Hell's teeth, this is all becoming extremely tedious and repetitive. Can't we just enjoy what's left of our 'Season in the sun' before slinking back to the championship secure in the knowledge that SW, DF and those players who remain will all be beneficiaries of the experience gained from a top-flight season that nobody really expected. Lessons will have been learned, make no mistake. So next time we get promoted, as long as DF is still here, we'll be far better equipped to try and make a decent fist of it.
I also feel there's a fallacy in Robbie's interpretation of the action stats. As GM says, our possession based tactics mean that we build from the back and thus spend more time moving the ball out of defence. The Blades tend to send the ball forward as soon as they win it in their own half. I agree with this, but it also suggests the problem people are having with Robbie's comments. Stieps can be a really effective player when he's on his game, but he's rarely shown that this season, but according to Robbie, his not playing is just another reason we're failing. I'm trying to remember any positives from Robbie. We beat Leicester and Spurs and still there are no positives, just that Leicester are on a poor run and Vardy and Kane were both missing. After all the injuries we've had that galls. The Blades by contrast have had few injuries and not a single one last Saturday. Our recent improvement is put down to players coming back rather than playing better. The constant stream of negatives has just become very wearing.
Rick, look at the action zone stats for virtually any Man City game. They are the prime example of a possession based team. The action zone stats are pretty similar to ours against Sheffield -- but in reverse. For example, against Man Utd at the weekend: 25% in the Man City defensive third, 43% in the middle third, 33% in the Man Utd third. Against West Ham the pattern is even more marked; only 19% of play in the Man City defensive third, 39% in the West Ham defensive third! When they played Sheffield at Bramall Lane, the figures reflected the way Sheffield play, but Man City nevertheless spent as much time in the Sheffield defensive third as they did in their own. I quoted the action zone stats in the context of debating whether it was true that we dominated the game. Man City's typical action zone stats are those of a team who do actually succeed in dominating games through possession. The contrast between their pattern and ours shows that we do not. Yet we keep going into games as if we do -- except if we are playing Man City .......
Rick, Stiepermann has only started 3 league games; what chance has he been given to adjust to the higher level and get into any sort of rhythm? The point that matters about Sheffield is not that they have been relatively injury free, but that they are set up to be defensively sound (NB "to be defensively sound", not simply "to defend"). This season is just the latest in a succession of seasons which have demonstrated it. They have conceded fewer than half our 52 GA. Last season they headed the Championship defensive table, we were mid-table. It just seems perverse to me to keep on about our injuries or Sheffield's lack thereof. Season on season they have proved themselves defensively strong, season on season we have proved ourselves defensively much weaker. Injuries, or lack of, may be mitigating factors, but the real difference is systemic.
Is it possible to start your own circular argument thread please @robbieBB ? you have successfully bored everyone into submission with your in depth critique of Farke .
.The only thing that I find perverse is you apparent willingness for our team to do badly so that you feel you can carry on banging the same old tired drum.
When have I ever displayed "willingness for our team to do badly"? Quite the contrary, I keep banging the same drum because I don't want recent history to keep repeating itself. I'm hugely disappointed by how this season has gone, and dismayed by how I think the future is most likely to unfold.
By "recent history" I mean getting to the top tier only to be relegated again the following season, each time for the same reason, conceding too many goals.
"IGNORE THE NOISE" This is exactly what I am going to do now . Do try and enjoy the rest of the season Robbie.
And you Mike. The real narrative will unfold on the pitch; that's where we'll find out if this is to be a story with a happy ending.