If any if our players think they can "coast" through games that's it's own fundamental issue right there; independent of any notion of "good enough".
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If any if our players think they can "coast" through games that's it's own fundamental issue right there; independent of any notion of "good enough".
He’s a decent loyal hard working lad who does his best and would be an asset to someone like Derby or Forest
We need better imv
I just thought he was out of position for their first goal but it was a clusterfuck as I said and you could blame any one of several of our players
I’ve just never seen anything from him but rate him higher than Trippier
I get the differing opinion on the player... Just don't see his relevance to the OP.
Not accusing you of doing, so but how typical is it for such a topic to rapidly descend into another boubt of fantasy transfer window bingo...
In/out; In/out; You shake it all about.
He makes less mistakes than Trippier for a start.
But for him being out of position for the first goal, he was on the edge of their penalty area 20 seconds before the goal, he got back into position and went to their player, who then played the ball in behind him for Pedro to run onto. Had Toby held Pedro up and not been made a right dick of, Davis would have been back in covering Toby.
....Indeed. Then compare to the amount of cover Trippier constantly gets from Sissoko.
Says to me BD's trusted far more in terms of how we set up.
I doubt they do it intentionally, but perhaps as a result of believing that they are better than they truly are, it inadvertently costs us in games against teams we really should be beating as the players sub consciously do not feel the need to be as switched on as they should be?
It's just a theory of course and I could be totally wrong. But there has to be some underlying reason as to why we have consistently lost games to mid table fodder like West Ham, West Brom, Wolves, Burnley etc over the last four years in games where we have had the chance to seriously close the gap to the top, or in some cases even go top.
Agree - there are normally 3-4 mistakes leading to every goal.
That said Trippier definitely gets targeted, sometimes it's as easy as chipping the ball at him.
Thing is you could track such results to the pre-Poch days too...
I don't proffess to have the answers, but if we collectively sleepwalk into such games then that's for Poch to sort, if it's about the attitude of composite individuals then it's a far more complex issue.
As for your theory... You may be right but I'd find it hard to criticise a manager solely on making their squad feel they are world beaters...
The biggest thing I have taken from this thread is that Trippier isn’t good enough.
As a matter of fact the only decent FB we have is Rose imo and even he blows hot and cold.
We need replacements in both those positions and we also need replacements in midfield as well, at this rate we are probably going to need a complete rebuild because Verts is getting older, Toby is running down his contract and will be off, Eriksen seems disinterested and like he wants out, we have a midfield of Sissoko and Winks (the latter of which I rate highly and think deserves his place in the team) the former of which has been excellent this season but shouldn’t be a long term first choice option imo.
So yeah, we have a lot of rebuilding to do and it’s probably going to cost us a fortune to do so because we are going to need clear upgrades on these players if we want to improve, most importantly the players we bring in need to have a winning mentality and talent to match and those kind of players cost a lot of money.
As a matter of fact the only decent FB we have is Rose imo and even he blows hot and cold.
We need replacements in both those positions and we also need replacements in midfield as well, at this rate we are probably going to need a complete rebuild because Verts is getting older, Toby is running down his contract and will be off, Eriksen seems disinterested and like he wants out, we have a midfield of Sissoko and Winks (the latter of which I rate highly and think deserves his place in the team) the former of which has been excellent this season but shouldn’t be a long term first choice option imo.
So yeah, we have a lot of rebuilding to do and it’s probably going to cost us a fortune to do so because we are going to need clear upgrades on these players if we want to improve, most importantly the players we bring in need to have a winning mentality and talent to match and those kind of players cost a lot of money.
The trouble is Hugo can't make a 20 yard pass safely and consistently, and the downfield hoofs inevitably just come straight back at us, so we're under pressure no matter what tactic we employ.
I find it so hard to believe that a professional footballer needs to be taught how to make 20/25 yard passes successfully. I can't talk because I can't kick a football to save my life, but this area of Hugo's game is a MASSIVE issue for us. Surely we can teach him how to do it? To me that would be the go to option, pick out a free midfielder/winger and hit his feet. All of our midfielders/"wingers" are competent enough to deal with a ball coming from 30 yards away. Even Sissoko on most occasions. But even if we do lose possession, it's not in or around the box.
You could, but comparing where we are now to pre Poch in pretty much all aspects is apples and oranges stuff really.
It's a hard one to figure out, but after four straight years of it it surely cannot be a coincidence. There are literally games that stick out in my head from the past 4 years that are almost carbon copies of each other against teams we should be beating in high pressure games to close the gap at the top.
I'm not criticising Poch at all here btw. His ability to get into the heads of players to perform at a level far above what their ability would dictate they should be able to is probably his most remarkable asset as a coach, and we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are today without it.
It's not mentality or bottle
It's lack of quality.
More quality = less fuck ups
Less quality = more fuck ups
Better players make less costly mistskes over the course of a season & teams with more quality can compensate better for their mistakes
We have no budget and are 3rd. Poch is doing excellently and the team are overachieving.
It's really that simple
It's lack of quality.
More quality = less fuck ups
Less quality = more fuck ups
Better players make less costly mistskes over the course of a season & teams with more quality can compensate better for their mistakes
We have no budget and are 3rd. Poch is doing excellently and the team are overachieving.
It's really that simple
I like Davies, but he is better as a defender as opposed to going forward. Rose is better for this and should be playing the big games as we slow things down too much, especially with the likes of Son and Lamela cutting inside, leaving the space on the wings. Chelsea were there for the taking last night, but we kept going inside to where the space was cut out. That's one of the main reasons we offered so little going forward!!!
People keep crying about Lloris and Trippier because obviously their mistakes are the most obvious ones but I think it's quite clearly a mentality issue because in important moments and in important games players all over the pitch are consistently making these mistakes.
From horrible finishing, sloppy conceding of the ball in the midfield to calamitous own goals like last night's... it's all in their heads.
From horrible finishing, sloppy conceding of the ball in the midfield to calamitous own goals like last night's... it's all in their heads.
Couldn't agree more.
Poch is victim of his own success (yeah I know stupid thing to say when we have no trophies in Poch regime), but this squad, these wages aren't 3rd best in the league.
Top level players: Toby, Jan, Eriksen, Dele, Son and Kane
Good players: Rose, Winks, Sissoko, Lucas (based on his career), Lloris (I guess)
Average: Aurier, Trippier, Davies, Dier, Llorente, Lamela
Potential to be top players: Sanchez, Foyth, Walker-Peters
Out of all these players, couple of them know what winning is like, and they had that experiance in young age (Ajax). If we want titles, bring quality in, it will take time. That's why I'm not a fan of Grealish/Brooks type of signings. Kane will get bored with just talents around him at some point, even him. If someone want Eriksen, give us 80-100M. Buy proper player! Give us Bale/Isco instead etc.
The key is to at least occasionally play one long, that way the opposition can't just push right up the pitch.
They are not individual mistakes as opposed to collevtive mental failings.
Strewth.
Our issue is mentality.
Strewth.
Our issue is mentality.
Not gonna start naming names here but we have 3, maybe 4 players who play most games and are just not good enough....
The squad as a whole has done outstanding this season so far.
Ironically, when we had one of the best 11’s in the league our squad let us down, now our squad has stepped up its our best 11 that has dropped in quality....
If we don’t have the cash to invest this summer then we have no option but to raise that cash within our current ranks...I’d be happy to offload the following, and please excuse my guess at their values:
Eriksen 80m
Alderweireld 30m
Lamela 20m
Wanyama Free (wages)
Trippier 25m
Davies 20m
Theres 175m and id only bring in 3 damn good players!!
All this talk about goals conceded. Last night Chelsea only had 1 shot on target for the home side. The problem was we did not score or look like scoring. Very similar in many recent matches. We cannot go through a summer of wholesale changes like when Bale left and therefore many of the players playing poorly will stay.