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Manager Thomas Frank

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Are you Frank Out or In?


  • Total voters
    623
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Interesting how different we played today. Hardly any long balls at all and much more focus on passing and link-up play. Felt like a distinct reaction to all the criticism we've been getting and a really refreshing watch. The players seemed to want to prove a point too.

Question is: was that only possible because Copenhagen were 50 shades of gash? Against United do we keep trying to play like this or are we back to long punts and hoping for second balls?

Hopefully this is a turning point in the season. It definitely buys Frank time - if we'd played badly and lost this one the pressure would've really started to build and it could've got very ugly very quickly.
 
The 3-2-5 build up works for us, Porro inverting providing passes from deep and Destiny providing the width on the left, this system only works though when you have Porro and Destiny fit and available though.
 
Tired of saying just give him time.

He's had tat to work with in the final third.

Kolo arriving tonight just showed what we've been missing.

And it's clearly CRITICAL to our attacking play.

TBH I'll still maintain that Dane did more in his 20 mins on the pitch than the several ahead of him have done so far in 10 times the gametime this season
 
Well, he got it more than right tonight. Same again on the weekend, please. Ange beat Utd four times last season, so Frank can't afford to fail first time out, even though they've been pretty good recently
 
Spence is a big part of the squad, and has done a great job filling in at left back for the most part. But I think a big part of whether we can have a balanced side consistently rests on Udogie staying fit and getting back to his best regularly.. Natural left footer combining with the wide player makes a big difference. Which is why depth in both full back positions is crucial.
 
The reason why it's been so important to focus on defence is that when our final third does click, we see tonight what happens:

Goals + clean sheet.

Kolo now bedding in and Solanke and Kulu should be back in the fold by end of this month.

So, attacking play should keep on improving going forward, leading up to Christmas.

Then Jan window (hopefully a couple quality additions) and we should be looking to be strong in the run-in.

All will be well.

#LetFrankWork.

#StayCalm
 
Spence is a big part of the squad, and has done a great job filling in at left back for the most part. But I think a big part of whether we can have a balanced side consistently rests on Udogie staying fit and getting back to his best regularly.. Natural left footer combining with the wide player makes a big difference. Which is why depth in both full back positions is crucial.
Correct.

Again, Baldcunt's neglect.

Should already have a proper, dedicated LB back-up.
 
Thought we easily looked the best we have under Frank! We needed a win and I thought we’d grind out a victory. Very surprised how easy and comfortable it was!

Maybe slightly controversial, but I wonder if having Kudus on the wing and taking lots of touches actually dampens our attack. Gives teams time to reset and we end up just playing horseshoe football.

Bring on united on Saturday. They are much better than back in May so it’ll be a test! I’d be happy with a draw going into international break
 
Thought we easily looked the best we have under Frank! We needed a win and I thought we’d grind out a victory. Very surprised how easy and comfortable it was!

Maybe slightly controversial, but I wonder if having Kudus on the wing and taking lots of touches actually dampens our attack. Gives teams time to reset and we end up just playing horseshoe football.

Bring on united on Saturday. They are much better than back in May so it’ll be a test! I’d be happy with a draw going into international break
Well I think a big part of the problem has been our over-reliance on him as an out-ball. So often under Frank our main way of getting up the pitch has been a long ball from Porro to Kudus. Teams are doubling up on him now so he almost ends up doing the job of a wide target man: controlling the ball under pressure and either having to beat 3 men or make a simple pass.

If we actually passed the ball a bit more through the middle it might take the pressure off Kudus buy him some space, but we seem to have been actively avoiding this - presumably to mitigate the risk of turnovers? With no Kudus to lump it to and a weak opposition, we played more through the middle than previously: Xavi had more touches in 60 mins than he did in 90 vs Newcastle.

You're right that Kudus can be too slow to release the ball but I think the issue has been far more down to the system than him specifically.
 
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