blandford_cherry
UTC Legend
If you’d have said we would take 4 points off of Chelsea and Arsenal 2 weeks ago no one would argue. It’s just a shame we had the dire Burnley game in the middle to tarnish the points total.
Match Report and MOM v Arsenal
- Thread starter Neil Dawson
- Start date
Neil Dawson
UTC Legend
They are a sh** football team that we know we are better than. The fact they are above us shows to me a) we have underachieved and b)If we get our act together we will shoot up this league if that is what we are aiming at.
Neil Dawson
UTC Legend
Hey?
USCherry
UTC Legend
I'm not as positive as some. Nothing in our attacking department clicked. hold up play was ok, not great. The simple passing failed too often, the balls around the corner seemed to be mis read or misinterpreted. King was good in flashes but did not seem too happy with his role, C Wilson was off the boil and his off side goal typified that. Fraser is ok until the final ball. Too many of our game changers are off their game.
Lerma is god.. that is all
Lerma is god.. that is all
fritter
UTC Legend
The most disappointing and frustrating thing for me was the poor passing, very often unforced errors. This is not about skill but (probably?) about confidence. We saw moments in the second half of very slick and confident passing and moving, like we used to. Passes that had some pace and crispness to them. Lerma is the only one who consistently passes with pace on the ball. Far too many passes are slow and easy for the opposition to watch and react to.
Passing and moving have to happen in tandem in order to have pace in attack. This puts us on the front foot.
Also in recent games we have seen Eddie and Jason vigorously waving the team forward. Why does this happen? What stops the team doing what they have presumably been told to do?
We were fortunate that Arsenal were wasteful in attack. Their shots were wayward.
Overall all a better performance, but I suspect it couldn't get worse. It's a step in the right direction, but so was Chelsea.
As for the next few games we have no idea which performance will show up. Chelsea and Arsenal or palace and Burnley.
The team is having to rebalance and resettle. I suspect Rico will be back Saturday but the midfield is less certain. Lerma of course. But who else. I would say Gosling but the others are harder. Lewis Cook got caught on the ball several times. Billing blows hot and cold. We would benefit from a settled midfield on order to build some understanding. There were times yesterday when it was clear that people didn't know where each other were playing. It's happened a lot lately. The (non) marking of Özil for the first 20 minutes or so and then was a case in point.
Lerma, Gosling and Cook or HW?
The uncertainty spreads to up front. King has looked more effective up front. Callum Wilson looks off the pace, rarely challenges effectively and doesn't hold the ball up particularly well.
I think we need the energy and leadership that S Cook, Francis and Gosling bring. It is a regret that so few others bring any leadership to the team. Lerma leads by example and I wish a few others would follow it. The time when he ran 20 yards or so to challenge Özil and there was never any doubt who would win. Lerma knew, Özil knew. Everyone knew. More of that from everyone please.
Other teams are starting to show fight. We must do so as well.
UTCIAD
Passing and moving have to happen in tandem in order to have pace in attack. This puts us on the front foot.
Also in recent games we have seen Eddie and Jason vigorously waving the team forward. Why does this happen? What stops the team doing what they have presumably been told to do?
We were fortunate that Arsenal were wasteful in attack. Their shots were wayward.
Overall all a better performance, but I suspect it couldn't get worse. It's a step in the right direction, but so was Chelsea.
As for the next few games we have no idea which performance will show up. Chelsea and Arsenal or palace and Burnley.
The team is having to rebalance and resettle. I suspect Rico will be back Saturday but the midfield is less certain. Lerma of course. But who else. I would say Gosling but the others are harder. Lewis Cook got caught on the ball several times. Billing blows hot and cold. We would benefit from a settled midfield on order to build some understanding. There were times yesterday when it was clear that people didn't know where each other were playing. It's happened a lot lately. The (non) marking of Özil for the first 20 minutes or so and then was a case in point.
Lerma, Gosling and Cook or HW?
The uncertainty spreads to up front. King has looked more effective up front. Callum Wilson looks off the pace, rarely challenges effectively and doesn't hold the ball up particularly well.
I think we need the energy and leadership that S Cook, Francis and Gosling bring. It is a regret that so few others bring any leadership to the team. Lerma leads by example and I wish a few others would follow it. The time when he ran 20 yards or so to challenge Özil and there was never any doubt who would win. Lerma knew, Özil knew. Everyone knew. More of that from everyone please.
Other teams are starting to show fight. We must do so as well.
UTCIAD
Neil Dawson
UTC Legend
Great post.
I was reflecting on (outside of what I usually blame) why we have seemed so disjointed the last 12 months and you have hit the nail on the head with the lack of understanding of players... how often do we keep the same team? Part of this is injuries but not all. Harry Wilson has been in and out of the line up based on how he plays one week to the next, now it’s Billing, the front four rotate based on a game by game basis (except Callum), King has played everywhere....Mepham started the season then disappeared. You can then throw injuries on top of that.
The best Eddie sides played week in week out with the same players and formation - there was very little debate on here on line up in our championship season. This year you will see fifteen different posts with fifteen different line ups. It’s been a long while since we have seen that.
Often our best performers are subs then they start the week after and are poor and it’s the person that replaces them that shines.
Its almost like he needs to get a group together and say barring injury you are playing the next eight games and just work consistently on them.
docmandu
Star Player
Good post Neil as always.
Have to echo sentiments Stacey was incredible and long may this inflexion point in his performances continue.
I thought Lewis was way off his game and did concede possession too often. Callum needs a rest. Get So Lanky in there and give him good game time. I don't want to see another Mousset go elsewhere and perform having not been given a good enough chance with us.
Was nice to see the "Eddie / Jason ..... give us a wave" chant back today aswell. Reminded me of those hedonistic days in the Championship when we had time to play as a crowd and didn't care if we conceded because we would score two back.
Have to echo sentiments Stacey was incredible and long may this inflexion point in his performances continue.
I thought Lewis was way off his game and did concede possession too often. Callum needs a rest. Get So Lanky in there and give him good game time. I don't want to see another Mousset go elsewhere and perform having not been given a good enough chance with us.
Was nice to see the "Eddie / Jason ..... give us a wave" chant back today aswell. Reminded me of those hedonistic days in the Championship when we had time to play as a crowd and didn't care if we conceded because we would score two back.
canadiancherry
Star Player
"So Lanky" . . . love it!
horndean_exile
Star Player
I remember reading some of the Derby fans comments about Harry when we signed him, they exactly this.
In fact what we have seen because of all our injuries is a sort of enforced resort to squad rotation in certain positions. At least Eddie has now discovered that we do have players that can come in and do a job.
Could this squad rotation be a good thing I ask. Perhaps playing week in week out to our first choice eleven has made them more susceptible to injuries.
It will be interesting to see our team for the FA Cup game v Luton. Does he bring back any of our first teamers who might be fit again, keep the current eleven for consistency or will we see the team made up primarily of our under 21's?
Having said that Mings went out on loan because there was no squad rotation or regular quality under 23 games and at the time we were relatively injury free. Which is also why our year 3 academy players go out on loan.
The basic problem does go back to our meteoric rise to the Premier League on the playing side with our Academy still being equivalent to League Two status. The problem will only really be solved when the Canford facility is up and running and we attain Cat 2 status so we have regular Prem League 2 games for our fringe players and U21's.
Could this squad rotation be a good thing I ask. Perhaps playing week in week out to our first choice eleven has made them more susceptible to injuries.
It will be interesting to see our team for the FA Cup game v Luton. Does he bring back any of our first teamers who might be fit again, keep the current eleven for consistency or will we see the team made up primarily of our under 21's?
Having said that Mings went out on loan because there was no squad rotation or regular quality under 23 games and at the time we were relatively injury free. Which is also why our year 3 academy players go out on loan.
The basic problem does go back to our meteoric rise to the Premier League on the playing side with our Academy still being equivalent to League Two status. The problem will only really be solved when the Canford facility is up and running and we attain Cat 2 status so we have regular Prem League 2 games for our fringe players and U21's.
red_house
UTC Legend
I wouldn't use any PL team as a barometer for our current position.
Billing on the bench against the Arse confirmed as Flu. In your case its probably 'meh flu'
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/s...tarting-xi-revealing-bout-flu-forced-arsenal/
Tinpot Club
Star Player
Just to pick you up on this slightly, while being pedantic you are correct, our academy has a very good standing in the game and considered far superior than our Cat 3 status would suggest.
There was a great feature in The Athletic last week about how our academy might soon overtake Southampton’s Cat 1. This is not just in terms of results, where we’ve had the upper hand, but in terms of recruitment too.
I can’t link the article due to the paywall but the summary was we have been able to differentiate ourselves by providing teenagers with an excellent education. We are also the ‘go to’ academy for lots of agents where their clients have been released from top Cat 1 academies. We can get talent that might otherwise have gone to Cat 2 or lesser Cat 1 academies due to our reputation.
Of course, when we get the facilities to match, we should be in a very healthy situation.
DJ
Moderator
Shame this conversation is being lost in a match thread, tempted to split it off.
I'm not sure being category 2 will be enough to get into Premier League 2? I think it's exclusive to category 1 clubs?
