What a difference a 10 makes

[Petriix 2,834]

We were clearly playing a 4-2-3-1 today with Ramsey at no 10. Nunez and McLean were playing as a central midfield pairing of sorts and it all looked much tidier; at both ends of the pitch.

Ramsey was excellent at number 10. He bought an enormous amount of space for the other three attackers which brought them more into the game as well. Cantwell was back to near his best, dropping deep to pick up the ball and getting involved in most of our attacks.

Nunez is class but clearly not quite up to the pace of the Championship yet. He drifted in the second half and gave the ball away a few times, but his undoubted quality was on display in patches throughout.

Byram put in an excellent shift at left back. Presumably he was withdrawn for fitness reason because he wasn't playing badly at all.

I think we 'took our foot off the gas' in the second half until the substitutions. Dowell again appearing in the highlights despite being largely anonymous after he came on.

Who knew that dropping Rashica and binning the 4-3-3 was what we needed? 

Me. I knew. Let's hope Dean Smith sticks with this formula. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Petriix

[cambridgeshire canary 6,679]

Really was hoping Rashica would light the championship on fire this season but I get the feeling his hearts not in it

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 minute ago, Petriix said:

We we clearly playing a 4-2-3-1 today with Ramsey at no 10. Nunez and McLean were playing as a central midfield pairing of sorts and it all looked much tidier; at both ends of the pitch.

Ramsey was excellent at number 10. He bought an enormous amount of space for the other three attackers which brought them more into the game as well. Cantwell was back to near his best, dropping deep to pick up the ball and getting involved in most of our attacks.

Nunez is class but clearly not quite up to the pace of the Championship yet. He drifted in the second half and gave the ball away a few times, but his undoubted quality was on display in patches throughout.

Byram put in an excellent shift at left back. Presumably he was withdrawn for fitness reason because he wasn't playing badly at all.

I think we 'took our foot off the gas' in the second half until the substitutions. Dowell again appearing in the highlights despite being largely anonymous after he came on.

Who knew that dropping Rashica and binning the 4-3-3 was what we needed? 

Me. I knew. Let's hope Dean Smith sticks with this formula. 

I thought Todd was my MOTM. He sharpened the attack early on and as you say, doesn't hide and drops back for the ball.

 

[Danke bitte 965]

1 minute ago, Petriix said:

I knew.

Can’t argue with a confident man 😁

[ron obvious 1,501]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

I thought Todd was my MOTM. He sharpened the attack early on and as you say, doesn't hide and drops back for the ball.

 

Really? I thought he was really poor. Put in a lot of effort but lost the ball so many times. He gets outmuscled by just about every opposition player. Lovely through ball for the goal though.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

7 minutes ago, ron obvious said:

Really? I thought he was really poor. Put in a lot of effort but lost the ball so many times. He gets outmuscled by just about every opposition player. Lovely through ball for the goal though.

Thats football.

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

Surely Ramsey us a no20?!

Thought it worked well today, first half passing was quick and snappy, and just too much for them at times.  We visibly eased off second half but had plenty in reserve.

[Petriix 2,834]

52 minutes ago, ron obvious said:

Really? I thought he was really poor. Put in a lot of effort but lost the ball so many times. He gets outmuscled by just about every opposition player. Lovely through ball for the goal though.

Ok, Todd lost the ball 6 times: tackled once, three heavy touches and (only) two misplaced passes. He completed 46 of the 48 passes he attempted. He won the ball to launch the attack which led to the second goal and obviously played the exquisite ball to Sargent for the third goal.

On the other hand Nunez lost the ball 19 times: tackled once, 6 heavy touches and 12 misplaced passes.

I genuinely think that people see what they want to rather than what actually happens. 

[Ward 3 371]

1 hour ago, Petriix said:

We were clearly playing a 4-2-3-1 today with Ramsey at no 10. Nunez and McLean were playing as a central midfield pairing of sorts and it all looked much tidier; at both ends of the pitch.

Ramsey was excellent at number 10. He bought an enormous amount of space for the other three attackers which brought them more into the game as well. Cantwell was back to near his best, dropping deep to pick up the ball and getting involved in most of our attacks.

Nunez is class but clearly not quite up to the pace of the Championship yet. He drifted in the second half and gave the ball away a few times, but his undoubted quality was on display in patches throughout.

Byram put in an excellent shift at left back. Presumably he was withdrawn for fitness reason because he wasn't playing badly at all.

I think we 'took our foot off the gas' in the second half until the substitutions. Dowell again appearing in the highlights despite being largely anonymous after he came on.

Who knew that dropping Rashica and binning the 4-3-3 was what we needed? 

Me. I knew. Let's hope Dean Smith sticks with this formula. 

Normally you don't change a winning team or formation so hopefully smith sticks for Friday night 

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

3 minutes ago, Ward 3 said:

Normally you don't change a winning team or formation so hopefully smith sticks for Friday night 

Not sure I agree - Coventry at home a different sort of problem to Burnley away, so we may see some variations.

[Petriix 2,834]

The 4-2-3-1 is more defensively solid than the 4-3-3 in my opinion. That double pivot gives us a bit more control in midfield, which we'll need against Burnley. Fingers crossed we'll keep the winning momentum. 

[hogesar 9,618]

52 minutes ago, Petriix said:

The 4-2-3-1 is more defensively solid than the 4-3-3 in my opinion. That double pivot gives us a bit more control in midfield, which we'll need against Burnley. Fingers crossed we'll keep the winning momentum. 

Although I'd argue there were large spells of the game where we didn't have the double pivot, primarily I guess due to Nunez lack of positional discipline, but it alternated to a 4-3-3 quite often because of it

[Petriix 2,834]

18 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Although I'd argue there were large spells of the game where we didn't have the double pivot, primarily I guess due to Nunez lack of positional discipline, but it alternated to a 4-3-3 quite often because of it

I'd say it was more of a 4-1-4-1 at times, but the more significant factor was the persistent central number 10. I did think Kenny and Nunez could have benefited from being slightly closer together at times.

Nunez drifted out of the game for a while and it was notable that Cantwell kept dropping deeper to pick up the ball. Nunez would benefit from doing similar more often, otherwise we lack an out ball. 

[astro 358]

Todd’s first touch seems to have deserted him, he rarely finds space, often leaves his full back exposed, makes half-hearted attempts at tackling and tracking back…..but did play a killer through ball for the third goal. I guess the latter just about makes up for the former, but I really wish we could find someone better to play LAM as we seem very unbalanced. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by astro

[Pyro Pete 1,889]

When he got himself involved in the game, I thought Ramsey was very good. Trouble is, he started strongly. Then disappeared. Then popped up again to get an assist.

The second half was a bit weird for everyone, until the subs came on. It was clear the game was drifting. I thought they should have come on much earlier.

[Petriix 2,834]

32 minutes ago, astro said:

Todd’s first touch seems to have deserted him, he rarely finds space, often leaves his full back exposed, makes half-hearted attempts at tackling and tracking back…..but did play a killer through ball to Pukki for the third goal. I guess the latter just about makes up for the former, but I really wish we could find someone better to play LAM as we seem very unbalanced. 

I don't recall seeing Byram left exposed at all today. A couple of times I did see Byram himself stepping inside and mopping up after Kenny lost the ball.

Coventry had most of their penetration through the middle and on their right. They never really got behind our defence apart from when Hanley made a mistake. 

A function of playing wide attacking midfielders is they... attack. Sometimes they will be high up the pitch when the ball is lost. That's why you have central defensive midfielders to cover when you're out of position.

All three of our attacking midfielders were good today.

[Mengo 821]

2 hours ago, Petriix said:

Ok, Todd lost the ball 6 times: tackled once, three heavy touches and (only) two misplaced passes. He completed 46 of the 48 passes he attempted. He won the ball to launch the attack which led to the second goal and obviously played the exquisite ball to Sargent for the third goal.

On the other hand Nunez lost the ball 19 times: tackled once, 6 heavy touches and 12 misplaced passes.

I genuinely think that people see what they want to rather than what actually happens. 

I genuinely think that people see what they want to rather than what actually happens. 

I genuinely agree with you 💯 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,781]

4 hours ago, Petriix said:

Byram put in an excellent shift at left back. Presumably he was withdrawn for fitness reason because he wasn't playing badly at all.

Maybe because he was already on a yellow and had just given away a foul for a deliberate handball? One more foul and he could've been off. 

That was my initial thought, anyway.

[astro 358]

27 minutes ago, Petriix said:

I don't recall seeing Byram left exposed at all today. A couple of times I did see Byram himself stepping inside and mopping up after Kenny lost the ball.

Coventry had most of their penetration through the middle and on their right. They never really got behind our defence apart from when Hanley made a mistake. 

A function of playing wide attacking midfielders is they... attack. Sometimes they will be high up the pitch when the ball is lost. That's why you have central defensive midfielders to cover when you're out of position.

All three of our attacking midfielders were good today.

Have to agree to disagree on this one - I thought he was meh. Nunez’s  stats may not look brilliant, but the reality is that he does break up the oppositions play - more be being a nuisance and holding play up, rather than tackling. He’s tenacious, and will try and retrieve a situation if he makes a mistake. Nunez will be a PL stalwart, Cantwell sadly won’t. 

[ron obvious 1,501]

3 hours ago, Petriix said:

Ok, Todd lost the ball 6 times: tackled once, three heavy touches and (only) two misplaced passes. He completed 46 of the 48 passes he attempted. He won the ball to launch the attack which led to the second goal and obviously played the exquisite ball to Sargent for the third goal.

On the other hand Nunez lost the ball 19 times: tackled once, 6 heavy touches and 12 misplaced passes.

I genuinely think that people see what they want to rather than what actually happens. 

I'd really question the fact that Nunez lost the ball more than 3 times more than Todd. I'd have to rewatch the match to verify that.

I'm also sure Todd made more than 2 misplaced passes. Nunez got slack 2nd half & did make mistakes, but I suppose for me it was the quality of the passes he did make, the way he dictated play, switched the angle of attack was something I didn't see from Todd - apart from that lovely through ball for the goal. And, first half at least, Nunez looks so much stronger on the ball, much harder to knock off it. He does get a bit arrogant perhaps after a while & thinks the opposition will fall for his tricks every time & just roll over.

I have no animus towards Todd whatsoever - I actually like all our players -  & was willing him on to give a good performance today. It was OK, he worked really hard, but I just didn't see anything special (apart from that through ball) & he still gets levered off the ball too easily. 

[repman 634]

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

Maybe because he was already on a yellow and had just given away a foul for a deliberate handball? One more foul and he could've been off. 

That was my initial thought, anyway.

I think it was fitness, he was getting a drink at any possible moment in the second half, and he was starting to look sloppy in everything he did. Hopefully no midweek game will give him enough time to recover for Burnley.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

11 minutes ago, ron obvious said:

I'd really question the fact that Nunez lost the ball more than 3 times more than Todd. I'd have to rewatch the match to verify that.

I'm also sure Todd made more than 2 misplaced passes. Nunez got slack 2nd half & did make mistakes, but I suppose for me it was the quality of the passes he did make, the way he dictated play, switched the angle of attack was something I didn't see from Todd - apart from that lovely through ball for the goal. And, first half at least, Nunez looks so much stronger on the ball, much harder to knock off it. He does get a bit arrogant perhaps after a while & thinks the opposition will fall for his tricks every time & just roll over.

I have no animus towards Todd whatsoever - I actually like all our players -  & was willing him on to give a good performance today. It was OK, he worked really hard, but I just didn't see anything special (apart from that through ball) & he still gets levered off the ball too easily. 

Watch our second goal and Todd's skill gets the move going. He finds Ramsey who puts Teemu away. He finds Ramsey in the box and then the pass to Sarge. But guess who was charging hard to get into the box, yes, Todd.

 I found Todd's play from the start was something not many others can offer. First time passing.

[Petriix 2,834]

15 minutes ago, ron obvious said:

I'd really question the fact that Nunez lost the ball more than 3 times more than Todd. I'd have to rewatch the match to verify that.

I'm also sure Todd made more than 2 misplaced passes. Nunez got slack 2nd half & did make mistakes, but I suppose for me it was the quality of the passes he did make, the way he dictated play, switched the angle of attack was something I didn't see from Todd - apart from that lovely through ball for the goal. And, first half at least, Nunez looks so much stronger on the ball, much harder to knock off it. He does get a bit arrogant perhaps after a while & thinks the opposition will fall for his tricks every time & just roll over.

I have no animus towards Todd whatsoever - I actually like all our players -  & was willing him on to give a good performance today. It was OK, he worked really hard, but I just didn't see anything special (apart from that through ball) & he still gets levered off the ball too easily. 

It's all here on the 'player statistics' tab. You can easily calculate the unsuccessful passes using the total passes and accuracy figures. Then look at the 'offensive' tab for 'Disp' (tackled) and 'UnsTouches' (unsuccessful touches).

One man's 'levered off the ball' is another man's 'foul not given'. Todd actually stood out for how well he retained the ball under pressure as we started to regain control in the second half.

I totally agree about Nunez's quality. But he clearly lacks speed and really dwelled on the ball at times. I'm sure he will improve this side of things as he learns the English game. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

5 hours ago, Petriix said:

We were clearly playing a 4-2-3-1 today with Ramsey at no 10. Nunez and McLean were playing as a central midfield pairing of sorts and it all looked much tidier; at both ends of the pitch

Let's not forget that Coventry are 24th with 1 point before we get too excited about looking a bit better today. 

That said, Ramsay clearly had a good game and I'd like to see him keep his place in the XI. Could do with things clicking for Cantwell though, played a couple of nice early balls but still looks so short of confidence to me. 

[ron obvious 1,501]

19 minutes ago, Petriix said:

It's all here on the 'player statistics' tab. You can easily calculate the unsuccessful passes using the total passes and accuracy figures. Then look at the 'offensive' tab for 'Disp' (tackled) and 'UnsTouches' (unsuccessful touches).

One man's 'levered off the ball' is another man's 'foul not given'. Todd actually stood out for how well he retained the ball under pressure as we started to regain control in the second half.

I totally agree about Nunez's quality. But he clearly lacks speed and really dwelled on the ball at times. I'm sure he will improve this side of things as he learns the English game. 

I'm not sure how useful those statistics are in practice. As has been said before, passing backwards & sideways over ten yards may give you great statistics but doesn't mean you've had much influence. One of my main bugbears is that a thunderous shot which almost breaks the crossbar is regarded as off- target, whereas a tame bobble at the keeper counts. Nunez just looks much more influential to me. And the ability to keep going even when your shirt's being pulled off your back is extremely useful, given the standard of refereeing. Todd seldom seems to be able to withstand or ride a challenge (c.f. Maddison, who is hardly a man mountain). 

One thing I would say is that running off the ball is incredibly important & equally incredibly difficult to quantify. Todd may well be performing that task very well, but the only way you'd know is to concentrate solely on him & ignore the rest of the game. Difficult.

Perhaps it's one of the reasons Kenny finds such favour with different managers? Just a thought.

[Petriix 2,834]

Yes @ron obvious stats are limited in what they can tell us, but they can be useful to support a hypothesis (or not). What I would say is that individual moments decide the outcome of a football match. Both Nunez and Cantwell contributed significantly to the crucial passages of play today. The rest is fairly subjective. 

[Petriix 2,834]

On 03/09/2022 at 18:11, Danke bitte said:

Can’t argue with a confident man 😁

I'm not wrong though, am I? 😉

[Robert N. LiM 4,243]

15 minutes ago, Petriix said:

I'm not wrong though, am I? 😉

Well Teemu would certainly agree with you! But that's also been our worst performance for a while, so whatever difference a 10 makes, it's certainly not a panacea.😉

[Petriix 2,834]

2 hours ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Well Teemu would certainly agree with you! But that's also been our worst performance for a while, so whatever difference a 10 makes, it's certainly not a panacea.😉

Yes, that didn't age well. We never really got a tactical handle on their wingbacks. Our wide AMs were too high and didn't link well with the fullbacks defensively.

In an attacking sense it was good. We were very close to unlocking them on numerous occasions. Nunez picked the wrong ball [several] times when he should have played Pukki in.

Bristol City played a very risky game, which ultimately let us win with a couple of direct attacks.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Petriix