..what Mark Hughes' expectations were before Saturday. We've identified that for many of us, expectations were too high and we got a nasty shock. Hughes has had all summer and longer to ponder the squad, add to it in what appeared a systematic and thoughtful manner and approach the season's start with some confidence. Surely he can't have just woken up to the problem that MAY exist in the defence? I'd love to know if he half thought that the loss might happen (though I doubt he expected a drubbing) on the basis of what he saw pre-season. We put our trust in Hughes last season to get us out of the mess and by some miracle he did. With the time he has had, the resources and the squad he has built, we must put our trust in him once again to keep his promise that we will not be in a relegation dog fight come the end of this campaign. I would just love to be a fly on the wall sometimes, wouldn't you?
No way did he expect to lose that game and most certainly not a spanking. With the end of season form the team showed in addition to the decent signings made over the summer he must have thought he'd done enough to turn us into 1-0 at home winners and 0-0 away point candidates. I don't want to be a fly on the wall, knowing my luck I'd end up squished by a rolled up copy of The Daily Mail (only thing the paper is good for).
Even the world's greatest pessimist couldn't have envisioned 5-0 at home, a narrow defeat, maybe. Cue one of the "best jokes" from the Fringe: My mum's one of the world's biggest pessimists. If there were an Olympic event for pessimism she would doubt her chances.
Grove, apologies if you've seen this but I am certain you will enjoy if not! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI
Lol, thanks for that. The Fail never disappoints. Lord Rothermere, telegram to Adolf Hitler 1st October, 1938) My dear Fuhrer everyone in England is profoundly moved by the bloodless solution to the Czechoslovakian problem. People not so much concerned with territorial readjustment as with dread of another war with its accompanying bloodbath. Frederick the Great was a great popular figure. I salute your Excellency’s star, which rises higher and higher.
No one expected Saturday's result including the significant number of fans on here now calling for Hughes' head. They are wise after the event of course and we must sincerely hope they will be that bit wiser when things are back on track after a reasonable number of games have been played. Tactical mistakes were clearly made and MH and his team paid the price for failing to tackle the most pressing of our squad deficiencies but even the most astute commentator could not have predicted the capitulation that actually happened and which IMO was as much a result of the conditions and the early goalkeeping mistake as anything else. I'm hoping that the management team do not panic the way some supporters appear to be.
Although the manager can't be blameless in Saturdays debacle it does appear that the players really let him and us down. Seriously hope theyre fired up for Saturday, I want to beat Norwich almost as much as I want to beat Chelski.
In the past when I have watched a game where one side outplays another in the second half, my conclusion has usually been the the winning side's manager is more tactically astute than the opposition's. He has spotted weaknesses which he then exploits. For me the fact that Hughes was likely out thought, tactically, at home, is a serious worry. Alternatively, Michael Laudrup is a clever guy.
I don't think it's a case of being tactically out-thought. We were the better side in the first 40 minutes, let down by a schoolboy howler from Green and the warning signs were the two efforts that hit our woodwork in the last five minutes of the first half. We went for them in the 2nd half and got caught out by poor passing and players over-committing, Michu's 2nd goal was in the 'postage stamp' area of the goal, he'd miss that probably 9 times out of 10 but not on Saturday. It was a mixture of a team selection that didn't work on the day and Swansea finding shooting boots they didn't know they had in the 2nd half when we were committed to chasing the game and kept giving the ball away. You give the ball away in the PL and it's curtains...
Yeh, I buy that, a good summary. But I do think MH was naive not to play his only available real CDM, Derry alongside Diakite, to really hold and cover the cr*p back 5. Everyone says Park played well, maybe, but he wasn't doing a proper CDM job. Whether this was him playing out of position, or what MH told him to do, I don't know.
A question re tactics. I am not a great tactician as my lads will tell you. So, at 2 nil down why not change the shape completely to 4:4:2 or what ever else you think will do the job. Surely a great team can adopt a fluid shape to adjust to the requirement of the phase of the game they are in? Saturday's subs were ineffectual but possibly all to late by the time they came on. I emphasise, I ask from a position of tactical ineptitude. All I want to see is my beloved QPR banging in loads of goals, not shipping them! Educate me please.
Just watching our boy from last season, Taye Taiwo, collect a yellow card as his current team Dynamo Kiev are beating Borussia M'gladbach 3-1 away in UEFA qualifying. Was wondering what happened to him - is he on loan there? Would he have perhaps helped stop the rot last Saturday?
Good questions. It is entirely possible MH had a bad day at the office along with the team. It's also a possibility he lost it, tactically, in the heat and pressure. He could be inept tactically. I'm not sure we'll get to the bottom of it. I am sure of this, you will never get the answer listening to what he says in his interviews, which for my money, are far more interesting for what he doesn't say. Good luck in your quest and may the force be with you.
On a year's loan from AC Milan. I thought he was very good, a better defender than both Traore and Fabio, though not as good going forward as Traore. He would have improved us Saturday - shame we seem to have lost him.
I don't know the answer RTID, so I'll tell you a story instead. Arrigo Sacchi, the great and mad manager of AC Milan in the late 80s/ early 90s used to say that he just allocated his players roles. The way they interpreted their role was the art of being a great player, just like an opera singer. Of course he had great players - Maldini, Baresi, Rijkaard, Gullit, Van Basten, Donadoni, Ancellotti - who all had something in common - they were intelligent human beings who could be trusted to interpret their role as part of an ensemble. They were a joy to watch, because they played with joy. I think we have a little way to go before we reach this standard. SWP is still studying his lines for third donkey in the school nativity play. Adel is still learning that the biggest stars understand their place as part of a company of performers. And we still have a hint of fear, rather than joy, about our game.
Cheers for that. That sounds like an Olympian aim for the future. I know I should not but LOL+ re SWP! Bless.
Yes, I miss his crunching tackles - would have sure taken the smile off those Swansea player's faces.
We've nearly been there before - our 74-77 team was pretty close to the beautiful game. It's just nice to know it can be done, and even nicer to have seen it done.
