Rival watch

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"Thanks for that Brian" said:
It wasn't ok...but as you say, it marked a turning point. Since then, we've had 2 games of consistent, sensible selections of the vast majority of our best players, in an effective set up that the players understand and suit. It seems like quite a long time since we've been able to say that.

The next few weeks will tell us whether we've actually turned a corner, or if we've just played 2 teams in poor form.
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Realistically, this does say something interesting

When AVB showed up in 2012, he immediately demanded we play 4231 and only 4231, and it was only after the players actively rebelled after a run of poor form that he switched back to 442...for that season, before once again demanding we play 4231 in 2013

Nuno came in demanding we play 433 (although Paratici building for a back four may have played a part in this) and, after a run of bad results, switches us back to 4231

What will be telling is if Nuno retains the 4231 formation, although to be blunt he'd be an idiot not to at this point of the season - although more tellingly the switch to 4231 has seen a switch in personnel with Dele benched and Emerson becoming first choice at RB, the former likely having something to do with the improved fluidity going forward
 
PleaseNotPoll said:
It's ok, we learned that playing without a midfield is a bad idea from that ****e. <ok>
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We would probably mostly win that game despite the tactics if we played it 100 times. Their second goal would be disallowed some of the time for the foul on Hojbjerg and their last goal was a very fortunate run of the ball. We would get a penalty some of the time and score another goal often too.
 
PowerSpurs said:
We would probably mostly win that game despite the tactics if we played it 100 times. Their second goal would be disallowed some of the time for the foul on Hojbjerg and their last goal was a very fortunate run of the ball. We would get a penalty some of the time and score another goal often too.
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We were wretched.

We lost.

We deserved to lose.

End of.
 
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PleaseNotPoll said:
Still shocking refereeing, though. Again.
They also ****ed up the penalty decision against Newcastle, but it didn't matter, luckily.
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Definitely deserved to lose but it goes to show how much these games turn on fine margins. Like the City game, which we deserved to win, but equally could have turned on any moment.

Obviously the best teams are good enough to get into positions in games where it doesn’t matter if the ref makes a **** call, or your CB slips over, or Manuel Lanzini scores a 30 yard screamer from a free kick that shouldn’t have been given.
 
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PleaseNotPoll said:
It's ok, we learned that playing without a midfield is a bad idea from that ****e. <ok>
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That is the smallest glimmer of light to come from that game, seems to have given Nuno a real kick up the arse RE selection (stupidly benched Skipp) and formation (last game of 433 so far).

Slowly but surely he’s making better decisions. I still don’t particularly enjoy the football under him but he’s at least making more sensible choices so far which I feel will at least contribute to a higher chance of successful results and hopefully that continues
 
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PowerSpurs said:
We were not good but neither were they. The match was very even and was decided mostly by luck.
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No, it wasn't. We were absolutely abject in the first half and they should've been utterly out of sight.
Their second goal should've been chalked off, but they eased off at 3-0.
They thought it was over and could easily have had a few more. We were terrible.
 
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Dier Hard said:
That is the smallest glimmer of light to come from that game, seems to have given Nuno a real kick up the arse RE selection (stupidly benched Skipp) and formation (last game of 433 so far).

Slowly but surely he’s making better decisions. I still don’t particularly enjoy the football under him but he’s at least making more sensible choices so far which I feel will at least contribute to a higher chance of successful results and hopefully that continues
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I feel that the last couple of games have been much better and the scorelines quite unflattering.
We were much better than Villa and Newcastle for the vast majority of both games.
Slow starts in both and we didn't create enough chances when on top, though.
Deserved more than a +2 to GD.
 
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PleaseNotPoll said:
No, it wasn't. We were absolutely abject in the first half and they should've been utterly out of sight.
Their second goal should've been chalked off, but they eased off at 3-0.
They thought it was over and could easily have had a few more. We were terrible.
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Alternatively they were utterly abject in the second half and were fortunate not to concede three
 
PowerSpurs said:
The match was very even and was decided mostly by luck.
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You attribute waaaay too much of the outcome of footballing matters to luck or chance. Of course, luck is a part of the picture, but one can't select that in isolation as THE determinative factor.

We lost that game because we were dog awful in that first half...due to the coach's tactics and selection and the performance of nearly every single player. Honestly, buying a four leaf clover or 'lucky' rabbit's foot isn't going to change our fortunes.
 
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"Thanks for that Brian" said:
You attribute waaaay too much of the outcome of footballing matters to luck or chance.Of course, lLuck is a part of the picture but one can't select that in isolation as THE determinative factor.

We lost that game because we were dog awful in that first half...due to the coach's tactics and selection and the performance of nearly every single player. Honestly, buying a four leaf clover or 'lucky' rabbit's foot isn't going to change our fortunes.
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I don't think I do. I think we've actually been a bit lucky so far this season. If a few things had gone against us we could easily have lost the first six matches. We've played much better in the last two which were clear cut wins that we didn't win by enough. I actually think that losing narrowly against City, Palace and Chelsea, drawing against Wolves, Watford and Arsenal and thrashing Villa and Newcastle would be the deserved results. Nine points instead of fifteen but plus 3 on GD instead of negative.
 
"Thanks for that Brian" said:
You attribute waaaay too much of the outcome of footballing matters to luck or chance. Of course, luck is a part of the picture, but one can't select that in isolation as THE determinative factor.

We lost that game because we were dog awful in that first half...due to the coach's tactics and selection and the performance of nearly every single player. Honestly, buying a four leaf clover or 'lucky' rabbit's foot isn't going to change our fortunes.
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It says it all that our two best players that day both came from the bench - Skipp and Gil.

We were truly horrendous against an absolutely bog standard Arsenal.

Though thankfully it did seem to be the catalyst to some better choices from Nuno; Sanchez and Dele haven't played in the league since, Skipp, Emerson and Romero have all started since meaning we've gone more balanced and stronger at CB, FB, CM as well as having a better formation overall too. There's still a few more tweaks needed but it's at least somewhat comforting knowing he didn't insist on persisting with some of that ****.
 
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