Match Report: Brighton v Cherries

Ken Baileys Ghost said:
Thanks for that excellent report.

It made me feel like I was actually there.




Oh hang on, I was..................................................................
Click to expand...

Yes you were KBG- Have a look at the extended highlights on our website and you are clearly visible alongside SG looking quite pleased after the 5th goal
 
This sounds very familiar.....

it beggars belief that we are still playing 4-3-3 after just eight points from a possible 36 in 2019. Quite literally everybody can see that the moment we changed formation correlates with the moment our form fell off a cliff.

Hughton is a clever man. We wouldn’t be in the Premier League if he wasn’t a bloody good manager. So how can he not realise that 4-3-3 isn’t working? To even pretend that it is and keep persevering with it is either a sign of a stubborn streak bordering on reckless or that he’s actually gone mad. As Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
 
Very long report for just... Seagulls Duffed, Cuffed, Plucked and F#cked by 'Plucky' Muff!
You would have hoped for a mention of Eddie Howe in the same breath as Albert Einstein! ... Howe once said " The definition of Insanity is me having to use 5 different scorers to make a point.....sorry Alby... I mean 3 points, my maths are not quite at your level yet!
 
...a defeat from Cardiff on Tuesday, which I am expecting will secure us mathematically for safety.

I would then like to see Eddie and the team really open up and play with some fluency in our remaining games and really finish the season on a high. We have winnable games v Fulham,Stains and Palace, and a proper test v Spurs.
 
Tinpot Club said:
I think the true test of any system will be against better teams than Brighton. It’s fantastic the system worked perfectly yesterday. The jury is still out as to its effectiveness against teams who know what they are doing.
Click to expand...

Against any team that knows what they are doing, ANY system could be hard pushed. Not rocket science to make your comment is it!
 
davygravy said:
Against any team that knows what they are doing, ANY system could be hard pushed. Not rocket science to make your comment is it!
Click to expand...
But the fact remains there are times you need to adapt to the opposition. Maybe that’s hardly rocket science either, but you can’t deny we’ve made life harder for ourselves in the past by refusing to adapt.
 
Tinpot Club said:
But the fact remains there are times you need to adapt to the opposition. Maybe that’s hardly rocket science either, but you can’t deny we’ve made life harder for ourselves in the past by refusing to adapt.
Click to expand...

and yet at different times this season we have played 442, 352, 451, 532.....
 
Garbo said:
...a defeat from Cardiff on Tuesday, which I am expecting will secure us mathematically for safety.

I would then like to see Eddie and the team really open up and play with some fluency in our remaining games and really finish the season on a high. We have winnable games v Fulham,Stains and Palace, and a proper test v Spurs.
Click to expand...
Would be very disappointed if we aren’t at least “in” all 3 of the games, don’t want anymore repeats of the Burnley/Leicester debacle.

3 wins is achievable and anything other than a good performance against Spurs is a bonus!
 
Formation change has become the comfort blanket of the modern day fan....change the formation and everything will be ok.
My background is horseracing....a lot of my family were either jockeys or trainers.... in fact i've held a trainers licence myself ....before a race you discuss tactics with the jockey .....if he holds a horse up and times his run to late and he just gets beat or he kicks for home too soon you can say he/we got those tactics wrong...if however the horse is struggling early on and is beat turning for home before finishing down the field the tactics are irrelevant.......tactics/ systems in football are no different....football like racing is often a game with small margins between success and failure and tactics/systems can of course make the difference between the two.....however without a certain level of performance it means nothing.

Complaining about the system when we've played as badly as we have against Leicester or Burnley or Brighton moaning about the formation they deployed against us is just foolish.
 
Agree, Top, I have been mulling over this and you have captured some of my thoughts. In every sport, there are three things - talent, ambition and tactics. Maybe the fourth is a bit of luck. How we stack up on those factors, on a scale from 1 to 10, is a subject for debate, I would offer 7, 6, 6 and 5.
 
Topfarrier said:
While the criticism of recent performances was undoubtedly deserved the criticism of the system clearly wasn't....as shown by yesterdays game....same system better performances.
Click to expand...


I disagree with that, and I’m probably the biggest critic of the system I know.

What I will never say is that we won’t ever win or play well playing 4-4-2. That would be as daft as saying if we played five in midfield we would win and play well every week.

My personal opinion is there is a reason why every top team in the world play with a midfield three of some description. I also believe if we are going to fulfill ours and Eddies own potential we need to get effective at playing this system too. A demolishing of a poor side on an off day doesn’t change that opinion, I have no doubt we will beat Fulham heavily with it too.

Leicester won the league with 4-4-2 and gave up possession and played on the break even at home. It’s the most incredible title victory ever. Athletico Madrid have had comparative success in the same manner. I’m not saying 4-4-2 therefore is not effective, I just think for the way we play and the players we have a three man central midfield would be a better results system against the mid to top table teams for us and a better performances system against everyone.
 
Toronto John said:
Agree, Top, I have been mulling over this and you have captured some of my thoughts. In every sport, there are three things - talent, ambition and tactics. Maybe the fourth is a bit of luck. How we stack up on those factors, on a scale from 1 to 10, is a subject for debate, I would offer 7, 6, 6 and 5.
Click to expand...

Interesting way of looking at it. Would probably throw in "Effort" to that list too. I think we now have some incredibly talented players in the squad (your Akes, your Brooks' etc.) but the core of the squad is mostly made up of hard workers. That's why when the effort isn't there we can get absolutely ripped apart, and when it is we can be unplayable.

I'd probably go Talent: 6, Ambition: 6 (based on performances after we confirm safety), Tactics 6, Effort: 8 (usually) ... Luck: 2.

Incidentally, looking at BHA as a Premier League team I'd go Talent: 3, Ambition: 4, Tactics 6, Effort: 9. I think that shows in their *cough* "performance" on saturday. Very limited side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

;