mrfahaji

Didn't Hoedt make a comment that they never did any defensive drills under Hughes? Maybe he's one of the few happy ones. After the Cardiff game I'm surprised you still hate him, he looks to be one of the better ones (which is quite a remarkable situation).

Not sure that's a free hit, though, is it? I'd say that's the best outcome anyone would hope for!

Cosimo Sarli?

Yep, which in itself is a worry. I'm a believer that you need some pace in ANY sytem, and I don't think we've signed anyone who has it since we signed Mane (and no, Redmond doesn't have it before anyone tries to claim that...) Cheers Les.

I don't think I've ever seen such a catalogue of defensive errors. Virtually all their chances came from one of our defenders screwing up a simple pass. Unforgivable stuff. The goal was the icing on the cake - and people wonder why Hoedt gets a game...! Going forward we play ok but we don't have any pace whatsoever, so it's so easy for them to defend against - they just crowd us and we forced to play ridiculously intricate football which inevitably leads to losing the ball. Will be amazing if we survive. We have a handful of decent players going forward, but we don't have a good enough range of options and our defenders are shambolic. That wasn't the system today and it wasn't zonal marking. It was a bunch a sh1t footballers somehow getting a game in the Premier League.

Defenders taking it in turns to put it on a plate for Cardiff...

I know it wasn’t a great ball from Valery but when there isn’t an obvious pass to a free man I’m ok with players trying to put it across the goal, there’s always a chance of a defender missing or mis-hitting it

I think we would lose with that side under Hughes. So I hope whatever he has tried to instill in the squad this week works, and this is the right team for it.

Wondering if Austin impressed with his cameo appearance on Wednesday, but Hasenhuttl doesn’t realise he is terrible if he starts.

Doesn't necessarily equate with laziness - plenty of managers let their coaches do most of the work on the training ground. However, I think it's fair to say that Hughes has never been regarded as a master tactician, so in his case it begs the question of what he actually did/does. Probably explains why in the short term he was able to motivate the players but after a while it wore off.

But we don't get in that position without Redmond being positive and running at their defence. I appreciate it's a grey area, because everything is connected in football - maybe the person who passed it to Redmond should also get an assist, and the person before that etc - but I think it's unfair to dismiss his contribution in this case because it was because of Redmond that we ended up in their box rather than on the half way line passing it sideways.

And on the flip side, we might not have conceded the second goal to Spurs if any of our players had been a bit more 'rash', instead of hesitating to attack the second ball before Moura took his second bite.

Probably true - but Hughes happened to be the person available at short notice who came in and did that. Jeff is claiming that even Pellegrino would have kept us up. There's no way to disprove that theory of course, but I'm surprised anyone who watched the matches didn't notice a change in attitude from the players.

While I don't disagree with the sentiment of your post - he certainly has been a lot better this season - a successful dribble isn't end product.

Just because Austin scored and came close to more doesn't mean he should start. In fact, it's precisely the reason he shouldn't. Due to his lack of fitness he burns out faster than everyone else so is always at a disadvantage. If he comes on with 20 minutes to go he is fresh against tiring defenders, and there might just be a place for someone of his ilk. Funny/depressing that this has been so blindingly obvious all season and it's taken this long to see it in action.

Zonal marking isn’t necessarily bad though - putting men on the posts is a form of it. But if it’s not coached properly then it’s a disaster, and is more obvious when it goes wrong.

Activate his break clause immediately

Lol

That's ridiculous, surely you watched the games and could see the difference? I'm pretty sure saldoldgit made a similar point and I thought he was the only person making that ludicrous argument! As somebody who actually defended your point of view in the summer, and discussed your points with an open mind rather than shutting you down as being negative etc, I do find your reluctance to give him credit for ANYTHING a bit odd. It suggests to me that you just hate him no matter what. People have mentioned the hotel shenanigans in Swansea, and Hughes appeared to deal with that very well, and those marginal things can a make a difference on such a crucial occasion. But I suppose Pellegrino might have dealt with it well too - so credit void!

Quite. I just hope you read my 'lucky coincidence' comment with the sarcasm it was intended...

Tadic, the man who hadn't played well for best part of 2 seasons and miraculously found his form under Hughes? That was a lucky coincidence.

Of all the names I heard mentioned, Hasenhuttl was the one I was excited by. Flores would have been a "I like him, hopefully he'll do well" but nothing more. Most of the other names doing the rounds bored and scared me.

Exciting appointment. He doesn't have a lot to work with, but at least he has a track record of a high intensity style of play. I wonder if anyone is willing to give credit to Krueger for this? Perhaps not having a 'football person' overseeing things didn't really matter, and perhaps Krueger is more decisive than meets the eye (or the ear, based on his interviews...)

I think Krueger was just talking about himself in the third person