lexicon Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, paul514 said: El Ghazi was in par, we looked miles better when Barkley went off for Ramsey, he also didn’t even try and run back to stop that Maddison goal. Stop starting Barkley it’s so simple, it’s obvious and there is no excuse persisting with his level of performances for what is now a quarter of the season. I'm hoping that that this was watershed moment for Smith, where he realises that Barkley needs to earn his place back in the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_1989 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Smiths in game management sadly leaves a bit to be desired. Always feel he is slow to react and bring subs on far too late. Not sure why he always reverts to Trez either. Barkley needs to have a breather. Samson looks to do things quickly he needs a run 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Test for him now. His tried and trusted staff appear to have run out of steam. Does he stick and hope they come good - or try and get Ramsey Trez etc up to speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 The way we are playing at the moment makes me worry where the next win is coming from. We have had long spells like this in each of his first two seasons. We overcame the first one when Jack came back from injury. The second one needed a global pandemic to break the form! What will it take this season? Maybe Sanson can spark a catalyst! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 If he doesn’t drop McGinn and Barkley now I can only assume his hands are tied in some way. They’ve certainly been given enough chances to redeem themselves and all they have done is let Smith down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, VillaChris said: He simply must do better next week. No longer starting players because he's star struck by their reputation. We need graft next week to get anything at Leeds so that to me is Trez and Sanson starting. I honestly thought he'd learn from last season but that was one naive team selection at five past one and we basically lost the game by giving Harvey and Barnes freedom of VP in first half. Feels like Craig Shakespeare has gone on holiday as we've had a proper gameplan for most of the season yet in last few weeks it's felt like DS has been trying to put his own stamp back on the team and we go back to the reckless abandon nature of last season so he needs to snap out of it quick. I thought from how we were setting up when Leicester had the ball, there was a plan - midfield 5 were clearly sitting deeper and moving back as a unit (Mings was loudly shouting at them not to get drawn high). Sensible, as you need to stop Leicester getting in behind too easily. The aim for us was to then spring Ollie over the top against their CB's - as for that good early chance he set up for Traore. The problem is that game plan is all well and good, if you play players who can dig in, stay in shape, and execute it. El Ghazi, Barkley, Traore and an out of form Mcginn are not those players. That plan also went out the window the moment Mings, Konsa and Elmo all failed to deal with a relatively straightforward long ball and then just all watched as Maddison took his shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Bad start but easily could have snuck a point there. I'm not sure how Luiz and McGinn can both be deep so not press, but also not mark anyone when the ball does come into our half. They've also both lost interest in receiving the ball from CBs and moving us forward. We're clearly looking to do that going short with so many goal kicks, so something isn't working there. I wouldn't have started Traore but he was our only hope going forward. However, something is afoot if Barkley starts next game. Not only does he waste almost every ball, he does nothing defensively. Beaten by a better team with better players in almost every position and a better manager, nothing to ring alarm bells about overall. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 He needs to revert back to his preferred 4 3 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 14 minutes ago, M_Afro said: The way we are playing at the moment makes me worry where the next win is coming from. We have had long spells like this in each of his first two seasons. We overcame the first one when Jack came back from injury. The second one needed a global pandemic to break the form! What will it take this season? Maybe Sanson can spark a catalyst! We beat Arsenal two games ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 32 minutes ago, Mark_1989 said: Smiths in game management sadly leaves a bit to be desired. Always feel he is slow to react and bring subs on far too late. Not sure why he always reverts to Trez either. Barkley needs to have a breather. Samson looks to do things quickly he needs a run Does it? His in game management has taken us from bottom half of the championship to top half of the prem. When you moan about his in game management, you're moaning that he doesn't do what you want him to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 16 minutes ago, Spoony said: If he doesn’t drop McGinn and Barkley now I can only assume his hands are tied in some way. They’ve certainly been given enough chances to redeem themselves and all they have done is let Smith down. I kind of get it with mcginn, he's done a lot for us and earned the trust of the manager. You don't always just drop him when he's out of form. I can see why he keeps picking him even if I wouldn't. I've defended Barkley but I hope Smith isn't restricted by this one. He really does need to be dropped for the Leeds game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eholm Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Bad start but easily could have snuck a point there. I'm not sure how Luiz and McGinn can both be deep so not press, but also not mark anyone when the ball does come into our half. They've also both lost interest in receiving the ball from CBs and moving us forward. McGinn was playing as one of the 2 8s today so not required to drop as deep as Luiz. For me, I thought McGinn was one of our better players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 We conceded too much ground in the first half and that has happened a number of times this season. We have to be at it from the start. Clearly Leicester are the better team but that doesnt excuse giving them so much space in the first half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LxYoungAVFC Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 How is he starting games? I just can't understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) I hope the club doesn't lie about the extent of Grealish's injury for months like they did Ross. Edited February 21, 2021 by VillanousOne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eholm Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Problem today, apart from Barkley doing zero, was that Smith went with 2 8s....again!! Every time we play with this system we get overrun in midfield and lose. Luiz not enough of a destroyer to be the only 6. I do not understand why Smith continues to use this set up when it makes so open in centre mid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 11 minutes ago, DCJonah said: We beat Arsenal two games ago. The key word was next, not last! We were also very lucky to get a win it that game. Arsenal bossed it from minute three until the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Just now, M_Afro said: The key word was next, not last! We were also very lucky to get a win it that game. Arsenal bossed it from minute three until the end. That's rubbish. We absolutely deserved that win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummybloke Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 player can make a team, see le tis, grealish last year, Steve bull at wolves... but 1 can also destroy the team.. Barkley By not doing his job, the midfield get destroyed, the wingers don't get the ball or any support, the defence are constantly overloaded. We play a hold and press game, he doesn't do either. That means the opponents can play through the middle with little fear of losing the ball as there will always be an extra man. It means we are no longer an attacking threat so they can afford to attack more. El ghazi and traore looked average today because 1 player won't play for the team. And Dean, when el ghazi is looking reasonably good, don't take him off leaving the problem on the pitch. Remove the problem first then see if performance improves. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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