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Petriix

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Posts posted by Petriix

  2. Posted

    He isn't really a striker, he isn't a midfielder and he's keeping far better players out of their best positions. If Sara was able to play in his best role as a central attacking midfielder then we could play a proper defensive midfielder alongside Nunez as the deep lying playmaker.

    Barnes is really not great at any of the skills required in the number 10 position. He doesn't hold the ball up well and his passing is... limited so linking up play is not his strength. His only plus is that he chases and pressures the defenders, but that's not much use if he can't create anything when he does win the ball high up. 

    On balance, fitting him into the team requires far too much compromise elsewhere and he really doesn't bring enough to the party to justify his place. This is almost a very good starting 11 but, for me, Barnes is now the weak link. 

    • Like 2

  3. Posted

    Tombola team selection to continue with Idah in central midfield and Forshaw on the wing with Rowe 'rested'. We'll start brightly before conceding against the run of play, after which we'll look bereft of confidence and ideas. Gunn will make a string of saves keeping it at 0-1 before Sargent misses a 1-on-1 late on to confirm the narrow defeat. 

  4. Posted

    9 minutes ago, crispeduk said:

    Remember when we all wanted to draw a 'big club' ?

    In truth an away tie at a huge ground would be ideal (if we somehow win the replay). I believe FA Cup gate receipts are still split 50-50 so Man Utd away might be worth a few quid. 

  8. Posted

    4 hours ago, Conrad said:

    If you are right on those 7 being good enough for the championship, then if we were ever to be promoted again they would all need replacing. 

    You might not have done it intentionally, but you've basically hit the nail on the head. In my opinion only Gunn, Sara and Rowe would get into any current Premier League squad and I doubt any would make the starting 11 for any top flight team; certainly not one with aspirations of finishing outside the bottom three. Rowe has huge potential but we're otherwise pretty threadbare compared to the quality we've sold on (or released). 

    That's why many of us were so disappointed with our recruitment when we were last promoted. The fact that McLean is correctly regarded as one of our most important players shows how badly wrong Webber got it. We needed to be upgrading our central midfield. Onel was alway 'lively but limited' and we're totally lacking in the creativity and cohesion that players like Cantwell and Dowell brought to the team.

    But, hey, there's a transfer window open. Maybe we could sign a couple of decent players to plug some of the gaps... 

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    I wouldn't judge him on that game, especially in a totally dysfunctional midfield system where he's basically playing as the entire midfield while the rest of the team form a circle around him with no one closer than 25 yards.

    Yes, he looked poor, but who wouldn't in those circumstances? 

    • Like 5

  10. Posted

    3 hours ago, hogesar said:

    The reality is overall Idah performs in line with his xG. As Pukki generally did, with a little overperformance in one of his seasons. 

    Players are also in control of the xG, not just the G stat. Pukki was adept at getting into goalscoring positions through intelligent movement and perfect timing. Idah is far harder to create assists for because he doesn't make predictable runs or get into dangerous positions at the right time. That means he has a lower xG from which he can score. It's pretty irrelevant that he takes the expected number of those chances. 

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    3 hours ago, The Bunny said:

    Some are a bit wayward but he's generally pretty good at bursting into the box and putting balls into the danger area.

    That's the funniest thing I've read on here this year. Onel is incredibly bad at putting the ball in the right place to create chances. The goal was very much the exception and that was a very simple pass. 

    The cross for Idah's 'miss' was awful. He absolutely twatted it across the box and put it too far in front of him, bouncing awkwardly. At head height he would have been able to throw himself at it; slightly softer and he could have slid in and bundled it home. But a half-volley on his left foot at that pace, trying to stretch to reach the ball when already running at speed is beyond most players. 

    I'm not Idah's biggest fan. I think the guy is a bit of a moron, but his game has massively improved this season and he is a genuine threat, especially off the bench. None of his chances against Bristol Rovers were particularly easy and there were far bigger issues on display. 

  13. Posted

    10 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

    Just noticed we finished the game with only 10 men.

    Hanley downed tools and fcuked off holding his back and we brought no one on presumably because Wagner had already used his 3 subs options during the half.

    Have I missed something there?

    He seemed to up and leave at around the same time as fans started to trickle out of the ground. I can only assume that he'd also had enough of what he'd seen and wanted to beat the traffic so he could get the kids to bed and enjoy a beer or two. 

  16. Posted

    5 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

    "Our team is too old. Why don't we give youth a chance?"

    "No, not those youngsters, they aren't ready"

    As in "let's sign some promising youngsters and develop them" not "let's sign a bunch of old-timers then play the under 18s".

  17. Posted

    4 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

    Young and only ever played in non league and it sure shows

    Clearly not anywhere near the required level yet. It's cruel to put him out there when he's so out of his depth. I'm very much in favour of giving game time to young players, but they have to be ready otherwise it can destroy their confidence. This is helping no one. 

    • Like 5

  19. Posted

    49 minutes ago, king canary said:

    But if we want to actually compete in the top flight (and if we don't whats the point?) then a manager and SD need to recognise the type of players we need- basically more Josh Sargent's and less Moritz Leitners.

    I'm with you up to this point. We've signed too many Barnes and Onels and let too many Vrancics go. I think Rowe might be the best of both worlds and (if we can keep him) we need to find a few more. Sargent was a poor signing for what was required at the time but looks great now.

    We need to be using the back end of this season to get up to speed ready to mount a promotion challenge next year. One or two key signings and some promising youngsters ready to step up, then work on refining a system based on rapid attacking transitions. 

    • Like 3

  20. Posted

    53 minutes ago, Monty13 said:

    If that is the superior strategy where are the superior teams playing it?

    None of the top teams have creative enough managers to realise the genius of telling their world-class players not to attack at all until their opponents have over committed. They're all too scared of Chris Sutton's wrath. Wagner likely doesn't realise the true wonder of what he's stumbled across having pulled the formation out of a hat like his team selections. 

    • Haha 2

  21. Posted

    In my opinion the 'low block/fast counter' is the superior strategy in the current football paradigm. It was especially effective against Southampton due to the incredibly high line they played and allowed us to almost entirely contain them while enjoying the best chances of the match. With competent officiating we likely would have been the deserved winners. 

    This was exactly how Leicester won the Premier League and how many teams have beaten us in recent times. The possession stats are obviously pretty unusual but that's not just down to how we played; Southampton were happy to pass the ball sideways and backwards while hoping for us to make positional errors which ultimately never came until their goal.

    It's not pretty but it has the potential to be pretty effective, playing right into the strengths of Sargent, Idah and Rowe. If we're moving on from Farke then this is definitely a viable option. People are being far too emotive about what is actually a reasonably high-percentage change.

    Obviously I would have preferred to keep our silky skills and play the passing game, but I've been told ad infinitum that it was a losing strategy...

    I'm only half joking. I genuinely think that we could swap one of the defenders for a proper CDM and have a very effective system capable of rapidly passing through teams or just going long from time to time. 

    • Like 2

  22. Posted

    I think 3 at the back is just as problematic as playing 2 strikers (with the obvious exception that it provides better defensive cover) because we're still sticking too many players in the wrong areas of the pitch while being outnumber in (the key) central midfield. The extra centre back is largely redundant. 

    I like McLean in defence, but that's largely because he can perform a dual role of defender and playmaker. Playing an extra defender wastes that benefit for minimal gain while also costing us a quality attacking player higher up the pitch. 

    Honestly, our best system at the moment would be Sargent with Sainz, Sara and Rowe behind him. I think Nunez is playing ok deeper and just needs a proper 6 along side him. Imagine today's setup but swap Duffy for that elusive CDM; far better balance and control of the midfield. 

  25. Posted

    44 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

    As soon as we kicked off! Settled back and waited for Southampton. Ridiculous for a home game. 

    Don't be so naive, we're up against one of the best (and in-form) teams in the league. They're playing so high that we stand a great chance of hitting them on the break and should really be winning. Our tactics today are far more coherent than those we've employed for much of the season and they're pretty much working. 

    • Like 14
    • Haha 1
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