Eddie Howe

[Nine]

7 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Even not fully convinced of this yet as we haven't played him there in that team we started with today.

 

Can we at least see him in that side whether at CM or RCM?!

 

It's ridiculous.

To put it simply - it’s slightly concerning that we havnt found a way to integrate a player of Tonalis ability into this side yet, especially when Longstaff is getting starts.

 

And that’s not a dig at Longstaff.

[Sima]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

How would you set it up?

Sadly it has to be Bruno, Tonali, Longstaff as even Willock is a LCM.

 

The squad is full of 8s and only one that looks fully comfortable on the right hand side.

[The College Dropout]

I thought Tonali played in a double pivot. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, Sima said:

Sadly it has to be Bruno, Tonali, Longstaff as even Willock is a LCM.

 

The squad is full of 8s and only one that looks fully comfortable on the right hand side.

 

I do think ultimately we need a third midfielder to partner Bruno and Toni because Willock is too untidy and Joelinton isn't technical enough. But it does depend on what style of team we're trying to build.

[ExiledGeordie]

It’s a concern that he still doesn’t seem to know where to play Tonali. 

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Nine said:

To put it simply - it’s slightly concerning that we havnt found a way to integrate a player of Tonalis ability into this side yet, especially when Longstaff is getting starts.

 

And that’s not a dig at Longstaff.

Agreed. I think a lot of what made that first side great was organic to the group. Joe and Joe.  Joe and Isak. Bruno and Longstaff. Bruno Longstaff Almiron into Trippier. 
 

Few of the newer players have great partnerships or combos.  

[Ronaldo]

Why can’t he figure this stuff out after 18 months? A top level manager doesn’t take this long to figure out how Sandro Tonali can give more to the team than Sean Longstaff.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

5 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Agreed. I think a lot of what made that first side great was organic to the group. Joe and Joe.  Joe and Isak. Bruno and Longstaff. Bruno Longstaff Almiron into Trippier.

 

If you're saying Howe didn't engineer this then you're just being wilfully ignorant.

 

He gets no credit for when we have great combinations but gets all the stick when they look worse?

 

 

Edited November 25, 2024 by AyeDubbleYoo

[TRon]

10 minutes ago, et tu brute said:

 

Ot's not a one off though, that exact type of performance has been quite frequent. That second half though was terrible in terms of game management. Just was a case of switching layers to different positions to see if something would come off

 

 

Yep. This is exactly the sort of games we were seeing previously which saw us drop to 12th in the table. Lots of disjointed attacking play, lose the ball and then be left wide open for the counter. It looked like we had put it behind us with the return of Willock and Longstaff to give us some balance, but we were back to the same chasing shadows as prior to the Chelsea cup win. What makes it worse, we had what looked a really strong bench, but every change seemed to make us worse.

[TheBrownBottle]

16 minutes ago, Sima said:

You’re only going to get anywhere near the best out of Tonali if you drop Joelinton.

 

That’s the price.

Joelinton is dire at LCM, and Tonali isn’t one.  Willock starts there any time he’s fit for me me. 

[The College Dropout]

5 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

If you're saying Howe didn't engineer this then you're just being wilfully ignorant.

 

He gets no credit for when we have great combinations but gets all the stick when they look worse?

 

 

 

It’s his team - he gets credit for all the good and all the bad.  
 

But I think it might partially explain why we’ve found it difficult to evolve the team with more talented players that can’t function to the same level. In ability alone Howe shouldn’t think we start with Longstaff Joelinton and Willock.  But they fit the system and have the best relationships.  

[Heron]

I don't know if I'm missing something.

 

Do people think the 11 best players should always play?

 

Or the 1 best team - cause presently we dont have both...

 

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by Heron

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, Heron said:

I don't know if I'm missing something.

 

Do people think the 11 best players should always play?

 

Or the 1 best team?

I'm thinking the same thing.

 

Eg were Liverpool fans clamouring for Thiago or someone else more naturally talented to start over Henderson?

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I'm thinking the same thing.

 

Eg were Liverpool fans clamouring for Thiago or someone else more naturally talented to start over Henderson?

Thiago was signed to give them more control and creativity in midfield. And when fit, he started regularly. And this is Thiago replacing PL and CL winners.  
 

If Tonali is as good as we are led to believe. The coach should find a system where he’s not behind all 3 of Longstaff Willock and Joelinton

[Heron]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Thiago was signed to give them more control and creativity in midfield. And when fit, he started regularly. And this is Thiago replacing PL and CL winners.  
 

If Tonali is as good as we are led to believe. The coach should find a system where he’s not behind all 3 of Longstaff Willock and Joelinton

The coach should find a winning combination, primarily.

[Bimpy474]

Our spread midfield 3, let West Ham narrow 3 kill us. And then going 4-4-2 didn't improve it as we were still outnumbered in the middle.

 

Eddie needs to change the system to suit how a games going sometimes. Once West Ham got into the game, we never looked like dominating possession again, bar the start of the second half.

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by Bimpy474

[Heron]

The changes just did not help us tonight and at 1 down they took more foothold in a game where we looked like we'd certainly equalise. They got their changes right tactically and grabbed a second and saw out the game well.

 

You win some, you lose some tactically.

 

Thought our issue first half was more around individual performances and in the second half resulted in desperation tactically/with subs.

 

Not a good showing overall.

 

Glad they received the support they did at the end of the game though.

[Kid Icarus]

4 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Thiago was signed to give them more control and creativity in midfield. And when fit, he started regularly. And this is Thiago replacing PL and CL winners.  
 

If Tonali is as good as we are led to believe. The coach should find a system where he’s not behind all 3 of Longstaff Willock and Joelinton

The point is that it's not about getting all the best players into the team, it's about whatever works. He does need to find a way that works with Tonali, but while the system works without him or anyone I don't think there's any reason to care in the short to medium term. Tonali has a responsibility to force Howe's hand too.

[Kanj]

Shite day in the office and the last 30 mins was utterly bizarre but thankfully he’ll study it and sort it. 

[Erikse]

Next one going to be a huge one.. If we bounce back with a win then we're still doing fine. Another bad performance against Palace would be really concerning (actively avoiding the word "worrying" for obvious reasons).

 

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by Erikse

[Geordie Ahmed]

I do think long term he needs to push to get a proper 10 and tweak the midfield to support such a player

[Kanj]

Is there a football player out there who offers willock’s ball carrying, more fit often and is better in the attacking third? That’s probably the evolution. 

[TRC]

8 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

I do think long term he needs to push to get a proper 10 and tweak the midfield to support such a player

It is frustrating he seems incredibly loyal to this 4-3-3. Playing Isak as a second striker how he does for Sweden would be interesting 

[r0cafella]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

The coach should find a winning combination, primarily.

You are absolutely right but the problem is we spent 50+m on the guy who is meant to improve us, that's 50m we needed to deploy elsewhere. 

 

It's obviously a fine balancing act but to achieve our goals we either had to cheat or be flawless. 

[Sibierski]

Howe needs to have some balls and make some changes after that awful 2nd half and get a response from the whole squad at the weekend. Needs to turn a pathetic display into something the players and him can show everyone is not their norm.

 

Big calls made, Gordon dropped. Probably say one of midfield 3 dropped too, with Tonali in as the central guy. I’d have Bruno / Joelinton either side of him personally. Defence has to stay the same as limited options there. 
 

Don’t bounce back with a win this weekend, it will start to feel it’s all on the cups for Howe to remain here next season.