Eddie Howe

[Mills and Boon]

4 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

You're a walking contradiction.

 

There's no contradiction in anything I've said. Bore off

[Carlito]

7 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

 

Of course it has (though it's also a problem for almost every team, which no one likes to talk about -- that's not to completely excuse us to be clear). 

 

That's not what you said though, you said Eddie was figured out on NYE 2022. I was simply pointing out that we scored buckets of goals the next two seasons, including one of the best returns in the league in 2023/24. That's not counting the fact that after your critical date we had games where we scored 5, 6, 4, 3, and 4 in the 2022/23 season.

 

Now for some reason you're talking about how we've started leaking goals, which is also a problem but also entirely unrelated to breaking down low blocks. 

 

He was figured out that day and I stand by that comment, because as I said we slowly became worse over the next 3 seasons. Isak becoming a star striker and Gordon hitting form, plus the signing of Barnes added a lot of goals to our team in 2023-24 but you have to look at the games in isolation as well such as Villa at home, Sheff Utd away, Palace at home, Luton at home, West Ham at home, Spurs at home. That's 29 goals in 6 games.

 

Also look at the amount of times we were caught out pressing too high up the pitch. The midfield was being played through then and it still is now, with more ease than before. Not even Bruno being on the pitch is saving us anymore whereas it got us out of a lot of bad results in prior seasons.

 

Us conceding so many on the break was/is a direct result of us not being able to break down low blocks. Look at our center backs this season, part of the press and caught too high up the pitch (Burn more often than I can count). Bruno has been the only player who will try anything through the middle until we signed Woltemade.

 

The difference with other teams is their manager will often take a more proactive approach to combat the problem. Howe just generally makes like-for-like changes and hopes something happens after we've conceded. Too much reliance on individual brilliance rather than actually adapting to situations.

[Whitley mag]

Interesting line from BBC article and probably confirms Longstaff’s claims last year-

 

Jacob Ramsey only had a brief window into Howe's sessions before the fixtures piled up and the midfielder was understood to have found the level of high-intensity running within the drills a jolt at first after being used to a more relaxed way of training, even under the demanding Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

[Abacus]

On the Ramsey point re training, he has looked better and better as the season has gone on in my view, though. 

 

I wonder how much Gordon going will force a change in tactics and therefore training anyway. He's been our most impressive presser of the ball up front (when on form), now there are very few who can do it.

 

It could work out OK in that respect, if we're really aiming for a change of style, which I think we will need to do anyway to compete on multiple fronts in the future.

 

Variations of what we've done successfully in the past have worked out pretty well and has been good to watch until this very disappointing year.

 

Now it's up to Howe and the recruitment team to find a different way, given the direction the league has taken towards percentage football and away from passing out from the back. I just hope we don't turn into a long ball / set piece / percentage team.

 

It's going to be a key summer and season, as people have said multiple times.

[Ben]

1 hour ago, Whitley mag said:

Interesting line from BBC article and probably confirms Longstaff’s claims last year-

 

Jacob Ramsey only had a brief window into Howe's sessions before the fixtures piled up and the midfielder was understood to have found the level of high-intensity running within the drills a jolt at first after being used to a more relaxed way of training, even under the demanding Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

 

Semenyo was a lot more scathing of Iraola's hard training sessions 

[ffs]

2 hours ago, Whitley mag said:

Interesting line from BBC article and probably confirms Longstaff’s claims last year-

 

Jacob Ramsey only had a brief window into Howe's sessions before the fixtures piled up and the midfielder was understood to have found the level of high-intensity running within the drills a jolt at first after being used to a more relaxed way of training, even under the demanding Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

 

makes me wonder how much of Eddie's demonstrated ability to improve players is simply down to getting them fitter than they've ever been (and, if so, nothing wrong with that at all)

[TRon]

2 hours ago, Whitley mag said:

Interesting line from BBC article and probably confirms Longstaff’s claims last year-

 

Jacob Ramsey only had a brief window into Howe's sessions before the fixtures piled up and the midfielder was understood to have found the level of high-intensity running within the drills a jolt at first after being used to a more relaxed way of training, even under the demanding Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

 

 

Just on the football that Emery plays, he went for Tielemans who would never have worked in a Howe team. Just shows the difference in approaches and where each manager puts the emphasis. 

[Cronky]

13 hours ago, DC Magpie said:

 

I think we agree, but this is why I don't trust Eddie to be the one to steer the offseason. "Hey, what we need is more players who can't play a possession-based style. Get me Usain Bolt on Line 1."

 

That's the evolution that needs to happen, or at least begin to happen. It won't happen so long as Eddie is here.

 

I think this summer we are going to see a transition to a more versatile kind of game. However, technical players who are near to or at the finished product will tend to end up at the likes of Arsenal or Man City. That's the grim reality that we found last summer when we went for the likes of Joao Pedro and Cunha. We will probably have to focus on the younger, developing part of the market, which will make a top five position more difficult in the short-term. Whether the supporters will be patient and supportive through that is another matter though. Expectations have been raised. Eddie probably isn't out of the woods yet, and will need the backing of the owners.

 

Where we differ is whether the current position is suggestive of incompetence on Eddie's part. I don't think it is at all. 

[Dokko]

I really hope Gordon going and Murphy and Barnes attracting attention will allow us to change direction with our wide play. It offers nothing, apart from the odd speculative goal. Think we should play narrower, pack the mid and get some hyper mobile wingback and mids who can float onto the wings. Miley, Bruno and wolt are all capable of playing in tight spaces, get a dmc to protect the back and play through the middle (we look much better when we try tgst anyway)

[Cronky]

13 hours ago, Holmesy said:

Passing and moving are the fundamentals of football ffs, they're not things only certain players are able to do - all of them have to do it to get to the top of the game. Some more than others, yes but they don't have to be fucking Maradona to play 15 minutes of keep ball at the end of a game. They just have to be coached that way. If we want to play possession football throughout a game, taking the ball in tight spaces, yes we need a certain type of player (and we don't have it because that's not the way Eddie wants to play) but you're seriously suggesting learning to kill off a game is beyond these players?! If it is, it's a fucking sad indictment on Eddie Howe that he's spent £700m on players that limited. How's that for real?

 

I think my last post in reply to DC Magpie answers some of that. At the Premier League level, it's difficult to find players that excel at both aspects of the game - athletic and technical. Coaching makes a difference but players still operate within a certain profile. Eddie achieved a lot with players of a more athletic aspect, and there really wasn't much choice considering that he took over a side who were rock bottom. However, there's no reason to think that he doesn't want more technical players eg Isak, Hall.

 

 

Edited May 28 by Cronky

[TheBrownBottle]

9 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

I think this summer we are going to see a transition to a more versatile kind of game. However, technical players who are near to or at the finished product will tend to end up at the likes of Arsenal or Man City. That's the grim reality that we found last summer when we went for the likes of Joao Pedro and Cunha. We will probably have to focus on the younger, developing part of the market, which will make a top five position more difficult in the short-term. Whether the supporters will be patient and supportive through that is another matter though. Expectations have been raised. Eddie probably isn't out of the woods yet, and will need the backing of the owners.

 

Where we differ is whether the current position is suggestive of incompetence on Eddie's part. I don't think it is at all. 

This is the hope tbh - if we start seeing ‘under the radar’ technical talent showing up during the window then it’ll give someone like myself (a sceptical miserablist) a lot more hope re the club under the current manager.  

[TheBrownBottle]

5 minutes ago, Dokko said:

I really hope Gordon going and Murphy and Barnes attracting attention will allow us to change direction with our wide play. It offers nothing, apart from the odd speculative goal. Think we should play narrower, pack the mid and get some hyper mobile wingback and mids who can float onto the wings. Miley, Bruno and wolt are all capable of playing in tight spaces, get a dmc to protect the back and play through the middle (we look much better when we try tgst anyway)

Yep - we’ve stocked up on the sort of wingers who thrive playing counter-attacking football, when most PL sides are now sitting back against us

[Mole]

5 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Yep - we’ve stocked up on the sort of wingers who thrive playing counter-attacking football, when most PL sides are now sitting back against us

I would be overjoyed if they change the core of wingers entirely tbh, it's been clear it isn't fit for purpose all season long. I don't care about individual performances but as a group it just isn't working. 

[Holmesy]

8 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Yep - we’ve stocked up on the sort of wingers who thrive playing counter-attacking football, when most PL sides are now sitting back against us

This one of my biggest gripes - when we're not overpowering teams with pressing and running, we can be quite easy to nullify because there's not a lot of intricacy or craft about the way we attack. 
There have also been times - the first stint of BDB at left back - when we were made far too easy to play against as well. Fast winger up against BDB worked every time. 

It can all just feel a bit basic. 

When we were at our best under Eddie, the beauty was in the simplicity but when it got figured out, that simplicity just makes us look ordinary. 
 

[Zero]

To be fair Howe’s fucking Plan A had worked for 3-4 years already. It should be found out by all the opponents. They ain’t idiots.

 

If Howe cannot evolved himself and find a new effective tactics then he is probably just 10 games away from saying bye 

 

 

[TRon]

43 minutes ago, Dokko said:

I really hope Gordon going and Murphy and Barnes attracting attention will allow us to change direction with our wide play. It offers nothing, apart from the odd speculative goal. Think we should play narrower, pack the mid and get some hyper mobile wingback and mids who can float onto the wings. Miley, Bruno and wolt are all capable of playing in tight spaces, get a dmc to protect the back and play through the middle (we look much better when we try tgst anyway)

 

This has been my biggest doubt about retaining Howe tbh. He just seems to take an age to shift his plan of thinking. If we buy a bunch of technically gifted players, would he even know how to deploy them given how committed he is to Plan A?

 

 

[McCormick]

7 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

This has been my biggest doubt about retaining Howe tbh. He just seems to take an age to shift his plan of thinking. If we buy a bunch of technically gifted players, would he even know how to deploy them given how committed he is to Plan A?

 

 

 

I think that’s a little unfair on Howe. To the average fan it can probably seem like there’s only one way of playing because the intensity and work rate are constant, but tactically he’s already shown plenty of adaptability depending on injuries and the personnel available.

And the technically gifted players we already have (or have had) like Bruno, Isak, Tonali and Hall have all flourished under him. He’s clearly not opposed to technical players; he just expects them to match that quality with work rate and intensity, which is something most top managers demand anyway.

[Zero]

Tonali is a technical player?

[McCormick]

What constitutes a technical player?I know his physicality stands out more but I’d say he’s got a lot of good technical qualities, sure.

[Holmesy]

25 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

This has been my biggest doubt about retaining Howe tbh. He just seems to take an age to shift his plan of thinking. If we buy a bunch of technically gifted players, would he even know how to deploy them given how committed he is to Plan A?

 

 

The concern is that if he did evolve but we didn't see early signs of it working, he would revert to his old plan A, which makes sense to a degree because he is under pressure after this season. But I certainly think the supporters would have a lot more patience if we saw him trying a different playing style (even if it wasn't working initially) than we would if he peddles more of the same with different players.

[Mills and Boon]

2 hours ago, Ben said:

 

Semenyo was a lot more scathing of Iraola's hard training sessions 

 

Ran the arse off them for two years and left. Bit like Bielsa in that respect. Wonder how they'll get on next year with the extra games and that 

 

[teohgk]

I get what Tron trying to say, maybe flamboyant a better word to describe.

Howe system seems rely heavyly on workhouse style players that constantly running and pressing.

If we sign someone like Ronaldinho, Neymar etc. would you trust Howe to build a system around them?

[Mills and Boon]

13 minutes ago, teohgk said:

I get what Tron trying to say, maybe flamboyant a better word to describe.

Howe system seems rely heavyly on workhouse style players that constantly running and pressing.

If we sign someone like Ronaldinho, Neymar etc. would you trust Howe to build a system around them?

 

You'd need a lot of constant running from workhorse style players to cover the lack of graft from the likes of Neymar 

[teohgk]

5 minutes ago, Mills and Boon said:

 

You'd need a lot of constant running from workhorse style players to cover the lack of graft from the likes of Neymar 

Well so far Howe want everyone of them to do so, player who can’t ain’t getting minutes

[Mills and Boon]

Woltemade got loads of minutes and he struggles to get out of first gear