We saw earlier in the season? We' resorted to this tippy tappy sideways, backwards nonsense and end up either lumping it forward or losing poseession because the passing isn't good enough.
Agreed he is great at reading the game, now when we have pressed we look a lot more vunerable to being picked off we really miss him
Yeah.. we've gone to trying to out play teams in the ale house league.. need to get back too the pressing asap. Said it from day one, this league is a battle.. and just don't have the battlers
Don't think we're a one man team... we have a half decent 11.. but half a dozen 20 minuters, who come off the bench and look ok but when they start are pi55 poor. Our squad is not strong enough to rotate..
Actually, purely on what I saw today, Mcgeehan wanted the ball quite often - he did not much with it mind but he did look for it. Still not sure why we don't cash in on Moncur if we can, he'll only ever be a cameo player at best how we play him. I think we bought him because he was a double figure goal scoring attacking midfielder and we've managed to turn him into an anonymous bit-parter. Clearly, much of that is down to him, but, really how long does this go on for? Mowatt was OK today, he looked willing and able. Didn't see much from Bahre. This last annoys me because, as Stendel brought him in from Hannover, I thought that he'd embody the way Stendel wants to play.
Agree he had a few poor games before he was injured Plymouth was one but when he was poor we seemed to be.
Can't press the opposition when we've got the ball! That was the problem today Wycombe hardly had possession when they did they tended to just pass it long!
Just checked the bbc stats and yea we had 59% posession.....but only 5 shots! Think we had the same 59% at Sunderland.
Surely when you don't have the ball, pressing and getting tight is a basic requirement? I read a comment from a Wycombe fan saying how their manager had been more tactically astute than Stendel because they pressed us. Surely you go into the game knowing you are going to be marked and not given time? How can it be a surprise?
I was thinking same recently. During close season, Stendel made much about high pressing attacking style which, as you say, we did in early games and won, scored goals, kept clean sheets, closed opponents down and importantly looked like we were wanting to win. The players now seem to have started to slip into the same attitude as the tale end of last season - sideways n backwards, not interested or bothered, 'almost but not get there passing', which is a worry. I don't know if this is the 'head coach' changing playing style or the team reverting to a can't be bothered attitude. Either way they have to get their act together soon or we'll drop out of play off places, never mind pushing for top two.
This and a number of other searching questions need to be asked of the Fuehrer as part of a half season review. We’re seeing a number of failings all too familiar from previous managers. And I don’t just mean over the last few years.
We started the season playing what was essentially a 4-2-4. Thiam - Moore - Bradshaw - Potts defending from the front and putting the opposition under massive pressure in their own half. Yesterday we played Moncur - Moore - Woodrow - Bahre. That's a much more skilful unit. But it doesn't matter how much work you do with them on the training ground, they are never going to press the opposition like the four with whom we started the season. Playing a high press with those four won't work. You can't just pick a style of play and shoehorn anyone you've got into it and hope it will still be effective. If your main attacking threat is to play the ball direct to your six foot three centre forward who flicks it on to his pacey strike partner, it's not going to work nearly as well if he gets injured and his replacement is only 5 foot 8. You have to change your style of play. Thiam - Moore - Bradshaw - Potts are a much bigger, stronger and more athletic unit than Moncur - Moore - Woodrow - Bahre and far more effective at the high press. I don't know if we're still trying to play that way and we're so ineffective at it that it's no longer noticeable or if we've given up on the idea. If we are, we need to select suitable players. If we're insistent on playing the offensive four that were selected yesterday then we need tactics that will exploit their attributes. Chasing after the ball in the opposition half definitely isn't one of them.