06 Oct 2019 11:44:47
Disappointed about the result yesterday however the sending off had a massive impact on the result. I am becoming increasingly frustrated in how the squad resources are being used to cover injuries. I am probably old school in believing in "Horses for Courses" but I would personally rather see a specialist in a role than a jack of all trades. The game against Millwall saw a right back playing centre back, another right back playing centre midfield.
It is likely that due to Berardi's sending off Phillips will be playing as centre back in the next game. We are going back to the old days of square pegs in round holes and I am starting to feel that it is a myth that Bielsa trusts youth players as when push comes to shove he would rather shuffle his senior players than bring in an U23.
The second issue is the bench which has absolutely no balance what so ever. It appears that a "next cab off the rank approach" is used for filling the bench. I love the football we play but feel the manager's stubborn streak is contributing to some inconsistent results.
06 Oct 2019 12:05:40
Notts Excellent post. We ought to be playing a "horses for courses" but we are not. Here's a big reason why Bielsa must go. Same thing as with Monk. One trick ponyism. All the homework Bielsa does, when did he ever say the way they play will nullify what we do so let's go 4-4-2 or at least 3-5-2. Answer? Basically never. It's always 4-1-4-1 or whichever way you want to describe it. He underestimates the importance of physicality and set pieces and we only look good against teams who can really play. Lesser opponents frequently get the better of us. Is it only me who sees this as a big problem? I know Berm and Chris do. I'm not overly dissing Bielsa. He's a good knowledgeable manager but he's not for this league and therefore not for us.
06 Oct 2019 12:26:05
Can't argue with that post Notts, the guy repeats the same thing time and time again but can't understand why we keep getting the same type of result.
06 Oct 2019 12:32:58
Hello Mezz. You understand like Notts, Berm and Chris Chris.
06 Oct 2019 13:14:13
Think any football fan will know that you can not play the same way against everyone. Good managers look at weakness of other teams and exploit it. that's exactly what other teams ar doing to us, they know how we play and the probable line up. Said before teams like Wall will exploit it and they did. that's what is worrying me that we do not change players to suit the type of game. Yes we have lots of possession but its not gaining us anything if we do not score. Thing is we are not direct enough and seem to want to take the next pass along the line and hope all their defenders go to sleep. Love the style of play but need an end product. Yes it is partly down to recruitment and not having sufficient players in important areas but also the reluctance to use the players we have.
06 Oct 2019 14:07:28
Player rotation is important fir freshness but top teans like Man City abd Liverpool do NOT change their system. they just go out
, score goals and win match after match with these top players
If we had better players on tbe left wing and centre forward we would have bern promoted no question . we badly miss a fit Roofe and not signing Daniel James.
06 Oct 2019 14:42:51
great post notts as always very insightful.
06 Oct 2019 15:48:40
Exactly Bazooka. Pep rotates his squad and brings fresh players in according to who he is playing. We do not have the same quality but we do have options which are never used. Pep is more flexible than Bubs and will drop Raheem for a DM if he thought it was needed.
06 Oct 2019 15:52:33
It’s a totally rational post Notts, and well thought out as always.
I would love to see us have a bigger squad at our disposal, as clearly others would too.
If Bielsa had that at his disposal, and we picked up minimal injuries, how many points would we win the PL by next season? 🤔😳😂ðŸ».