12 hours ago, Changing Times said:

That's not actually true although it depends on how you look at it.  Last season under Carrick we averaged about 60% possession I believe, and we clearly didn't struggle.  Looking at each game individually, there were 6 games where we had less possession than the opposition, we won 2, drew 1, and lost 3 of them.  That included the two games against Burnley.  You'd be hard pushed to say that were either a counter attacking team last season or especially good when we had to be.  This season there is a difference however.  Firstly we only average 53.5% possession so overall we tend to have less of the ball this season.  But when we have had less possession than the opposition this season, we have won 7 and lost 4 so there is also a difference in that sense.  When you look at the opposition it's a bit of a mixed bag.  We beat Leicester twice that way of course, and we also beat West Brom at home with less of the ball but then we also lost to Coventry at home, and Blackburn away like that.  We did beat Southampton by just shading possession against them, which is interesting because they have the highest possession stat in the Championship so we were able to have more of it against them, and play well enough to win.  Personally I'd put the Southampton performance as our best of the season.  Our only big win of the season, the 4-0 win against Preston, we had about 58% of the ball.  I don't think we're a better counter attacking team as such, I think we're just not good enough to play the way Carrick wants us to with the players we have available to us or have had available to us.  Possession is a funny one though because I sometimes think the overall figure for a match might be misleading.  I'm trying to look at what possession stats are before goals are scored to see what that looks like.

That last point is interesting, as I agree stats don't always tell the story of the state of our games and how they progressed. There have been some games where afterwards the narrative has been "We had so much possession and so many shots. They had 2 shots and scored them both! Our xG was way higher!"

But the opposition were 2-0 up in the first half with two of their first meaningful attacks. So they sit in to protect their points and say come and break us down if you can. We have all the ball and rack up a ton of half chances without scoring.

Stoke 1-0 Berra 

Been said a million times but we really do need to score first to stand any chance of getiting a result.

I hate these 2-0 down matches in the first half

3-1 to the mighty Boro. I dreamt it

14 hours ago, Changing Times said:

That's not actually true although it depends on how you look at it.  Last season under Carrick we averaged about 60% possession I believe, and we clearly didn't struggle.  Looking at each game individually, there were 6 games where we had less possession than the opposition, we won 2, drew 1, and lost 3 of them.  That included the two games against Burnley.  You'd be hard pushed to say that were either a counter attacking team last season or especially good when we had to be.  This season there is a difference however.  Firstly we only average 53.5% possession so overall we tend to have less of the ball this season.  But when we have had less possession than the opposition this season, we have won 7 and lost 4 so there is also a difference in that sense.  When you look at the opposition it's a bit of a mixed bag.  We beat Leicester twice that way of course, and we also beat West Brom at home with less of the ball but then we also lost to Coventry at home, and Blackburn away like that.  We did beat Southampton by just shading possession against them, which is interesting because they have the highest possession stat in the Championship so we were able to have more of it against them, and play well enough to win.  Personally I'd put the Southampton performance as our best of the season.  Our only big win of the season, the 4-0 win against Preston, we had about 58% of the ball.  I don't think we're a better counter attacking team as such, I think we're just not good enough to play the way Carrick wants us to with the players we have available to us or have had available to us.  Possession is a funny one though because I sometimes think the overall figure for a match might be misleading.  I'm trying to look at what possession stats are before goals are scored to see what that looks like.

This is an exert of an interview following a Middlesbrough defeat. I'd be inclined to draw value from this as he'll be given 'All' the metrics from various 'medium's'. Like I said I don't know Carrick's current stats so it'd be interesting to see them when you find them. My preference is more possession, more goals, more wins! 

“We dominated the game without the ball, which is what we wanted to do,” said Morison. “We knew that when Middlesbrough have more of the ball, they tend to not win as many games. The two games they’ve won (against Swansea and Sunderland), they’ve not dominated the ball. We knew we weren’t going to dominate the ball, and we didn’t want to do that. There were times where we were happy to let Middlesbrough have possession.”

So, to paraphrase, Cardiff’s game plan was effectively, ‘Give Middlesbrough the ball, let them do nothing with it, then nip in to steal it and score’. The fact it worked three times before half-time certainly suggests there are chronic weaknesses within the Teessiders’ set-up that need addressing.

Been dragged in to working, so it's the third match of the season I'll be missing.

Becoming a bit of a habit now.

We won the Millwall and Leicester matches, so hopefully it's 3 for 3.

11 minutes ago, TeaCider24 said:

Been dragged in to working, so it's the third match of the season I'll be missing.

Becoming a bit of a habit now.

We won the Millwall and Leicester matches, so hopefully it's 3 for 3.

Might need a stadium ban if the boys pull it off today 🤣

This season still hasn't ended?! 

100 odd days till the summer window 

150 odd till GW1 

⏳

Let’s see what lotto machine numbers come out for todays lineup. 

First time this season I’ve been completely unbothered about a game.

As long as Dieng is back in the starting 11, I can accept what's to come.

Otherwise something has definitely gone on behind the scenes to keep him out of the 11.

I saw a "leaked team" earlier that had Dieng back and Lath starting, can't find it again now.  

This is on FMTTM

Dieng

Ayling

Thomas

Rav

Clarke

O’Brien

Barlaser

Greenwood

Forss

McGree

Latte

12 minutes ago, Smogzilla said:

I saw a "leaked team" earlier that had Dieng back and Lath starting, can't find it again now.  

 

Would be pleased with that, though I'd definitely have Engel over Thomas if he was fully fit.

Just now, TeaCider24 said:

Would be pleased with that, though I'd definitely have Engel over Thomas if he was fully fit.

I don't think we've seen enough of Thomas yet to decide between the two. He was rubbish last week, but no worse than engel at his worst.