Tactics at Cov City

[Canary Jedi 579]

Do you think the subs / tactical change led to us dropping 3 points today?

Also, given that Gibson ALWAYS makes a big mistake per game, with 5 mins to go when he hadn’t yet made his mistake, surely he should have been subbed off? (A bit of a wink there but you know where I’m coming from)

[daisy 138]

There weren't any tactics, just let Coventry have the ball and hope we soak up the pressure. Should have replaced Gibbs with Forshaw, moved Sara into the number 10 and left Idah on up top.

[jaberry2 550]

41 minutes ago, Canary Jedi said:

Do you think the subs / tactical change led to us dropping 3 points today?

Also, given that Gibson ALWAYS makes a big mistake per game, with 5 mins to go when he hadn’t yet made his mistake, surely he should have been subbed off? (A bit of a wink there but you know where I’m coming from)

Gibson doesn't always make a big mistake every game. You could include multiple people in that statement with this view, Kenny for example today, Sara was incredibly poor and gave away the ball lots too.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Just now, jaberry2 said:

Gibson doesn't always make a big mistake every game. You could include multiple people in that statement with this view, Kenny for example today, Sara was incredibly poor and gave away the ball lots too.

Sara put back as a DM again today. Its not his game. He doesn't tackle well and his options are less. Badtactics by the coach.

[yellowrider120 762]

Sara should not be allowed anywhere near our goal unless the team are defending for their lives. It has been obvious since he first got into the team that he is NOT a defensive midfielder!!

Quite why Wagner persists with this tactic of rotating him with the Lord Mayor during games is not only baffling but plain stupid. Sara has no defensive brain and gets regularly caught out as he is unaware of the responsibility of the role. His obvious attacking qualities are being flushed down the toilet by this joke of a manager.

[Sufyellow 222]

2 hours ago, Canary Jedi said:

Do you think the subs / tactical change led to us dropping 3 points today?

Also, given that Gibson ALWAYS makes a big mistake per game, with 5 mins to go when he hadn’t yet made his mistake, surely he should have been subbed off? (A bit of a wink there but you know where I’m coming from)

It was the two players fault who were defending our left when they gave away a throw in , instead of marking the only player who could receive the ball they both ran back to defend leaving them a free throw and a chance to attack and put the cross in, totally brain dead defending . Taking Rowe off was criminal he was the only outlet left on the pitch and just left us to sit back. Lastly whoever watched hwang and thought he was a striker that fitted what we needed should be sacked. 

[repman 635]

Sara is not a defensive midfielder but he puts in more defensive work than anyone else on the team. So much so he's 6th in the league for tackles, if anything I would dare say the problem is that the midfielder alongside him is not a true defensive midfielder either, meaning that we're generally just pretty open through the middle of the pitch. There's also a structural/tactical issue in our setup too in my opinion but I think that could at least be better covered up by an above average ball winner.

I thought the big problem with our setup today was that Gibbs and Sara should've been playing in the other's position. Sara's skillset works just about anywhere on the pitch but even then giving him more freedom to get into goalscoring positions cannot be a bad thing. Gibbs on the other hand is clearly not an attacking midfielder, he's a deep lying one who is best with the game in front of him, rather than the other way.

 

[S_81 796]

3 minutes ago, repman said:

Sara is not a defensive midfielder but he puts in more defensive work than anyone else on the team. So much so he's 6th in the league for tackles, if anything I would dare say the problem is that the midfielder alongside him is not a true defensive midfielder either, meaning that we're generally just pretty open through the middle of the pitch. There's also a structural/tactical issue in our setup too in my opinion but I think that could at least be better covered up by an above average ball winner.

I thought the big problem with our setup today was that Gibbs and Sara should've been playing in the other's position. Sara's skillset works just about anywhere on the pitch but even then giving him more freedom to get into goalscoring positions cannot be a bad thing. Gibbs on the other hand is clearly not an attacking midfielder, he's a deep lying one who is best with the game in front of him, rather than the other way.

 

Agreed. Very basic stuff. Yet Wagner can’t see it 

[repman 635]

1 minute ago, S_81 said:

Agreed. Very basic stuff. Yet Wagner can’t see it 

I don't think Wagner trusts Gibbs to play deep in midfield, last season when he joined he played him out on the right and in no 10 before injuries late in the year forced him to finally play him in his natural position, this year all we've seen of him is playing as a striker basically (his average position today was nearer to the Coventry goal than Idah's). Even if Wagner doesn't trust him in that role it's the sort of decision that almost has to be taken out of the manager's hands, we have to accept that Gibbs right now might make mistakes, but if we ever want to get the best out of him we need to play him in a role where he can shine. While I like the Forshaw signing I thought it was perhaps one of the clearer signs of Wagner getting in experienced players unlike previous years, where Webber had seemingly left gaps in the squad that would eventually come to be filled by youngsters. It's how Lewis, Aarons, Cantwell and even Gibbs last season broke into the team.

 

[Barham Blitz 653]

36 minutes ago, repman said:

Sara is not a defensive midfielder but he puts in more defensive work than anyone else on the team. So much so he's 6th in the league for tackles, if anything I would dare say the problem is that the midfielder alongside him is not a true defensive midfielder either, meaning that we're generally just pretty open through the middle of the pitch. There's also a structural/tactical issue in our setup too in my opinion but I think that could at least be better covered up by an above average ball winner.

I thought the big problem with our setup today was that Gibbs and Sara should've been playing in the other's position. Sara's skillset works just about anywhere on the pitch but even then giving him more freedom to get into goalscoring positions cannot be a bad thing. Gibbs on the other hand is clearly not an attacking midfielder, he's a deep lying one who is best with the game in front of him, rather than the other way.

 

Exactly.  Been saying all of this since last season.  The crazy thing is that in Barnes' absence we are shoehorning everybody in to that #10 role apart from the one player with both the flair and the (new found admittedly) workrate to carry off the defensive side of the role which is absolutely necessary in Wagner's system.  I also agree that there is a structural issue in the set up which is exposed both by the failure of the press without Sarge and Barnes and the lack of defensive nous in our central midfield which in turn exposes the lack of pace at centre back.

It baffles me that Wagner isn't at least trying the blindingly obvious potential solution available to him at the moment.

[BroadstairsR 2,168]

Sara is our most talented player. His general awareness, ball control and shot taking contributes to this and make him our most potent attacking force as things stand at the moment. He is also a hard worker and useful in the tackle. Our most valuable asset by some distance he is currently being overloaded and somewhat wasted by having an excess of defensive obligations put onto his shoulders by a manager who has recently acquired a player, in Forshaw more fitted to those duties.

An enthusiastic character from the outset I can see him getting frustrated by the demands put upon him, his manager's inadequacies and the limitations of some of his fellows. This can possibly be seen as evidenced by a certain casual carelessness creeping in to his performances of late. 

Rotation for the player is non-existent because his necessity in the team is so blatantly obvious. He has not even been totally rested for meaningless cup games. I have not calculated the minutes, but he should never have been on the bus in the first place, imo.

Carry on like this, and we will lose our prized asset sooner rather than later. We should be building the team around him, not on him.

   

Edited October 8, 2023 by BroadstairsR

[Jim Smith 2,319]

Yes they did, as was the case at Swansea. Two games we could and should have won and 5 points dropped. That plus the fact we don’t have an adequate striker in the squad, probably til December, which is a completely unacceptable situation.

[AJ 1,221]

Negative substitutions haven't helped, but the reality is the squad lacks depth

[dylanisabaddog 4,925]

6 minutes ago, AJ said:

Negative substitutions haven't helped, but the reality is the squad lacks depth

There used to be lengthy threads on this forum predicting the team. It's not worth it anymore because it picks itself. 

What does concern me is the substitutions which seem to be based more on statistics than what we can see with our own eyes. 

[S_81 796]

1 minute ago, dylanisabaddog said:

There used to be lengthy threads on this forum predicting the team. It's not worth it anymore because it picks itself. 

What does concern me is the substitutions which seem to be based more on statistics than what we can see with our own eyes. 

And yet despite the fact that the team should pick itself - Wagner keeps playing the woeful combination of Gibson and Duffy, picked the hapless McCallum yesterday, and keeps playing Gibbs and Sara out of position. 

[dylanisabaddog 4,925]

1 hour ago, S_81 said:

And yet despite the fact that the team should pick itself - Wagner keeps playing the woeful combination of Gibson and Duffy, picked the hapless McCallum yesterday, and keeps playing Gibbs and Sara out of position. 

Yes! 

 

Gunn

Stacey Warner Duffy Dimi

Maclean/Gibbs Forshaw 

Fassenacht  Sara Sainz

Rowe

 

I know Rowe isn't a centre forward but he is at least capable of scoring goals.