Neverbefore 13,623 28.1k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Can't believe how many peoples line ups still include howson. In a period of terrible performances throughout the team, he's been the worst. Defensively, in possession, pressing, he's basically doing nothing you want a midfielder to do. He's been up and down for quite a while now but he's just down now. I think he's finished. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManBearPig 2,032 4k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) Id play this team. Jones to add a little bit more width and pace to the right. Bangura to do the same to the left. This will allow Forss and Silvera to move inside more. O’Brien could be the the dedicated sitter and allow McGree and Hackney to play centrally, create and roam around and link up. This would also allow us two options to switch play to when in possession further up the pitch. Edited September 18, 2023 by ManBearPig 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikerman 1,386 2.4k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Over to you Mr Carrick ,are you once again going to pick round pegs in square holes in a formation that clearly only works in your own head. If you pick Crooks and Howson again to mainly stand around admiring the people running past them then I think you are sticking the proverbial two fingers up to the club. I predict a 0-0 and a borefest on Sky and yes you are right I have lost belief and patience, I could pick and coach a team with this squad of players who would have more discipline and fight it is frankly embarrassing. Thank you for reading this I feel better now 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 5,960 9.2k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 if he's gonna stick with the number 10 system, would like to see greenwood get a go, in the unders he looked to be prolific in the role when you see the numbers he did 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevKWat 2,818 2.9k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 It won’t happen but as I said yesterday I’d love to see this. 1) Extra CB 2) Solves weak full back areas 3) Free’s McGree 4) LL + Forss 5) No Crooks, Howson, Smith etc 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernSmoggie 4,870 6.6k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 2 minutes ago, DevKWat said: It won’t happen but as I said yesterday I’d love to see this. 1) Extra CB 2) Solves weak full back areas 3) Free’s McGree 4) LL + Forss 5) No Crooks, Howson, Smith etc Quite like that as well as the 4-3-3 option. If he changes nothing to address our soft centre then I don't see how there's a way forward tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borodane 7,357 27k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 22 minutes ago, pikerman said: Over to you Mr Carrick ,are you once again going to pick round pegs in square holes in a formation that clearly only works in your own head. If you pick Crooks and Howson again to mainly stand around admiring the people running past them then I think you are sticking the proverbial two fingers up to the club. I predict a 0-0 and a borefest on Sky and yes you are right I have lost belief and patience, I could pick and coach a team with this squad of players who would have more discipline and fight it is frankly embarrassing. Thank you for reading this I feel better now 😀 You really think we can keep a clean sheet? I don't. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcar Rioja 7,760 7.6k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) Bizarrely I feel totally indifferent to tomorrow nights game. Normally I'd have a little bit of excitement looking forward to the game and thinking about tactics, line ups etc. and as the KO got nearer the adrenalin would start building. I just have a feeling of "whatever", resigned to ridiculous team selection and tactics that see us flat as a wet one for the first 25, 35 minutes and conceding from a 20 yard unmarked shot outside the box while Howson ambles back and our defence parts like a Hollywood C list actress. There is the faint hope that tomorrow night is Carrick's Damascene moment, his Renaissance, but I doubt it. I suppose equally there is the hope that the Owls are even worse than we are and that even ELL or Silvera can hit something 8 yards wide by 8 feet tall. Failing that I guess we will just have to hope that Crooks scores again because let's face it there is little chance of anyone else managing that feat. Talking Points - Talking of points, will we ever get any ever again? Not while we keep on doing what we have been doing - Why do so many teams have animals in their badges? Animals can’t even play football. Nor can we so Roary at LW it is then - Will Mcgree start? Can but dream! - Do you agree with Michael Carrick that our performances haven’t been that bad? In a word, No! - At least Leeds aren’t doing very well eh?! Glass houses and all that stuff, neither are Southampton of late but we can help them fix that 😞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikerman 1,386 2.4k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 7 minutes ago, Borodane said: You really think we can keep a clean sheet? I don't. Good point BD, a 1-1 draw then by the virtue of two own goals 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcar Rioja 7,760 7.6k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 12 minutes ago, DevKWat said: It won’t happen but as I said yesterday I’d love to see this. 1) Extra CB 2) Solves weak full back areas 3) Free’s McGree 4) LL + Forss 5) No Crooks, Howson, Smith etc I'd love that but I'd also love a Maserati and a Penthouse in Vegas and unfortunately I know which is more likely! Roll on Vegas 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DurhamRed 2,255 4.9k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 24 minutes ago, DevKWat said: It won’t happen but as I said yesterday I’d love to see this. 1) Extra CB 2) Solves weak full back areas 3) Free’s McGree 4) LL + Forss 5) No Crooks, Howson, Smith etc That's what I would go with however would swap Latte Lath for Coburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverbefore 13,623 28.1k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 actually scored 4 but still shows where our problems mostly lie. We are creating chances, and good chances at that, at a very high rate but we aren't taking them. And we're conceding far more goals compared to the rate of chances were conceding. I know people hate these xg stats, and I don't think they tell the full story either -but these are really unusually far off what you normally see. We're basically a complete anomaly right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce 2,368 2k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 13 minutes ago, Neverbefore said: actually scored 4 but still shows where our problems mostly lie. We are creating chances, and good chances at that, at a very high rate but we aren't taking them. And we're conceding far more goals compared to the rate of chances were conceding. I know people hate these xg stats, and I don't think they tell the full story either -but these are really unusually far off what you normally see. We're basically a complete anomaly right now They tell us exactly what we see happening. The xG stats are based on averages for teams at our level so if we are doing worse than the xG numbers it shows that our players in the real world are performing worse than average. Our finishing is abysmal. There are non league teams who would have scored more goals from the chances we created. Defensively we are also appalling. We're giving up a fair number of chances but you would still expect us only to concede around half the number of goals that we have. That means either that we are slow to close down or react or we making the wrong choices meaning that opponents are finding it much easier to score than they should. Although it's only 6 games, the massive difference between average and reality shows that we really are incompetent at both ends. Up front we have had several chances missed by Lath and Silvera which can be explained by the time it takes to adjust to the Championship. You might expect this to improve with experience. At the back though, our defence is virtually unchanged which implies, to me, that either Smith was far more important than given credit for or, the adjustments we have been making to our shape have made us worse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverbefore 13,623 28.1k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, Bruce said: They tell us exactly what we see happening. The xG stats are based on averages for teams at our level so if we are doing worse than the xG numbers it shows that our players in the real world are performing worse than average. Our finishing is abysmal. There are non league teams who would have scored more goals from the chances we created. Defensively we are also appalling. We're giving up a fair number of chances but you would still expect us only to concede around half the number of goals that we have. That means either that we are slow to close down or react or we making the wrong choices meaning that opponents are finding it much easier to score than they should. Although it's only 6 games, the massive difference between average and reality shows that we really are incompetent at both ends. Up front we have had several chances missed by Lath and Silvera which can be explained by the time it takes to adjust to the Championship. You might expect this to improve with experience. At the back though, our defence is virtually unchanged which implies, to me, that either Smith was far more important than given credit for or, the adjustments we have been making to our shape have made us worse. This is an interesting topic, because honestly other than the Blackburn game I really don't think we were giving up too many chances, at least quantity wise. The problem was two fold in my view - we were either gifting the opposition an easy chance inside the box through sloppy play and marking or we weren't closing players down quick enough on the edge of the box. A third of our goals conceded have been from outside the box which has to be way higher than average. That doesn't happen by accident and if you look at the last couple of games, I think opposition have clued into this and are taking lots of shots from outside the box. Without looking at the goals, I think we've conceded a couple from rebounds and recycled play after long shots too. I think the latter of the two problems is easier solved than the former and is down to the midfield. We need to work on our press and make it happen quicker than it has been. I understand that we're not a high pressing team which is fine, but there needs to be a balance so we aren't giving opposition free shots from outside the box constantly. The firsf problem is more difficult because although tactics are a major contributor to this, I think mentally we are shattered. The confidence is on the floor and this is affecting concentration. Carrick has a huge job on his hands turning that around. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob 5,960 9.2k Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Borodane said: You really think we can keep a clean sheet? I don't. i enjoyed his prediction, it was the most optimistic negative no hope prediction I have ever seen lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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