Imho, what have we learnt from the start of the season. The positive is that we can play good winning football. The negative is we bottle some games cos we lack mental and physical toughness. Another negative ( for me at least, as promotion is my only goal this season), is we get distracted by cups. Tuesday game is going to be revealing about the ability of the team to show they can 'roll up their sleeves and get stuck in' also whether LJ is the manager to get the team to do just that! Ps playing tough does not mean giving silly fouls away especially in our own half.
We're still short of a grizzled veteran or two. They don't have to be the world's greatest footballers, they just need to make room so the ones we've got can play.
Sometimes that's what you've got to do. Its all very well having principles and playing nice football but sometimes you have to go against your instincts. I think QPR the other night shows that Johnson knows this but he was overconfident against Rotherham. I think his comments after the game demonstrate that he knows that too.
100% agree mate. Not had a proper captain for over a decade at least, maybe going as far back as Bally. Not convinced we have a current likely candidate at the club for the immediate term. Very bad day Saturday, hoping for better tomorrow night and to see a lot more organisation and fight from LJ and the lads.
I think when we can play our football,with the raw talent we have,we can beat anyone in this league by a mile. It's obvious to everyone that we can take apart a footballing side like Crewe,but lose to team like Charlton. But,in every match we play in this division,we have to earn the right to do it,which means,in the first place,nullifying the threat that the opposition present...i.e. which is very often intimidatory tactics,slowing the match to stop our momentum,being over-physical.......they're trying to upset any rhythm we may have,which the Refs aren't good enough to see.They want to get it wide,get crosses into the box,long throws etc.etc.big,strong,tall forwards bullying their way about our area......chances are something's going to spin for them. Maybe we should adopt a different approach at the start of these matches........if we can get Arby back,then line him up with Flanagan and Wright in a three at the back,start with Evans and O9 in the middle,Gooch at wing back to track back, frustrate them,keep our discipline and give them as good as we get for the first half an hour or so.....home or away.......then change it for our playmakers to come on.....Neil,Embo,Pritchard and shift the system to try to take control of the match. Just a thought.
I agree with most of this mate. Supporters love to see us 'fly out of the blocks' but it's not always wise ... ... even if you go a goal or two up the game isn't won. Sometimes you need to sit back and work out the oppositions tactics before trying to impose your own.
Or stand up and be counted, you do not have to be 6ft 6ins to be physical... But yes being gung ho from the start is not smart football. We have the skill, we need to earn the opportunity to use it.
I mean, at our level we should be doing our homework and have a good idea of how teams will play well before we get on the pitch with them. I don't believe for an instant that Johnson wouldn't have known that, for example, Rotherham play with wing backs and are dangerous down the flanks. But, as you say, in a game like this you go in cautiously and change it up depending on how the game pans out.
This is a very good analysis of what went wrong on Saturday https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...up-in-sunderlands-data-after-rotherham-defeat
Good read. Notable that despite him being slated by loads of people and it being widely considered that he had a mare, O'Nien was one of our best players statistically. It's a common theme.
Good interesting stuff, the higher up the leagues you go, the more the game becomes 3D chess. But having said that, all the tactics and planning in the world, often are unwound when first contact is made with the enemy. Hence the need for leaders on the pitch!
Does Evans fit the bill for that? I haven't seen much of him in person but I thought he had the rep of being a natural leader. Just need him to stay fit.
Surely that depends on who you pick to play in that middle 4, its not about formations, jargon or electioneering, its about picking the right players to win a game over 90 minutes, it really is a simple game, I'm in the Shankly camp on that one.
Yep,if we can keep him fit,he's probably the only leader we have and,a bit like Bally,he needs to play to keep the others around him thinking.
Thats exactly what I have been trying to say. But its all about who is picked , Arby looks a liability at present and we want your ideas implemented now, i,m sure we have the players, I,m not sure we have the coach tbh. time will tell but time waits for no man.
Anyone think that if we can get Arby back....and he shows the form we saw in about 20 mins from him last year!......Doyle could move forward a bit to play alongside Evans in protecting the back line? From what I've seen,I'm not sure central defender is where Doyle belongs in this division?
Well, its a combination of things really, isn't it? You do need leaders and characters on the pitch and you need players who are going to be able to carry out what you've asked of them, tactically speaking. If you don't set up right, teams will exploit you, as Saturday showed. Most non-league clubs that I know are carrying out the same kind of analysis and planning, as much as they are able, so its no longer true that a bit of grit and determination is going to see you through, even at the lower levels.
Of course, to a large extent it is about the ability of the players. I mean, I would back any two of SAFC's midfielders to have the edge over the three first choice central midfielders at my non-league club. But sometimes you come up against players are better than your players, so you have to try something else to gain an advantage. It is a simple game, but its a simple concept that 2 players in central midfield have to do more work than 3 players in central midfield. Shankly was right in what he said but he was also an innovator, changing training methods and taking a more psychological approach than people before him, so he think he would recognise that the need to keep evolving and trying new thinks. And he knew the important of tactics, its just Bob Paisley did that bit for him.
