IMO our players became frustrated by the limitations JHT's tactics after opposing teams worked out how to frustrate them. Robbie points out the Pompey game, but that was a complete change to a low block to frustrate the opponents and produce a goalless draw. That wasn't an answer, it was desperation. Some blame the players, but for me it was the tactical inflexibility. What I'd like to see in the new Head Coach, is the ability to adapt the fundamental possession based approach to counter the opposing team's tactics, especially away from home. This doesn't mean dropping into a low block. It means choosing a variation in players and tactics to give us an advantage. In the Boro game Wilshere provided a good example of this where Stacey was pushed forward and McConville came in to replace him in a back 3. That tweak allowed us the upper hand in spite of being away to a playoff chasing team. It was a breath of fresh air after weeks of collapse. Sometimes it requires thinking outside the box, and that's where JHT fell short, IMO. Hopefully the new Head Coach won't.
Don't disagree Rick but you leave yourself open to a counter attack and when you have Duffy with the turning circle of a battleship and the speed of a carthorse you are in trouble. Cordoba for Duffy would be the obvious solution but what Cordoba will turn up? The one in his first 8 appearances or the accident prone version thereafter. In my opinion we will miss Wilshere more than we will miss Thorup.
Rick, it's simply not true that Thorup didn't "adapt the fundamental possession based approach to counter the opposition team's tactics". He was often asked how he prepared the team for a match, and analysing the opposition and plotting counter-measures was always mentioned in his reply. If anything, I'd say he erred in the opposite direction, overdoing the reactive fine tuning and probably contributing to Stacey and others complaining about too much time spent in analysis sessions and too little on the training pitch. You say the tactics against Pompey (A) were "desperation". Was Wagner's resort to similar tactics against Saints at Carrow Road also "desperation"? There's no shortage of examples of Thorup making the kind of adjustment you say he routinely failed to make. Take for instance the home match against WBA, in which, to counter Mowbray's man-to-man, high pressing tactics, we used a more direct strategy of playing over the press when playing out from the back. In possession we were set up 3:4:3, with Stacey and Fisher either side of McLean and Slimane in midfield. This allowed Stacey to make forward runs when the opportunity arose, not dissimilar to his role in the final two games. Another example: the away win at Watford, in which Fisher starred, earning himself WhoScored's MOM award. This in part was down to his defensive performance against Chakvetadze, but he also had a crucial role in our offensive play by inverting into a novel "double 10" formation, paired with Marcondes. It's beyond me how you can accuse Thorup of being "tactically inflexible". He was adapting all the time, both to constantly changing player availability, and the opposition.
"And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!" (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, "Live Not by Lies")
Jurasek has had a minor hernia operation but should be fit for pre-season. No indication as to whether this was planned as part of his injury issues Thorup has apparently rejected the manager role at QPR
I'm a little worried that Jurásek may be one of those players who picks up injuries a lot, but I hope that's not the case. The QPR job looked to be a strange choice for Thorup, so not too surprised.
