Thoughts on today v Luton

Mossy1 said:
Just looked at stats
AFCB possession 60% attempts 6 on target 2 corners 4

Luton possession 40% attempts 9 on target 3 corners 7

Looking at other teams stats , many have made well into double figure attempts,think we have to do better.

SP said himself there is a lot more to come from this squad.
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The only stat that really matters is the scoreline. The mark of a good team is winning whilst not playing particularly well
 
Monmouthred said:
Not controversial at all. I was also in the south stand, and never felt we would drop the points.

Some of the posts on here are beyond belief. Goals change matches. We have been excellent this season. The comparison to Eddies team is also rose tinted. At this stage we only had about 10/12 points. In other words that team improved as the season went on. From memory we had lost to Forest, Leeds and drawn with Rotherham at home by this stage.

We have won 6, drawn 3, lost none. Jesus what do people want?

Would I want us to come out and dominate teams for 90 minutes every game? Of course I would. It doesn't happen does it?

Fulham have only won 1 of their last 4 games for example. Imagine the melt down on here if we had lost away to Blackpool and home to Reading.
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Genuine question: is it a deliberate tactic by SP to sit back and protect a lead, knowing that we have a very solid defence which will soak up the pressure? Or did Luton's change of formation force us on to the back foot? An Eddie team would have been more attacking second half and may have drawn or lost. Just curious as to the manager's thinking after half-time. Stick or twist, I guess, and he decided to stick? Which was ultimately successful so no complaints from me.
 
EverHopeful said:
Genuine question: is it a deliberate tactic by SP to sit back and protect a lead, knowing that we have a very solid defence which will soak up the pressure? Or did Luton's change of formation force us on to the back foot? An Eddie team would have been more attacking second half and may have drawn or lost. Just curious as to the manager's thinking after half-time. Stick or twist, I guess, and he decided to stick? Which was ultimately successful so no complaints from me.
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Considering his and the players comments in recent games where they haven’t killed teams off, it’s clearly not a tactic.

Sometimes credit should be given to the opposition. This is the Championship, it’s a division where anyone can beat anyone on their day and few teams are just going to roll over and surrender.
 
Topfarrier said:
You can't say we defended well when we gave up such guilt edged chances....they had 7 shots inside our area!..... defending well means denying the opposition goal scoring opportunities...
Not relying on their strikers being hopeless.
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Isn’t that part and parcel of the game though? Conversely had we taken our easy (some very easy) chances v Blackpool and Hull we would be 6 points clear at the top of the league. You wouldn’t probably argue that (not sure i would either im just making a point) but it’s why clinical strikers are so sought after and it shows the role Wilson and Pitman played in helping us go more than two up, which is what this team needs to do as it’s highly unlikely you will have a nervy finish after that.
 
I think we are missing a bit of creativity in midfield. Pearson and Lerma are destroyers and 2nd ball winners and are great at it. Billing likes to get forward a bit more and is scoring, so that is fine. Yesterday though we were crying out for a midfield player that could put his foot on the ball, throw a dummy and turn away and then pick a pass. Lewis Cook, Stan or Kilkenny ?
 
kirsikka said:
I think the difference is, with EH's team we were absolutely tearing teams to shreds but not getting the points we deserved. The Forest game in particular springs to mind where Stuart Pearce, their then manager, later admitted a fair result would have been 5-0 to us.

I remember posting something at the time along the lines of 'the team aren't getting the luck. The key is how they react. If they can keep their heads up and keep playing the same way the results will come.' The luck couldn't stay against us forever.

Now it's the opposite. We're playing well but there's also been an element of fortune about some of our recent results. That won't hold forever either. Therefore we need to make a step up in our play and put games to bed when they're at our mercy.

There's nothing wrong with recognising good things are happening and positive play styles and partnerships are starting to emerge but also pointing out where things aren't working so well.
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Absolutely re 14/15, signing surman was a key change in our fortunes too and callum began to fund some form.
 
If we carry on successfully defending one goal leads deep into the second half, as we have done for three successive matches, then we‘ll almost certainly be promoted. The only downside is that the state of my heart and blood pressure means I probably won’t be there to see it.
 
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DJ said:
Considering his and the players comments in recent games where they haven’t killed teams off, it’s clearly not a tactic.

Sometimes credit should be given to the opposition. This is the Championship, it’s a division where anyone can beat anyone on their day and few teams are just going to roll over and surrender.
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This
 
All supposition...did we sit back? Luton did change tactics..was the turning point Lermas miss? Would EH side have continued attacking?
3 points is all that matters thats what the league shows now and at end of season
 
'Game Management'...basically comes down to a simple continuation of adding to the goal tally ..getting two goals or more ahead and time running out for the opposition...so you just keep attacking..and making sure the ball doesn't escape to the other end.
In 14-15 and before, that's what occurred week after week..and as Neil mentions..players like Pitman and Wilson always likely to add another goal...
We have better organisation from Cahill in defence..as other posters are commenting. on as its so obvious..and that sort of tallies up with how it was with Elphick especially, and Cook which allowed Daniels and Francis to get forward and assist the damage...with yer Pugh's, Surman's, Ritchie's and Arter's and Kermorgant's sewing it all together...we have the potential to emulate all that !
So..'game management' also relies on the general versatility and diversity of the players in the squad.
Since then there have been a succession of numpties come and go...that didnt commit to carrying on that philosophy/tradition..so we have had to rebuild somewhat...
This regime will differ slightly I guess...but as I said...potential is there... for another stab at 'Pulling some Pants down in the Penthouse'..... :hmmm:
 
Neil Dawson said:
Isn’t that part and parcel of the game though? Conversely had we taken our easy (some very easy) chances v Blackpool and Hull we would be 6 points clear at the top of the league. You wouldn’t probably argue that (not sure i would either im just making a point) but it’s why clinical strikers are so sought after and it shows the role Wilson and Pitman played in helping us go more than two up, which is what this team needs to do as it’s highly unlikely you will have a nervy finish after that.
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Of course taking chances is part of the game.... luckily it's something we've been fantastic at this season.... I'm not sure if we had Wilson or Pitman in the side we would have scored anymore than we have tbh....those two were playing in a team that was set up to attack.....how would they have got on feeding off the scraps Dom has had this season?...... I've been a critical of Solanke in the past but I can't fault him this season tbh.....
People can talk about game management and us defending better this season but the reality is we're not doing either very well.....we didn't defend well yesterday ....we gave up chances that any half decent striker should score....the fact that they didn't is no reflection on how well we defended....if we performed like that against quality opposition we'd have been ripped to shreds.

Don't get me wrong I love the fact that we're top and despite what you think I desperately want Parker to do well because it means we do well and I've tried to be as supportive as I can up to now.... nothing would give me more pleasure than Parker proving all those Fulham fans wrong tbh but I want him to do that by playing positive front foot football not that garbage we watched yesterday..... nobody could enjoy watching that second half.
 
I found the second half puzzling. For the first 15 minutes we seemed allow Luton to run at us - as if waiting for them to run out of steam ... they didn't. We lost most second balls and seemed unable to get players forward to receive an "out" ball. Solanke was isolated and easily controlled by their CBs. Meanwhile Christie struggled on the right - didn't take on his man once and failed to cross, turning back to Smith each time.

Just odd that SP didn't use subs earlier, especially Brooks for Christie, and poss Morgan and Lowe - with the aim of carrying the ball forward and relieving the defence. Delighted with our current position but fact is we were very lucky yesterday and positive thinking is required to address our second-half performances.
 
langham said:
I found the second half puzzling. For the first 15 minutes we seemed allow Luton to run at us - as if waiting for them to run out of steam ... they didn't. We lost most second balls and seemed unable to get players forward to receive an "out" ball. Solanke was isolated and easily controlled by their CBs. Meanwhile Christie struggled on the right - didn't take on his man once and failed to cross, turning back to Smith each time.

Just odd that SP didn't use subs earlier, especially Brooks for Christie, and poss Morgan and Lowe - with the aim of carrying the ball forward and relieving the defence. Delighted with our current position but fact is we were very lucky yesterday and positive thinking is required to address our second-half performances.
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Another fact is being unbeaten & top of this league is a great achievement so far, especially when Parker was having to put our U10's on the bench for the first 4/5 games this season.

I thought he summed up our performance nicely in his post match interview & I tend to trust his judgement more than the oracle's on here.
 
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