joey_big_nose

Would be interesting to compare this to the same point last season, and the first season under JDT. I suppose even more dramatically it doesn't include the Ipswich game in hand I assume. So if we won that it would put us fourth which is mental. That said there are lots of dynamics which undermine the value of this data. For example if you have a team that's good at scoring early (i.e. you actually have some decent strikers) and then you then switch focus to defending you will therefore concede more "expected goals" than you create. But you don't sweat it as you back yourself to keep the other side out. So teams that can finish well and defend deep well will look poor on this table, but are in reality just a good football team playing to their strengths and taking their opportunities.

Who scored thought he was brilliant... Looking at the stats breakdown it seems to be because of his goals, key passes and "Aeriels Won". Which is weird as I wasn't that impressed with him in the air. Stats eh..

Yeah, agree with this. The 3412 works well because our main asset is the athleticism of the wing backs. But its very dependent on Alebiousu and De Neve staying fit, as well as 3 of our 4 centre backs, and as you say we only have two strikers the manager wants to play and we are playing both of them. But to be honest with one up top we really struggle as we just don't have the quality so this feels the way we need to persevere with.

I personally think it would be mad to drop Ohashi - he is the heart beat of everything up front. I'd start the same team as the last game. I think doing the same thing with Henricksson and Montgomery coming on for the last 30 mins is a good plan to persevere with as they offer the energy we need to see out games. Striker options are a real problem. Ismael needs to do something with Gueye - he can't just freeze him out when we have no one else. We need an alternative - Ohashi and Andri worked ceaselessly against Southampton but they will get injured if we ask them to do that every game for a full 90. Only other place to look is Tyjon who has barely made the bench. If Gueye is totally discounted by the manager then we need to see what he can offer.

On Hedges I would say is we are quite a radically different system now where he is playing a very different role (as a wing back with two strikers up top) so not sure how useful referring back to previous seasons performances is really. I quite like Hedges offensively in the new system, it suits him. He's better combining with players than trying to beat someone on his own, and the way we are setup hes got a lot to work with. But defensively we do need the wing backs to get back quickly when we lose possession which De Neve and Alebiouso are brilliant at. Hedges i dont think really has the engine for it.

A few positives on reflection... 1) Toth is very very good. 2) Really liked the look of Montgomery. A bit confused why we havent used him more tbh. Has the energy the team needs and a bit of quality. We are flogging Tronstad and TGH senseless, so very welcome to have someone who looks like they can play a part (unlike Tavares or Baradji) 3) Henrickson is physically imposing, and I can see him giving us legs and restoring the press in the final third of games. This is a big issue due to how we fatigued. He and Montgomery made a big difference to our energy levels. 4) I know they have had their cards marked by many, but De Neve and then Hedges coming on both look like they will generate a lot of opportunities down the left. Alebiouso we know will do that down the right. Also De Neve and Alebiouso have real recovery pace, which massively helps our 3 quite slow cbs. Both can catch wingers 5 yards behind them. That said a few major areas of concern 1) Strikers are really blunt. Ive no issue with Ohashi whose work rate is stunning and makes some great runs. But his partner needs to offer more whoever it is. Glad Andri got a goal and hope he kicks on. But as it stands I dont think we have a striker on our books who any defender would really worry about. 2) Because our threat and finishing up top is so poor we commit more and more players forward to get a goal and leave ourselves very exposed. We were lucky Armstrong couldn't finish as we would have been dead and buried at 2-0 imo. 3) Defensively we look like we have loads of individual errors in us. Eustace ironed that out of us, but its come back massively. I guess losing Baath and Hyam has had a big impact. Individually I like Miller, Wharton, McCloughlin - all physical, committed, can come out of defence into midfield reasonably well. But as a unit its hard to imagine them not making three or four mistakes a game between them. And to compound that they lack the pace to recover from mistakes. Ultimately if we had one genuinely good striker at this level we would be in a much better position imo as we wouldnt commit so much forward. But we dont...

Hmm all i have seen is him beat his man consistently and while his crosses have been erratic, but quite a few times he has delivered decent balls where the finishing has let them down. Hes done well for me. Obviously hes not Roberto Carlos but compared to the various wing backs or full backs weve had turn out for us over the last 15 years he doesnt seem particularly worse.

Well, Ismael has got a lot of abuse on here quite rightly over recent weeks in terms of his subs, calling out players etc. But christ he got them to worm hard yesterday. In terms of effort we were absolutely relentless. Generally across the season we've been pretty decent in midfield & defence; but then dont finish easy chances and give away soft goals from nowhere. Looked like that would be the story yesterday - luckily Armstrong was as poor as us with his finishing and we got a couple of scruffy goals. Hopefully the confidence that will build in Gudjonsen will make a big impact. Defensively it feels to me we really need Carter back as we miss his pace. I like Miller, very committed and physical. But when hes beaten he is not recovering, and you can say the same for Wharton and McCloughlin. I kind of expected the heads to go down, particularly when we went behind, so was really pleasantly surprised by how they kept going and going.

I really doubt Pears is on 10k a week. Hes never been a regular anywhere hes played. I can believe Toth is getting paid a bit less, but I would guess they are both around 5k-ish.

Cant fault anyone's effort. Everyone's worked their nuts off. But doesn't seem to be any idea on how we score goals. And then we score!

Um... Last counter we had McCloughlin in the left wing spot and Miller on the edge of the box. Very similar to the end of Sheffield Utd here. Just not good finishing from Armstrong otherwise we would be three down.

Toth is a very good keeper. The one positive.

Southampton do look pretty dodgy at the back. If only we had any decent strikers.

TGH looks very similar to Travis for me in capabilities and style of play, but Travis had a lot of experience and in his peak. TGH is much rawer. TGH would be a very useful player to have on the bench to provide support for Travis and Tronstad. But we are utterly dependent on him.

The overloads philosophy - JDT used it a lot. Beat the opposition full back by having two or three round him. Great when it works. But if it doesn't suddenly the middle of the pitch is empty as your centre mids are on the wing and you are very vulnerable to the counter. But I guess the point is if your strikers cant do anything on their own you have to make these risky moves just to create something.

Cant really see anything we can do to change things. We've actually been a lot worse going forward than Coventry or Sheff Utd. Really struggled to fashion anything. Feels like we will commit more and more forward to try and create something then get done by two easy goals on the break. The theme is very much the stars need to align with lots of successful passes and overloads for us to create a scoring chance, while conversely we will give away an easy goal to a straight ball down the middle.

Well based on performances we have a core of Toth, Alebiouso, Tronstad, Cantwell, Ohashi who will play every game when available. Wharton and Carter too when they are fit. Beyond that no one has really staked a claim. As for Hedges being dropped - I can see the logic. De Neve has done well and has the engine to make the system work. What concerns me is after 60 mins we will need more legs to come on - particularly midfield and up front - we just get rolled over in the last third of games as we're shattered. I don't think we have anyone who can do it. Honestly think we would be better to try and start with Gueye - build the attacking approach around him - then bring ohashi or Gudjonsen to help press in the last 30 to keep the pressure up. As it is Mak comes on and we lose all our shape. Also we really need another cm to show some capability to close out games. We are running Tronstad and TGH ragged.

Yeah not technically brilliant but seems up to it physically. Morishita brings more quality but I think he gets a bit bullied. That said first time Morishita gets a proper number 10 role with 2 strikers ahead of him, so if there is any setup that will give him space this is it.

I dont think Rudy would be able to sack him. Would be Pashas / Venkys call.

Fantastic!!! Great to get the ball rolling.

Gordon Taylor was quite a powerful person. Any idea what he was doing back at Rovers on a Tuesday night game?

Is there any way we can get the new football regulator involved in investigating us? Would help put more pressure on.

I think what has been said is - Pasha brought in Broughton who then brought in JDT - When that went off the rails Waggott stepped in and brought in Eustace - Pasha reasserted his authority and brought in Gestede, forced out Waggott, and brought in Ismael. Might be wrong, but that's the way I understand it.

Tbh I'm pretty comfortable we have found our best shape. The 352 suits us. What worries me is we can't finish chances, give away soft goals that have nothing to do with shape (just basic marking/closing down), after an hour we run out of steam with nothing on the bench to sustain us, and once we are behind we give up. None of that is tactical really. The way Ismael treats the players seems very demotivating, we have lost all the experienced players who could lead on the pitch, and recruitment in attacking positions seems poor.

Given everything about the club at the moment is saving money can we actually fire him? On a 3.5 year contract that is millions more than we have. With JDT we didn't actually fire him, we came to a compromise agreement once he was offered the Sweden job. So we may be in a similar situation where we wait for Ismael to find a new job so we don't have to pay much compensation. Though I imagine Ismael will have a lot less interest than JDT.