Saint86

Better. But not good enough. Another travesty of defending and goalkeeping to cost us the game. 1 shot on target and a goal for boro... oh how i haven't missed macca being beaten at his near post

Adam blackmore and Tessem really are a shit pair of commentators does have to be say.

Macca there. Almost did one of his specials ffs.

Blimey... The defence....

Currently committing a slaughter away at Fulham 🔥🔥🔥

https://www.followfollow.com/forum/threads/ive-never-hated-a-manager-until-now.309109/ Wow...

Agreed, that was the best performance in a very long time. Since the playoffs at least.

Well they're hardly going to pick them up and walk off are they...

It was one of the best team performances we've had in the past 2years. But fundamentally its a better team. Even playing with 9men second half (downs and robinson were non-existent or even helped liverpool) and Macca in goal - which just shows that at least the rest of that team is at a higher standard than previous seasons.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Macca is the worse keeper of the two. He's a liability that will give away goals or horror passes multiple times per match and without warning. Bazunu's shot stopping isn't as strong, fine, but his all around play is far superior - he is better with the ball at his feet, he will sweep the back line and through balls, and his kicking/distribution is very good for the level we're at. That brings a calmness. Its the defences job to stop shots - the chance he parried back into the box vs Hull is 3 defensive fucks ups before its Baz's fault - the cross comes in unchallenged, 2 of our players fail spectacularly to mark or win the header that THB in particularly should be a favourite for, and then Stephen's is ball watching for the reboud. Its a car crash. And then its also rinse and repeat for the rest of the defending that led to the other goals. The baz haters then blame bazunu for the shit fest that is in front of him - when the error macca made is far far worse, and is a major reason why we didn't get to pens last night - instead had to come from behind to try and get back into the game. Reality is that we went from what should have been a 1 -0 lead to being 0-1 down in the space of half a minute. And the goal we conceded was yet another howler. Nothing is more unsettling for a defence than a keeper that can't be relied on to sweep up lose balls and provide reliable and safe distribution. What is more frustrating is that we can play that well against Liverpool (albeit it rotated) but we'll likely go back to being disjointed and cack vs Boro.

Notably, Downs and Robinson showed they are not ready for this kind of level.

Agreed. But hes a good player for champ level (not for the prem) which is where we are. He offers very good delivery in the final 3rd - and its our CB and GKs that are costing us matches, not manning at LB.

Another game lost to a defensive or gk error. A very bad joke. Downs looks like a shell of a player - clearly struggling for confidence. Charles, Downes, Quarshie, and Manning all had good games imo. Jelert as well looks decent.

Quarshie superb there.

Archer just isn't up to it for me. Need to start playing AA or Stewart as the main striker.

I can't overly disagree. Manning the only remaining defender from Martinball that i'm okay with playing.

The difference is we executed a fantastic bit of play to generate our 2 shots... Macca basically passed to the most expensive player in British football history whilst under next to no pressure, all inside the 6yard box. Its just appalling. Who knows, maybe we will actually get a new GK in january and sell THB and the rest of the season will be golden and we'll do a reading under mcdermot.

Agreed. Macca is a calamity. Bazunu has to be let down by his defence first - macca just gives goals away left right and centre by fucking insane lapses in judgement/concentration.

And that Archer header (that he misses) - i reckon that if that was stewart he scores.

Like FFS. Can we just play a game without gifting the opposition multiple defensive fuck ups? Its a joke at this point. Teams don't even have to play well against us - they just wait for us to gift a goal.

Honestly think we need to not play THB or Macca again (or at least for a very long time until the rest of the team has settled). Stephens and Quarshie for a back pairing for me - and i'm in two minds about dropping stephens as well... the scar of martinball on our defence is just horrendous.

You just cant account for the damage Russel martin has done to the club - especially the defence. Even now, ages after he was sacked, we're still being done by Martin era play. He has ruined THB, macca as well (if ever there was a keeper that shouldn't have been doing martinball its him). Just a car crash. Gutting as well as that was a very respectable first half.

You guys are going to be shocked when we keep a clean sheet for 90min...

I think fundamentally we have 1 player that appears to be significantly damaged by a loss of confidence and form by Martin's football and what it delivered damage wise last season. And that is THB. He is a shell of the player he was previously. With THB playing as he is, and with Stephens and Manning alongside him, we are absolutely horrendous at the back. Stephens is just about okay (and in fairness to him, he has been leading on the pitch and does seem to have shrugged off last season), but he is along way from being a great defender even at championship level. Manning cannot defend at all - and as good as his attacking output can be, what we need right now is a solid left back. And THB is just an absolute calamity in the middle of defence at the moment. Way forward? On paper, we have very good and skillfull attacking players - Fellows, Scienza, Robinson - these are all pacey wingers that enjoy carrying the ball, running at defenders, and who have end product in and around the box. Fraser as well is a solid winger at this level, and i've been impressed with his effort and fitness this season so far. In front of them, what we do have is pace and movement - Archer and Armstrong obviously, but also Stewart (when fit) is a pretty damn mobile target man. As a result - our attackers are not best suited to a high line - they want to be running at teams, or running in behind teams - that means we need to not push up as high in general terms, and give teams every opportunity to move up the pitch and leave space in behind. With respect to midfield - we have 4 quality central midfielders for this level - Charles, Downes, Jander, and Azaz. Between them they are a great mix of creativity, through passing, and general ball recycling. Charles in particular can do a more defensive role and has the making of a very good box to box midfielder in my eyes. Downes as well is perhaps better suited to a defensive role (as opposed to pushing up to support the attack). The other key issue we're seeing already, is that Azaz is struggling being pushed so far forward in the 10 - he is having bodies happy to mark him out of the game, we aren't finding him with the ball, and he is struggling to influence the game - needs to be player deeper in a central midfield role (if we want to use him as the playmaker) and allowed space to create players and float around - arriving at the box when he wants, supporting wide players when he wants, and dropping deeper to collect the ball and start moves. We've bought a playmaker - trust him and free him to be allowed to play - Jander is similar with regards to his passing and playmaking attributes. Defensively, our CBs are slow and struggle in the air - with the exception of Quarshie, and this makes him an absolute must start in my eyes. He gives us pace and physicality, and an answer to the long out ball over the top and the aerial threat that keeps upsetting us (think bishop / mcburnie etc.) But we also need a deeper anchor man in midfield to help mop up flick ons from target men and to support the defence in clearing up after the initial challenge. I would therefore look at one of two formations for us. Either a 4-2-2-2 (with wider wingers, one central defensive/disciplined mid and one deeper lying creative central mid - azaz/jander, and a deeper lying target man (Stewart/downs). Or, a 4-1-2-2-1 (with a CDM/anchor man - downes, one supporting central midfielder - Charles), and again a deeper creative player in central mid (azaz) allowed to find space/roam and dictate play). Again, i would go with 2 wide wingers - and then pick the striker to suit the opposition. Within both formations, task the full backs as undertaking a supporting role - not being tasked with getting all the way up to the byline and leaving us open. And free the wingers to do just the attacking - with movement and support coming from central midfield and the striker. Deploy the high press selectively to win back ball, but don't adopt such a high line (thereby not exposing our weaker defence and encouraging teams to step up). Then aim to move the ball quickly up the pitch, let our attacking players run and carry the ball forward, make use of supporting runs to get bodies arriving in the box, and absolutely play to use the counter at all times its on. I know its pretty basic - but we need to get the basics right ffs. The problem i have with still currently, is that i'm really struggling to see any patterns of play developing, and he seems blind to what are abundantly obvious defensive weaknesses.

Sadly, the recent seasons are absolutely costing the club young fans.