we’re starting Bentancur and/or Palhinha in the majority of games and are getting hammered anyway.
Why do so called senior pros get a much longer rope?
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Manager Thomas Frank
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Why do so called senior pros get a much longer rope?
No comment!Does he look a bit like BFG?
He probably didn't expect our goalkeeper to turn into a liability over the summer tbf
It’s because he’s actually playing Gray as the 6 and Benta the 8 in that double pivot.
Watch the Liverpool game back, Gray was the one deepest and making clearances and interceptions. And watching it non-live, Gray actually did very well defensively before he was subbed. Niether goal was on him.
The problem with it, is that Benta’s nowhere near premier league level as an 8 anymore. He does absolutely nothing and Palinha on the ball is even worse.
I think that was entirely the right approach, get us a solid foundation and build from there.
And for me, immediate impressions, our press was instantly a lot better. No more headless chicken run into the ground stuff, it was controlled and meaningful.
And I didnt mind the heightened focus on throw ins and set pieces, these are things all teams should try to maximise - small margins that make a difference. I liked the idea we were taking a "no stone left unturned" approach.
Since then though?
All a bit shit really, isnt it?
Absolutely no meaningful shape in possession. No real attacking intent - or idea - at all. Defensive work is failing....
..and worst of all theres no signs of actual, meaningful, progress.
You've just offended all the half decent managers out there...I think if at the start of the season you looked up the definition of "half decent manager" in the dictionary you'd find a picture of Thomas Frank.
Bloke is literally the poster boy of "half-decent".
While I agree with you to some extent, I think Gray has quite a good football brain. I would not be against pushing him further forward, allowing him to make late runs to support our front players. Those runs are always hard to track.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of using numbers to describe positions. Playing in midfield requires a player to be versatile. They should be good on the ball, shield the back four when possession is lost, have plenty of energy, and contribute with a few goals. All this talk about positions like 6, 8, or 10 seems unnecessary to me. I can't imagine conceding a goal on a Sunday morning and blaming the “6” for losing his man and the “1” for not saving the shot… every player needs to contribute and cover various responsibilities on the pitch.
I must have missed those games when our press was a lot better....
you're right... Palhinha is not bad as a CDM... he's fucking terrible!!!
Was early in the season
Looked to me much better structured, but thats fallen away now imo
He's getting more questionable as times goes. Maybe Frank was really tired of Solanke and Kulu updates, or was he actually forbidden to talk more?
Wells left.
Paratici stalemate. Dragging out the heels at this juncture of time when the windows is opening?
Everything seems more uncertain than Levy was here. Ffs. And he was supposed to improve our communication to the the supporters across the club.
This ex scum just felt like one of those insect decoy into entering a honey bees hive and killed the queen, eat the honey and decimated the whole colony alive inside out.
There's a few things to understand from where these issues stem from
1. The club needed a proper rebuild.. After losing Kane and realising that hiring Managers like Conte & Mourinho couldn't deliver with the squad they had, they chose to go for a rebuild and brought in Ange on a 3 year deal to oversee that. But after only 2 years they decided that the squad was rebuilt and suddenly underperforming.
2. Ange Over-Achieved in his first season with the squad he had. The squad that Ange had realistically should've finished 6th-10th. He had older servicable players with Prem League experience in (Hojberg, Dier, Skipp, Royale, Perisic, Lo Celso) and didn't have European football.
3. Fast Forward to Season 2 and all the above older players including (Soloman & Gil) leave the club. Those players are replaced with Two 18 year olds in Gray & Bergvall, a 19 year old Odobert and Dominic Solanke. So already you have lost a lot of experience and replaced it with 3 kids and Solanke, with the added pressure and demands of extra games in European Football.
4. Injuries hit the squad by mid year last year and so there was no ability to rotate the squad. The defence constituted of mainly Gray, Dragusin & Davies with Forster in Goal. Dragusin and Solanke go down and were in dire need of reinforcements, we get a 21 year old Keeper in Kinsky, but not until basically deadline day do we get Kevin Danso and a 19yr old Mathys Tel in, of which neither play until 16th February.
5. By this time, with a depleted squad, European football was prioritised and we know what happened there as well as in the League.
I feel its very important to look at the context and try and understand where the club is really at.
90-95% of players in any sport struggle to perform consistently well between 18-22 years of age and most don’t hit their prime til at least 24-27.
I think if at the start of the season you looked up the definition of "half decent manager" in the dictionary you'd find a picture of Thomas Frank.
Bloke is literally the poster boy of "half-decent".
And yet..
I thought he’d be good. I was wrong. I’m not a cultist like the Ange lot so I’m happy to change my mind.
He’s been terrible & it’s possible he was only comfortable with the structure around him at Brentford and is a fish out of water here.
Many, many coaches could have us above the bottom half. The squad is not good but it is better than that.
yea i hear what youre saying, but it was a game where we didnt have midfield issues. hes lacking that badly since hes been here.
I had high hopes for Frank when he joined but I'm becoming less and less convinced by him unfortunately - the only positive I'm seeing is that I prefer him to Ange.
But at the moment that's like saying I'd prefer to be kicked in my left nut rather than my right.
But at the moment that's like saying I'd prefer to be kicked in my left nut rather than my right.
Yeah this is pretty accurate mate.
Since then Palinha, Kolo Muani, and Simons have added significant experience and talent.
With Europe included, this squad is probably somewhere between 5-8th but realistically much closer to 7-8 than 5-6. That difference IMO is coaching and luck.
We are currently in 14th and probably had a fair amount of luck considering we are much further into the season and still outperforming xG.
This is the main reason I want him replaced. Monaco looked more coherent. And their manager had 2 weeks and no pre season.
Dier played 4 games and Perisic played 6.
Ange seemed to actively shut out the more experienced heads who were baffled by what was going on
This has been explained .. no Europe, a rocking start which followed a regression to the norm when momentum was lost, and a massively productive still firing son contributing like thirty goals.
The signings since have been duds, we have lost the talisman. This team with a regressed Son was seen in action last season and it finished 17th. Now we have no Son.
We are underperforming but fifth was a perfect storm that we clung on to by our fingernails in a very closely packed top 8/9. Our form for like a year and a half has been bottom half muck.
Partly due to the incompetence of Ange but the players also aren’t great.