Steve Bruce

[markavfc40]

9 hours ago, striker said:

I like Bruce as manager, I really do but this conservative approach to games

I don’t think he is being conservative. Two games ago we started with Grealish behind a front three of Kodjia, Adomah and Ayew. You go much more attacking than that and you are getting into RDM territory and we know how that played out for us.

On Saturday I think Grealish would have again started had he been fully fit. As it was Gardner came in for him but we pressed really high up the pitch and at times Gardner and Westwood were the two furthest forward players we had. We certainly were not sitting back on Saturday.

I thought he got it right on Saturday tactically. Leeds were on form at home and we had restricted them to no shots on target until we made a stupid error and they scored. That was minutes after Grealish had come on and I’d imagine the plan was that as Leeds pushed for a goal Jack would find space high up the pitch and do some damage. As it was after Leeds scored they sat back and played on the break and Grealish’s potential threat was nullified.

I think he does need to make a change though in terms of the personnel up top as for we have too many head down runners and not enough guile. McCormack when fit needs to come back in with Adomah and Kodjia either side and Grealish in the attacking mid role.

Edited December 5, 2016 by markavfc40

[TRO]

12 hours ago, VillanousOne said:

I am happy with how Bruce has changed things around and how he has us playing now, but I do think there is a ceiling to this. We have been much more solid and resilient, Amavi, Chester, Baker and to a slightly lesser extent Jed and Adomah have thrived under Bruce. Gardener had a brief spell also as did Bacuna and Gollini has been more reliable despite yesterday.

But ultimately I kind of agree, Hutton, Gabby, Westwood, Gestede and Gardener are players that will keep us mid table they won't get us into a play off place.

I think it will take a while for Bruce and Calderwood to get us properly dominating games and really imposing their style/will on the team. Either they need to learn how to utilise Ayew, McCormack and Tish properly and get the best out of Grealish (which already is showing promise on that front). Or bring in re-enforcements.

I do however feel that teams are managing to compete with us and even beat us with players who are allegedly far worse than the squad we are meant to possess, even if it's just the fact they are younger/home/grown or never played at Prem level.

90% of our current matchday squad have played at prem level, but often it doesn't show, and yes you can argue that the Championship is a higher level than most would think, but i've not see a single team play us who i've thought 'wow they are class.' Most losses suffered have been of our own making.

I think you make some good points.....but we both have to remember its very early in our renaissance.

I thought there are aspects of the game where Leeds showed they are a competent and durable side.....perhaps it was a good game for SB & CC to have seen before the window opens.

I thought they were physically stronger than us in the challenge, but accept some may not agree.

If you watched Man U v Everton.....ignore their technique for a moment and study the durability and strength in the challenge....yes they conceded towards the end......but I'm talking over 90 minutes.They are built to battle one on one before imposing their skill.

SB will improve that as it is equally a thing of his.....but it takes time.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

I don’t think he is being conservative. Two games ago we started with Grealish behind a front three of Kodjia, Adomah and Ayew. You go much more attacking than that and you are getting into RDM territory and we know how that played out for us.

On Saturday I think Grealish would have again started had he been fully fit. As it was Gardner came in for him but we pressed really high up the pitch and at times Gardner and Westwood were the two furthest forward players we had. We certainly were not sitting back on Saturday.

I thought he got it right on Saturday tactically. Leeds were on form at home and we had restricted them to no shots on target until we made a stupid error and they scored. That was minutes after Grealish had come on and I’d imagine the plan was that as Leeds pushed for a goal Jack would find space high up the pitch and do some damage. As it was after Leeds scored they sat back and played on the break and Grealish’s potential threat was nullified.

I think he does need to make a change though in terms of the personnel up top as for we have too many head down runners and not enough guile. McCormack when fit needs to come back in with Adomah and Kodjia either side and Grealish in the attacking mid role.

I agree with that Mark......I think if we had of gone more attack minded, the score line would have been more emphatic in their favour.

I also think that despite us missing some golden chances from the front men.....baring 2 errors from the defensive elements it would have been a respectable 0-0

I still think Midfield is a major issue that will effect the front and the back....I'm sure SB is aware of that and will fix it.

 

[MarkLillis]

2 hours ago, TRO said:

 

I thought they were physically stronger than us in the challenge, but accept some may not agree.

 

Agree here! Saturday is the first match I haven't seen all season (Christmas do...) but I am sure it is correct. Basing my opinion on the other matches seen this year we still have a soft compromising side to us especially in midfield.

Would love to see some tougher more arrogant (if that's the right word) players in the team.

Cardiff were very naughty against us but we stood up to it, it would have been even nicer if we were able to dish it back out....

Edited December 5, 2016 by MarkLillis
grammar

[kurtsimonw]

Didn't like the first XI. Thought Kodjia has done well up top and Ayew has linked well with Amavi. So bringing in Gestede for Ayew messed with a few things going well in our team. I appreciate Grealish had a bit of a knock, but that means we really needed Ayew in the XI.

[TRO]

This is not a criticism but an observation.

In the past 6/7 seasons we have bought and sold rakes of players.....overall and in general not much has changed. In my personal opinion they have all being very samey in one principle Aggression or the lack of it.

I want to see players come in with aggression and intensity its all very well wanting to win, but that has to be shown with physicality and passion, devilment and sharp wit.

despite the improvement I am still looking forward to seeing that come in to the side.I see a side willing to compete in a kinda passive way, industrious, but ineffective at times.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I was worried when he went a bit "Paul Lambert" late on with the changes, but we kept our shape and it was clear Wigan had given up trying to play football, so all's well that ends well. 

We won the game today, but for his next trick he needs to work more on movement and try and find a way for them to pick these locks a wee bit more efficiently. 

Still very few complaints so far. I think he's a top bloke to boot, I'd love to play for him. 

[Eastie]

1 minute ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I was worried when he went a bit "Paul Lambert" late on with the changes, but we kept our shape and it was clear Wigan had given up trying to play football, so all's well that ends well. 

We won the game today, but for his next trick he needs to work more on movement and try and find a way for them to pick these locks a wee bit more efficiently. 

Still very few complaints so far. I think he's a top bloke to boot, I'd love to play for him. 

I think McCormack will be the key link between midfield and attack and needs a run of games - Bruce gambled late on today and it paid off - vital in January that he brings in the right players - onwards and upwards we go !

[HanoiVillan]

He got it totally right tactically. He realised that if we went more attacking Wigan would sit back and we could focus on picking the lock. I don't think it was lucky at all. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

4 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

He got it totally right tactically. He realised that if we went more attacking Wigan would sit back and we could focus on picking the lock. I don't think it was lucky at all. 

I didn't think it was lucky, I thought it was bold but it could have quite easily gone tits up. He shouldn't have been in that situation really, Wigan may have had 11 behind the ball for 80 minutes but they were dreadful and we didn't test them nearly enough. 

He threw the sink at it to a degree and I think it's a bit early in the season for that. However, that's maybe why he's a promotion specialist and I'm just a rocket polisher with soggy feet. 

[Xela]

5 wins in 9 is it? Keep it up Stevie B!

Couple of midfielders in Jan and I think we'll start flying 

[HanoiVillan]

2 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I didn't think it was lucky, I thought it was bold but it could have quite easily gone tits up. He shouldn't have been in that situation really, Wigan may have had 11 behind the ball for 80 minutes but they were dreadful and we didn't test them nearly enough. 

He threw the sink at it to a degree and I think it's a bit early in the season for that. However, that's maybe why he's a promotion specialist and I'm just a rocket polisher with soggy feet. 

I agree he shouldn't have been in that situation, but I don't think that was his fault really. He picked a logical side - the only change for me would have been playing Westwood instead of Gardner - and it isn't really his fault that Ayew & Adomah, in particular, didn't show up today. 

He did throw the sink at it but that was the correct thing to do. People on here keep saying how we draw too much, and it's true. Well, this was how you get a win at home to a side sitting 11 men behind the ball who pose no threat on the counter. Even if they had somehow scored (and frankly, it would still be Wigan 0 if the game was still going on now) then we'd have wanted the same players on the pitch to chase the game. Neither Gardner nor Adomah can have any complaints about coming off, and Grealish did drop deeper, into a sort of Cazorla role, when McC and Rudy came on. If we're in two games like that and we win one and we lose one, we're still better off than drawing twice. 

[Mantis]

1 hour ago, Xela said:

5 wins in 9 is it? Keep it up Stevie B!

Couple of midfielders in Jan and I think we'll start flying 

Yep. 5 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. Obviously we need to be picking up more points away but it's worth remembering that our away fixtures so far (Reading, SHA, Brighton and Leeds) have been quite difficult. We've also won every game in which we've been clear favourites. Overall, really can't argue with his record so far.

 

Edited December 10, 2016 by Mantis

[dont_do_it_doug.]

2 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Yep. 5 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss. Obviously we need to be picking up more points away but it's worth remembering that our away fixtures so far (Reading, SHA, Brighton and Leeds) have been quite difficult. We've also won every game in which we've been clear favourites. Overall, really can't argue with his record so far.

 

3 draws. 

[Dodgyknees]

I was worried when he made the change and brought on McCormack for Gardner, but it was the right move and we won the game. No complaints here.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

All fair points. I wasn't so much knocking the decision, as pondering whether it should have been necessary in the first place. That I was 'worried' is neither here nor there really, it worked.

[Jareth]

"All these distractions away from it now make it very difficult for any talented young player especially a good looking one like him, although I didn't say that!" - SB

Just don't offer him a naked massage Steve.

[Dodgyknees]

For me I was just worried as we have seen before, we can get over-run in midfield with quick attacks when we just have one traditional midfielder. So that was the main worry for me, but it worked out this time. We do need more midfielders though.

[Mantis]

Have to admit I was loudly complaining as well when we went to 1 in midfield but it worked. I thought Wigan would be constantly counter-attacking us but we just piled on the pressure after that.

[Stevo985]

One of the most noticeable improvements under Bruce has been our work off the ball.

 

The pressing from the front is excellent. Last season one of my biggest complaints was that opposing teams would just stroll through our attack and attacking midfield. They would be into our half before anyone put any sort of pressure on them.