Minority Report 2019-20 v QPR

You seem to have a problem with me, the ignore button is always available if you need it mate.

See I’m going to use it right now so I don’t have to put up with your drivel anymore.

 

I agree with most of this. We got the result yesterday but the score could have been anything at all. It was like a basketball game. Playing an exposed, suicidally high defensive line makes our defenders look worse than they are, they get turned easily and are constantly chasing back towards their own goal. It is clearly not a successful approach on the whole as our league position shows. Yet we don't change it presumably because the directive from above is that is how we want to play.

 

That and i genuinely think everyone at the club knows our defenders are terrible at defending, so therefore try set up to score a few , in the hope we outscore tbe opposition.

 

Like yourselves, me and my friends had a discussion about the Bahre substitution. They both thought it was an injury, whilst I assumed it was tactical. As the game panned out, I could not see how it could have been tactical given Thomas's performance and the positions he took up. He played mostly on the right, although his better foot is his left, so on balance, I assumed my friends were right, but I do not really have a clue. It looks like Struber likes to give players game experience by putting them on the bench, whilst having no intention of playing them. I felt that Mottley-Henry and Marsh both fell into that category yesterday. I cannot see how Thiam's style of play fits into the way that the coach wants to play either, so we had only 3 outfield substitutes yesterday and no forward player, which left me scratching my head. The coach has highlighted the fact that we have too many players for him to coach properly on a one to one basis, but Wilks looks to me as though he is in solitary confinement until either his attitude changes, or he gets a lot fitter. Clearly, Stendel wants to look at all his players before he decides who gets shown the door in January, but is he going about it the right way I wonder.

You are not the first to say that I had the formation wrong today, and that it was 4-3-3. I honestly thought that Woodrow was too deep to be in a front three, and that is how I saw the game, but I do not want to argue about it. I was more upset by the way that we operated the press if I am honest. It tires us out (which I saw as a factor in their third goal) and it was just not necessary after we established our 2 goal lead. That was the time to drop off and defend properly in two fours, hitting QPR on the break. It just seemed that we played with no thought and the more I mused upon it on my long walk home, the more certain I was that it was not the way a team in trouble ought to play. You say that our team cannot defend, and there is obvious evidence in the number of mistakes that we make that would lead you to that conclusion, but our last 3 foreign coaches have been brought to the club by our owners to play in a particular way. They have been brought in to play a pressing game. It is not the reaction that an English coach has when faced by adversity. An English coach would make us secure at the back as his first priority. An English coach would attack on the break. An English coach would not play the press unless we were behind in a game, and he was forced to. It is a totally new concept for me to take on board having watched successive managers play the game for over 50 years, and watched them play the English style, and I am finding it very hard to adapt.

Diaby has a lot of things in his favour. He is quick and he is strong. In fact, all the centre backs that we brought in during the summer have a lot going for them. As far as I can tell, they are all going to be very good players. However, they are all young, and whilst I have the patience to wait for them to improve and cut out the mistakes, many do not. However, I do not think that the lack of protection from midfield is helping their development in the very tough environment of the Championship. If we are relegated, which still looks the most likely outcome, the reason will not just be the lack of experience in my view. I do not think that the press is helping, and I do not think that the diamond helps either. When your full backs represent your attacking width, it just leaves too much ground for inexperienced centre backs to cover. In other words, if you do not have experience, you have to play a system that does not require it.

Nice to talk to you again in a proper spirit of debate and discussion.

 

Reight enjoyed it yesterday, aint bin for a while, and to be honest was'nt looking forward to it, but was with 6,Grandbairns. Not one moan abart bin cold so i guess that sez it all. great day art, great entertainment, C.O.Y.R.

 

I’d replace Gwyn Thomas with Alan Little

 

The way the game is refereed these days, Little wouldn't play more than 4 games a season.

 

Up to you if you use the ignore button. Fair do's if you do. I just don't like to see belittling comments with no substance. That's all. If you think that's drivel then that's up to you. I have nothing against you whatsoever however. Best wishes in fact.

 

Great post & although yesterday’s game was absolutely brilliant, it was also terrifying.

3 times in the first 12 minutes Anderson made daft errors with one resulting in a goal but despite this we’d been by far the better side & created just as many chances.

That pattern followed for the rest of the game although the errors were by various players.

We won 5-3, we deserved to win but at the same time if we’d lost 6-5 I couldn’t have really moaned because they missed two simple chances & Mowatt made a brilliant goal saving block within about 10 minutes in the second half.

It showed why we’ve got goals in us but it also showed why we’re bottom of the league.

Although I’d like to see us tighten it up & be harder to score against I don’t think the young players are capable of it so they’re trying to outscore sides.

At least we aren’t boring

 

Another entertaining read RR. I'm still in a state of euphoria (doesn't take much - just a win, 5 goals, a hat-trick and a penalty) so it's difficult to be overly critical. We're watching a sport that in essence is about outscoring the opposition, so on that level the result was a good one.

That said, we can all see that the defence is not working well under this system. Something has to change. Now I've said that, we'll more than likely start winning every game 3-2, 5-3, 8-5 and such like.

Interesting that Alan Little's name has cropped up. I miss the Alan Littles of this world and I wonder how some of these modern footballers - the ones that go down if they get breathed on too heavily - would stand up to being tackled properly by someone like Little. They'd probably all bring notes in from their mothers the next time they had to play against him. Strange thing is, despite his tough tackling, I don't recall seeing players being stretchered off week in, week out. The opposition players must have built of sterner stuff too in those days.

 

I remember Little going for a 50:50 ball with another hard man in an opposition team. Grown men who had dealt with bad accidents down the pit quite easily, had to cringe and had to look away. After treatment, both men got up and played on. They were different days back then. As I recall, Little was not quick, but when he arrived, the opponent with the ball knew about it.