Eddie - COWS Today

Dragonm8 and others -I really dont want to agree with you as my own stubborn support of this phenomenal manager, who has far outstripped previous best, McGarry, Bond and good old Harry, in this short period of success ,is loyal. but I have to concede -- You are right! -- and its gone on too long and it seems he might actually be scared to change tack because the way the press has labelled him with all that England/Arsenal Crap.
 
I think most or all bottom half PL clubs would find room in their regular 11s for Begovic, Ake and Lewis Cook.
Steve Cook, Defoe, Wilson and King would all get in many squads regually enough.

Daniels may have hit a rough patch right now but he's been pretty good for 2 + seasons as well. Statisitically he's right up there with some of the top left backs.

We've got plenty of decent PL players as the past two seasons have shown. We also have plenty of weaker players as well who are struggling to make up the numbers now.

We need to take a pragmatic look at our squad, and pick a formation that suits our strengths and minimises our weaknesses as we find them.

In January again we need to be pragmatic and look for players who address our biggest weaknesses. Being January it won't be possible to fix everything. But that does mean no more wingers or strikers.

That means looking for a right sided CB, a central midfielder, and maybe full backs if we can find them. If we're able to get just 1 or 2 from that list we'll have ttried mitigating our weakest areas. Pragmatism.
 
northstandmark - 19/12/2017 13:25

We need to take a pragmatic look at our squad, and pick a formation that suits our strengths and minimises our weaknesses as we find them.
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This is what I've been thinking but struggling to find the words. Eddie did not do this on Sunday and has not been doing it even close to often enough this season.

If we can't throw money at the problem then we need to be smart about it. We have done this previously but barely at all this season.
 
Too much focus on individuals, IMO. We've risen through the leagues by the team continually being greater than the sum of its parts. We are missing that cohesion at the moment. I sense there was a conscious effort to improve the defending (as a team) after the last 2 seasons. By and large we've done that (Sunday notwithstanding) but the knock on effect has been a lack of fluency in the transition from defence to attack. All too often the gap between midfield and attack has been yawning. I trust Eddie to find a solution, and individuals who are being prematurely written off to come good and realise their potential. None are "bad players" - they are just not playing well within the present team/system. Eddie will make more mistakes, and players will underperform at times (though hopefully not both at the same time like on Sunday!) but eventually it will gel again. Keep the faith!
 
dragonm8 - 19/12/2017 06:04

Erik, you can’t live on past successes.

We owe Howe an immense gratitude for getting us this far.

But he needs to develop also.

We’ve been here long enough to not have to rely on the likes of Pugh, Francis A Smith and the likes.

There isn’t a single team in the PL who would sign any of the players we play regularly.

Painful as it is to some, we need to overhaul half of our starting 11.

Be realistic.........if you want us to stay in this league we need to improve the squad.

When push comes to shove and Howe thinks Gosling might be a good choice is a case in point.

It’s reality I’m afraid.

Howe has done this club proud and he can do in the future. But digging in and saying what he said in the press today reinforces the notion that he is as stubborn as a mules ass.

With a few tweaks, we could be a top half team. Stubbornness may see us relegated at this level.
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:thumbsup:
 
Last season after 18 games we were in 13th place on 21 points.

In 16th position were Leicester on 17 points, 3 points above a relegation spot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38361150

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football
 
I think Howe is right. We have spent the whole of this season in particular worrying about our weaknesses instead of playing to our strengths. We've focused so much on our weak defense that everyone has been complaining about for years that we now have an ineffective attack. Our don't look comfortable in possession, we are scared to take risks, yet these are some of the qualities that brought us here playing the best football in AFCB history.
 
afcb.czech - 19/12/2017 14:28

I think Howe is right. We have spent the whole of this season in particular worrying about our weaknesses instead of playing to our strengths. We've focused so much on our weak defense that everyone has been complaining about for years that we now have an ineffective attack. Our don't look comfortable in possession, we are scared to take risks, yet these are some of the qualities that brought us here playing the best football in AFCB history.
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Spot on imo.....i hope Eddie's comments today spell the end of our dabbling with the misery of the '352' system or i should say '5 at the back' which is pretty much what that system means to a team like us.
 
Some damn good summaries of the season so far. In reckon Eddies stubborness will disappear eventually purely because he will realise... it has to! Still 20 games to go and plenty more s##t to hit the fans and splash on the walls of the dressing rooms around the whole PL!
 
BillMcgarrycherry - 19/12/2017 16:51

Some damn good summaries of the season so far. In reckon Eddies stubborness will disappear eventually purely because he will realise... it has to! Still 20 games to go and plenty more s##t to hit the fans and splash on the walls of the dressing rooms around the whole PL!
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That’s the point bill. This hysteria will be affecting all clubs even Watford now with their bad run. I do think January is a time for Afcb to further invest which maybe self funded through cashing in on some of our players.
 
I'm with RGB on the infrastructure. After the excitement of winning the Championship, there was the disappointment of realising that some members of that winning team were not up to the Premier League. It was sad to watch Yann looking lost and Ritchie being marshalled fairly comfortably and Elphick being beaten for pace. Some though were able to step up to the mark but equally, it must be hugely difficult, as I think Harry commentated after his international debut, that even as a premier league player you know that you are going to have to battle really hard to just stand still as far league position is concerned. Some of the players must know that they are drinking at the last chance saloon, so arguably why should they battle really hard just in order for their place to be taken by a better player. Eddie might not want Wilshere permanently but he showed us what a class player was capable of.
Football is a game of instant gratification, if we win our next game the majority of us will be happy until the next time but it's quite clear, in order to attract the good players or even potentially good players, we need the new ground and the training facilities.
In the back of my mind though, I have the idea that Max is in it for the long haul and perhaps will have even budgeted for a relegation if only because presently, we are not even a medium-sized Championship club as far as infrastructure is concerned. Once that is sorted and players can see the nature of the ambition then things, I think, will begin to fall into place.
I hated watching Man. City, Chelsea and Liverpool beat us (and who can forget Napoli's style) but I so want us to play that style of football and I guess that's why Eddie won't change and have us playing the WBA 'just for a while' simply because he realises once we go down that road we won't be able to change. So I think we're going to have sweat it out.
 
I think people (particularly Willo) get confused between style and tactics.

Nobody is suggesting we change our style - which is (or used to be before this season) playing football from the back and not being afraid to commit numbers forwards and overloading on the flanks. You can play that style in 4-5-1. 5-4-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. Just as you can play long ball in all of those systems too.

When Eddie talks about not changing that - he is right. He does need to have a look at what system he does it in though - which is where the stubbornness comes in. When fans call in and suggest change and Willo chuckles and drones on about Eddie never changing he misses the fact people are suggesting we try some formations that have worked well in the PL for us before and not that they want the ball lumped from one end of the pitch to the other very quickly. It frustrates me that some people can't pick up this fact.
 
"There isn’t a single team in the PL who would sign any of the players we play regularly. "

That is bullpoo for starters - Begovic, Ake, Wilson, King, Defoe, Lewis Cook for starters, would find it easy to sign for another PL club. And I bet you even the likes of Steve Cook, Daniels, Afobe could be snared too. We have some very decent and technically decent players here.

They are just not currently performing in the same way they did the previous two seasons at this level.

Also, I would say we have built this success on being a TEAM. In the same way as several other clubs have - I bet you could look at other teams and not pick too many individuals you would have [ and I am not talking about the very best sides here! ].
 
rednblackexile - 19/12/2017 13:53

Too much focus on individuals, IMO. We've risen through the leagues by the team continually being greater than the sum of its parts. We are missing that cohesion at the moment. I sense there was a conscious effort to improve the defending (as a team) after the last 2 seasons. By and large we've done that (Sunday notwithstanding) but the knock on effect has been a lack of fluency in the transition from defence to attack. All too often the gap between midfield and attack has been yawning. I trust Eddie to find a solution, and individuals who are being prematurely written off to come good and realise their potential. None are "bad players" - they are just not playing well within the present team/system. Eddie will make more mistakes, and players will underperform at times (though hopefully not both at the same time like on Sunday!) but eventually it will gel again. Keep the faith!
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Most of us are thinking along same lines, with a few variations. I'm less worried about style and formations than player psychology. Two players come in ,Defoe and L.Cook with high expectation and possible 'auras' around their presence. JD's record and LCs success at young age. They have not figured much really,so frustration from them. Then there are the old guard who have 'got us where we are' .Could be petty jealousies creeping in from several angles affecting team spirit which although good is not quite what it was. Ive noticed what I think is a change in S.Cooks and Arters body language and I really don't think Jermain seems all that interested. Think Smithy thinks he's a star and Kingers lost' something'.
 
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