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So, that's now 13 points lost from winning positions


CanadaSaint
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I'm interested in constructive thoughts as to why this is happening (i.e., hopefully not stuff like "Adkins is out of his depth.")

 

Is it something we're doing or something the opposition is doing to us?

 

FWIW, as I said earlier, it's almost as though we've developed this "waiting for something to go wrong" mentality, which could figure into things because it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

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lack of mental willpower from the players to see through games which I feel stemmed from the Manchester games. to be in a winning position and so close to winning only to get nothing out of it has dented their confidence and make them doubt their ability to maintain leads in a game. everytime we take the lead the players just start having this niggling doubt that they're going to lose it and start making silly errors.

 

in a way, it's a complete contrast with teams high in confidence like Man Utd who even when behind they just know they can and will come back and win the game. hopefully we embark on a good run and start picking up points then confidence will pick up and the players will start trusting their ability to see out games.

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Late goals cost us last season too. I know over the course of a season you're bound to concede some late goals, but our inability to hold onto a lead is worrying. The team have no belief in themselves to go on and see the game out. The one major factor in this, for me, is the Captain. Lallana isn't a captain, nor a leader, and it shows. When Dyer scored yesterday the whole team looked down and looking around for inspiration, what was Lallana doing? Stood near the half way line with his hands on his hips.

 

We've been in a winning position in 6 of our 11 league matches this season, and we've only gone on to win 1. That's shocking, and especially when you look at the manner of throwing away the points too. Are we not training for 90 minute games? I was expecting us to have a right go at Swansea for the last 5-10 minutes, but we didn't, the players looked knackered and out of ideas.

 

Concentration is another key factor, and it's what separates the top players to the o.k. players. We have too many players who lose concentration at key moments, and in this division, you'll get punished for it.

 

I think this does come down to the manager, as well as the players, but mainly Nigel. Whatever happened to the "winning mentality" I don't know, but we seem scared of holding onto a lead. Unless this changes, we'll be going down

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I'm interested in constructive thoughts as to why this is happening (i.e., hopefully not stuff like "Adkins is out of his depth.")

 

Is it something we're doing or something the opposition is doing to us?

 

FWIW, as I said earlier, it's almost as though we've developed this "waiting for something to go wrong" mentality, which could figure into things because it can become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

 

Phil Thompson said something really interesting about players slipping. His view is that the players slip because they are behind in reading the game so desperately try and change direction or stop so lose traction. If they concentrated better and were reading the game, they would be more comfortable and less likely to slip. Particularly with reference to Fonte's slip trying to clear Defoe's shot past Boruc.

Edited by derry
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It seems to be the margin of error, which is much tighter than it was when we were previously in the Prem. I think we have too many players who have not played in a top League (England, Italy, Spain) before and that is what is telling. We played bloody well yesterday and I said to my mate five minutes before their goal if we get caught it will be a slip and a sucker punch, and so it was. The players are obviously learning quickly and Ramirez was a role model and focus for the team yesterday, but what I'd give for some experienced nous at centre half and centre midfield...

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