CanadaSaint

We’re quite innovative. Under Ralph we’ve invented a new concept called “pre-second half nerves”. All I want him to say in there is “Keep running it at them”, but it would be totally out of character.

Everything changed when we stopped the turning back and started going at them. They are piss poor backpeddlers and we’re good for a couple more as long as Ralph doesn’t change it.

Let Smallbone take it FFS

I must have missed it. Who went out there and gave them their shots for turnbackitis?

Still obstinately vulnerable on our left side with KWP playing there, which takes Salisu's game down 25% because he has to cover for it. On a more positive note, Smallbone's corners were much better than JWP's at Chelsea, and Lyanco and Salisu were getting on the end of them. Hopefully JWP will let him take them, and then hang around the "D" waiting for a half-clearance. And even more hopefully his shot will be reasonably accurate. Pushing it, I know. 😀

Could we just put this tedious spelling debate to bed by agreeing that it’s not a “one sise fits all” situation?

I hear you, but until today we’ve been able to maintain it until half time, even when we’ve given up some good chances. But today our belief in the system seemed to collapse like a cheap deckchair. Willy didn’t help, mind.

Something else struck me today. Arsenal’s first goal was an instant tide-turner. We went from a side pressing well and looking fairly dangerous to a side that looked like it didn’t believe in its own tactics. The logical extension of that, sadly and troublingly to say, is that we might be watching a side that is in the process of ceasing to believe in its manager. That’s a far bigger deal than another loss.

Yes, Bednarek didn't know whether to confront or drop back and cover, and ended up doing neither. And Yes, JWP was late getting back. But why no mention KWP's dreadful decision to attack a ball in Arsenal's half when they were in the process of playing it in behind him? That was the biggest clanger of all. This persistence in selecting KWP on the left is screwing our entire defensive shape. It's the fundamental reason why Salisu's game has gone downhill, and - like Bednarek - he's caught between his true defensive role and covering for KWP. KWP makes my team in a canter, but not on the left. Until Ralph changes that, little good will happen.

I’ve stood by Ralph all the way, but I’m close to done with him. Arrogance and obstinacy are traits that I dislike in anybody, so why should it be any different for him? But that’s what we get, week in week out. For months it has been abundantly clear that KWP on the left unbalances us both offensively and defensively. It has also been clear that Tino has a lot to learn defensively - he’s far behind KWP. Salisu and Romeu help to cover that up - at some cost to their own games. This side will not compete effectively until Ralph admits he’s wrong, and that’s where the arrogance and obstinacy will prove to be his - and our - undoing.

Trying, poorly, to cover the absence of KWP

I’m at the point where the only change I want Ralph to make at the half time whistle is to take himself out. I still want him to start, though. For now.

At one point the second half possession was 72% Brighton, with no changes made. That suggests the plan was to back off and hold, and hit on the break. I don’t know what the final number was. If that was the plan, it meets the unofficial definition of insanity. Ralph has a lot of qualities but his obstinacy and arrogance will be his undoing.

It isn't about the quality of our players, and I don't think it's about fitness - we finished pretty well today. We dominated both Watford and Norwich in the first half but things switched 180 right after half time. It's something else. I'll re-post what I posted on the game day thread. I’ve felt for some time that Ralph’s second half changes are not determined by what’s going on in front of him, but almost planned in advance. He seldom seems to respond to opposition changes that alter the momentum (e.g. Watford, Norwich), and he’s slow to see the resultant danger when players are underperforming (Tino, A. Armstrong), or when the opposition has sussed out a weakness (KWP on his wrong side). I think Ralph does quite a lot right - more than he gets credit for, but this obstinate, arrogant side of him is infuriating. No wonder we’re stuck in a groove of great starts and shit finishes.

I can't help but wonder whether Stuart Armstrong's problem is between his knee and his ankle or between his ears. I so hope this isn't so because he's really important to us, but he almost looks like a player who doesn't really want to be here any more. If that's the case, the only player who seems to bring that unpredictable, attack from all angles offence is Nathan Tella. I don't think Leicester ever really got a handle on him tonight, and his last two performances should have earned him more opportunities. Unless, of course, he's not disciplined (aka regimented) enough for Ralph.

I’ve felt for some time that Ralph’s second half changes are not determined by what’s going on in front of him, but almost planned in advance. He seldom seems to respond to opposition changes that alter the momentum (e.g. Watford, Norwich), and he’s slow to see the resultant danger when players are underperforming (Tino, A. Armstrong), or when the opposition has sussed out a weakness (KWP on his wrong side). I think Ralph does quite a lot right - more than he gets credit for, but this obstinate, arrogant side of him is infuriating. No wonder we’re stuck in a groove of great starts and shit finishes.

Watch it again. With 2-3 players between him and the ball I don’t think he even saw it until it was on him. He’s not played well but no need to blame him when he’s not culpable. Too much of that on here.

Amidst the justified hammering for McCarthy for the goal, let’s not lose sight of the fact that KWP got done like a kipper on his wrong tackling foot. If Watford and Norwich sussed the weakness, we’d better believe that Leicester will. Love him as a player but not so much at LWB.

Ralph has the ability to use his fullbacks/wingbacks in high-intensity roles on both sides of the pitch - very difficult to defend against (as we saw yesterday). With the arrival of Small, Ralph has squad depth on both sides. If Small is developing well, I'd have him on the bench and slot him in when less-pressured opportunity arrives. I'm not suggesting that Ralph should tell his starters to empty their fuel tanks in the first half, but I'd certainly encourage them to be very aggressive - and I'd keep all of them on their natural side. He has several permutations if he needs to change things. Like a lot of others, I'd still like to see him try the duo of KWP and Livramento on the right, but the one with the more defensive remit should be KWP because he doesn't "switch off" and ball-watch the way Tino does. It's all come a bit fast for Tino, and I think he'd benefit from watching KWP for a couple of games.

I’m afraid I rather lost it the third time he did that. Failing to clear the first defender is a cardinal sin. And, while we’re on the topic of making ourselves vulnerable to fast breaks, it is cretinously stupid to get Salisu to take a throw in at the far right corner flag when his defensive remit is 120 yards away.

We've grown accustomed to Ralph fielding a decent starting line-up but failing to adjust properly or quickly enough at, or just after, half time. Today was the complete reverse. If Ralph wanted to play three up front, he had to use one of them to counter a side that uses a central defender to sweep and/or launch attacks - pushing one in on VVD and forcing him to mark rather than sweep and launch. As it was, the front three didn't dovetail together very well and didn't make things uncomfortable for VVD. That effectively took us down to 9 versus 11, which will never work against a side of Liverpool's quality. If Ralph wanted to counter aggressive wing backs he should have played touchline-hugging midfielders to give them something to think about other than bombing forward with abandon. Risky? Sure, but so was playing three strikers. As it was, our width came from Livramento and Perraud, but it made us so vulnerable to the wide counter. Ralph's changes were good, and he finally gave Tella a chance to prove his worth, which he did. Hopefully, it didn't pass unnoticed. We have the capability to be a very decent team, but not if we don't get BOTH our starting line-up and adjustments right.

It was eerily similar to Watford away. We were totally dominant in the first half, and then almost overrun in the second. The only difference was that, somehow, Watford didn't score. Chez, I'm not sure that the issue is "identifying areas weaknesses and addressing them during the break" because we didn't really have many in the first halves of those games. We'd been well on top and should have been several goals ahead. The issue is more Ralph's inability to respond effectively to the opposition's game-changing adjustments. It's almost like he's pre-planned his substitutions and is going to make them come hell or high water.

I voiced real concerns about him playing there after the Watford game, but nobody was having it. This IS NOT about whether Perraud is a better player than KWP - he certainly isn't. It's about the fact that we lose a lot of structural integrity when KWP is playing there. His "wrong foot" tackling and crossing are weak, and he ends up turning back or getting caught upfield. This forces Salisu to hedge his bets between covering KWP and defending, and that back-left quadrant looks way weaker. Watford sussed it at half time and so did Norwich.

Not sure I'd want to be going into a relegation dogfight with Dele and Barkley in my team - or some of the others being mentioned. They're loan-available for a reason.

They're trying to copy the Saudis, who did both at the same time when they bought Newcastle. Our business models align perfectly - we both buy stuff and sell it on at a profit. Pretty much done and dusted.