Yes agree that caulker is a big loss. It's a difficult one really because we know everton and stoke away will be mighty tough, only thing about these games is that it shows other teams how to do it,we are not creating enough right now which is a worry. I would keep the same team exept rout ledge for Pablo
Good day Jacks. Being at the game yesterday i thought Swansea started really well and it was quite evident that Laudrup had told the players to keep the ball. For about the first 8 minutes or so I think we barely got a touch as you passed it around from front to back. Just like last season though at the Brit we undid you on a cross for a Peter Crouch header which then changed the dynamics of the game as you were now having to chase it. I personally thought by far your best player was Ki Sung-Yeung, he controlled everything and always wanted the ball. He was composed on the ball and always aware who and what was around him and some of his through balls were class. He was not afraid to put his foot into a tackle either. Would love to see him in our side to be honest as he was quality. By far your weakest link yesterday had to be your number 4 Chico. He was woeful yesterday and whether it was because he had just come back in to the squad I don't know. I think Swansea will be safe to be honest as they can pass the ball around and have players that can find the net. The Britt is no easy place to come and get anything as the supposed top 6 teams have not won here in the last 8 attempts. Enjoy the rest of the season guys and look forward to coming to your place. Pob lwc
Think your being a bit kind to us waddo! Nobody here really expected a win against you guys but the concern for some is how we seem to lack a bit of structure,which is down to laudrup moving the wingers around. Personally I think he is on the right track but I think it is something we need to do sparingly not all the time,it's killing the full backs and putting pressure on the defense. Fair assessment og Ki and Chico,who so far has proved to be not a patch on calker,early days though and hopefully our defensive unit will improve.we need to be better than at least 3 teams this year!
Chico was not good but to be fair I got the impression that the Stoke no 4 blocked him off allowing the space for Crouch to get in for the first. I've only seen it once so I could be wrong but don't blame only Chico for our defensive failings. Collectively we are crap at the back and badly missing Taylor. I don't see it all as doom and gloom. The team is still gelling but there are positive signs. Ki is looking very good but needs to develop his understanding with Leon. When that happens we will be more fluent. Pablo and de Guzman are struggling to get to grips with the different demands of the PL and we know they are both short of match fitness. When they start to realise their potential, we will look a whole lot better but this is something I did forecast a while back (that they would find the PL an initial culture shock) and the consensus of replies disagreed. So far, nothing has changed my mind and I believe that I was right. I would bring in Tiendeli (?) at left back as young Ben is understandably showing signs of his inexperience but it is up front that is really concerning me. Danny is struggling which disappoints me because I have always supported him. Right now, he's not doing it but let's remember the service in to him is very patchy. He's not helped by the fact that Michu blows hot and cold and is in and out of games. The thing is, Michu can grab a goal out of nothing and is easily our best finisher so we have to go with him. Perhaps we could play Michu as a false 9, bring in a midfielder to keep the pressure of our defence and give Danny a break for now. Whichever way we go, I trust Laudrup to get it right but he will need time for the pieces to fall into place. The team is still getting to grips with the new system and we will get better, a lot better. I forecast that we would finish bottom half this season and I still think we will. However, I expect us to kick on next season when the players have grounded into the system and with each other. The trick is to make sure that we will be there for next season.
ML will need time and I trust the jack faithful will understand the upheaval of last season was always going to catch up with us at some point, our flaws are being highlighted by an unlucky bout of injury and suspension, the next 2 games will tell us everything we need to know about ML,the system and the players desire to do well, I feel there have been a few sulking since the summer so some "must win" games should focus some minds on the job.
I feel young Davies needs a rest. The lad has given his all filling on for Taylor and has accomplished himself very well, but now he needs a break. I would have brought Tiendall in yesterday but he must start Saturday.
Its not that Laudrup needs time at all. look how we are playing, look how it is effecting our old players like Ash,rangal,danny and especially dyer and leon....Like i have said we have good players that like to play a certain way and even the new players was expecting to play the same way.....I just dont like the way ML is trying to change our once superb style of football to the way he is use to in his old clubs that was average at best.....Its ruining everything, we cant even string 6 passes together without losing the ball. the wings are being out played and poor leon is out muscled in every game he has played. where has the triangles gone, where is the 10-20 passes gone because if we keep the ball then the opposition cant score.....thats all you hear where ever you go is how much we have changed in a short space of time and fans are worried that if we dont get back to the way we are use to then we will continue the slide and in big trouble......What have we seen from ML that says he knows what he is doing???? You only got to look at the amount of yellow and red cards we have picked up in just 5 games to see the down grade in the standard of the football ML has got the team playing.....shambles and that is Laudrups fault.....
I really don't see what the panic is. Last season we lost to Stoke away, lost to Everton at home and drew with Sunderland at home. Same results this season and all of a sudden it's because Laudrup is doing it wrong?? We had some shocking performances last season against Wolves away, Everton home, Norwich home and away, QPR away Sunderland away etc etc... Newcastle sat back and let us put as many passes together as we liked then just popped up and knocked 2 in, proving that just aimlessly knocking the ball about to stop them scoring doesn't always work
Agree SA9, Laudrup has to modify our system and that has worked well against QPR,west ham and to a degree second half against sunderland. Dai some of what you say makes no sense whatso ever, its almost like you are just playing devils advocate here! after the next couple of games we will know everything we need to know about how our season is going ,lets not jump on his back just yet,its been a tough couple of games and not even he can stop stupid mistakes and sendings off
We are on a different wave length i think sa9. Im not on about the losses as such and 3 losses on the bounce is not good, Im on about the standard of football we are playing that is alien to the old players and what the fans have come to expect....Im saying that ML management skills and technical ability is showing signs of being poor this early in the season and i and many others you can hear from are worried that our style of play is changing for the worse and becoming just an ordinary side that the longer it continues will send us back the the lower leagues before we know it.....Losing is part of the game and we accept that but where has all what i mentioned in my post above gone, and why has our discipline gone out the window...Give me martinez/sousa and rodgers style of football any day of the week. that is what we all thought including the players in why we got ML in the first place, He was suppose to carry on with the same style of football with a few tweaks in the final third.....Well looking at us now then we have gone backwards and its definitely effecting the players who are use to the triangles and precise passing in their game.....Im very disappointed in ML's approach so far and hope somebody high up will have a word with him as they are bound to see the destruction of our game before their very eyes....
Sometimes you have to take a step back before moving forward. I think that is where we are at now. ML is prepared to sacrifice some possession to make us more of a goal threat when we do have it. So far it's like the parson's egg - good in places. Depending on your source we had between 62% and 74% possession against Stoke but we failed to convert the few chances we did create, a point that Laudrup admitted concerned him. We do not keep the ball as well at the moment nor do we have the same fluency as we did. No surprise there. We lost Joe who was a well oiled cog in our machine and no matter who we put in there it's going to take time for them to gel. Ki looks like he can do it but he has to develop his understanding, first with Leon, then with the rest of the midfield. Joe and Leon had years to develop, to play as they did together. Ki, nor anyone else, is going to step in and start performing the same way overnight. Patience is needed! Add the fact that we have lost Taylor who was a potent weapon down the left flank linking with either Sinclair, Routledge or Dyer and it's no wonder we have looked unbalanced in recent games. I can see what Lauds is about and I applaud what he is doing. He wants more goals from the possession we have. It was something we were all screaming for last season. Had Rodgers still been here he would have had the same problem and I doubt he would have solved it. Our results in the last few games of last season were pretty poor especially when you consider that the pressure was off. Rodgers was struggling for a solution and that was obvious to anyone who knows anything about football. Laudrup is up against it. He has lost a key defender and a hugely influential midfielder from last season. In addition, he has new players from foreign leagues who are taking time to adapt, not only to the type of football played in the PL but their own team mates. Of course we look disjointed right now - I'd be surprised if we didn't. But we have added undoubted quality and when this comes to the fore, we will be fine. QPR 5-0; West Ham 3-0; Sunderland 2-2 (with ten men) were not fluke results. We can look for more of the same when this team has settled.
From the FourFourTwo stats zone iPad app: Passes: All: Stoke (222 / 71% /313) Swansea (441 / 85% / 519) - completed / % / total Posession: Stoke = 39% Swansea = 61% Territory: Stoke = 53.7%, Swansea = 46.3% (not sure what this means exactly) Attacking Third: Stoke = 67/113 Swansea = 88 / 123 Crosses: Stoke = 9/31, Swansea = 1 / 25 (herein is the truth of matter, 30% of Stokes cross found a Stoke player, only 4% of ours did) Aerial Duels: Stoke = 20 / 36, Swansea = 16 / 36 (not so bad really, we just lost the ones that counted)
Leon is struggling in midfield with his game. Danny is struggling, so is ash,rangal and the rest of the old players. Its not working and i hope we can get it sorted soon and i hope laudrup can be the man to do it. but i have my doubts at the moment, We have not scored a goal for three games with not a shot on target in the stoke game. The stats are misleading and shows how poor we were that we could not get a sniff of goal.... Its just not there and you can see it. I said before the stoke game that i had concerns and the jury is out for me and that has not changed, How long will we be able to afford to let ML do it his way before we will be playing catchup and our destiny plummets towards the lower league. Id give him a generous 3 more games to get the team playing with confidence and i hope he succeeds, but if he fails then he should be replaced asap......
that is not the point or my problem..Its up to jinks and the board. Im still hoping ML will turn out alright but i cant see it at the moment.....Im debating concerns here and not a witch hunt, I want ML to succeed and i want us to play the football we are use to that works and as far as i understood thats what jinks and the board wanted also and why they brought ML in......maybe for once they got it wrong but i hope not...
We hit the ground running and started with good wins but after injury and red cards came at the same time we seem a bit disorganised/shellshocked. Are we a bit short on quality strength in depth perhaps , especialy at the back where we could have strengthened a bit more pre season maybe ? Its still way to early yet to let the doom n gloom take hold so no need to get on anyones back until after xmas if we are still struggling then things may have to change, but i think the quality in our team when all are available and have gelled more will get us back to winning ways very soon. I can see both sides of your opinions and agree to much change of personel and tactics/style of play to quickly may cause problems but ML seems well schooled in the Barsa style that we emulate so i dont think he will deviate to far from our blue print. He`ll just add a more cutting edge to it which weve been lacking for a while ? KTF - STID !.....innit
yes you have to KTF and i will for a few more games yet. I just hope its not Blind faith thats all. Im sure it isnt but its worth being truthful and air your concerns the way you (I) see things at the moment.....I so much want ML to succeed that im willing him to get things right.....but should the concerns by quite a few really become a reality then the club must do something before its to late....we play 38 games in a season and have played 5 and i want a few more games yet to see if my concerns are lets just say premature and if they are there wont be anyone more than me happy about that.....my question is how long do we give ML before its time to say we had better act fast if we want to stay in the premiership......next game is crucial for goals and a result as 4 losses on the trot is not good as we have not played any of the big guns yet....
Well said Ivor, it seems most of us on here see the issues, and we are all in agreement with what is needed, and I'm sure Laudrup and his coaching team see it too, so let's see how the next 3 or 4 games go, to me the issues are what I expected with so many new faces, but there are some positives, and that is Ki and Michu. What you have to remember is that we had one of the best defences last season, and Laudrup rightly considered them ready for greater pressure, as he tweaked the game plan for a more offencive game, but that has been set back by Taylor, and Chico issues, and our defence is buttling under the pressure as a consequence. Laudrup is no mug, as Dai is trying to picture (Same old Dai), he can easily revert to the Rodgers/Sousa type of defencive game, but let's be honest, the last third of last season, our performances under Rodgers was not far short of relegation material. Dai always flaps his gums when we are not winning!.................
