Other 'one dimensional' teams

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

Whilst I don't think anyone can fault our current position or results overall so far this season, there have been plenty of grumblings on this forum in recent weeks for our 'one dimensional' approach, our inconsistency and our failure to reach the highest gears in our performances. 

Watching the Liverpool game tonight at Southampton, where they dominated the second 45 minutes without really creating any clear cut changes - whilst inadvertently gifting Southampton the best chance of the half - I couldn't help but see the similarities with our own struggles, with various City performances this season mapping a similar path. 

Okay, Liverpool do it far better than us and at a higher tempo, but it is amazing how 'one dimensional' even the best teams end up looking when they are facing two banks of four and a committed defence.

Against a deep line they - much like us - are limited to overloads down either side to fashion a crossing opportunity (usually more aerial crossing than us but broadly the same principles). Clearly then - however good you are - when things don't bounce your way or when you don't get the final ball quite right in these situations, it is very difficult to create a goal-scoring chance. 

As the 'Liverpool' of our division we have faced this kind of dilemma all season, with teams parking the bus, conceding possession and stepping up their defensive game against the table-topping Norwich. Because of this I'm reluctant to agree with any of the aforementioned criticisms above as I think other teams are limiting us to an extent in how they defend against us. Look at how much more incisive we were with balls in behind against Barnsley who played a higher line and press. Our play style is simply not one-dimensional but we have to understand that it is simply not easy against a packed 18-yard area. 

In fact, broadening things a little, if you look at all the top sides in the prem this season, the form has been so inconsistent across the board, with several teams showing themselves as title contenders and then falling by the wayside. I'm not sure how this could be pinned exactly on COVID and the lack of fans but the inconsistency has certainly been bizarrely... consistent. There isn't one top side which has shown any kind of reliable form. 

When I look at other top sides faltering like this I can't help but think that actually we're doing a hell of a lot better than many have been giving us credit for here. After a patchy start gelling in a few new players and turning the tide of our dismal finish to last season, we have emerged as table toppers and even rode through the worst injury crisis I have ever seen us suffer. 

Okay, performances have not been peak Farkeball every game, but in the games we haven't played so well more often than not we have managed to turn the screw tightly enough and for long enough to extract results. Something that even the best sides in the country appear to be really struggling with at the minute. And I back us to continue on from here, it certainly won't happen for us in every game but I will be happy to remain patient for this team 👍 

[Nuff Said 5,089]

Good post, perhaps a little too reasoned and logical for the Pink Un 😉, but I think a good summary of why, despite various grumbles, we should feel pretty hopeful for the second half of the season (if it happens). 👍

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

While I agree with a lot of the OP, a big issue for us this season is not converting enough goal scoring opportunities. We’re top of most of the stats but poor on that one, & if we converted better we’d have a lot more comfortable wins.

[Beefy is a legend 224]

Agree with OP almost entirely. 

You've seen on the rare occasions when teams do open up against us what happens. Bristol City away for example. But also the Barnsley game - the result is we create a ton of chances. Most teams in this league know that the best way to compete with us is to try to stop us, keep the game tight and try to nick something. 

At Carrow Road, a few sides have managed it, QPR and Millwall for example. Others have tried but failed, like Birmingham, Cardiff.

It's just a simple fact that the quality of our passing and movement is far higher than almost every side in this league and that may not have been the case two years ago. We were working in that direction but two years ago it was an awesome season from Pukki that really propelled us. This year feels much more like a team effort. 

[horsefly 4,287]

Great OP! I would also add that it is very clear that Webber and Farke have indeed addressed the issue of having alternative plans if our main style of play fails. The purchase of Placheta and Hugill gives us a genuine opportunity to swap to traditional wing play if the need arises. With Onel coming back from injury too, and the option of 5 substitues, there is a real prospect that our game-plans can be radically altered to exploit tired defences late on in games.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

7 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

While I agree with a lot of the OP, a big issue for us this season is not converting enough goal scoring opportunities. We’re top of most of the stats but poor on that one, & if we converted better we’d have a lot more comfortable wins.

Yep definitely agree it's a bit of a concern. We 100% should've finished off more games with stronger than a one-goal margin. But I don't think that justifies criticism of the playstyle etc mentioned in my OP. We are doing all the right things, just not quite clicking when it comes to conversion, but the stats show that this should change soon!

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

Largely agree with the OP, but would point out that if our finishing had been more clinical, we'd not be mentioning any notion of a Plan B.

The fundamental point is this - we're getting into position consistently enough because of the way we play.

[sgncfc 1,221]

 I think it just shows how hard it is to break down two banks of 4, or in West Brom's case, a 6 and a 4, if the players are committed and very fit. All teams do this in training; it's nothing new; but last season most of our opponents were simply too good for us that we couldn't break them down and they scored their one or two chances - that must have happened 8 or 9 times when we lost or drew games we could and should have won. It's happening to Sheffield Utd now and they don't have an answer.

If it has taken us another season in the Champs and another couple of transfer windows to work this out and get the right players in, then hopefully we will have more chance of staying up next time we get promoted. We do need to improve our finishing though, right through the team - other EPL teams are ruthless when given chances.

[hogesar 9,618]

Really good post. Worth noting 2 years ago, for a large part of the season teams felt like they could come and have a go at us. We rarely had the ridiculously deep sitting back happy with 30% possession teams that we've had this season. It's a completely different game when the opposition sets up like that.

[seanthecanary 168]

On 05/01/2021 at 02:14, It's Character Forming said:

While I agree with a lot of the OP, a big issue for us this season is not converting enough goal scoring opportunities. We’re top of most of the stats but poor on that one, & if we converted better we’d have a lot more comfortable wins.

Would agree, it's not that what we are doing isn't effective, it's that we are missing far too many chances.  The stats tell us this plus my own (admittedly bad) eyesight. QPR should have been buried before they equalised and then we were somewhat fortunate to get a point with their late chance.  Similar against Barnsley, opportunities not capitalised upon and it nearly bit us in the bottom when conceding another late chance.  Start putting away those chances and we will make some games a bit more comfortable. 

Edited January 6, 2021 by seanthecanary

[seanthecanary 168]

4 hours ago, hogesar said:

Really good post. Worth noting 2 years ago, for a large part of the season teams felt like they could come and have a go at us. We rarely had the ridiculously deep sitting back happy with 30% possession teams that we've had this season. It's a completely different game when the opposition sets up like that.

I think that's the difference.  Teams are not going to leave space in behind for Pukki to run into or allow players the time to find him.  Bristol City gave us space, we scored 3 and should have had more.  Even Watford, with many players with multiple PL seasons under their belt sat back, trying to hit us on the counter.  It's the reality of how most of this season is going to be.  2 seasons ago we were a surprise, even to us.  This season, teams know all about us.

Edited January 6, 2021 by seanthecanary

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

3 hours ago, hogesar said:

Really good post. Worth noting 2 years ago, for a large part of the season teams felt like they could come and have a go at us. We rarely had the ridiculously deep sitting back happy with 30% possession teams that we've had this season. It's a completely different game when the opposition sets up like that.

Yep definitely true! Unfortunately we aren't quite the same under the radar side we were coming into the 18/19 season - although for good reasons. 

I think the fan perspective also changes when we look back on the fixtures and results too. So comparisons to 18/19 aren't always accurate. 

Take the Millwall 4-3 and the Forest 3-3 games for instance, we just remember the euphoria of the final moments in those games looking back 2 years on. We don't really remember the pain and frustration which was going 3-2 down to Millwall moments after going 2-1 up with catastrophic defensive errors. Nor similar feelings against Forest. 

Other games where results didn't go our way like the 0-0 draw away at Hull and the 0-1 home loss to Stoke have also been completely forgotten (I had to look these up which sort of proves my point).

Clearly then our recent games are still much more in the forefront of our memory. The long periods where we have struggled to break teams down and poor results such as Watford and QPR are still familiar now, but won't be remembered in the future. Instead we will look back at the moments of late drama versus Sheff Weds, Wycombe, Birmingham etc. 

So I think to an extent our own memories of prior success gives us a false impression of how we should be performing in the present. 

Although one thing we are definitely missing from previous promotion season seasons is a good tanking of another team! Very overdue!