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pete

Weak Points

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However good Farke has the team playing there are two particular areas he has failed singularly to rectify.  If only improved by 50% we would safely be ensconced at the top of the league.

The first and probably simplest to rectify would be the issue of penalty taking.  Five penalties missed although saved the 5 penalties were hardly struck with venom.  Rhodes hit two softly to the keepers right, Pukki, Vrancic and Stiepermann just as powder puff to the left.  Any one of these played with any strength straight down the middle see Vrancic against Wigan.  The penalty against WBA was the only one that cost us points a strike on Wednesday would have changed the match.  More practice neede but not brain surgery.

The next will take a little more thinking to resolve namely the poor record in defending corners and free kicks around the box.  It maybe the inexperience at CB looking here at the excellent Godfrey here, we miss Klose who marginally improved the situation but doesn't completely solve the problem.  Hanley has missed out lately however you cannot fault his presence when it comes to headed duels.  Maybe its a lack of height in other areas of the pitch Tettey is a bit of a liability in the penalty box, Stiepermann who has played LB doesn't make any presence there.  I don't know how it can be resolved maybe 3 CB's with flexibility and dispense with a DM Godfrey to act as CB and DM when the opportubity arises certainly can bring the ball out from the back.

Recent performances have been poor both first halves against Ipswich and PNE.  Stiepermann poor recently, in absence of Vrancic and Leitner Buendia should play central and even as #10.  And Kenny Maclean with two assists in 5 minute cameos deserves a chance to replace Buendia on right in what is tomorrow a must win game if only to maintain the confidence of the fans who were hit hard on Wednesday after a recent performances and results.

Faith in Farke but need to see some improvement I these failings.   

 

  

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Whilst there may be some validity in your points, if you look at the current league position I think we can agree we are going pretty well all things considered - but of course improvements can always be made. 

The penalty thing is just weird, and becoming a bit of a mental block, but IMO switching penalty taker after each miss probably doesn’t help. Clearly not having Rhodes/Mario on the pitch v PNE removed  two of the options though.

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I think the importance of those missed penalties only becomes a real issue, if our promotion is denied due to a slightly poorer goal difference - Had we scored all 6, we would have clear daylight between all our rivals in terms of goal difference 

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The issue with defending set pieces is nothing to do with inexperience but more how we set up to defend them in my opinion. Although their delivery was so poor they didn't really cause us issued, it was very noticeable that Lambert had done his homework and noticed that we often have all our players back on our own six yard box and regularly leave opponents unmarked at the top of the box from set pieces. This has led to us conceding quite a few goals from the "second phase" of set pieces (after the ball has been half cleared) and increasingly sees our defenders defending from a standing start against attackers who are running in from the edge of the box and attacking the ball.

We clearly aren't going to change it now and to be fair we've improved a bit in defending the, in recent weeks so we just have to hope it doesn;t undo us too much in the remaining games but its been a worry all season.

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We were forced into playing 3 kids and a very inexperienced Zimmermann. I think they have done amazing things, of course they will make mistakes, unfortunately in the modern game you have to learn. Personally based on that I can only suggest these 4 together with the motivational skills of Krul behind them have far exceeded the thoughts of even the wildest optimist.

Guess we will need extra experience on the run in so I am assuming Godfrey will soon be getting a well deserved rest to allow Klose in. Think it shows how much these guys have moved on that they have all overtaken Hanley. Funny old game.

This is the time to be fully behind the club and every single player not the time for people to bring up their previous agendas. 

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All the players that have taken penalties (except maybe Stiepermann) favour the send the goalkeeper the wrong way style of penalty.  If you look at any of Rhodes penalties from his career, you won't see one that is hit hard - Vrancic too is clever and likes to fool the goalkeeper. Maybe goalkeepers are getting better at reading these style of penalties, but whatever, we do need someone to really take it on.  Maybe a defender has to take it on next time.  Can imagine Godfrey could do it, likewise Zimmermann or Klose.

Just need one penalty to go in to break the spell and then normal percentages should apply - and maybe we have had the worst luck that we are going to have at penalty taking and if we end up in the play offs and need penalties to go through, we won't miss any at all......

 

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Having an extra centre half on the pitch isn’t the issue when defending set pieces. It’s marking and organising. Almost exclusively that. Obviously if you have a 6”3 player being marked by someone who is 5”4 that will factor in, but generally if you’re similar-ish height and you’ve marked your man properly, you’ll be able to do enough to stop a clear header at goal.

There has been long debate on here previously, even to the extent that there were some who couldn’t agree whether we man mark or mark zonally - that perhaps tells you where the issue is!

Without getting dragged into a man marking vs zonal marking argument (both can work if done properly), it is something which can be better drilled into the players, whichever we choose. 

Penalties - I’m in the “just whack it” school of thought, ideally in the top corner. Not much the manager can do here though. There’s not much to teach the players, and you can’t run organisational drills for penalty taking (in the same way you can for defending set plays). Just give them a ball and let them practice whacking it into the top corner from the penalty spot. 

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We blame the penalty strikers obviously, but what if the keeper guessed the wrong way every time? Our gently stroked pens would go in, so somewhat unfortunate we can't out smart the keepers. Still like a rocket high shot to score 

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