It is early days and our expectations are high... There was some promising play and at times we looked razor sharp...... giving away silly balls was I think the biggest issue...... If we play the way we are set up currently... we need to be more dangerous in the box....... so whether it be TD, Gray or Murray... we need the ability to mix it in that way.
I think the passing is the issue. We don’t keep the ball well enough at times and put ourselves under pressure. Particularly at the back. On the occasions we did get into their box we had chances but finished poorly.
Agree about the giving the ball away - these are tier 2 professional players who last night looked far too often like Sunday league players. When I think back to what we've seen in the past - such as the Battocchio goal against Huddersfield - I truly despair. We have really missed both Hughes and Deeney imo, and the sooner they are both back the better. Hughes on Saturday hopefully, but Deeney is sadly still probably a few games away. I'm not convinced that either Gray or Murray are the answers to our goalscoring problems - but one of them needs to produce the goods at Barnsley or we are in for a battering.
Yes I would concur with Hughes and Deeney. We also need more accuracy in the box, Chalobah missed a sitter for example. More chances need to be created...and taken
Foster not afraid to admit we haven't been great and can improve. Least it's been noted we aren't playing so well.
I thought the set up yesterday was odd. We were relying on the two wing backs to supply crosses with Sarr in the middle, he is much better as a winger, running at people and crossing the ball. We met a team yesterday with a lot of energy and closed us down and our players don't like that.
True - I'd much rather we played 4-3-3 with Sarr & Pedro supplying one of Deeney/Perica/Gray/Murray (probably in that order of preference too), but without a natural left back VI appears reluctant to play 4 at the back. One thing I've noticed about Sarr is that he's starting to revel in defensive cover, which probably means his ideal position would be out wide.
I have come to the conclusion that the recent points total is papering over the performance cracks. Time will tell, we have a decent run of games coming up so the continued rhetoric of "must improve," etc, can't continue for too long if we are to go for a promotion push. In all honesty, Champ is out level and we belong here.
I hate to admit this, BUT, I am bored witless by Championship football and our recent performances Most of this is down to no fans in the stadiums, If we were in the middle of a full stadium of fans our last four games might have been a lot more enjoyable being caught up in the atmosphere The last nine games of last season were dire and it was only because we needed the points that there was any excitement If football remains like this soulless imitation of the game we all love I might be tempted to give up on it completely
To be honest I think most fans are the same on this Duggie - football is a hollowed out shell without fans, whatever the quality of it. I actually think that many of the players are also bored witless through playing in empty stadiums, and appear to be going through the motions just to keep the pay cheques coming in. Football in the Southern League is much more exciting at the moment because they are allowed up to 30% of their capacity in stadiums.
I think you're right with that thought. Maybe it's just me, but I think there have been a great many 'surprise' results this season, with many of the more fancied teams losing games they would normally be expected to win - especially in the EPL. The only common factor I see is that those bigger clubs don't have the regular large crowds egging them on - which goes a long way to proving the theory that supporters are the 'twelfth man'. I'm not sure that that explains our poor perfomaces though - particularly last night's inexcusable turgid offering.
The whole thing does not make much sense, we could easily have 4 or 5 thousand fans in our stadium as long as everyone observed the basic rules and it would make a huge difference, would have to her home fans only Lockdowns seem to work on a temporary basis but then as soon as normality creeps in the infection rates starts to climb The way forward could be to spend the money being wasted worldwide on furloughs etc to be used to fully protect the vulnerable and letting the majority get on with their lives
I think it is tactics because we are missing some of our more influential players 3 - 5 - 2 is not working the way it did with Zola because were do not have the right balance of players I think with a full squad and identifying the best combination of defenders we could revert to 4 - 3 - 3 or even 3 - 4 - 3 We need Deeney, Sarr and Pedro to mirror Deeney, Sarr and Delafoure from last season Pedro and Sarr are NOT central strikers
That is the trouble - clearly people aren't sadly and they probably don't trust football fans anyway. And people will feel they shouldn't have to be shielded away because others cannot behave themselves. Many vulnerable people work and have social lives too. The main issue was sending students all around the county to Uni passing on goodness knows what without a care in the world. Scott Duxbury certainly seemed to use a lack of fans as an excuse for our performances but had there been last night they would have got a bit of stick.
I to do not like football without fans, but there has been some here with limited numbers and it has made little difference to the atmosphere.. You see people sat well away from each other most of the time, but there is always the group of younger fans with their flags gathered together, pulling down their masks to have a good shout. As the latest report in the UK says, " cases are rising in every age group and in every region of England. While cases are currently highest in northern England, infections are surging more rapidly in southern parts." If we accept this, there can be no distinction between those who are vulnerable and those who are not.
The problem I see with allowing clubs like ours 4 or 5 thousand fans to attend, is that bigger clubs with bigger stadia would interpret that as meaning they are entitled to let bigger numbers in - Man Utd for example could argue for an equivalent percentage - ie somewhere around 20 thousand fans. The issue with that is not simply where the fans sit in the stadium, it also covers the large number travelling to and from the stadium - public transport, cafes, restaurants, pubs and just plain old thronging in the streets. It all adds to the risk of the virus spreading - which I think fits in with your comment on lockdowns. I do disagree with the idea that furlough has been a waste of money worldwide. There is no easy answer, but the plain facts are that people have to be protected and the economy still needs to keep ticking, albeit maybe at a reduced level - so furlough has been both a necessity and a godsend, and has worked successfully in other countries, even where the provisions have been greater than those here.
Also we saw Leeds and Liverpool fans celebrating winning their respective leagues in large numbers with no social distancing even though they were explicitly told not to. It's one thing controlling fans in the stadium, but its another outside. Imagine if there had been 5,000 Villa fans watching them hammer the champions 7-2 earlier this season. You can't tell me they all would have filtered back home from Villa Park waving to their friends from a safe distance to celebrate. And I don't say that to pick out Villa fans, I'm sure many Watford fans would be the same.
You are right. I am sure 95% of people try to follow the guidelines but some never will and others have probably got a bit complacent. There are no winners in this and all sectors are affected different ways be it health or economy wise. Government will be dammed if they do dammed if they don’t.
