Are we so negative because...... our centre halfs are both slow, we don't hold a very high line up the pitch which means the opposition have a lot of pitch to play in. It strikes me if we pushed up the pitch a bit and played offside it would make the pitch smaller and our skillful players like Johnson and Sess would come into their own. I am no expert at all, but watching Sunderland we sit very deep which makes the middle of the park very big and the distance between or midfield and Fletcher even bigger.
I think its because we are just ****e sometimes. One day we look brilliant; the next utter shat. We need to have more of the former and less of the latter if we are to stop having days like this one (which was full of ****e negative tactics which is 100% the decision of the manager). This negativity isnt filling the SOL and is fast losing floating voters. It needs to be addressed.
We'll beat Arsenal cos they will come to play. Catts hopefully fit by next week and 4-5-1 will prevail. Would not blame MON against them but he needs to have more conviction when we are playing teams we should be taking 3 points from.
Thats down to mon imo, i hold the man in the upmost regard, however this is where he is missing robertson imo, he fails to see the benefit (of attack being the best form of defense) Dont get it but i dont have a dictorite either Give him time and take the poz's
I am happy to give him time, he needs years not months, I think if we stick with him we could do what Everton have done with Moyes and more. I just wonder if the reason he plays so deep is because he knows our centre halves don't have the pace to play a high line. This means give teams too much space to attack in. BUT we are good at defending our own 18 yard box.
He definitely doesn't sit deep out of any consideration of the CB's pace!!! Martin is a proponent of 4-5-1 counter-attacking play, and that's usually no matter whether you're home or away. He's a master of the tactic and understands it very well. The slight variation in tempo and style is noticeable, with more shorter passing at SOL and more direct play away from home. His style relies on sitting deep, inviting pressure, and hitting teams on the break with fast wingers and clinical strikers. He's had success all his career with this tactic and, although even a simpleton like myself can see the game has moved on slightly since it was last majorly successful, I think it's far from defunct for the modern formations. Think Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, James Milner etc. Now he has Sess, AJ, Mclean etc. I just think your squad needs more investment and time to really exploit Martin's preference. You aren't in danger of going down, and you've been patient thus far, so no need to panic. So, as Cest says, sometimes your brilliant, sometimes you're ****e and there's not much inbetween, that's just part of the process. This will absolutely change, your squad is just in another development phase
Vegas think you have hit the nail on the head! Why we sit so deep is beyond me!!??!?! Also the lack of urgency unless we are behind is noticeable. We seem happy with nil nil
I don't agree with this Robertson stuff, surely MoN aint clueless enough to not be able to see it when all of us can the defence sit deep, the midfield are to deep then there is Fletch totally isolated
I dont agree with all this because at villa and Leicester he played 442 with a big man small man attack. He did play the counter attack but not sitting as deep as he does with us.
Bramble isn't slow. We are negative because the centre of midfield is ****e. Which affects the defence and attack
O'Shea certainly is slow - never ever thought the figure we saw at Manchester United would be so poor for us. Imagine him playing at full back now like he did for Man Utd?
Aye and the QE2! Poor?? Really? Close to player of the season for me - he is the best centre half at the club and we just look 100% better when he plays as he seems to bring other players on and makes us look better as a defensive unit - without him and Mignolet I reckon we'd be close to bottom of the league! All about opinions though. An interesting thing was on Goals on Sunday and Adam Le Fondre talking about how they watched us defend free kicks and saw how we lined up qand knew to get a run on us (might also explain the amount of times that their players were whinging for free kicks around the box!)
Never rated O'Shea and if the stats are to be believed then we are no better with him than without him. As with the whole of our team at present he has bad and good days but, for me anyway he is one for the chop in the Summer or at the very least squad player. http://www.thestatcat.co.uk/Player.aspx?PlayerID=1586
OShea himself is not that great, I am terrified when he is 1 on 1 with an attacker. What he does do extremely well is organise the others round him. We need him at the moment and could do with a pacy centre back next to him.
Basically its the right manager, wrong team (currently) but as said give the man time, with financial restrictions on all clubs you cant just buy a whole team of quality in a few windows now.
Stats don't always tell the story talc - we defend better as a whole with O'Shea in the side regardless of the stats (this is from the games I have seen this season - which is all except 1 or 2 that haven't had a decent online link) - I watched Bramble and Kilgallon (both of which look decent when playing alongside O'Shea) when they play together they look woeful! I agree we need more strength (and, from my mate who works at the ticket office, apparently we had a defender lined up from a German side who is apparently is pretty quick (I'm pushing for a name but he is not very forthcoming) but it never came off! I don't know how quick Mangane is but I think the pace that's missing is counteracted by the positional sense of O'Shea - just unfortunatelky we sit too deep because of this. I think if Catts get's back to fitness he will make a big difference - even going forward as his passing and passion have been missing from our side for quite some time - him and Bardsley are 2 of the most passionate players we have at the club IMO - Catts seems to drag the team up and also takes no **** from anyone!!
I think you guys need a Coloccini type CB, a player who's comfortable on the ball, and can pass it about the place.
Unfortunately they cost a fortune! And why buy them when we can get aging crocks from Man U for free? haha
Thing is mate we don't defend better with him mind you we defend no worse without him, great he can motivate the rest of the players but, while he is doing that the opposition have gone by him as if he wasn't there. Agree we needed a fast CB to cover him we can all see it so why can't the powers that be? When we bought him he was too old and too slow he still is for me, like I said he is either good or bad. Not a fan of stats to be honest but, was having a similar chat with Cest the other week and thought I'd have a look see how we do with and without him and at 50/50 he doesn't seem the lynch pin some see him as.
