04 Mar 2019 09:15:51
Another disappointing result at the weekend. A good performance but again we didn't get anything from the game. Trying to put my finger on the problem, again we conceded late, but again another problem is that we never respond well once we have conceded 1. More often then not this season we've conceded 2 goals in the space of 10 minutes.

Looking at our results this season here are times we've failed to not bounce back well after conceded.

Man U 3 - 2 (Scored 53, 59)
Derby 2 -2 (Scored 76, 82)
Derby 2 -2 (Scored 58, 61)
Man City 3 -1 (Scored 45, 45+3)
West Ham 2-1 (Scored 53, 59)
Spurs 3-1 (51, 55)
Man U 2 -2 (Scored 33, 39)

This seems to be another issue along with conceded goals late on. What do you think it is? Do you think we concede and then try to push too hard to score another and then get caught out? Do you think our defence switches off too often?

90 minutes is more than enough time to concede 2 goals, but when the change in matches happens so fast for us there is definitely a problem.

Another stat that I saw from the weekend is that we've scored the 3rd most goals from outside the box (10), Man City and Spurs have scored more. Only thing is that Spurs have scored 56 goals and Man City have scored 76, where was we've only scored 32. Are we relying too much from a moment of quality to carry us through to get a result and not creating enough chances in the area?


1.) 04 Mar 2019
04 Mar 2019 21:43:36
I've also noticed that saintjay. Heads drop after conceding a goal and we lose our shape. Having said that, we were unlucky against Man U as we could have had ( according to Clattenburg should have had) two penalties which would have made a massive difference. I do believe that our defence tend to switch off occasionally which at premier league level you can't afford to do. As for creating chances in the box I've noticed that when we have someone creative in midfield nobody seems to be making themselves available in the box .

It's not worth putting the ball into the box when there's nobody to get on the end of it. I still think that if we have manage to stay up we need to bring in a quality Pelle type player who can get on the end of crosses and hold the ball up for midfielders to run on to although RH doesn't seem to favour that type of player. Must say that if we played every week like we did on Saturday I think we would be close to top 7/ 8 rather than fighting to stay out of the bottom 3.


2.) 05 Mar 2019
05 Mar 2019 09:51:02
I agree that we were unlucky against United and should have had the two penalties, maybe not the second and Berty goes down very easily but definitely the first one. That being said, we score it and then we take the lead earlier and perhaps Varley doesn't score his goal and the game takes on a whole different perspective. We play better against the teams that want the ball so that we can press them high and turn over the ball. I think this is why we weren't able to get results against CP, Burnley and Cardiff is because they were just able to sit back and let us try and break them down, something we haven't been able to do and don't really have the quality for. Aside from talent, this is what makes Man City the best team in the country, they can press well and break for the press, they can pass against teams pressing against them and they can maintain possession and break teams down that way. Something that we do not do. I think RH will learn this though and we should be well equipped next term (if we stay up) to handle it.

I think RH doesn't currently have the squad he wants. He's currently playing a 5-3-2 because he doesn't think our defence is ready to switch to 4 a back situation. I think that perhaps in Yoshida and Bednarek could play just the two of them, but ideally, I'd like to sign a new CB to partner Bednarek.
He's always played with a 4-2-2-2, I think that PEH and Romeu/ Lemina will be the two holding midfielders. He said in an interview that he wants to shape the team around PEH. Then the 2 attacking midfielders will be JWP and Armstrong, maybe Hesketh or Slattery will be bought in on a rotation basis or we will sign someone new to play this position. But JWP has cemented his position in the squad and has become a vital player for us. He can really become a Lampard sort of player and contribute to a lot of goals in an attacking position.
Then I see Redmond playing up front with a new striker. I don't think any of our current strikers are good enough to play in the Premier League, they simply don't score enough or bring anything to the squad.