I have said in the past to whoever will listen that the second half of last season was amazing, it was incredible that Flicker et al were able to drag the necessary results out and save us from the drop. However, I also said that at the 'business end' of the season big teams bottle it and little teams pull of miracles. The pressure means that crazy results can happen. I was hopeful that a pre-season would allow us to bring in some real quality and hopefully plug the weak areas. I think Flicker has done that to a large extent by signing M'Voto and Nyatanga (big centre halves), Jennings and McCourt (wingers), O'Grady and Pedersen (strikers). My main issue after watching us this season is the style and the formation. Our style is undoubtedly a pressing game, that should hopefully allow us to break if we are able to force a mistake from the opposition. We try to disrupt the rhythm of the opponents and prevent them from playing their 'normal' game. However, I think we waste so much energy when we aren't in possession that have zero movement when we are in possession. This means that we simply don't have energy to run in behind teams, and that criticism (although harsh) is mainly aimed at the midfield. Watch the top teams like Real Madrid, Man Utd, Chelsea etc, they don't run around chasing teams. When they concede possession they quickly try to force a mistake, but when they realise it's lost they give up and conserve energy. They simply get back into a proper defensive shape and force the opposition to try to break them down. The second issue I have is the formation. We play Dawson, Perkins and Etuhu most games, and they all have their individual assets. However, when you shoe-horn players into a formation they usually get found out, and I think this is exactly what is happening to Dawson. His main attributes are defensive, and his work rate is excellent, however he is probably one of the players who spends most time with the ball in our team. This is mainly because he prefers to run the ball than to pass it - this gives the opposition plenty of time to get back into a defensive shape and wait for us to inevitably pass it back into midfield looking for a better angle. The truth is, in the time he has the ball and has turned 3 or 4 times the opening has been plugged up and we need to completely restart our build up. It's at those times that you need pacey wingers, or players who can commit defenders to create space for others. I think another weakness we have is our standard 'out ball'. It's quite obvious that whenever we're out of ideas we'll play the ball to Kennedy who will drill it into O'Grady's chest. Now COG is doing brilliant, and often wins the ball, but he has to battle 2 or 3 men to squeeze the ball into a gap for us to even retain possession. He's not in a threatening position and we usually end up getting the ball back at Kennedy for another go. When RNL came on against Watford we suddenly had someone who was willing to do a quick pass inside or try something different. All of a sudden we started to get the ball down the right wing, mainly because we weren't constantly playing our easy 'get out' ball. I really wish Wiseman has Kennedy's confidence, because if he had the initiative to drive with the ball on his own, without looking to turn back, he'd give their full backs a nightmare. Anyway, to summarise - less running out of possession - more focus on getting the correct shape. Play 2 out of the 3 midfielders. Stop playing the 'out ball' and have the desire to run in behind teams. If all else fails, what do I know - I'm only a bloody supporter!
Our success last season came from pressing opposition and this season we arnt pressing , one of the reasons we are losing imo
