When you are fighting for survival surely the first step should be to stop the opposition from scoring. Am I right in saying Birmingham away was the last time we managed that? This is where I feel JM has fundamentally fallen down in not making us harder to beat before anything else. Now it`s too late to implement this and for 3 games we`ve got to go **** or bust (unfortunately it will probably be bust).
We've kept 7 clean sheets all season. Home vs Preston Away vs Brentford Home vs Birmingham Home vs Wolves Home vs Sunderland Away vs Birmingham Away vs Sunderland More than I thought/remembered tbh. Shows we are capable of not conceding, but only once every 6 games. We're definitely due one.
As my first post intimated it`s too late now - hence **** or bust. I we never went out to concede 2/3 goals a game but my thoughts were that TRYING to stop this happening from when he started should have been more of a priority than the gung-ho tactics that I think he has adopted (ie. 433).
At what point do you propose he did what exactly to counter individual embarrassing errors that lead to sloppy goals almost all caused by players not good enough for the league we play in, not signed by him? When in your opinion was the perfect time to coach a load of players to be better than they are over halfway through a dismal season? He did not adopt 'gun-ho' 4-3-3 tactics, he started the Burton game 4-4-2 and it was one of the most embarrassing performances I've seen in my lifetime, he changed it and in my opinion, we've played better since then overall. Save for individual sloppy errors and a disgracefully unfit squad he inherited. Not that any of that will stop people blaming him for absolutely everything, mind.
So this playing better once he changed half way through his first game has resulted in what exactly? When Birmingham changed their manager a long time after us has resulted in a change of attitude and results. Were we not entitled to a change of fortune for the better like they have or have they signed a new squad since Monk came in to change their fortunes?
I think he went 433 to score goals we really struggled to score or even create many chances with 451 and Bradshaw up top alone in the 1st half of the season. We have failed to score in 13 league games this season but only 1 under jose I think. That's why the starting 11 confused me even more on Saturday.