There was a guy with a drum in the corner entrance between the Kingsland South and the Chapel who was trying to get things going, but mostly a solo effort as no one was responding!
No he's not. Puel was making the most of a poor hand. Mauricio has pretty much the same hand (if not even better) and he's doing a hell of a lot worse.
You mean the Puel that got booed and jeered at by the same fans who turned on MP2 from the first game of the season? We can agree on that much then.
I'm not convinced either. Stats only tell part of the story of course but they DO indicate a moderate learning curve. Every time we play a team for the 2nd time, we have equalled or improved the result with the notable exception of Crystal Palace. Even against Liverpool (and Huddersfield, Stoke and Brighton), our stats improved (looking at a combination of possession and shots on goal). The reason I don't take stats too seriously though (apart from the fact that we are in the **** part of the league!) is that same analysis shows a really good performance against Spurs in the 5-2 defeat yet all our stats fell away in the 1-1 draw at home. So where has it gone wrong? Basically, I think it is entertainment value and MP2's cautious approach to matches. We have dominated possession in 66% of our games but failed to convert that possession into shots on goal because of our slow build up play. It's too easy to pass back and start again than to try and 'take on' a defender or risk either a shot or killer pass. Perhaps equally importantly, we defend deep inviting teams to shoot on goal from outside the area. When we come across a clinical side like Liverpool or Spurs, that is suicide and even against the lesser teams we are taking a hell of a risk. There's no doubt MP2 will see the season out but given the angle of his learning curve our future may well depend on other teams slipping up. What is frustrating is someone will pick him up next year and get all the benefit of that learning curve without the pain we have had! Incidentally I'm not sure I agree he is working with a poor hand. I think we have a great squad but we are rotating too much to try and keep everyone happy and not getting the lone striker in play enough
If we go down I can't see him getting another PL job before rebuilding his rep abroad again. Even if we survive I think it is very unlikely (if he goes) that he gets a PL job without doing well somewhere else first. He isn't working with a really poor hand and I think most/all of the other PL managers would be getting more out of this squad, but the squad is definitely lacking in a couple of areas that are crucial to his style of play and that is contributing to our poor results.
From my memory against spurs we did play really well once we had already lost and both teams were playing with complete freedom. When we go all out attack I think we play quite well but it's just not in pellegrino's nature and we don't have the team to sit back imo.
Not really. Shots from outside the box end up vanishingly rarely as goals - one in thirty-odd. (For evidence, see https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnati...hot-matrix-i-shot-location-and-expected-goals ) Crowds think they are worth trying (hence the cries of "shoot" the moment someone has the ball in the opposing half). However, I'd hazard a guess that it's because those goals are deeply memorable. Who remembers a ball bundled over the line from two yards out? No-one. I love seeing other teams shooting from outside the box. I detest it when we do it. Except Cuco. Obviously. Vin
Cedric has started to frustrate me with it recently. By all means when we're winning a game have the odd dig but when it's 0-0 and we're finally building some pressure it's so wasteful and also kills momentum.
It’s often difficult to tell when he’s shooting, and when he’s crossing to be fair. Both end up in row Z
Er hum.... James Beattie, Villa Park, April 2003.... “****ing get in there!!!! We’re going to Wembley!!!”
