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Petriix

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Posts posted by Petriix

  1. Posted

    I've been holding fire on saying this because I don't want to pi$$ on the parade but there's a real disparity between the noises coming from the club and the feeling amongst the fans. Knapper's interview really surprised me, and not really in a good way.

    I get the impression that the club view Webber's departure as a setback rather than a positive change and Knapper seems to have been brought in to continue the work rather than do anything differently. Hopefully I'm getting the wrong end of the stick but I've got a nagging feeling that things will continue to get worse before they get better. 

    There's just something about the way Webber left with a guard of honour then wrote his leaving statement like an Oscar acceptance speech. Now the tone of this interview feeds the same narrative.

    Reassure me that I'm reading it wrong! 

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    49 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

    Let's get spicy and get this deleted or sent straight to off topic

     

    GB News is right wing propoganda in the same way the Guardian is left wing propoganda

    That's objectively untrue. The Guardian is centre right/liberal by most historical measures. Just because it's the least right wing mainstream news source in the UK, doesn't make it left wing. You can tell by their love for Kier Starmer and disdain for Jeremy Corbyn. 

    • Like 4

  6. Posted

    2 hours ago, RobJames said:

    I do wonder if the [fault] lies with this 'spot the ball machine they have.

    I've had the very same thought. Drilling players on some computer game rather than the overall picture of a dynamic game could have some unexpected consequences. Regardless of whether Soccer Bot is at the heart of the issue, there's far too much focus on what we want to impose on the opposition and too little on being able to react to and mitigate what they might do to us. 

    • Like 1

  9. Posted · Edited by Petriix

    It wasn't a clear-cut penalty and would have been pretty harsh for minimal contact. I thought she handled the game pretty well on the whole, but made two glaring errors: from our corner it was either a goal kick or a free kick, never a drop ball; when the ball hit her and dropped back to Norwich player the rules state it's play-on (only if possession is lost should it be a drop ball), unless they've changed the rules again recently. 

  19. Posted

    I think it's a reasonable goodbye/self eulogy which focuses on the positives while providing a very political non-apology for the negatives, despite the cons clearly outweighing the pros by this point. Let's face it, he was never going to come out and apologise for getting pretty much everything wrong since June 2021 so this is as good as it could have been. It beautifully betrays the arrogance which let us to this point.

    I think it's fair to say that he got most things right in those first years, in spectacular contrast to the final two and a half seasons. I'll always think of him as a gambler who won big but then lost it all on the next spin of the wheel then continued to chase his losses while becoming increasingly desperate. 

    Between Webber, Farke and the players we had, that 2021 Championship title was the culmination of something very special. How I wish that Stuart could have recognised what we had and not thrown it all away.

    "There ain't no mountain high enough..." 

    • Like 2

  20. Posted · Edited by Petriix

    3 hours ago, Robert N. LiM said:

    Just on the above, though, and specifically on Sara's role, I would argue that playing as a more deep-lying midfielder actually suits him, at least offensively. In our recent run of six games without a win he has three goals and two assists: you'd be pretty happy with that as a 10; for an 8 it's outstanding.

    I think you're missing the point though: the reason why he's a 10 not an 8 is because he doesn't fulfill the defensive side of the role sufficiently to play that deep. As a 10 he could play with more freedom without being such a liability.

    Same reason Kenny is an 8 not a 6. No problem with either of them dropping into deeper spaces, but they need cover and support rather than being the crucial defensive cogs.

    [But you clearly went on to mention that later in your post] 

  21. Posted

    Just now, shefcanary said:

    And add McLean to this group as well! Sara was bought as McLean's replacement FFS, they should be competing for an attacking number 8 position, not both trying to prevent our defence from being overloaded. 

    For me Sara is a number 10 and McLean is an 8 yet they're currently being played as an interchangeable 6 and 8.

    • Like 1

  22. Posted · Edited by Petriix

    As ever there is a degree of nuance which escapes most of the reactive rhetoric when things are going badly. As it happens I don't think Wagner's tactics are all that terrible but the failure to adapt to clear problems or around the strengths and (particularly) weaknesses of the individuals on the pitch are his Achilles heel.

    The fundamental problem is a failure to get our weapons into goalscoring positions (and generally a lack of weapons) while leaving our midfield short of numbers and defensive skills. This, combined with a feedback loop of nosediving confidence and mental fragility, leads to the slump we're experiencing. 

    Players revert to their base instincts when under pressure. Plan A is highly dependent on all players reading the game and working as a tight unit; if one player misses their cue or gets out of position, a cascade of overloads can (and does) lead to clear openings on our goal.

    The team lacks balance. Rowe, Sara, Hernandez and Nunez are primarily attacking players who want to operate in the final third. This is compounded by playing very high fullbacks meaning we're often caught with far too many players ahead of the ball. Then Kenny drives forwards and we're left in far too many foot races where opposition wingers have a head start against our fullbacks.

    In attacking transitions, our midfield lacks the collective skill, awareness and cohesion (and confidence) to make the right passes and movements to open teams up. Without a quality striker (mainly in terms of movement and positioning) we are far too easy to defend against. By generally being too high up the pitch and too stretched out, we're far too easy to play through.

    It's a shame because I can often see exactly how the system is supposed to work. Against both Blackburn and Middlesbrough we won the ball in the final third several times during the opening exchanges but, through poor passing, movement and decision-making, were unable to create any real chances.

    I think there are some glaringly obvious changes that we should make to mitigate the current fragility and get our players into the right positions so that their natural instincts more readily fit the situations they find themselves in. I can understand why Wagner keeps trying to make it work, but surely he must realise that something needs to change now?

    The main thing is to stop throwing so many players forwards all the time; be more compact and harder to break down out of possession. To that end we need to play a more balanced mix of players. Get Rowe and Sara forward because they're the biggest threats but don't try to have Hernandez and Nunez on the pitch as well because neither have the required defensive skills. Likewise, get Kenny into his natural box-to-box role by playing him with a more defensive midfielder.

    It remains to be seen how much influence Stuart Webber has imposed on the tactics and team selection. I have a suspicion that he's more involved than people realise. It might be that Wagner performs better once his toxic boss has moved on.

    Ultimately the players aren't good enough (or assigned roles that they're good enough at) to play the system they're trying to play. We need to adapt the system to the players we have and/or try different players in certain key positions. I'm willing to give Wagner the chance to do something different post Webber before demanding his head.

  24. Posted

    5 hours ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

    Signing Pukki for free and of course signing Buendia too.

    This doesn't count as a legacy because neither are still here and the former was entirely wasted by the inexplicable change in system in 2021.

    We can all agree that there was a period of exceptional football with some incredible memories, but that's history not a legacy. A legacy is what's left afterwards, not the high points from his tenure but what endures after he's gone.

    So, let's be honest about where we really are right now: the club is in a shambolic state from top to bottom. There's no leadership, no proper structure and no accountability. All the staff from behind the scenes who made the success happen have departed. The playing squad is a chimera: unable to function as a cohesive unit and lacking the skill to hurt other teams yet paid comparatively huge wages.

    It would be great to be able to say that now comes a fresh start but the truth is we're on a downward spiral and no one can predict how far we still have to fall. The level of debt is unparalleled in this club's history while the balance between current wages and future income is alarming. Without parachute payments next year, our turnover is set to drop to its lowest level in more than a decade.

    We don't know what will happen with the club's ownership but, without serious investment, the quality of the squad can only decline further. 

    Webber’s hypocrisy will be his biggest legacy. He accused his predecessors of pissing the money up the wall but has gone on to spectacularly dwarf that previous profligacy. 

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
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