The Bonk Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 13 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said: Hopefully, Howe is nowhere near as short-sighted or emotionally OTT as some in this thread. Poor performance after a good showing. I'm not convinced about the main shape of the team - feels like 4-4-2 hybrid asks too much of these players against good sides. I thought going 3-4-3 would help us but we got absolutely whalloped when moving to it. Centre mid is such a problem for us, especially against good teams. I think the best route is to pack the midfield - he used 4-3-3 at times at Bournemouth and it feels like something we need in our locker. I get the calls for Hayden but I don't think he's the answer alone, and he comes with other issues. Most importantly, he needs to keep calm and analyse where things went wrong today (players seemed very, very lax after last week) without ripping it all up. Some progress has been made but we can't forget this team was absolutely tragic before him for a reason. Always loved this about Rafa - never too high, never too low. He's absolutely seen the worst of this lot today so his next decisions will be really interesting. Hey, that's the role of supporters! He doesn't seem like the type to not be calculated, but there were a few players who could use a head shake today. Alternatively, this is maybe as good as they can be. Yes, this is what irked me the most, there's no urgency whatsoever on some players part and overall we look devoid of unity, belief and incapable of conforming to whatever system Howe deploys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 I'm not even sure I'd drop Willock tbh, I'd be tempted to drop Almiron and bring in Hayden to shore up the midfield. Give Willock more licence to get forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 9 minutes ago, Thumbheed said: What can he have learnt from today that he shouldn't have learnt already? Well I think Willock has been given enough of a chance now in midfield. He's giving him a run of games in there and I'm sure has tried to coach him up to do the job, but he just isn't going to get it. Sometimes a good smacking like today makes that a lot clearer I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Having a good manager has made it blazingly clear how shit our midfield is. Previously I blamed Bruce, but they're just not good enough sadly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reefatoon Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 12 minutes ago, TRon said: I'm not even sure I'd drop Willock tbh, I'd be tempted to drop Almiron and bring in Hayden to shore up the midfield. Give Willock more licence to get forward. I always find Almiron flatters to deceive after we all clamour for him to play. Just doesn’t really do anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumbheed Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 (edited) 20 minutes ago, KaKa said: Well I think Willock has been given enough of a chance now in midfield. He's giving him a run of games in there and I'm sure has tried to coach him up to do the job, but he just isn't going to get it. Sometimes a good smacking like today makes that a lot clearer I think. Oh I agree there's things to change, what I'm saying is there's been plenty of evidence in the last 5 games of what's working and what isn't. I don't think I saw anything in today's game which taught me anything new that I didn't already know from what I'd seen of the prior 4, so I don't understand what Howe could have spotted today that wasn't already apparent. Edited December 12, 2021 by Thumbheed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 I’m sorry like but if Bruce said this he’d be getting pelters ; Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Just now, Minhosa said: I’m sorry like but if Bruce said this he’d be getting pelters ; I actually agree. Penalty changed the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Same with this; Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Just now, Heron said: I actually agree. Penalty changed the game. Fundamentally disagree. We turned up in our pyjamas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Just now, Minhosa said: Same with this; It did to the fans Howe 😬 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintdempsey Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 I agree with Howe somewhat as well. I thought we did OK on the whole for 60-65 mins. The pen (which never should have been) came at a bad time and for me their second came against the run of play when we were trying to play a bit higher up the pitch. Leicester are a better team than us, with better players (even with 7-8 of them out) and were rather clinical when given the opportunity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 minute ago, Minhosa said: Fundamentally disagree. We turned up in our pyjamas. They were shakey at the back and we gave them concerns up until the penalty it was very much in the balance, albeit they had more of the ball and we sat deeper. We were decent for a short spell in the second half at 2-0 dowb too, before we made some silly mistakes and left ourselves open to their counter attack. Was shit or bust time though. Either that or shut up shop. Think Howe needs to learn from that element today Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Maybe this shit flies in Bournemouth but he’ll find the NUFC fans far more intrusive in respect of his post match comments. Today, they’re just shite imho. Like he’s convincing himself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 minute ago, Heron said: They were shakey at the back and we gave them concerns up until the penalty it was very much in the balance, albeit they had more of the ball and we sat deeper. We were decent for a short spell in the second half at 2-0 dowb too, before we made some silly mistakes and left ourselves open to their counter attack. Was shit or bust time though. Either that or shut up shop. Think Howe needs to learn from that element today I don’t think they turned up at all. Think back to when Rafa took us to better teams and shut up shop. It wasn’t pretty but there was a clear game plan. What was today’s? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 We have to remember this was a Leicester side low in confidence, missing arguably their best defender - they were there for the taking. There was no cohesion in our play, barely put any passes together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Minhosa said: I’m sorry like but if Bruce said this he’d be getting pelters ; The threat part......yeah no. Looking okay, yeah we did until the penalty. Came alive after it to close the half, started the second half "okay" again, then came completely undone the rest of the game. 3 minutes ago, Minhosa said: Same with this; 4-0, Eddie. Have a fucking go at the players for giving up, man. I'm all for positivity, but if you can't isolate weakness, address it and show improvement (even if it's losing while looking better tactically or positionally, I don't care) by saying we were terrible, don't come out with this thinly veiled nonsense, Ed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintdempsey Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 3 minutes ago, clintdempsey said: I agree with Howe somewhat as well. I thought we did OK on the whole for 60-65 mins. The pen (which never should have been) came at a bad time and for me their second came against the run of play when we were trying to play a bit higher up the pitch. Leicester are a better team than us, with better players (even with 7-8 of them out) and were rather clinical when given the opportunity. I will add though that we do lack urgency and aggressiveness (which I felt we had against Brentford at home but haven’t been seen since). But that is also down to the characters in the team. We need a few more annoying, bullying buggers to get a foothold in the games. Shelvey and Willock are too laid back as a midfield pairing. Lewis and Manquillo are too timid as well I feel for the fullback positions. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Krafth and Ritchie back (as useless as they are) for that reason. To add a bit of bite. Hayden will probably be in for Almiron as well and get Willock higher up the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakka Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 I disagree with Howe. For large parts of the game we were very ineffective, and others we were woeful. Few bit of ASM magic and the odd punt at goal wasn't us doing OK. We never really looked dangerous as a team, and we never looked comfortable with the ball in their half. I don't how much to say is on him versus the shit he has to pick from, but his centre midfield options are shocking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 minute ago, clintdempsey said: I will add though that we do lack urgency and aggressiveness (which I felt we had against Brentford at home but haven’t been seen since). But that is also down to the characters in the team. We need a few more annoying, bullying buggers to get a foothold in the games. Shelvey and Willock are too laid back as a midfield pairing. Lewis and Manquillo are too timid as well I feel for the fullback positions. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Krafth and Ritchie back (as useless as they are) for that reason. To add a bit of bite. Hayden will probably be in for Almiron as well and get Willock higher up the pitch. That's what frustrates me the most with these players. They seem complacent and rather okay with being so. Fuck that, show some fight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 minute ago, clintdempsey said: I will add though that we do lack urgency and aggressiveness (which I felt we had against Brentford at home but haven’t been seen since). But that is also down to the characters in the team. We need a few more annoying, bullying buggers to get a foothold in the games. Shelvey and Willock are too laid back as a midfield pairing. Lewis and Manquillo are too timid as well I feel for the fullback positions. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Krafth and Ritchie back (as useless as they are) for that reason. To add a bit of bite. Hayden will probably be in for Almiron as well and get Willock higher up the pitch. please no. We look much better with fullbacks/footballers at fullback. We need to see Hayden and Fernandes introduced to the starting 11 though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 minute ago, Minhosa said: I don’t think they turned up at all. Think back to when Rafa took us to better teams and shut up shop. It wasn’t pretty but there was a clear game plan. What was today’s? I thought we deployed a fairly high press for the first 35 minutes or so. To good effect as well, their defenders were making mistakes but we failed to capitalise. The pen changed everything. I think we need more Rafa than Howe at present in terms of football styles tbh, but I do think Howe will get us the points we need his way. I think has maybe just underestimated some of the players flaws on the whole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 24 minutes ago, reefatoon said: I always find Almiron flatters to deceive after we all clamour for him to play. Just doesn’t really do anything. He runs around and tries hard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 3 minutes ago, The Bonk said: The threat part......yeah no. Looking okay, yeah we did until the penalty. Came alive after it to close the half, started the second half "okay" again, then came completely undone the rest of the game. 4-0, Eddie. Have a fucking go at the players for giving up, man. I'm all for positivity, but if you can't isolate weakness, address it and show improvement (even if it's losing while looking better tactically or positionally, I don't care) by saying we were terrible, don't come out with this thinly veiled nonsense, Ed. He doesn't need to do it publicly though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillingtonMag Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Needing Hayden in our starting 11? God just relegate us now. He is awful man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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