| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. 10:34 - Jan 23 with 3343 views | CityBlue |
So I have been analysing the last few games and trying to identify a theme for our drop in good results. (Using my UEFA A license head combined with my other scouting related skills).
First off, we are still playing attractive football and attracting great comments from each organisation we face - this doe not get us promoted though. (Good guys finish last).
After the Charlton game it was evident their were fragilities at the back and in the system when facing teams who increase their pressure to a more direct mode - and we have seen teams look to try this tactic against us at Portman Road. Not helped by fans yelling "get rid of it" and also does ask a lot of a keeper acting in the sweeper role.
The strength in our tactics is our in game rotating back line/wing back roles.
Our weakness is our inability to break from this style of play when we face this pressure. Our on field answer has been for the second of the double pivots (Evans in this case) to drop to a DMF role and almost sit ahead of an improvised back four (made up from one of the wing backs slotting in).
With Evans sitting deeper it asks more of Morsy and his only support will come from one of the number tens. You can now see the theme - attack Ipswich in a direct mode and the threat from the Ipswich engine is stopped. Ladapo on his own with only one number ten and no width in the middle makes for a hard time. The answer here would be to actually look to rotate in to a 433 for short spells to maintain a solid back line, plenty of middle support for Morsy (two players) whilst offering width up front as we push forward. This would need Burns to push forward into a winger role and potentially release Davis to push forward to support Morsy and our new number ten push out to the left wing Broadhead?
Of course these are my own opinions and we all have them. Ideally we need to be able to flex the system to still be able to stop these late goals whilst offering a credible threat. |  |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:41 - Jan 23 with 3280 views | homer_123 |
At the risk of over simplifying things.
Is it just a case of not putting the ball in the onion bag?
Saturday, case in point. Possibly the worst we have played under KM? Yet, four of five clear cut chances from inside 10 yards, we squander.
Even if we still gifted them both goals, a 3-2 or 4-2 win it should have been at worst.
That's not to discount your analysis by the way, nor that at least one of the goals we conceded from Saturday should have been averted.
But Saturday, illustrates so clearly why we aren't 1st or 2nd - we create more than enough chances to win games and win easily - we don't put the ball in the back of the net. This then exacerbates our slight defensive issues, though if you look at goals conceded, it really isn't that bad.
Shooting boots are needed. [Post edited 23 Jan 2023 13:03]
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:42 - Jan 23 with 3268 views | CityBlue |
I should add the 433 in this case is actually a modified 4231 - would need a diagram to fully explain roles etc | |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:44 - Jan 23 with 3254 views | Basuco |
Over the course of a season most teams have a "blip" it can be a slow start, mid-season or tail off badly at the end of the season. So I am not overly concerned at the moment, new players have to get used to our systems and patterns of play, so for me Feb is the big month when we really need to get right back to top form again and continue to the end of the season. |  | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:48 - Jan 23 with 3193 views | SWGF |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:44 - Jan 23 by Basuco |
Over the course of a season most teams have a "blip" it can be a slow start, mid-season or tail off badly at the end of the season. So I am not overly concerned at the moment, new players have to get used to our systems and patterns of play, so for me Feb is the big month when we really need to get right back to top form again and continue to the end of the season. |
Problem being we need one of the two teams above us (and potentially the one below) to have blips significant enough for us to catch/overtake them, and for our own form to pick up enough. Concern is, currently, the top two don't look like blipping. |  |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:07 - Jan 23 with 3073 views | tractorboy1978 |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:48 - Jan 23 by SWGF |
Problem being we need one of the two teams above us (and potentially the one below) to have blips significant enough for us to catch/overtake them, and for our own form to pick up enough. Concern is, currently, the top two don't look like blipping. |
Things will be much clearer after the Sheff Wed game. If we win the next two games against Morecambe/Cambridge we will definitely be in a better position as Plymouth don't play tomorrow and face off against Sheff Wed after that. We could easily be either 4 points off Plymouth or 1/2 points off Sheffield Wednesday if we beat them. Suddenly that looks much less daunting and very doable. |  | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:13 - Jan 23 with 3028 views | Metal_Hacker |
For me we simply lack some composure not necessarily just in the final third of the pitch but in the penalty area
How do you teach composure ? Is it a skill set you've either got or not ? I'd say it's a bit of both but we've lacked it most of this season
Defensive frailties aside as per Homer , we lack that "shooting boots" requirement when it's most needed |  |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:15 - Jan 23 with 2999 views | bobbyramsey |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:44 - Jan 23 by Basuco |
Over the course of a season most teams have a "blip" it can be a slow start, mid-season or tail off badly at the end of the season. So I am not overly concerned at the moment, new players have to get used to our systems and patterns of play, so for me Feb is the big month when we really need to get right back to top form again and continue to the end of the season. |
Long ol' blip this one........ |  | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:18 - Jan 23 with 2966 views | wrightsrightglove |
Confidence cannot be understated in sport, particularly where you’re dealing with such fine margins. Players aren’t playing that risky pass that they were earlier in the season, they’re not taking that shot on, and the management team aren’t making those wholesale changes when we need to push on and win the game. A few wins and a bit of a run and we’ll be flying again. It’s so important that we go all out tomorrow for a big win [Post edited 23 Jan 2023 11:33]
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:31 - Jan 23 with 2859 views | Simonds92 |
For me its when we reverted to 4 at the back. I think we've lost a bit of solidity. Paul Cooks Ipswich Town, were, at times, unplayable at this level, but we were undone by our openness at the back and the inability to grind out results. McKenna went with 3 CBs for a long period of time and we hardly looked like conceding a goal. We seem to have reverted to conceding really poor goals and id just like us to go back to basics, we concede far too many goals to win promotion. | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:22 - Jan 23 with 2625 views | Bramidan |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:31 - Jan 23 by Simonds92 |
For me its when we reverted to 4 at the back. I think we've lost a bit of solidity. Paul Cooks Ipswich Town, were, at times, unplayable at this level, but we were undone by our openness at the back and the inability to grind out results. McKenna went with 3 CBs for a long period of time and we hardly looked like conceding a goal. We seem to have reverted to conceding really poor goals and id just like us to go back to basics, we concede far too many goals to win promotion. |
One think I’ve noticed over the past few games where we have been beaten is that in tackles if the ball is not won cleanly the tackled player always seems to get the bounce and retains the ball. It almost seems as if the attacking player runs through our defenders.
Is this a coaching issue or are our defenders simply not strong enough for the rigours of League 1? | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:29 - Jan 23 with 2548 views | TalkingBlues |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:41 - Jan 23 by homer_123 |
At the risk of over simplifying things.
Is it just a case of not putting the ball in the onion bag?
Saturday, case in point. Possibly the worst we have played under KM? Yet, four of five clear cut chances from inside 10 yards, we squander.
Even if we still gifted them both goals, a 3-2 or 4-2 win it should have been at worst.
That's not to discount your analysis by the way, nor that at least one of the goals we conceded from Saturday should have been averted.
But Saturday, illustrates so clearly why we aren't 1st or 2nd - we create more than enough chances to win games and win easily - we don't put the ball in the back of the net. This then exacerbates our slight defensive issues, though if you look at goals conceded, it really isn't that bad.
Shooting boots are needed. [Post edited 23 Jan 2023 13:03]
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I've said a hundred times that our failure to score puts the defence under greater pressure, particularly at the end of games and is probably why we concede so many in the last 30 of matches, they're all nervous about making a mistake, when they should be playing freely with the comfort of a 1, 2, 3 goal cushion. However, that doesn't excuse the other parts of the match, the back line have looked dodgy for a while and that first goal from Oxford was like watching a Benny Hill sketch and there wasn't any pressure at that stage, just really poor defending by all three CB's, it was a flashback to the days when we were relegated. |  |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:43 - Jan 23 with 2445 views | SamWhiteUK |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:31 - Jan 23 by Simonds92 |
For me its when we reverted to 4 at the back. I think we've lost a bit of solidity. Paul Cooks Ipswich Town, were, at times, unplayable at this level, but we were undone by our openness at the back and the inability to grind out results. McKenna went with 3 CBs for a long period of time and we hardly looked like conceding a goal. We seem to have reverted to conceding really poor goals and id just like us to go back to basics, we concede far too many goals to win promotion. |
And yet we've conceded fewer than the team at the top. |  | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:50 - Jan 23 with 2389 views | Simonds92 |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:22 - Jan 23 by Bramidan |
One think I’ve noticed over the past few games where we have been beaten is that in tackles if the ball is not won cleanly the tackled player always seems to get the bounce and retains the ball. It almost seems as if the attacking player runs through our defenders.
Is this a coaching issue or are our defenders simply not strong enough for the rigours of League 1? |
Yeah we are soft, we dont have a commanding CB who takes control of the situation defensively. The lad walked through 3 of our defenders for their first goal on Saturday. | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:55 - Jan 23 with 2339 views | xrayspecs |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:41 - Jan 23 by homer_123 |
At the risk of over simplifying things.
Is it just a case of not putting the ball in the onion bag?
Saturday, case in point. Possibly the worst we have played under KM? Yet, four of five clear cut chances from inside 10 yards, we squander.
Even if we still gifted them both goals, a 3-2 or 4-2 win it should have been at worst.
That's not to discount your analysis by the way, nor that at least one of the goals we conceded from Saturday should have been averted.
But Saturday, illustrates so clearly why we aren't 1st or 2nd - we create more than enough chances to win games and win easily - we don't put the ball in the back of the net. This then exacerbates our slight defensive issues, though if you look at goals conceded, it really isn't that bad.
Shooting boots are needed. [Post edited 23 Jan 2023 13:03]
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This.
We create enough chances to win most games comfortably.
We are not clinical enough in front of goal. This has been the case all season.
KM acknowledged this in his comments about recruiting Broadhead and Hirst.
That is all. | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 13:27 - Jan 23 with 2145 views | FrimleyBlue |
We just don't seem to learn. Think that's the most annoying aspect of the form.
Only a few games ago, Wolfy smashes a shot onto the bar from his laces from 4 yards out. ( That's not a moan btw, he's a defender, thats what they do )
This weekend Harness then Burns smash theirs high, from their laces. There's no calm finishing. Burns's goal last week. looks great when it flies in of course, but there was no control over that goal, it's great it's gone in, but it very easily could have ended like saturdays efforts. It's pot luck when you smash it as hard as you can with your laces. But imo they're the fine lines between scoring 1-2 more goals than we ended up scoring.
Personally, KM is doing the right things, we're still playing as well as we have done all season, but those given the task of popping that ball into the net, just aren't doing it enough when it matters, and those at the back are struggling. It's not just Burgess, but walton is haven't a torrid time, handling is still best in league imo, but shot stopping hasn't been great all season for some reason. We're not conceding to many chances, but when they do have them, we need him back to his 21/22 form, keeping them out from all angles. Why's he struggling? only he really knows the answer to that. The Burgess problem is imo a bit tougher to sort. He's one of the best in the air, but he's incredibly flat footed and is so easy to run towards. Do we swap for Edmundson? Last seasons, absolutely, but when ever he's played this season, he's been an accident waiting to happen, even in the Rotherham game, he played a part in the Keogh foul, We need a combination of Burgess and Edmundson to partner Wolfenden.. but can we get that in January, but also does KM want another CB when he's got 5 already.
Our CM pairing, there's something missing. And it's neither players fault.
With Evans you have calming influence on the ball, spraying balls left right, direct, creating attacks. With Morsy it's calm, solid, and keeps hold of the ball..... but having 2 of them, seems we're missing a third CM almost. Morsy has tried to be that driving midfielder, at times he's also become a deep sitting play maker, it varies. But what he isn't and neither is Evans, is a box to box midfielder imo, so many opportunities recently with Morsy to score, but not taken - it's not his fault, he's never been a prolific goal scoring midfielder, 29 goals in 430 games. Lee Evans 26 in 295 games. If we're having one of our CM's getting forwards, surely we have to be looking for someone who can offer a better return on the scoring front.
We're almost there with the squad, I think Broadhead will hopefully be that calming clinical 10 that we just don't have in Harness. [Post edited 23 Jan 2023 13:36]
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 13:37 - Jan 23 with 2049 views | Simonds92 |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:55 - Jan 23 by xrayspecs |
This.
We create enough chances to win most games comfortably.
We are not clinical enough in front of goal. This has been the case all season.
KM acknowledged this in his comments about recruiting Broadhead and Hirst.
That is all. |
As much as we do not take our chances we also are not clinical enough in the defensive area of the pitch which is the real problem. You shouldn't be having to score 3 or 4 goals to win a game.
https://footystats.org/england/efl-league-one/clean-sheets-table | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 13:43 - Jan 23 with 2005 views | southnorfolkblue |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 11:31 - Jan 23 by Simonds92 |
For me its when we reverted to 4 at the back. I think we've lost a bit of solidity. Paul Cooks Ipswich Town, were, at times, unplayable at this level, but we were undone by our openness at the back and the inability to grind out results. McKenna went with 3 CBs for a long period of time and we hardly looked like conceding a goal. We seem to have reverted to conceding really poor goals and id just like us to go back to basics, we concede far too many goals to win promotion. |
Added to that I would say that Burns looks more effective coming from a slightly deeper position. He excelled when we played more of 3-4-3 than a 4-2-3-1 | |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 13:48 - Jan 23 with 1959 views | homer_123 |
I've posted on this before though. The way KM has us setup, means that we are asking our defenders to play out from the back, start the attacking play, with our wide defenders pushing forward.
Therefore, the defenders that KM wants as more ball playing defenders than the more out and out MM type defender. Ergo, you will find that we are little less effective defensively with this type of player. We have L1 defenders, they are not going to be able to do both jobs really well, it's a trade off.
KM believes that it's a worthy trade off and if we were better at converting, he's be spot on.
The challenge he has is that by tweaking the approach to be a little more defensive, it will likely result in us not being quite as creative going forward. | |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 14:09 - Jan 23 with 1859 views | Pinewoodblue |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:55 - Jan 23 by xrayspecs |
This.
We create enough chances to win most games comfortably.
We are not clinical enough in front of goal. This has been the case all season.
KM acknowledged this in his comments about recruiting Broadhead and Hirst.
That is all. |
We don’t score enough ugly goals, nor do we force enough fouls in our opponents penalty area. |  |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 14:16 - Jan 23 with 1828 views | Exiled2Surrey |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 12:22 - Jan 23 by Bramidan |
One think I’ve noticed over the past few games where we have been beaten is that in tackles if the ball is not won cleanly the tackled player always seems to get the bounce and retains the ball. It almost seems as if the attacking player runs through our defenders.
Is this a coaching issue or are our defenders simply not strong enough for the rigours of League 1? |
Before I make this point, I will reiterate that I understand we are likely to be a better team with 11 players on the pitch. But I think it is interesting that we have had no red cards this season (if you ignore the joke one for Edwards in the pizza cup). We do not seem to be as on the edge as any of the other sides in the division. Maybe that is just we have more skilful tacklers in the team than others - or maybe we are more worried about the card risk so are marginally less aggressive. Dunno | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 16:46 - Jan 23 with 1605 views | homer_123 |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 14:09 - Jan 23 by Pinewoodblue |
We don’t score enough ugly goals, nor do we force enough fouls in our opponents penalty area. |
Given the chances we create, we don't need to be scoring ugly goals though.
4 or 5 guilt edged, on a plate, inside 10 yard opportunities missed against Oxford and it is not the first time. | |
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| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 17:43 - Jan 23 with 1521 views | Simonds92 |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 13:48 - Jan 23 by homer_123 |
I've posted on this before though. The way KM has us setup, means that we are asking our defenders to play out from the back, start the attacking play, with our wide defenders pushing forward.
Therefore, the defenders that KM wants as more ball playing defenders than the more out and out MM type defender. Ergo, you will find that we are little less effective defensively with this type of player. We have L1 defenders, they are not going to be able to do both jobs really well, it's a trade off.
KM believes that it's a worthy trade off and if we were better at converting, he's be spot on.
The challenge he has is that by tweaking the approach to be a little more defensive, it will likely result in us not being quite as creative going forward. |
That's fine, but in a lot of cases its really basic mistakes we're making, and it doesnt come from being hit on the counter because of the style of play. | | | |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 07:31 - Jan 25 with 1191 views | CityBlue |
| What has changed/is changing to damage our form. on 10:42 - Jan 23 by CityBlue |
I should add the 433 in this case is actually a modified 4231 - would need a diagram to fully explain roles etc |
….again, it looks like I was n the money.
Dynamic wing backs, width across the three with broadhead wide and Keogh in the back line allowing Evans and Morsy the confidence to push on. | |
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