Match Day Thread Bournemouth(A) -30/09/24 20:00 - Sky MNF

'By far the better side' is stretching it somewhat imo.

We started well yes but we hadn't created anything and they'd already started to come back into it before the goal.

 

Gotta play your best players. That's KWP and Lallana. Sugawara is good but he isn't on KWP's level.

Ugo can't be starting games yet. Was so bad tonight. Lallana or Aribo ahead of him.

The goals were all very weak ones to let in. Just shocking from the defence but especially the DMs.

The last 10 mins we still insisted on trying to pass it into the box. Just mental. We don't play desperately enough. Zero passion or motivation.

 

So very true. Really points to a weak mentality, which have had for years. We just seem to lack that real strong character in the team, who will stop them folding

 

Lallana can't play every game in fairness.

 

We were doing the same thing in your last paragraph last season when we were drawing/losing as well. The players seem so automated to not use their brains

 

Just seen that Martin's rationale for having five forwards on the bench was "we haven't scored enough goals".

Ummm...

 

Well... in some parallel universe it makes sense - the one where we keep a clean sheet until 60 minutes and then bring on the cavalry. But then the players fall for the quick free kick routine and RM's plan A is ruined. And we know he doesn't have a plan B

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx2l5ly0xyqo

 

Well if that’s code for “all our strikers are ****”, it’s had to argue tbf.

 

Apart from our immediate neighbours (who now just laugh at us) the rest of the PL only think about how much they can improve their GA/GD by. Very sad indeed & it has to change. Next year/season is light years away.

 

That’s bad. AH is very supportive of RM.

 

Think RM has banged that out of the whole team with his keep ball tippy tappy mentality.

 

Can't remember who it was, but I remember an interview with a player who was saying that footballers are actually quite simple, all they need is to be told what their job is, and what the coach wants them to do, then they go out and hopefully do it.

I fear that what they're being told to do is slightly unnatural to their instincts - we had the same issue with the latter Ralph years and the automations - and it's showing up badly this year.

 

Ashley Williams, in an interview about playing for Nathan Jones at Stoke?

 

I honestly think a lot of last night was down to picking Lesley. He was utter ****e.

 

Exactly this! Well remembered.

 

There was also a player who was a winger who made it to a bottom half PL side and basically said playing at that level is ****. All the stuff that got you to that level you are told not to do and everything is automated and a chore. Made them hate football and he became an alcoholic and stopped playing in his late 20s. Can’t remember his name

 

Likening that performance to headless chickens would be doing a disservice to headless chickens.

 

^ This