saintant

Their keeper is rather underemployed.

Yet another gift goal.

Charlie Chaplin to score a hat-trick?

If that is a live picture on Sky there look to be loads of empty seats.

There's method in the madness - put out a weak side then nobody can point the finger if they lose because RM can just say his hands were tied and he had nothing more to pick from 🙂

Our inverted full backs will have Ipswich chasing shadows.

I'm sure RM is relaxed and more confident in the lads than before the Leicester game.

I doubt it will be this season.

Before the season started I would have looked at this fixture as one which we should win without too much trouble. After how we've played so far particularly in the last two games I'd probably take a point if offered it now. The annoying thing is that we have a good enough squad to be going into games full of confidence whoever we are facing - sadly that expectation level and confidence is draining away game by game. Hoping RM has something unexpected up his sleeve but it's no more than a feint hope.

Maybe RM is too good a manager for us. Perhaps he should be at Man City.

What, passing it to your own players?

The opposition don't though do they!

Just watching Monday Night Football and listening to them analysing how De Zerbi made tactical tweaks during the game as Brighton beat Man Utd. Brighton's two centre backs normally play narrow and high up the pitch when their keeper has the ball. Utd's set-up was causing issues with this so De Zerbi told his centre backs to go wider and drop deeper, they had a clip of him explaining it to Dunk - it worked a dream. This is what is needed from a coach and his assistants. Tomas Frank is one of the guests and it's an eye opener to hear the levels of intelligence and tactical awareness he and De Zerbi show. It's no wonder Brighton and Brentford are doing so well. Unfortunately for us it's another world compared to our tactical ineptitude.

We haven't played well so far and even RM has admitted that. The last two games have been a car crash so that's 7 games including Gillingham where we've been average, poor or shocking. My sheets are clean but there's loud alarm bells ringing in my head and I can hear them because it's not buried in the sand.

There's a hell of a lot gone wrong in the last two games but I've not heard him say what he's planning to do to put it right. Seems to me he's got far too much faith in the system he's trying to get us playing - can't see it ending well. If we lose the next two he'll be under considerable pressure to change because the fans were given the impression he was brought here to secure promotion.

I think people are concerned that he's trotting out the same stuff but nothing changes on the pitch.

Like others much of what RM said in the press conference didn't make too much sense to me. Rather than keep saying we're giving away too many sloppy goals and too many early goals I'd prefer him to explain what he's doing to put that right. After every game in the next presser he always says we've had a great response in training, we're really pleased with how everyone is working but that is not being reflected in how we play. The only game we've played remotely well in was Sheff Wed away and they've demonstrated since what a poor side they are. He claims players from his previous clubs are calling him up and telling him his methods are now working and they wish they could tell our guys to hang on in there and we'll see similar results. His previous clubs are Swansea and Milton Keynes Dons who are not exactly ripping up trees. I worry that we'll see more of the same tomorrow and then listen to more of the same from RM. We need to hear and see something very different but I fear he is like a stuck record. Thought it was pretty amateur of him to call out a fan behind the dug-out who'd been hurling abuse - ok, he's right to say it doesn't help but he should be professional enough to rise above that sort of thing.

It seems to me that coaches like RM watch Man City and convince themselves that they can get a team playing the same way. I see why they get sucked in because City make it look so easy. The problem is it is far from that. City can do it because they have Pep in charge, huge financial resources and the best players available. We need a style that suits our players and to stop trying to turn them into a version of Man City as that is never going to work. If RM refuses to change he is putting his own head in the noose and it won't be long before the hangman decides it's time to kick the box away.

Noah Diliberto is a free agent. French defensive midfielder 22 years old. Could do a job for us.

Those 5 yard passes are a big part of the problem as, unless you have triangles of players ready to move the ball on, you just get smothered by the opposition press causing the panic we are seeing. If you watch the teams who know how to play out from the back most of the passes are much longer which changes angles and creates space. We pass out from the back without thought or purpose bringing pressure on ourselves just so RM can say that we are a modern team that plays possession football and builds from the back rather than playing hoofball. Something has to change and quick.

Nah, that's not hipster enough 🙂 Got to be clever these days.

Some very good points there especially about how slow we are which just invites our opponents to press. How RM fails to see that we need to quicken everything up is beyond me. Walking football is for 50 year old men.

Haven't seen that goal before. That is so embarrassing for Utd - made no attempt to close down. Good from Brighton but few teams in the Premier League would allow that.

Agree. I reckon a degree of jealousy clouds some people's ability to give full credit to Brighton where it is due. I have an admiration for any smaller club that gives the big boys a bloody nose on a regular basis and makes their entitled fans suffer. Fair play to Brighton. Maybe it won't last but right now they are doing brilliantly. We've been there and know it is tough to maintain when competing against the massive money clubs but it's great while it lasts.

KWP is not playing midfield he is trying to play the inverted fullback role which involves him moving into midfield. The problem is he does not seem to know how to do it. Either we coach our fullbacks to play the inverted role correctly pretty damn quickly or we abandon it and use them as traditional fullbacks with more emphasis on defending than attacking. The way we are leaking goals I think we need to go for the latter option.