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Making Plans

I think it's down to the coaching staff

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Looking at our game last night, it does make you wonder what actually happens on a daily basis at our training sessions. We have a squad of more than adequte players who currently are unable to carry out the most basic & simple tasks required of a football player of any standard, let alone a PL player.Passing, movement, ball control, crosses, corners, free kicks & throw in''s all leave a lot to be desired as does a general enthusiasm for the game.The players actually look as though they don''t want to be out on the park - there''s little in the way of confidence and they mostly waltz around the pitch waiting for something to happen rather than trying, and wanting, to make things happen.They seem to have lost the appetite for the game that they once had.This can only be down to the coaching staff and thinking about our squad, and with the possible exception of Howson, R Bennett & Tettey, I can''t think of any players who are actually playing better now than when they came here or when Hughton & his coaching staff took over.Martin & Whittaker have gone backwards as has Bassong. Johnson, despite showing great enthusiasm, is not the player he was last season. Redmond, Olsson and Fer did show some promise at the start of the season but generally they are not performing to the same levels now.Snodgrass, despite the odd glimpse of ability, is a shadow of his former self & Pilkington, when he''s been fit, has not produced anything like his form of a couple of seasons ago. Hoolahan''s form is in & out these days & he has not played as well as he can do. (plus he wants out) Neither Hooper, despite a few goals, or RVW have lived up to the form that they had with their previous clubs.Garrido, after looking half decent for a lot of last season, doesn''t can''t even get in the team anymore so he & Becchio must be absolutely dire in training.Elmander is hardly likely to show any improvement at his age but for someone with his experience & ability, his performances have not been as good as we might have hoped.Given that one of the major tasks of a coach is to improve the individual players, as well as the team as a whole, a lot of the blame for our woeful performances must be down to them.  Something must be happening on that training ground that the players either don''t agree with or think is the wrong way forward.Or perhaps they just don''t like the personnel. No matter where you work or what you do, if you''re on board with the overall plan, and how you''re being trained and coached, then you show that in your work, your attitude & your commitment. If you''re not on board with it then you get what we''re seeing now. A complete shambles.

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[quote user="Making Plans"]Looking at our game last night, it does make you wonder what actually happens on a daily basis at our training sessions. We have a squad of more than adequte players who currently are unable to carry out the most basic & simple tasks required of a football player of any standard, let alone a PL player.Passing, movement, ball control, crosses, corners, free kicks & throw in''s all leave a lot to be desired as does a general enthusiasm for the game.The players actually look as though they don''t want to be out on the park - there''s little in the way of confidence and they mostly waltz around the pitch waiting for something to happen rather than trying, and wanting, to make things happen.They seem to have lost the appetite for the game that they once had.This can only be down to the coaching staff and thinking about our squad, and with the possible exception of Howson, R Bennett & Tettey, I can''t think of any players who are actually playing better now than when they came here or when Hughton & his coaching staff took over.Martin & Whittaker have gone backwards as has Bassong. Johnson, despite showing great enthusiasm, is not the player he was last season. Redmond, Olsson and Fer did show some promise at the start of the season but generally they are not performing to the same levels now.Snodgrass, despite the odd glimpse of ability, is a shadow of his former self & Pilkington, when he''s been fit, has not produced anything like his form of a couple of seasons ago. Hoolahan''s form is in & out these days & he has not played as well as he can do. (plus he wants out) Neither Hooper, despite a few goals, or RVW have lived up to the form that they had with their previous clubs.Garrido, after looking half decent for a lot of last season, doesn''t can''t even get in the team anymore so he & Becchio must be absolutely dire in training.Elmander is hardly likely to show any improvement at his age but for someone with his experience & ability, his performances have not been as good as we might have hoped.Given that one of the major tasks of a coach is to improve the individual players, as well as the team as a whole, a lot of the blame for our woeful performances must be down to them.  Something must be happening on that training ground that the players either don''t agree with or think is the wrong way forward.Or perhaps they just don''t like the personnel. No matter where you work or what you do, if you''re on board with the overall plan, and how you''re being trained and coached, then you show that in your work, your attitude & your commitment. If you''re not on board with it then you get what we''re seeing now. A complete shambles.

[/quote]
you sir have hit the nail on the head! been saying this for weeks, do we even have any attacking, technical and tactical forward thinking coaches? 

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Can anyone remember when we last had a one on one with one of our stiker''s vs opposition goalkeeper? We don''t seem to have anyone capable of a defence splitting pass these days. (apart from Leroy Fer in the cup game vs Watford)

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"Something must be happening on that training ground that the players either don''t agree with or think is the wrong way forward."

sadly we still have the numpties who squeak about it being the player''s fault, rather than as said before the tactics and coachingyou only have to watch the games to see where it is falling apart, players are not giving options to each other when they have the ball and are expected to find another player based on him still being ''in his zone'' ... which leads to losing the ball, missed passes and no chance of defence splitting passes because our players are ''forbidden'' to show iniative or any flairsure, we may well grind out the odd point here and there and wheeze over the finishing line ..... but at what cost  ?the OP has perfectly summed up what has been said elsewherewhich rather begs the worrying question of how many players may see their development and future elsewhere ?and what hope for the upcoming youth players ?

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Posted this on a similar thread...

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/everton-boss-roberto-martinez-any-team-in-the-top-seven-can-win-the-title-this-year-9074348.html

This Interview with Roberto Martinez was really interesting, this quote below really hit home with me and our current management team. 

“In the English game we have been developing an inferior type of player because we didn’t allow them to think. We, the coaches and the managers, are to blame for the way we educate the players. We tell them what to do. It is very structured, everything’s a straight line. We kill the creative vein of the player.

“Footballers should have the freedom of how to put the ball in the back of the net. To do that, you need to engage with other players, appreciate space, control the ball, the tempo. It shouldn’t be just box to box. On the continent, players are thinkers. They know you cannot play the same way in the first five minutes as in the last five, when you are 1-0 up or 1-0 down, when the other team presses you high up or when it allows you to play.”

I just think this quote really highlights why we look so different from say a team like Southampton. They have invested a little more in players but in truth it''s not been the big signings that have impressed but the free homegrown players. This is why there is a clamor to hire foreign coaches. We can''t undo years of regressive coaching philosophies that stifle creativity. 

Wes is a perfect example, as a footballer he is an artist, he doesn''t like to be told what to do, where to stand, what run to make. He wants to go out and create based on his natural football instincts. I think Hughton see''s him as a liability, that''s why he hasn''t been played regularly. Where as a manager like Martinez may see him as a necessary risk to break up the 2 banks of 4 mentality, to you know.... score goals.

This isn''t a Hughton bashing post, lots of the teams down the bottom (and their managers) look to have the same issues.

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Fascinating piece Hertford.

 

I''ve commented many times on the rigidity and predictability of our play. Our system is obsessed about keeping shape so that if we lose the ball we are still outnumbering or at least matching the opposition in our half. We nail two midfield players in front of the centre backs. We rarely have more than one player in space to receive a forward central pass, so we spend time slowly passing the ball into wider areas. 

 

Our system will not create many chances in open play or effect many one on ones with the GK, as it does not encourage movement into space behind the defenders in central areas. The one thing that does strike me is RVW forward movement . It is non existent. Yes he moves laterally or backwards to receive the ball, but the Barcelona / Arsenal passes in and around the area don''t happen. any coach will tell you that in order to pass, there must be a committed receiver. When did we last play a wall pass on the edge of the box? Or slide Hooper in down a channel? Hardly ever.

What is most interesting is that the FA coaching courses do make reference throughout about players being given encouragement to think , and make positive decisions. but it doesn''t translate into what we see at FA National level and certainly not at NCFC.

 

A poster said on here that we need an attacking midfield player. Anyone that saw Howson''s goal at Man City , or Fer''s pass against Watford can see that we have such players who have that desire. But if they are continually screamed at to hold their shape they are not going to do it. And they don''t.

 

Imagine watching a session taken by Martinez with our current squad and how players like Fer, Howson Pilkington and RVW would look. I would wager it would be noticeably different. 

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