| Tweaks we need to become top 6? 13:14 - Sep 5 with 3792 views | PinnerPaul |
We've discussed goals against and the defence, but notable (Stoke excepted) that our 2nd half performances are so much better than 1st.
Why is this - are Eze/Chair/Wells/Hugill better against tired defenders?
Do we need to be more adventurous 1st half?
Certainly Eze/Chair have seemed so much better 2nd half, not least because service they get seems to improve as game goes on.
Certainly something we need to work on, can't KEEP conceding 1st as we are doing.
Thoughts? |  | | |  |
| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 19:29 - Sep 7 with 621 views | oldmisery |
| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 01:10 - Sep 7 by timcocking |
Three poor ex premier league sides, some poor promoted sides and some worse than normal in the division. Last year the Championship had teams like Villa and Newcastle.
Won't make much difference, but probably fair to say it would make a bit. Not every year is equal.
Mind you, for a month we were the best team in the division last year! [Post edited 7 Sep 2019 1:12]
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Villa (with all their resources) for sure but Newcastle haven't been in the Championship for three years. | | | |
| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 22:03 - Sep 7 with 547 views | DylanP |
| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 15:40 - Sep 7 by Neil_SI |
We've conceded a lot of soft goals this season and they cover broadly these areas:
- Lapses in concentration when defending set plays (corners, etc)
- Bad individual errors or mistakes
- Positional and structural issues when hit on the counter attack
The lapses in concentration when defending set plays can be worked on and improved on the training ground, but is also in part, because it's a new team. They're still learning about one another's mentality and who is likely to take responsibility in these situations.
Hopefully it's something we can improve on, but Wigan were allowed a soft goal from a cross to put us one behind on a very warm day and we almost conceded another in similar circumstances just a few minutes later.
The bad individual errors or mistakes can bleed into either of the other two points, but is particularly important when it relates to being hit on the counter attack. This is another area where the players still need time to bed in and gel, as well as get used to what Mark Warburton wants, as well as some of them simply being inexperienced.
This is where we need to offer most support to the players, but also where we need them to wisen up quickly because they've made a lot of mistakes this season that they've not been punished by on top of the many they have been.
Matt Smith was caught out against Swansea trying to make a forward pass, which left us wide open on the counter attack and we conceded. He'd already made a couple of telling mistakes throughout that first half and it cost us both in defence and attack. But, he's just a young boy and therefore getting on top of him isn't going to help the situation. What we do need though is the experienced players to guide the youngsters through these moments. When you've already made a mistake and gotten away with it, just make sure they take a bit more care and weigh up the risk versus reward in the context of the match and to work on their game management.
The third aspect, the structural issues, are the key ones. It's hard to tell how they will unfold, because when we're on form and flying we'll be a handful, but when we're exposed and countered, we're in trouble for different reasons.
We're playing with extremely attacking full backs, which I very much like and enjoy. I think it's exciting and entertaining to watch, but it can also be wild. The wide players are bombing on and leaving the defence exposed if we lose the ball. There's so much space to be hit on the counter that it only takes a side with some nous and a bit of quality to take advantage.
The key issues here are who does what? If we have a midfield two of say Luke Amos and Geoff Cameron, should it be they who cover the full backs, or should it be someone else? Do we want
Amos running around and tracking back, or on the ball and trying to make things happen?
Do we want Cameron, with older legs, having to scurry around and cover? How does this soften the middle of the pitch up as well? Does it actually take away protection from the core central part of the defence? If one of the centre backs go, does that still leave us too exposed?
When you mix this in with the type of attacking players we have, such as Bright, Eze, Chair, etc - they're not renown for their defensive prowess and nor should they be. Eze has done really well this season though with tracking back and pitching in when needed at times. But, it's almost a shame to see him all the way back there doing that when we want him further up the pitch and affecting play and doing damage down the other end.
So for me, it's putting these pieces of the puzzle together. When you lose the ball, what should the shape look like, and who goes where and deals with what scenario? That's the same question whether it's 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2, etc.
A lot of people have been criticising Barbet this season, and he has made some silly blunders like the rash tackle for the penalty against Swansea. But, I actually think he's been excellent in so many other moments defensively, where the defence have been left exposed and left in too many dangerous or awkward 1:1 scenarios that for the large part they've come out on top. The Bristol City game was a fine example of that, I thought he was MOTM for most of it, and unfortunately it was Grant Hall who headed a ball straight out down the middle for their player to volley it in and then we had the throw-in debacle (see individual mistakes, of which there were three in succession)
But if you keep putting them at that risk, more mistakes or bad decisions will happen, and reducing the probability of all this is what will determine whether we can be successful or not and my gripe this season so far is, most of the goals we've conceded have literally been gifts (and a shame when we've been playing well and seemingly conceding against the run of play). The opposition are barely having to work for theirs and yet we're having to generally work quite hard for ours. |
Are you Ingram? That is too long a post mate. I got tired half way thru and had to go lie down |  |
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| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 14:13 - Sep 8 with 429 views | francisbowles |
| Tweaks we need to become top 6? on 22:03 - Sep 7 by DylanP |
Are you Ingram? That is too long a post mate. I got tired half way thru and had to go lie down |
NeilSl is one of our more astute posters. Glad to see him back after a brief hiatus.
Always a thought provoking post. | | | |
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