Big Game Players and Mentality

[VoiceOfThePoshSeats]

One of the things I noticed yesterday is in the first half especially we made alot of nervous mistakes. Many passes were sloppy, snatched at, or simply the wrong pass altogether. It happened over and over again as we struggled to even get out of our own box.

It was the most nervous performance Ive seen in years (other than the CL final). It says to me we have lost some of our big game cool, since Poch's team has been dismantled. Alli, Dembele, Eriksen, Rose and Trippier to a lesser extent have alot of experience in huge games both domestic and european.

This team needs to grow up fast and deal with the pressure of these games and produce a good performance. I thought we were slihghtly in awe of Liverpool and gave them too much respect.

Also, we need to start blooding Bale into premier league games. Yes Bergwijn and Moura run around alot. But Gareth is a big game player. Those mis placed passes and shots would not happen with Bale. Hes too experienced and his technique to good.

 

[KaneDomBadBoy]

One of the things I noticed yesterday is in the first half especially we made alot of nervous mistakes. Many passes were sloppy, snatched at, or simply the wrong pass altogether. It happened over and over again as we struggled to even get out of our own box.

It was the most nervous performance Ive seen in years (other than the CL final). It says to me we have lost some of our big game cool, since Poch's team has been dismantled. Alli, Dembele, Eriksen, Rose and Trippier to a lesser extent have alot of experience in huge games both domestic and european.

This team needs to grow up fast and deal with the pressure of these games and produce a good performance. I thought we were slihghtly in awe of Liverpool and gave them too much respect.

Also, we need to start blooding Bale into premier league games. Yes Bergwijn and Moura run around alot. But Gareth is a big game player. Those mis placed passes and shots would not happen with Bale. Hes too experienced and his technique to good.

The eye test from watching the game would suggest that you are correct but to be fair, we pulled out a victory against Man City and were a couple inches away from (most likely) coming away with a victory at Anfield. It does look like madness and a warzone but I think it's controlled madness. Both games, we had more clear cut chances despite getting dominated in possession.

I feel like Stevie is a goal away from being a good player for us, particularly as a 3rd option behind Kane and Son. He just needs to see one go in and I think that'll do wonders for his confidence and ultimately his end product. He works hard and does everything else pretty well - it's just that last touch that needs some honing.

I think everyone wants to see Bale but the lingering question is whether his body is up for it. I think at the very least, we need to bring him on for at least 30 minutes, every game, whether or not it makes sense or not from a tactical perspective. That's too much talent and championship experience being wasted.

As far as Lucas goes... I'm a fan and not sure why Jose doesn't fancy him. Yes he's inconsistent but works hard, is a goal scoring threat and does a pretty decent job defensively. I would say that he's our 3rd best finisher behind Kane and Son. If either Kane or Son don't pull through, Lucas has the ability to step up and score and he's shown time and time again that he can get us goals.

Finally there is Lamela... I think he's always up for a big game but his mystery injuries never allow him to play more than 5 consecutive matches.

 

[skyfarer]

I think a mental thing was most apparent when they got their goal - we kinda lost our heads and retreated, unlike our game against City where we managed to keep focus throughout (granted, we never had to worry about it because we never conceded).

I don't believe our sloppy passing has to do with nerves though - I think we are just really sloppy in general, especially under pressure. Look at our games against LASK and Amsterdam, our backline was at something like 66% pass completion and we are distinctly mid-table in pass completion in the PL. There have been so many times this season where I've wondered why we couldn't string together more than a few passes in a row; I don't know if it's a technical issue with some of our players (our backline in particular tends to clear first instead of attempting to play it out), a tactical thing where we rush to get the ball forward (so lots of high-risk, high-reward passing that turns the ball over if it fails), or a need for better movement off the ball to provide each other outlets for pressure.

Sometimes I think we just need to calm down and play some safe passing triangles to catch our breath. Jose would be the first to say he doesn't care that much about possession ("whoever renounces possession reduces the possibility of making a mistake"), he's much more interested in our shape off the ball and having us lie in wait for them to make a mistake, but I think keeping the ball and in particular, keeping the ball away from our third *is* a way of defending. It's not just City/Liverpool, smaller sides like Brighton and WBA have been able to camp out in our half and force some bad passing, so I'd say it's a general issue we need to figure out and then the next level is bringing that to the big games too.

 

[Lenny Hatchet]

I don't believe our sloppy passing has to do with nerves though - I think we are just really sloppy in general, especially under pressure. Look at our games against LASK and Amsterdam, our backline was at something like 66% pass completion and we are distinctly mid-table in pass completion in the PL. There have been so many times this season where I've wondered why we couldn't string together more than a few passes in a row; I don't know if it's a technical issue with some of our players (our backline in particular tends to clear first instead of attempting to play it out), a tactical thing where we rush to get the ball forward (so lots of high-risk, high-reward passing that turns the ball over if it fails), or a need for better movement off the ball to provide each other outlets for pressure.

Sometimes I think we just need to calm down and play some safe passing triangles to catch our breath. Jose would be the first to say he doesn't care that much about possession ("whoever renounces possession reduces the possibility of making a mistake"), he's much more interested in our shape off the ball and having us lie in wait for them to make a mistake, but I think keeping the ball and in particular, keeping the ball away from our third *is* a way of defending. It's not just City/Liverpool, smaller sides like Brighton and WBA have been able to camp out in our half and force some bad passing, so I'd say it's a general issue we need to figure out and then the next level is bringing that to the big games too.

I agree , while we have regular starters such as Sissoko, Bergy , Aurier , Davis retaining possession will always be limited against a pro active opposition . Maybe it's not Mourinhos game plan and these players have other attributes such as work rate.
A better technical player is needed and l don't think we have them or are not wanted by Mourinho.