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Yellow Green

What’s the problem?

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This was always going to be a tough season, most sensible people said we were in a scrap to stay up from day one, only those delusional few believe we’d be top ten or better.

We’re 11 games in and our youngsters are definitely getting better, but we need Amadou or Tettey in that midfield it’s too weak.

Bring in Famewo and put Tettey or a fit Amadou into midfield, we’re losing with makeshift defenders so it’s a no brainer. 

Edited by Indy
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8 minutes ago, Yellow Green said:

Championship winning squad. 
Sheff Utd spent around the same as us and are flying. Farke is out of his depth I’m afraid...

They invested significantly more money - and maybe that is the difference. 

I suspect there is more to it than that though. The core of that Sheff Utd squad is the same as the one we beat to the title last year. 

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Just now, KeiranShikari said:

It's almost as if we were on our 6th choice central defender today.

 

While I don’t disagree this is a factor the fact our midfield is failing to create chances is more of a concern for me and we have almost all those players available.

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The problem is that last season we were the standout side with the way we played, with a bit of luck thrown in for good measure but defensively naive.

We conceded lots last year and Sheff Utd were defensively strong as a unit and that strength is helping them in the PL and our lack of strength there is exposing us badly, even before the injuries we were always shaky at best and we seem to have no idea how to defend corners!?

Edited by Rich T The Biscuit
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1 minute ago, Rich T The Biscuit said:

even before the injuries

Zim, Klose and Hernandez - arguably 3 of our most important players were injured going into the season. Not laying our current position all on this but I doubt our own momentum would have been killed so badly if this hadn't been the case.

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13 minutes ago, KeiranShikari said:

It's almost as if we were on our 6th choice central defender today.

 

That excuse has dried up now. The problems are all over the pitch. Zimmerman in there with Godfrey wouldn’t have changed our inability to create goal scoring chances or be combative in midfield.

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We seem to be more solid with Tettey in defence than anyone else. We spent peanuts going into this season. Cannot believe, having shipped in 58 goals last season we went with same, and didn't try to strengthen (& Byram doesn't count) 

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1 minute ago, JF said:

That excuse has dried up now. The problems are all over the pitch. Zimmerman in there with Godfrey wouldn’t have changed our inability to create goal scoring chances or be combative in midfield.

Bit confused by the logic here.

Zimmerman at CB would've allowed Tettey to play in midfield - surely making our midfield "combative".

Similarly, Amadou wasn't fit enough to start, Vrancic hasn't been fit all season, and Onel is on his 2nd game back from a freak injury.

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Just now, JF said:

That excuse has dried up now. The problems are all over the pitch. Zimmerman in there with Godfrey wouldn’t have changed our inability to create goal scoring chances or be combative in midfield.

So both of our physical defensive midfielders having to play CB hasn't caused us to be less combative in midfield? I'd also argue that with a more solid back line we'd be able to play out from the back more successful which was of course our big strength last season.

 

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4 minutes ago, Samwam27 said:

We seem to be more solid with Tettey in defence than anyone else.

 

2 minutes ago, kirku said:

Zimmerman at CB would've allowed Tettey to play in midfield - surely making our midfield "combative".

It says a lot about the quality of our squad when a player who arguably wasn't good enough for the premier league 6 years ago is one of our better performers.

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2 minutes ago, Peanuts said:

 

It says a lot about the quality of our squad when a player who arguably wasn't good enough for the premier league 6 years ago is one of our better performers.

With a fully fit squad, you wouldn't expect Tettey to start. And he's always been perfectly serviceable as a midfield screen. 

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13 minutes ago, kirku said:

Bit confused by the logic here.

Zimmerman at CB would've allowed Tettey to play in midfield - surely making our midfield "combative".

Similarly, Amadou wasn't fit enough to start, Vrancic hasn't been fit all season, and Onel is on his 2nd game back from a freak injury.

If you say so. We’ve had injuries, every team does but we’re now only one injury away from our strongest 11 (Zimmerman) there is no evidence that Vrancic will be any better than our current outclassed and out muscled midfielders and the goals have now dried up as well. We’re paying the price for not signing a single player that can challenge and nail down a starting place in the first 11. We’ve been ridiculously unlucky with injuries but that is not the only reason by a long way as to why we’re struggling 

Edited by JF

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1 minute ago, kirku said:

With a fully fit squad, you wouldn't expect Tettey to start. And he's always been perfectly serviceable as a midfield screen. 

Sure, and I'm not knocking Tettey either by the way - he's been a great servant to the club and I love him as a player. But it's undeniable that the standard of the premier league has increased in the last 6 years and the fact we're still relying on Tettey two relegations and promotions later suggests our squad is nowhere near good enough.

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2 minutes ago, JF said:

If you say so. We’ve had injuries, every team does but we’re now only one injury away from our strongest 11 (Zimmerman) there is no evidence that Vrancic will be any better than our current outclassed and out muscled midfielders and the goals have now dried up as well. We’re paying the price for not signing a single player that can challenge and nail down a starting place in the first 11. We’ve been ridiculously unlucky with injuries but that not the only reason by a long way as to why we’re struggling 

Yes, every team has injuries. No, most teams don't have them so concentrated on such few areas of the pitch and to regular starters. Man City, the most extravagantly assembled squad in history, struggled when they had just 1 of their £50m+ defenders injured.

You stated that we lacked a midfield that was both combative and creative. Amadou would surely be starting in MF, if he hadn't had to fill in as a CB, would tick the first box and Vrancic is probably the best (or 2nd best) passer in our squad.

 

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Thought we should have spent every possible penny on 2 new CBs in the summer and nudged Godrey & Zimmers down as their understudies. 

Not hindsight.

Obvious that THAT back 4, which was leaky in the 2nd tier, would be too flimsy at this level.

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Just now, kirku said:

Yes, every team has injuries. No, most teams don't have them so concentrated on such few areas of the pitch and to regular starters. Man City, the most extravagantly assembled squad in history, struggled when they had just 1 of their £50m+ defenders injured.

You stated that we lacked a midfield that was both combative and creative. Amadou would surely be starting in MF, if he hadn't had to fill in as a CB, would tick the first box and Vrancic is probably the best (or 2nd best) passer in our squad.

 

Your argument is based on opinions rather than evidence that these players will do any better than those that have been playing. I hope they do and probably think that Amadou will be, but I still don’t see it being anywhere near enough. The problems are all over the pitch and if Pukki doesn’t score, we don’t score. We’re paying the price for summer transfer activity 

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The injuries are no excuse for the **** poor performance of the midfield. Buendia utterly shocking, Trybull was he on the pitch? Hernandez understandably mind elsewhere, McLean similar excuse but has been poor all season, Stiepermann probably the best of a bad bunch to be fair but nowhere near Premier League standard. 

The injuries are no excuse for the woeful school boy defending today either. Depressing that we don't have an U23 defender better than a 6th choice stand in. I thought the whole part of the "model" was to have young players coming through.

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What’s the problem?

That only two of our players - Krul and Pukki - have shown that they can consistently step up to the demands of this league. Some players have had their moments, and others haven't had the games to show either way, but unless a lot more of our players can make that step up, it won't matter who's injured or not.

OTBC

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If we had had every player fit for every game we have played I don't things would have been that much different.

Virtually the whole squad, with the possible exception of 3 or 4 players at most, are no where near good enough for this League.

Add to that that we must be the easiest team in the league to play against because the tactics/formation employed by Farke are so predictable.

 

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Do people think it’s a coincidence that Krul has been immense this season? He’s been immense because he’s the only player in the side who has genuine competition for his position. Our summer activity has bred complacency as there is no competition for places for certain key players 

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I don't understand this Vrancic saviour talk.

He was a bit-part player in the championship.  He won't be setting the Premier league alight.

Wish he would, but it will not happen. 

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Players have found it difficult to adapt to the demands of Premier League football unfortunately, we are a fairly young and inexperienced team anyway let alone at this level. Tettey, Krul and Klose are the main three with PL experience and they have missed a lot of games already. We are missing our natural leader in Zimmerman. Our best DCM has played all of his football at centre half so far. And we have a coach who is inexperienced in English football. 

I don’t buy the idea that out players aren’t good enough per se, they just aren’t at the moment. I have a genuine belief they will prove good enough by May. You don’t waltz the Championship one minute and then be of insufficient quality for the PL the next. 

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We did sign a creative player on loan this summer but for some reason Farke refuses to let him have even a single minute on the pitch.

The problems start with our owners in my book but in terms of on the pitch we are clearly so lacking on confidence, the injuries have not helped and the defending continues to be pathetic. Farke has never been able to sort the defence but last season it was masked by the quality of our attacking play and our ability to "outscore" teams. This season we can't do that and our horrific defending (you don't need expensive players to mark properly and Godfrey is costing us a goal a game at the moment with his "marking") is undermining all the good elements of our game by losing us games and sapping confidence.

The squad lacks the necessary balance for a league where we are going to be on the back foot more  regularly. Our full backs are great players but not natural defenders. We don't have a centre half who really "loves" defending. We have good players but we don't really have any good "defenders." Although I have urged more caution in terms of the full backs bombing forward we look so impotent when they don;'t and it has become so apparent that we are not capable of shutting up shop and winning ugly (because we will let one in eventually from a set piece) that frankly I think we may as well go back to playing our attacking game, certainly at home against the weaker sides anyway as we have nothing to lose and if we can somehow pick up 7 or 8 wins at home then we might give ourselves a chance of an unlikely survival.

Tettey did ok at CB today so maybe try Amadou in midfield on Friday but I think we need to go for them and put them under some serious pressure from the off. 

 

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There we go. 

Never does our fanbase fail to meet my exponentially low expectations. Farke already out of his depth.

You didnt get your way a year ago but maybe if you're really lucky you'll get him sacked this time....

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1 minute ago, hogesar said:

Never does our fanbase fail to meet my exponentially low expectations. Farke already out of his depth

I see what you're saying but we're getting comfortably roller over week after week. That isn't OK and shouldn't be OK. 

Maybe you should find a club that meet your exponentially low expectations. Then again..... Maybe you have. 

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Who has said Farke is out of his depth? He's struggling a bit certainly but I haven't seen anyone call for him to be sacked or replaced and i'm certainly not.

It is indisputable, however, that we have never managed to mark players as well as we should  or defend set pieces well enough in the last 3 seasons, aside from possibly the spell where we went 3 at the back. That looked our best system defensively and in that respect I have some sympathy for Farke because he doesn't have the players available to play it. 

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