Random Thoughts

[YankeeCanary 0]

 

• Chris Hughton and his team have had ample time to influence how we approach matches against teams of different capabilities and whether they are capable of changing tactics as necessary. Presumably, Mr. McNally and Co. have a firm view on this.

 

• Gary Hooper is not now ( and never will be ) the kind of forward who can play in the hole. He is yet to prove whether he can be an effective single man up front. What is more likely, in games we have a good chance of winning, is that if we attack with intent and fire shots towards the target Hooper is probably the kind of poacher you want picking up scraps. 

 

• Sebastian Bassong is probably not who we need as captain on the pitch.

 

• Many fans on this forum prematurely raised their expectations excessively of our striker strength this season without a shot being fired.

 

• If you look at many of the teams we should be looking to beat their squads do not look any more impressive than ours do on paper yet, certainly from an attacking perspective many of them I have watched seem to go forward with more confident intent, even if their team does not score many goals. 

[ron obvious 1,711]

It strikes me that Hughton is very methodical. Neat & tidy. He is very concerned that we keep our shape, stay calm & collected & work our way up the pitch in a measured fashion. Snodgrass is perfect for this approach.

This makes us extremely predictable. By the time we''ve got men in the box the opposition have every entry route blocked. This happens again & again. Eventually the attack breaks down, & like as not we''ll be hit on the counter.

Our methodical approach is in complete contrast to a previous manager who hacked & harried the opposition defence at every opportunity & any old how, largely leaving the defence to individual heroics, usually involving last ditch tackles, stupendous blocks & flying goalies. That''s how it seemed anyway.

There are very few teams with the skill & flair of our last four opponents, nevertheless even the lesser teams seem to attack with more intent than ourselves. I think they simply have more confidence than us.

How do we change it? That''s the $64000 dollar question.

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

Ron Obvious: It strikes me that Hughton is very methodical. Neat & tidy. He is very concerned that we keep our shape, stay calm & collected & work our way up the pitch in a measured fashion. Snodgrass is perfect for this approach.

This makes us extremely predictable. By the time we''ve got men in the box the opposition have every entry route blocked. This happens again & again. Eventually the attack breaks down, & like as not we''ll be hit on the counter.

Our methodical approach is in complete contrast to a previous manager who hacked & harried the opposition defence at every opportunity & any old how, largely leaving the defence to individual heroics, usually involving last ditch tackles, stupendous blocks & flying goalies. That''s how it seemed anyway.

There are very few teams with the skill & flair of our last four opponents, nevertheless even the lesser teams seem to attack with more intent than ourselves. I think they simply have more confidence than us.

How do we change it? That''s the $64000 dollar question.

I completely agree. Can I make it my signature please?

[ron obvious 1,711]

Be my guest!

I''ll send you my bank details for the transfer :)

[Salopian 1]

I think that the appointment of Bassong as captain was a mistake. I was a little worried at the time because he seems a rather quiet and retiring man. That may still be true, but what is worrying now, apart from the fact that no-one on the pitch is urging on the other players apparently, is that the player''s game seems to have deteriorated. Whether he is struggling because of the "cares" of captaincy, or whether from the effects of injury which required surgery over the summer, or from some other factor, I don''t know. At the moment, however, it strikes me that neither he nor Turner is playing at his best.

 

A also agree with Yankee over Hooper. I have not seen him in enough matches, but it is obvious from highlights that a fair proportion of his goals are from his ability to be first to rebounds or mistakes. He suffers in two ways, - from the fact penalty areas are crowded when our forwards eventually get there, and from the fact that we are not supplying him with  the opportunities he needs - balls through and beyond defenders which he can run onto. ( The only example of the latter was Leroy''s defence-splitting pass from which Hooper scored our third and winning goal in the cup.) RvW is more of an all-round striker but he, too, thrives on balls to run onto.

 

We are currently suffering from a number of things, especially injuries to important players - Benno, Tettey, RvW, and Hooper. We knew that we had  barely more than 15 or 16 players of genuine Premiership class, and that we would be severely tested if we lost some of these through injury. On Saturday we were soundly beaten by a club which has accumulated players over several seasons of Premiership money and from within their squad could put out two sides both capable of beating us .

 

Otherwise out problems have arisen from team selection and tactics. CH eventually learned that Howson was a much better attacking midfielder and Tettey a much better defensive midfielder, and with Fer could form an effecting grouping. It took a few games to realise that the pace of Olsson gives him an edge over Garrido. (We haven''t seen the other change because of Redmond''s injury, but I feel that unless we can use Snodgrass in some other way his lack of pace makes him less damaging to other teams than what Redmond could provide.) I have little doubt that if we have another manager in the near future, he will make more use of the Murphy brothers. Pace is not everything, but when allied to ability it is vital in the Premiership.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

Basso was the only one on the pitch on Saturday I could see trying to rally our side.  I remember him doing the same when we were getting stuffed by Liverpool last year.  I don''t think we have anyone better as an on-the-pitch leader now that Grant Holt has gone.

 

Up front it is a problem that having seen Hooper up front against Arsenal and Man C now, he doesn''t look to me like he can play up front on his own effectively, he is more of a poacher who can get you goals if you''re creating plenty in the box, but for away games against top sides he is just invisible.  Elmander also has been deeply unconvincing for me in a striking role - he did a good job controlling the game agaisnt Stoke towards the end but hasn''t looked like a goalscorer so far.

 

My problem is that our front line is now stronger than last year on paper, but for playing one up front I don''t believe any of our four strikers are as effective as Grant Holt, although before his injury RVW was starting to do well in the role.  Switching to 2 up front may be the simplistic attacking preference, but we tried that against Spurs and the effect was that our midfield was overrun and the 2 strikers saw almost nothing of the ball.

 

I don''t have a solution and I really hope RVW is back for the West Ham game.  According to the radio they were playing 4-6-0 on Saturday so tricky to know how we should go against that.