I am still wondering/hoping that Ralph has abandoned the pressing game to show the new owners that the squad is really lacking in premier league quality, in an attempt to get them to release more funding than was being planned. The press made us look exciting and competitive, yet our dominance in games was all too often undermined by the inability to create or convert gilt edged chances and build leads we could defend. Players that previously looked decent, when we pressed, are now being made to look mediocre when we don’t press. When we don’t press it means that we don’t have 4/5 players in close proximity to each other and you can see the hesitancy in the passing. Instead of having a couple of options for a quick, short pass, players (especially the CBs) are having to look for passing options, with many passes being delayed, playing the receiver into trouble, or the passes are being cut out, putting the defence under instant pressure. Maybe the owners are not fans of the pressing game and have asked Ralph to play like this, with a view to the summer changes being revolution instead of evolution. Brentford aren’t a pressing team, as far as I am aware, and maybe the guy who used to be with them (Ankersen?) has a list of players for us to go after who are good enough to play without the press. Time will tell, but if we go into next season without a huge turnover of players, I won’t expect to see us improve next season.
Did anyone else notice the DJ playing God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols at half time last night btw? Presumably to see if the Scousers would boo...
Agree with your point. Also wondered if Broja has been deliberately poor of late to bring his price down (or put off other suitors)
Noticed Lyanco tried a Salisu-esque long throw towards the end of the game (followed by a Liverpool attack in which he was obviously out of position).
There's no doubt we'll be renewing, the lovely Mrs S will see to that I said I wanted to see what happened before getting a season ticket when we were -10 in the 1st Div in 2009 I'd suffered enough already So she bought mine as well as hers ... and it turned out she was right, we were ok to begin with and from October, when we hit -1, we were bloody great And the rest is history And to be honest I'm optimistic that we'll do enough in the summer to improve next year
Do they practice these in training? He couldn't get the ball to the near post and we were all stood a good 10m further away With someone in the right place and suitable cover for the counter I actually like this tactic But the first two conditions are VITAL
I feel Salisu tries the long throw using both arms, whereas the real long throwers only actually use one - the other being there for show (and to make the throw-in legal). Just another case of us being too honest
I do wonder. It never really worked with Delap and his delivery was vastly superior. Not wishing to be critical but I did find it rather amusing when Redders did the post match interview - 'We tried a few new things out in training in preparation for this game...' 'Did it work?' 'No not really...'
Needs variation, someone in position to pickup a short throw close to the line and pump in an accurate cross or back for a chip to the back stick.
Two 6 foot 5 centre halfs and we have f*** all in the box to compete with them. I know, lets try with both Salisu and Lyanco lobbing it in to the box
Stephens was as I expected last night. What I didn't expect was Diallo challenging him for worst player. Maybe it's down to a lack of game time, but he does seem to have regressed from last season. On the flip side, Lyanco continues to impress me and Sally was better than in recent weeks. One more game, then good riddance to this season.
TBH I won't be paying any attention to our game on Sunday apart from score checking. Far more interested in the title race and relegation battle. The latter in particular.
Incredible turnaround since the now distant win at Spurs. Last night was garbage for all sorts of reasons. 28% posession at home to Liverpool B team (yes i know they are hardly crap but where would that 11 finish, top ten? not sure) Trying to work out the why in all this is baffling. Does Ralph simply not trust his players to play his way or does his way of playing just not stack up anymore in this league where so many other teams press too. Its a huge summer where we need to improve in almost every position apart from full back. However the word from the press is that it will be a busy summer but we wont be splashing cash. This suggests to me that JWP is off. Without him we would be relegated this season so if he goes we need some quality brought in not just 12m priced up and coming hopefuls. The strategy of buying young stars cannot be the only tunnel vision approach either; 11 young inconsistent stars of the future will only result in near or actual relegation. By all means use it to an extent but it needs a more considered mix to generate success.
What was Ralph to do? Set up as we did, try not to get tonked, succeed: result, abuse from the fans. Go all out to win, get tonked, most likely: result, abuse from the exact same fans. Don't give me any bollocks about how the fans would have forgiven him for having a go if we'd piled in at 1-2 and lost 1-6. If you think that you're living in a dream world. As regards the season, I said it last year but if the games had been drawn differently but had the same results so we just showed a consistent slow crawl to 40 points, nobody would be complaining like they are now. We're a lower half side. If our new owners invest we may move upwards but until then we have to accept that we support the (I seem to recall) second lowest spending side in the division. This is our level. Focus on the good moments; you'll be happier. Remember that we took four points off Manchester City (could cost them the title) who paid more for Jack Grealish than someone paid for our entire club. Remember Perraud's screamer against West Ham in the cup. Remember Fraser's astounding performances. Remember Bednarek's header to beat West Ham away. Remember Spurs away. Remember this: Life's better when you focus on the positives. Vin
I honestly don’t think JWP will leave this summer. We’ve already heard that the club are looking to bolster the youngsters with a bit of experience so no problem with the strategy but still a bit concerned about the execution!