It would be good if we could keep Ronald for longer. After three years, he will have got used to the league, have a better idea where he needs strengthening, and an idea of what type of player he likes. He has had to cope with losing our better players, but I honestly think that will happen less from now on. I think it is time for us to settle down....we can't keep getting in new managers....we will run out of luck sometime. It's not where you start, but where you finish. So what if we don't shoot up to the top immediately....rockets always fall to earth...solid progress will suit me.
Not really. We have one true wide man (Tadic). We have no attacking midfielders. It doesn't sound big enough to me. I also agree that we have a few players not up to it and with a lot of money coming in next year we need to strengthen big time.
While I agree with pretty much everything you've said, I feel that the times we've actually played entertaining, attacking football tend to be the exception under Koeman. Even last season we were generally scraping through games by keeping things tight, and our attacking play was/is far too reliant on getting the ball wide and launching crosses at every opportunity. Either that or painfully slow build up play with no one capable of playing a killer final ball, I feel like we need an upgrade on Davis so he can drop back and rotate with Clasie/Romeu/JWP because he's not good enough to be our creator in midfield. I'm not sure what was happening at the club last summer, but there seemed to be a real lack of ambition/cohesion/decisiveness in the transfer market, but hopefully the club learns from that this year because if we don't we could have a very long season ahead of us. Maybe dire was a bit strong, but the football on display has been painful on many occasions - probably the worst football we've played since we got relegated to L1 in terms of aesthetics.
True, but that's because our recruitment as ****e in the summer and we gambled on Rodriguez coming back. I really hope we show a bit of ambition this year because next season will be much tougher if we don't.
Well after watching one of the best games of the season on Saturday that has to be one of the worst (analysing both teams). Really bad team performance as no one individual stood out for me as particularly bad. By 60 minutes I was just totally bored. But we don't become bad overnight and I hope to see it put right (a bit) on Saturday. Credit to Bournemouth for not letting us settle but they were still pretty poor themselves. I saw our line up and thought it was very attack minded. Even though it demanded a lot of work from JWP and Romeu, I was confident up to minute 2 that we would get something out of the game.
I guess that's being recognised and hopefully someone like Vilhena (if he comes) might provide some options there. I'm not sure how much we'll see of J-Rod now, so yes, hopefully some ambition in the summer (and Tielemans please).
Like Koeman is. I hate to point out the obvious but technically, we were in fifth place at half time last Saturday. Some fans may be reaching for the wrist razor but I can assure you neither of the Manchester clubs would write us off yet. I have, but still feel 5th place is not out of reach because neither WHU, Man U nor us are showing any consistency.
Poch would have had the same problem though. No real impact player to bring on as a sub. No real way of changing it up.
We had Tadic, Pelle & Davis on the bench - Poch had to bring players like Gallagher and Guly on to make an impact when he was with us, iirc. I'm not convinced Koeman knows our best formation or attacking lineup.
Least Guly brought something different. Pelle can hardly move these days, Tadic is the most inconsistant player we have ever had. Davis adds very little apart from shoring up the defence a little. Poch is the better manager though. I wouldn't mind a mini clear out in the summer: Martina Yoshida/ Gardos Wanyama Mane Pelle Make Fonte back up and bring in a starter next to Van Dijk.
Pelle & Tadic were both Koeman signings so that's on him really. I agree re Tadic, reminds me of Fabrice Fernandes, but a bit better. Davis is our most attacking midfielder, which in itself speaks volumes about where we're at. Definitely in need of a clearout this summer but we need to make sure we actually improve on the players that leave, which means spending substantial cash which is something we don't seem to want to do. Out: Pelle, Tadic, Mane, Wanyama, Gardos In: A young striker (Batshuayi pls), 2 wingers/inverted forwards (right & left), creative midfielder, first choice RB, first choice CB
No, you won't be the only one. One more poor result and comments like that will be breaking out like all over this place like a rash.
Well I'm not one to post reactionary comments after defeats, our style of play has generally been very poor under Koeman (with the odd exception), and our squad has been padded out with average players. It's definitely something that needs addressing in the summer if we are to push up the league.
I really don't see Koeman as the problem. He's a pragmatist where Pochettino was an idealist, but there's nothing wrong with that; and he's tactically more flexible than Pochettino, who only has one way of playing (I'll grant you that way has been very effective). I'd like him to play the youngsters a bit more, but maybe not enough of the current crop are ready yet. As for signing average players, that's where we are right now. We have to gamble on potential because we can't afford to bring in established talent. Perhaps I'm being hard on you, but some of our supporters have an unrealistic sense of entitlement and a failure to recognise that success usually has to be earned the hard way. It takes time to build anything of worth, and there will always be setbacks along the way.
In several interviews Ron has said we can only play with 2 strikers, when playing with 3 CBs and wing backs, yet, not for the first time, he has gone with 3 strikers and no "proper" advanced midfield player, leaving a massive hole between the defensive midfielders and the forwards, that has been exploited by our opponents. The advance midfield role is possibly the key position, in making the 3-5-2 formation work, because they need to be covering the whole width of the pitch, to link play to the forwards, whilst still dropping deep to help out defensively. You can't expect any one of Mane/Long/Austin to do that, because they don't have that skill set. Last night Ron, effectively, conceded the midfield, before a ball was kicked, and he needs to accept his share of the blame for the team's performance. On a side note, I've seen some comments that aren't too complimentary to Cedric's performances. For what it's worth, I saw some statistics, from Squawka, recently, that had him above Bertrand for most things they are judged on. Just saying.
