Team shape, tactics and personnel

[hippo]

30 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Are you suggesting there may be some bad eggs in this squad? 

Probably no more than any squad up and down the country + we have a transfer window coming up if anyone is really that problematic.

[tinker]

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

[picicata]

11 minutes ago, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

That's something for the summer, not a chance they will do that sort of business in January

[jacketspuds]

I’m still hopeful that Gerrard can get the best out of Bailey when he’s 100% fit. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[hippo]

6 hours ago, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

I disagree - the defence has improved under Stevie G.

There's no way I'd be throwing £100m at the Jan window. I don't think we need a major overhaul. Some of the players who haven't cut it and/or are always injured need to be moved on before we start adding more of the same.

I'm expecting a quiet Jan window to be honest.

[Awol]

3 minutes ago, hippo said:

I disagree - the defence has improved under Stevie G.

There's no way I'd be throwing £100m at the Jan window. I don't think we need a major overhaul. Some of the players who haven't cut it and/or are always injured need to be moved on before we start adding more of the same.

I'm expecting a quiet Jan window to be honest.

We’re an injury to Luiz away from no senior DM in the squad. If we don’t address that next month I’ll be amazed. 

[Zero7]

7 hours ago, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

You must be watching different games to me if you think NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!!. We have more urgency, have a totally different shape and are shipping less goals, there also seems to be more cohesion to our play. But nothing has changed, right!!!

[KentVillan]

22 minutes ago, Awol said:

We’re an injury to Luiz away from no senior DM in the squad. If we don’t address that next month I’ll be amazed. 

Yeah I think this is the big risk. Elsewhere I think we have just about enough cover, and probably better to wait for more value in the summer window.

[Vive_La_Villa]

7 hours ago, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

This is absolute madness when you look at who the so called same issues resurfaced again. The top 3 teams are miles ahead of everyone so to judge us on those games regardless of manager is very unfair in my opinion.  I’ve seen the likes of Lambert and Bruce get the odd park the bus sneak a win against these teams in the past. Does that make them great managers?

Im judging us against the rest of the league and so far it’s 4 wins out of 4. If and when that doesn’t continue then you can talk about how nothing has changed. But at the moment it’s just crazy to say that.

[jim]

7 hours ago, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

Nothing has changed? We’ve won 4 out of 7 and our 3 losses were narrow defeats to the 3 best teams in the league.

We are far more organised and the style of play has improved. We lost 7 in 11 under Smith this season and looked completely rudderless. But yeah, nothing has changed.

[PaulC]

On 28/12/2021 at 15:58, tinker said:

We need to improve in defence, Ming's is a great player for 89 minutes of most games but he loses concentration and if we're going to challenge we need players that don't give away cheap goals. 

Cash is still learning and I can give him the benefit of the doubt ATM. . 

Our creative side is also a disappointment, we have spent £100m+ on players who are either injured, don't suit us or are so inconsistent they can't be depended upon to improve us. We badly need a left sided winger. 

For me nothing has changed from Smith to Gerrard , we had a new manager bounce but the same issues are re-surfacing and I wouldn't have expected any difference. 

Gerrard needs time to stamp his mark on us and I don't think he can teach old dogs new tricks. Think is it's going to be expensive, I cant see any change from £100m. Maybe we could sell players to offset it but losing the likes of Ming's , Ings, Douglas .....is a risky business at this stage of the season. 

I think a lot has changed but I think the second half performance against Chelsea was a bit pre-Gerrard I agree. 

[CVByrne]

We need a CB who can play with the ball at his feet and is key to us building up from the back. Gomez fits that bill. As we struggle against the high press and Mings in particular plays long balls when under pressure too often. 

[Laughable Chimp]

13 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I don't think he's been poor. 

I'm not saying he's set the league on fire, but he's not poor.

He'll benefit when we find another number ten to play next to him consistently.

 

Two number 10s at the same time would imply a very attacking formation. Especially if you're trying to keep Bailey and Traore in the side. I doubt that's what Gerrard is going for.

Edited December 30, 2021 by Laughable Chimp

[OutByEaster?]

4 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

Two number 10s at the same time would imply a very attacking formation. Especially if you're trying to keep Bailey and Traore in the side. I doubt that's what Gerrard is going for.

It's what Gerrard played at Rangers and what he's played since the moment he arrived here.

4-3-2-1 with two number tens behind a striker and the width coming from the full backs.

 

[Awol]

21 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I don't think he's been poor. 

I'm not saying he's set the league on fire, but he's not poor.

He'll benefit when we find another number ten to play next to him consistently.

 

Should be Bailey, when fit again. 

[OutByEaster?]

9 minutes ago, Awol said:

Should be Bailey, when fit again. 

Hopefully, I think he played in a narrower role in Germany so hopefully it's something he can do - I do have concerns though that the wingers we bought for Smith's system aren't going to be the players we need for Gerrard's system. Quality will prove itself though.

[M_Afro]

I think the way Gerrard has us set up is pretty much as good as it gets with our current squad. We seriously lack football intelligence throughout the team though and we will continue to make big mistakes until we address it. That’s why Young has been important. He is a clever footballer who genuinely makes the right choices.

If you take the Chelsea matches as an example. Across the two games, we were actually fairly evenly matched and yet ended up losing 6-1 on aggregate! There are many examples where poor decisions at both ends have cost us.

It’s hard to decide which of the six goals we conceded was the worst as they all should have been avoided but I think the most annoying two are the first and last from the home match. The first was awful. We had just taken the lead. We were on top in the match. Looking dangerous on the break against a team who have been struggling to create chances. Step up Cash. Under absolutely no pressure he brings down their player and gives them a spot kick. Utterly brain dead defending. He had no idea where his attacker was and then went to ground when he should have stayed on his feet. Needless and infuriating. Chelsea straight back in the game!

The third was nearly as bad. How many times do you see City in a similar defensive position and just bring the centre forward down on the half way line and take a card. It was in injury time. If it had been the first minute then maybe not but in the 93rd minute it is the only option for an intelligent defender. Again. Utterly brain dead defending.

It’s not just Cash and Targett either. Mings, Konsa and Axel have all been guilty of similar poor decisions in the concession of these six goals.
Our front players are equally as guilty. We got into so many good goal scoring positions across those two games and came away with just a single, lucky own goal. 
So, when it comes to upgrading our current players, we need players who are physically superior to those that they are replacing but also much smarter. It’s maybe a bit harsh but really only Martinez and Young consistently make the right decisions. The others need to start learning very quickly.

[tinker]

44 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

I think the way Gerrard has us set up is pretty much as good as it gets with our current squad. We seriously lack football intelligence throughout the team though and we will continue to make big mistakes until we address it. That’s why Young has been important. He is a clever footballer who genuinely makes the right choices.

This all over. I have been surprised at the quality Young had brought us, it shows our squad up as lacking in the football brain department that's for sure.

Gerrard has improved us in the middle of the park but glaring mistake at the back and wasted opportunities up front are happening time and time again, to improve this has to change and I can't see it with certain individuals, Ming's being the standout for me. Great captain and a good player to have ( sure he's a great bloke as well) but he's cost us time and time again. Sort of reminds me of Richard Dunne, great player but just not good enough 5% of the time. 

[a m ole]

Teams that don’t make mistakes win every game they play 18-0.

[Keener window-cleaner]

6 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Hopefully, I think he played in a narrower role in Germany so hopefully it's something he can do - I do have concerns though that the wingers we bought for Smith's system aren't going to be the players we need for Gerrard's system. Quality will prove itself though.

I'd be happy to have Buendia, Traore and Bailey to compete for the two no 10 spots, perhaps also having Trezeguet as a back up option. Buendia is a perfect fit for that role, I also think Traore is well suited there, at Lyon he said that he preferred to play in the center. Buendia and Traore would be my first choice. Bailey I haven't seen so much of, I got the impression that he is an out and out winger/wide foward, if i remember correctly he also played wing back to some extent. So he also played in a narrower role in germany? Good if so. i thought he was more of a kick and run merchant with outstanding speed that is typical for wing players. But he has showed that he has good technique and is a class player, so as you say quality will prove itself.

Trezeguet I'm not so sure about, but his best attribut is that he runs like crazy, so why not do that as a no 10 as well.