The Blobster
Prediction Champ
Change the b in brick for a P and you are spot on !
BURNLEY ON OUR TURF
- Thread starter The Blobster
- Start date
Gotta keep these guys fresh for the Leeds thrashing
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Bereft of any quality whatsoever
This is very much "little brother's got hold of the controller playing FIFA" territory
The Blobster
Prediction Champ
What a waste of an afternoon, bored to tears and pissed off with this bunch of no hopes.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Bland all around. Burnley doing nothing more than enough to get the result. We played like we didn’t we believe could. Bereft of quality, grit, determination and fundamental fuck-you. Our substitutions were just daft. Two strong attacking options on the bench and we swap defenders. Were we winning
This is why I thought Sheehan should make bolder changes since taking over. The team experienced the expected "old manager has gone" bounce and did well for 3 games, but faced with a little bit more adversity the old habits are coming back. They are reverting to type because Sheehan's changes are so minimal.
If I were in his position, I would make a drastic change to the shape and line-up even if I thought the 4-2-3-1 was actually the best idea, because the players need to feel the sea change. They need to be woken up from these bad old habits and patterns of ineffective play.
If the entire team composition was changed, everything they've come to rely on would go out the window, and that's exactly what needs to happen. They would have to start becoming creative again, thinking for themselves, and all Sheehan would need to do is be a cheerleader to keep confidence flowing and be a bit more proactive with subs and squad rotation to keep everyone engaged.
The wing-play model does not work in Swansea because Swansea's best players are not their wingers. The best players atm are O'Brien, Franco and Cullen, making a triangle right in the middle of the park. So why is the tactic to get the ball away from these guys and on to the feet of ineffective wingers? Vipotnik also prefers to play through the middle (check his Bordeaux highlights) and every single game he opens his body up to through balls which rarely come. He's always done that, and he's almost never gotten the service he clearly wants.
One other note - remember that weird moment when Sam Parker let a slow rolling ball go out for a throw in when he had all the time in the world to cross to a box full of white shirts? That has to be coached. Young players are usually overly enthusiastic to play with the ball and don't play "savvy" games like that. Why would any player forgo a free cross with multiple targets and zero marking for a throw in? Or even a corner?
This team are bad at set pieces (17th overall), but it feels like Parker and the others have been told to play for them. Before Williams left, Sheehan was the set piece coach. Maybe it's his pride talking?
If I were in his position, I would make a drastic change to the shape and line-up even if I thought the 4-2-3-1 was actually the best idea, because the players need to feel the sea change. They need to be woken up from these bad old habits and patterns of ineffective play.
If the entire team composition was changed, everything they've come to rely on would go out the window, and that's exactly what needs to happen. They would have to start becoming creative again, thinking for themselves, and all Sheehan would need to do is be a cheerleader to keep confidence flowing and be a bit more proactive with subs and squad rotation to keep everyone engaged.
The wing-play model does not work in Swansea because Swansea's best players are not their wingers. The best players atm are O'Brien, Franco and Cullen, making a triangle right in the middle of the park. So why is the tactic to get the ball away from these guys and on to the feet of ineffective wingers? Vipotnik also prefers to play through the middle (check his Bordeaux highlights) and every single game he opens his body up to through balls which rarely come. He's always done that, and he's almost never gotten the service he clearly wants.
One other note - remember that weird moment when Sam Parker let a slow rolling ball go out for a throw in when he had all the time in the world to cross to a box full of white shirts? That has to be coached. Young players are usually overly enthusiastic to play with the ball and don't play "savvy" games like that. Why would any player forgo a free cross with multiple targets and zero marking for a throw in? Or even a corner?
This team are bad at set pieces (17th overall), but it feels like Parker and the others have been told to play for them. Before Williams left, Sheehan was the set piece coach. Maybe it's his pride talking?
What's talking, and very loudly, is his obvious lack of expertise. Seems like he was a shit set-piece coach and if he carries on making mistakes such as he has, he'll very quickly prove himself to be a shit first team coach. I've already seen enough to tell me that he's not the man for the job; he has neither the experience nor the ability we need and some of his decision making, particularly in respect of subs, defies belief and all logic. Yet another person in football who should know a damn sight more than he actually does. The game is full of them.
We were never at the races against a Burnley team who offered nothing more than routine professional performance. It didn't help when we missed gilt edged chances such as Roland's easy header which could have given us a foothold in the game and the referee didn't help either. Some stats:
POSSESSION: 56-44 SHOTS: 5-12 OT: 1-5 BLOCKED: 2-4 BOX TOUCHES: 22-26 SAVES: 2-1 CORNERS: 4-4 FOULS: 12-12 WON TACKLES: 15-10 CLEARANCES: 16-45 ACCURATE PASSES: 366-300 SUCCESSFUL FINAL THIRD PASSES: 79-84 CROSSES: 22-14 GOALS: 0-2
With teams below us picking up points we're now in a vulnerable position particularly as we have some tough fixtures in the offing. Sheehan and his squad have got some serious work ahead and they'd better apply themselves better than they have done in the last two games.
POSSESSION: 56-44 SHOTS: 5-12 OT: 1-5 BLOCKED: 2-4 BOX TOUCHES: 22-26 SAVES: 2-1 CORNERS: 4-4 FOULS: 12-12 WON TACKLES: 15-10 CLEARANCES: 16-45 ACCURATE PASSES: 366-300 SUCCESSFUL FINAL THIRD PASSES: 79-84 CROSSES: 22-14 GOALS: 0-2
With teams below us picking up points we're now in a vulnerable position particularly as we have some tough fixtures in the offing. Sheehan and his squad have got some serious work ahead and they'd better apply themselves better than they have done in the last two games.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Based on observation alone, the number of passes that are either passes to nowhere or miss-hit is substantially larger than with other teams. Is that a fair observation? Why is that? Are we that technically deficient, or unfocused, or flustered to play what appears to be a substantially greater degree of poor football. And crossing ... another matter of deficit entirely.
Another thing I find frustrating is that we appear to roll a lot of passes, especially across the back line, instead of sending them crisply ... the result being is that by the time the ball gets to the receiver one or more opposition players have seen it, had time to get on their bike, and are containing, closing down or shortening the time the receiver as on the ball. To me, if you know you're going to make a pass, pass it, and do it with authority. It's not like the pitches are nothing but trodden mud from box to box like decades ago, and the ball can take the odd bounce or skip; they are carpets relatively speaking.
Another thing I find frustrating is that we appear to roll a lot of passes, especially across the back line, instead of sending them crisply ... the result being is that by the time the ball gets to the receiver one or more opposition players have seen it, had time to get on their bike, and are containing, closing down or shortening the time the receiver as on the ball. To me, if you know you're going to make a pass, pass it, and do it with authority. It's not like the pitches are nothing but trodden mud from box to box like decades ago, and the ball can take the odd bounce or skip; they are carpets relatively speaking.
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I think you are right.
Obviously.
That's because the players are technically deficient. Have you noticed that none of them is able to control the ball when the pass is sent with a little bit more pace and they have to receive it?
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Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Sheehan has stated that you practice as you want to play. With so many players absent during the break and injured, the only thing that can really be worked on with the balance of the squad is conditioning, movement off the ball and technical skills.
I have commented on the quality of our passing a number of times in the recent past. I made exactly the same point that, because we were just rolling the ball to a team mate, opponents were either intercepting the pass or tackling our player the moment he received it - the term "hospital pass" comes readily to mind. I was pleading for us to put more pace on the ball, more zip, as this was happening far too often. I also commented that if a player is unable to take in and control such a pass then he's no business to be playing professional football.
You can't put talent into a player that doesn't have it but you can improve technique with intensive coaching and drills even if this means the players staying longer at training sessions. Why shouldn't they anyway? It's their career, their living and they get damned well paid for doing it. Anyone not prepared to do it should be shown the door and pdq at that.
You can't put talent into a player that doesn't have it but you can improve technique with intensive coaching and drills even if this means the players staying longer at training sessions. Why shouldn't they anyway? It's their career, their living and they get damned well paid for doing it. Anyone not prepared to do it should be shown the door and pdq at that.
Definitely not at this level.
If players like Beckham, Christiano Ronaldo and Zlatan (just to name a few of the top players) could stay longer at training sessions to improve their already excellent technique, then our lot should do the same.
I'd feel embarrassed if I was playing in front of so many people all the time and calling myself a professional footballer, if I wasn't up to doing basic things like passing, crossing and shooting accurately.
But many professional footballers are so thick they don't possess the capacity to be embarrassed. Most of them are only interested in the size of their weekly pay check. The question of whether they earned it or deserved it doesn't even enter their minds. It's why so many managers/coaches/scouts look first for character and attitude in a player as opposed to their ability or talent. The latter is useless in a player who can't be bothered to apply it.
This is not just my opinion by the way. I have heard many, many top people in the game say as much.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
If I was Tymon only thing I would do with my left foot for the next 10 days is stand on it. Every touch of the ball would be done with my right. Similarly for other players. Put their dominant foot on hold and only use their off-foot. So many opportunities and impetus are lost to cross the ball because a player is too weak or lacks confidence in their off-foot. Any improvement in this regard would be significantly beneficial.
Echoing @ivoralljack and @CroJack, I feel daft having to suggest this at this level but it's so frustrating to watch pro's time and again forego the obvious play for a dominant foot pass backwards.
Echoing @ivoralljack and @CroJack, I feel daft having to suggest this at this level but it's so frustrating to watch pro's time and again forego the obvious play for a dominant foot pass backwards.
This is Tymon's biggest shortcoming. So many moves break down for the want of a weak-foot pass.