Couldn't bring myself to post anything when I got back from the game, due to a combination of frustration and anger. Opting instead to get stuck into a nice Chilean Merlot till the memory of what I'd seen faded a little.
Anyway, strong coffee this morning along with a watch of the highlights means I'm ready to relive the ****-fest that I'd witnessed yesterday.
It had all started so well. The youngest lad had driven back from Southampton to watch the game with me, but also to collect his Birthday present; a new shirt with EZE and the No 10 on the back. This duly collected, the man himself came strolling along outside the club shop and the lad got him to sign his shirt on the back. I shook the young man's hand, wishing him all the best and urging him to carry on entertaining us.Perfect!!
Unfortunately, things just went downhill from that point onward.
After a walk through the cold rain, under dark swirling clouds to get some food and back to the stadium, what followed can only be described as ineptitude of the highest calibre!!
Just as SM had started to look as though he was getting it right he decides to change the formation to 4-4-2 to accommodate both Hemed and Wells up front. Ok, fair enough, it hadn't been too disastrous previously, but, hadn't a switch to 4-2-3-1 against Millwall produced the best performance of the season (1st half) along with Eze's best display in the 10 role?
We both slumped in our seats when we saw the line up, as we had been so looking forward to watching Eze in the 10 position.
The lad is studying football coaching at Uni, so it was no surprise that, after around 5 minutes he pointed out that we were outnumbered in midfield and that Eze and Freeman were wasted playing wide in a 4. Luongo and Scowan were swamped in the middle and (****ing) Norwich simply played around us as we made them look like ****ing Barca!!
Now, I get that SM had probably decided that 2 up top would mean we could press the Norwich back 4 to prevent them from playing out from the back, but, given the fact that the rest of the team were sitting far too far back from the two forwards, this simply didn't work. There was a huge space between the midfield 4 and the forwards, so Norwich played out at will. Add to this that Eze can't (won't/doesn't like to??) defend, our right side was carved up time after time, leaving a CB playing out of position horribly exposed.
Why oh why do these coaches insist on playing players out of position? Ollie was terrible for this and now SM was doing it also.
I felt sorry for Eze and his body language showed just how pissed off he must have been. I realise he's a well paid professional and that he probably should have showed a better attitude to being stuck out on the right, but for ****'s sake McClaren!! He's young and had just dazzled in his best position and you stick him out on the right and ask him to do things that he's really not very good at like tracking back and tackling. As the half wore on, those around us all started to get on his back (and McClaren's too), but I was just so annoyed at what I was watching.
I know most people saw the game, so I won't bother with a run through. Having seen the highlights, we clearly should have been given a penalty, which may have given us an undeserved point.
It took SM 76 ****ing minutes to change things and get Eze into the centre, by which time were behind of course. The lad had said after 10mins that he should drop Luongo and Scowan in front of the back 4 and put Wells, Eze and Freeman in a 3 behind Hemed. He didn't need to even make a sub, but no, we just stumbled on and on, with Eze looking more and more distraught. It was no surprise that, after the changes, we started to look more fluent and threatening.
This was a huge step backwards and is entirely down to inept coaching. Don't ****ing tinker when there's no need!!!!
This is what I believe we should have started with yesterday:
-------------------------------------------Lumley--------------------------------------
Kakay--------------------BFG-----------------------Lynch----------------Bidwell
-------------------------------Scowan----------Luongo-----------------------------
Wells-------------------------------------Eze------------------------------Freeman
---------------------------------------Hemed-------------------------------------------
(If Cameron is fit, I'd prefer him to Scowan, but that's not crucial imo).
Player ratings:
Lumley - 6 - No errors, although he takes far too long to get the ball out. Time after time he delayed when he could have fed one of the CBs or FBs. Move it quicker!
Babtiste - 5 - Despite one excellent block, he's not a full back and was poor. With no width, we needed a full back who could attack.
Leisner - 6 - Solid enough.
Lynch - 6 - Also solid enough and very strong in the air.
Bidwell - 6 - Gets a 6 solely for doing a nut-meg on a (****ing) Norwich player.
Eze - 4 - Can't defend and should never have been played out wide in a 4, which was an absolute travesty after his performance against Millwall. Looked completely pissed off.
Luongo - 6 - Chased shadows all game, but looks a bit more like the player we we want him to be.
Scowan - 5 - Also shafted by SM's chosen line up, but gave the ball away far too often.
Freeman - 6 - Along with Eze, he's easily our most gifted player and was wasted on the left, although he can play that role a lot better than Eze. One excellent effort well saved.
Hemed - 5 - Won some good headers and linked up a couple of times, but overall he looked very sluggish.
Wells - 5 - No service in a **** tactical line up. Easily good enough to play in a 3 behind the striker.
Once subs were made and Eze switched to the centre and Freeman went roaming we looked a different team.
Take note McClaren!!
Anyway, strong coffee this morning along with a watch of the highlights means I'm ready to relive the ****-fest that I'd witnessed yesterday.
It had all started so well. The youngest lad had driven back from Southampton to watch the game with me, but also to collect his Birthday present; a new shirt with EZE and the No 10 on the back. This duly collected, the man himself came strolling along outside the club shop and the lad got him to sign his shirt on the back. I shook the young man's hand, wishing him all the best and urging him to carry on entertaining us.Perfect!!
Unfortunately, things just went downhill from that point onward.
After a walk through the cold rain, under dark swirling clouds to get some food and back to the stadium, what followed can only be described as ineptitude of the highest calibre!!
Just as SM had started to look as though he was getting it right he decides to change the formation to 4-4-2 to accommodate both Hemed and Wells up front. Ok, fair enough, it hadn't been too disastrous previously, but, hadn't a switch to 4-2-3-1 against Millwall produced the best performance of the season (1st half) along with Eze's best display in the 10 role?
We both slumped in our seats when we saw the line up, as we had been so looking forward to watching Eze in the 10 position.
The lad is studying football coaching at Uni, so it was no surprise that, after around 5 minutes he pointed out that we were outnumbered in midfield and that Eze and Freeman were wasted playing wide in a 4. Luongo and Scowan were swamped in the middle and (****ing) Norwich simply played around us as we made them look like ****ing Barca!!
Now, I get that SM had probably decided that 2 up top would mean we could press the Norwich back 4 to prevent them from playing out from the back, but, given the fact that the rest of the team were sitting far too far back from the two forwards, this simply didn't work. There was a huge space between the midfield 4 and the forwards, so Norwich played out at will. Add to this that Eze can't (won't/doesn't like to??) defend, our right side was carved up time after time, leaving a CB playing out of position horribly exposed.
Why oh why do these coaches insist on playing players out of position? Ollie was terrible for this and now SM was doing it also.
I felt sorry for Eze and his body language showed just how pissed off he must have been. I realise he's a well paid professional and that he probably should have showed a better attitude to being stuck out on the right, but for ****'s sake McClaren!! He's young and had just dazzled in his best position and you stick him out on the right and ask him to do things that he's really not very good at like tracking back and tackling. As the half wore on, those around us all started to get on his back (and McClaren's too), but I was just so annoyed at what I was watching.
I know most people saw the game, so I won't bother with a run through. Having seen the highlights, we clearly should have been given a penalty, which may have given us an undeserved point.
It took SM 76 ****ing minutes to change things and get Eze into the centre, by which time were behind of course. The lad had said after 10mins that he should drop Luongo and Scowan in front of the back 4 and put Wells, Eze and Freeman in a 3 behind Hemed. He didn't need to even make a sub, but no, we just stumbled on and on, with Eze looking more and more distraught. It was no surprise that, after the changes, we started to look more fluent and threatening.
This was a huge step backwards and is entirely down to inept coaching. Don't ****ing tinker when there's no need!!!!
This is what I believe we should have started with yesterday:
-------------------------------------------Lumley--------------------------------------
Kakay--------------------BFG-----------------------Lynch----------------Bidwell
-------------------------------Scowan----------Luongo-----------------------------
Wells-------------------------------------Eze------------------------------Freeman
---------------------------------------Hemed-------------------------------------------
(If Cameron is fit, I'd prefer him to Scowan, but that's not crucial imo).
Player ratings:
Lumley - 6 - No errors, although he takes far too long to get the ball out. Time after time he delayed when he could have fed one of the CBs or FBs. Move it quicker!
Babtiste - 5 - Despite one excellent block, he's not a full back and was poor. With no width, we needed a full back who could attack.
Leisner - 6 - Solid enough.
Lynch - 6 - Also solid enough and very strong in the air.
Bidwell - 6 - Gets a 6 solely for doing a nut-meg on a (****ing) Norwich player.
Eze - 4 - Can't defend and should never have been played out wide in a 4, which was an absolute travesty after his performance against Millwall. Looked completely pissed off.
Luongo - 6 - Chased shadows all game, but looks a bit more like the player we we want him to be.
Scowan - 5 - Also shafted by SM's chosen line up, but gave the ball away far too often.
Freeman - 6 - Along with Eze, he's easily our most gifted player and was wasted on the left, although he can play that role a lot better than Eze. One excellent effort well saved.
Hemed - 5 - Won some good headers and linked up a couple of times, but overall he looked very sluggish.
Wells - 5 - No service in a **** tactical line up. Easily good enough to play in a 3 behind the striker.
Once subs were made and Eze switched to the centre and Freeman went roaming we looked a different team.
Take note McClaren!!
