a lot of factors to take into account.

100%.  The manager is a decision-maker, but he’s not a medical professional.

 

I still find it incredible the performances and fitness levels he’s got out of some of this squad.  Most of us would’ve sacked off pretty much the entirety of Bruce’s squad.  We went from the least fittest to the fittest team in the PL under Howe.

 

The summer window is going to be really interesting - whether or not Howe doubles-down or attempts to move to a slightly different style.  Who we sign will tell us I reckon.  

[Zero]

30 minutes ago, Groundhog63 said:

We have, he's talking shit

 

We haven’t, seriously. At least we haven’t show it since October, after injuries started to pile up

[Geogaddi]

I also hate using bad luck and injuries as an excuse but I cant think of any other team that has suffered with as much bad luck and injuries as we have this season.

 

it started with that Liverpool home game which we somehow lost to ten men, we then got the group of death in the champions league and the robbery in Paris, Drawing Man City, Man United and Chelsea in the league cup, Tripper last minute error against Chelsea costing us another likely trip to Wembley.  Our local rivals away from home in the FA cup then of course drawing Man City away in the same competition.  You get all that then mix it with an injury crisis that I have never seen from any team before and its a recipe for disaster. 

 

Its summed up last night by Paul Dummett having to play for us because of how bad our injuries are, he wasn't good enough ten years ago when we were rubbish and he's certainly not good enough now but we had no choice but to bring him on. Literally everything possible that could have gone wrong this season has and that's not down to Eddie.

[mighty__mag]

 

 

[ryanegg]

Just now, mighty__mag said:

 

 

Scary to think where we’d be if we didn’t have these injuries.