This is the best analysis of our problems I've read for a while. The fact its by an ex-player gives it authority and the fact that player is also a fan reassures me he cares about the outcome like I do. Thanks Norway
NW was noticeably 4-2-3-1 with style and and guts. Now formations are very unclear, with no style and with one or two guts seemingly cut out!
The article is spot on. Your points are not. Did you go to Sunderland on Saturday? What were the tactics? Did any of MH's signings cover themselves with any glory in that game? Adel with a hump is an intriguing image to conjure up in your mind given his nationality. But surely he had lost it a good month or so before Hughes was appointed. The wins achieved so far under Hughes have been achieved by the old guard from last year - not his expensive recruits.
You and others only wanted 18th now it's 17th and we are nearly there You were among the fickle calling for the millions to be spent Now you must face the wrath This is getting trippy Hold fast we are QPR I love my new team the swans we are hoping for 8th
What a fantastic read. I was gutted when Langley went to Cardiff. He never seemed the same player when he came back for a second spell.
I didn't go to Sunderland, but I've seen most other matches and I'm judging Hughes on all his matches not just one. As for Adel the hump - that's the point I'm making. Hughes inherited him in this state from Warnock, and a captain in Joey Barton. Not an easy or desirable situation. On new players, Cisse and Zamora are scoring goals (whether we go down or stay up, I hope we keep them). The problem is poor discipline (plagued us all season but particularly bad recently) and poor defence. Again, the defence has been poor all season but I agree, Hughes arrival has done nothing to improve it so far. I do not criticize the old guard from last year, but you completely ignore the players brought in by NW at the start of this season. The inherited weak links I was thinking about were Barton and SWP.
I agree with much of what you've said but you'll see from my previous posts that I am one of Barton and SWP's biggest critics. I do think however that we need to avoid painting everything in black and white terms. Warnock was not as inept as some people seem to believe but he did make some horrendous mistakes with his signings in the close season. Similarly Hughes should not be excused too readily for a decline in the standard of our football and level of commitment just because he is the current incumbent of the hot seat. Half the current team are his players. While we focus on Barton and SWP because they are easy targets, what exactly have Onuoha, Taiwo and Diakite done to put right the gaps in our defence since the dismantling of the Gorkss/Connolly partnership? The man is paid a lot of money to sort out this mess. We all knew what the problem was. I do have genuine doubts as to whether he really does. The tactics have been incredibly negative so far. Football is more about putting the ball in the net than keeping shape and possession for the sake of it. Some good teams (and some not so good) have cut us to ribbons in seconds when we've lost possession. The only player, in the absence of Ali Faurlin who looks to play an imaginative pass which creates an opportunity is Adel Taarabt but he is required to keep possession at all costs and play the simple pass. FFS. What is the point of that and who instructed him to do that?
Find myself agreeing with all that. MH DOES have a system....trouble is, it's 4-4-2 and that gets us out-numbered in midfield more often than not, plus, as already said, Adel is too shackled!! Hughes needs to sort this out or we are down!!
We keep coming back to our big problem, which is that we were hamstrung in the transfer market last summer. That is when the big moves are made. It's when good players come up for grabs. We missed out, and that is not down to NW or MH. They struggled to get good players in, in difficult circumstances. Long term, I thing Onuoha, Taiwo and Diakite will serve us well if we keep them. But may be they aren't the top class, experienced old hands we need to keep us up - because those types of player only become available over the summer transfer. So on transfers, I think Hughes did as well as anyone could have hoped. He's paid lots of money but he's not a magician. In defence, well, we look like we haven't played together much, which is exactly right. Hughes should be ensuring an understanding by now however, and the Arsenal match will be a big test for him and the defenders. As for your comment on unleashing Adel - I agree. He hasn't been used to his strengths so far this season
Your mindless, incessant criticism of Taarabt is SOOOOOOO last year mate. He hasn't scored, you're right. He's hit the woodwork a few times and had a couple of world class saves deny him. What you don't seem to get is, whatever he has or hasn't done, he's the ONLY one with enough ability in the team to give us any chance of staying up (other than Cisse and we all know what's happened there!!). Also, you miss the point. MH is shackling him too much which results in LESS chance of him scoring!!
My criticism is in line with that of Barton, SWP and other players who've not performed to their level, so mindless and incessant is a bit harsh. It seems to be okay to have a go at anyone but not Taarabt despite his obvious failure to rise to Premier League standard. I'm saying nothing I didn't say before the season kicked off, that I thought he would be one of the one's who would struggle to make the step up. Now that that's turned out to be the case, I don't think its out of order to re-iterate my position. If anyone's out of order, its those who continue to talk about the lad as if he's had a great season when the fact is he's been sh*t like the rest of them!
You are entitled to your opinion Swords. You are most definitely in the minority on here though, where most seem to rate him and also at the ground, where Adel receives huge support, for the reasons I gave.....he's our best player!!
There's no doubt in the world the boy's a real gem - talent-wise. If only he could get his temperament right and a Manager that would manage him correctly, he could be unplayable. Perhaps it was just a season too soon. I'm open to him becoming a top player, just needs to get his head straight. All that said, our Mercurial Moroccan could turn Arsenal inside out tomorrow and win us the game!
