Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Agree on the centre backs, maybe I've come to expect them to make an error but I'm not convinced by either, we should get an experienced left back, we shouldn't be relying on a 17 year old with a handful of games all season, especially if we end up in a relegation scrap. Clyne however is getting better and better and proving himself to be an excellent right back. My biggest issue with Clyne last season at Palace and early on this season is his positioning. It cost us early on, as did a few untimely slips (poor choice of studs), but it's certainly getting better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 We are now playing teams in the shonky end of the prem and having already played the best teams we've been tested and have wised up, especially in defence. We've also had time to bed in the new imports and have a fairly good injury situation at the moment. Also for the first time this season we have got that magic ingredient - confidence - so hopefully we'll push on from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 I also think that we have now got to grips with the speed of the premiership, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 A combination but one of the biggest differences for me is that we are hunting in packs and getting plenty of players close to the ball in all the phases with plenty of movement, plus a lot less backwards and sideways in front of the opposition whilst especially Ramirez, Puncheon and Lallana when in possession drive forward at the opposition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 The switch to the 505 formation has also helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank's cousin Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 The switch to the 505 formation has also helped. Think at times against the magpies it was more 2 2 6 but lets not fall out aout it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 The switch to the 505 formation has also helped. Where does the midfield centre-back play in that formation? #confused Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Where does the midfield centre-back play in that formation? #confused He crabs along the back four, left to right and then right to left, never changing his pace or direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 He crabs along the back four, left to right and then right to left, never changing his pace or direction. Gotcha; Ray Wilkins in style but built like Terry Butcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Gotcha; Ray Wilkins in style but built like Terry Butcher. Dan Seaborn was the best candidate for the role but 'The Committe' sent him out on loan, FFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldbarbarian Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 dropping Guly & Fox, the return of Cork also Ramirez & Puncheon starting to shine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersubpuckett Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 5 - QPR and Newcastle were properly shyte and 8 - we're starting to gel as a team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingwing Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Cork being back is key, he is the Messiah, everything has gotten better with one amazing midfield tackler. Exactly the player Chelsea need.... The back 4 being settled and having time to gel is helping a lot. Also sticking with 1 keeper is starting to help! Gazza having help with his mistakes to keep his place is much more productive than saying NOT GOOD ENOUGH GO AWAY TILL YOU'RE BETTER and then chucking that nutter back in or Kelvin. Playing worse teams is helping too, 3 of the best in the first 4 games is cruel but now we look a lot better taking points off most the teams around us (Wigan being the exception). Bit of momentum from playing better football is going to be key playing some of the next few bigger teams (Liverpool and Arsenal again) as we should be in a better mood for taking on the rest of the teams around us. Chelsea away being moved to ages away is a big help too. Takes the pressure off the Christmas period a bit with an essential rest that no other team in the league will have between now and February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shroppie Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Agree with all the reasons plus NC keeping faith in NA, NA keeping faith with himself and his formation and his team and NA for maintaining team morale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelvinsRightGlove Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 As is ive said before, we'd have beaten them if our right back hasn't got injured and we'd had to play with a centre back at right back who was clearly uncomfortable. My new BFF Turks! You are being uncharacteristically upbeat today, I rather like it. It's funny how hard it is for some to admit they may have over-reacted. Only a few weeks ago (pre-Swansea/WBA - where despite the result the performance was better, and yes, they are a good side that are deservedly sitting well placed in the table) the usual merchants of doom & despair were posting at alarming rates of how the season was over, relegation was a certainty, the defensive woes were incurable, and come January we would be too far adrift to do anything in the window to save ourselves. A couple of decent wins on the bounce coupled with a good performance against Swansea and things look a fair bit brighter. I don't think the tactics were ever that questionable, and the defensive errors were just that, errors. These cannot be coached for. They are not tactical errors, Adkins would hardly coach players to do these things. The tactics aren't all that different, neither is the shape. Having Corky back certainly helps, as he is more suited to the role he plays than some of the other players played in CM in his absence. Yes it probably also does help that we are now not playing teams who expect to be competing at the top of the table. The mongs who seem to think that good performances and narrow losses against these sides are so worrying, should really take a reality check. There is a reason they are challenging at the top year on year, whilst a number of our side have been playing in lower divisions in recent years. It's funny how quiet certain posters have been the last few weeks. Also looking at the revived historic threads, it comes as no surprise to see it is often the same old people spouting the same old story. Does give me confidence that we will stay up, seeing as you guys seem to be wrong more often than you are right. Not that any of you would admit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Sanchez Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 The biggest factor in our points pick up is that we have played Swansea,QPR and Newcastle, nothing else really, we have played better in those games but also those teams in some part have allowed us to play for whatever reason, playing badly, injury etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 (edited) My new BFF Turks! You are being uncharacteristically upbeat today, I rather like it. It's funny how hard it is for some to admit they may have over-reacted. Only a few weeks ago (pre-Swansea/WBA - where despite the result the performance was better, and yes, they are a good side that are deservedly sitting well placed in the table) the usual merchants of doom & despair were posting at alarming rates of how the season was over, relegation was a certainty, the defensive woes were incurable, and come January we would be too far adrift to do anything in the window to save ourselves. A couple of decent wins on the bounce coupled with a good performance against Swansea and things look a fair bit brighter. I don't think the tactics were ever that questionable, and the defensive errors were just that, errors. These cannot be coached for. They are not tactical errors, Adkins would hardly coach players to do these things. The tactics aren't all that different, neither is the shape. Having Corky back certainly helps, as he is more suited to the role he plays than some of the other players played in CM in his absence. Yes it probably also does help that we are now not playing teams who expect to be competing at the top of the table. The mongs who seem to think that good performances and narrow losses against these sides are so worrying, should really take a reality check. There is a reason they are challenging at the top year on year, whilst a number of our side have been playing in lower divisions in recent years. It's funny how quiet certain posters have been the last few weeks. Also looking at the revived historic threads, it comes as no surprise to see it is often the same old people spouting the same old story. Does give me confidence that we will stay up, seeing as you guys seem to be wrong more often than you are right. Not that any of you would admit it. I think to a certain degree, and certainly in my opinion, the errors were due to the quality of players. Better players tend to make less mistakes, and a certain amount of blame has got be placed with Adkins for not strengthening CB, or not making it expressly clear to the transfer committee during the Summer. Of course, maybe he did, and maybe that is why he has got a stay of execution as the transfer committee did not equip him well enough. People have not been too worried about the quality of performances, because in general we have looked good going forward. The bad performances though against Wigan, which was woeful, Arsenal, first half v Villa, West Ham (although performance wasn't THAT bad but team selection was wrong) and West Brom were worrying, and we did look out of our depth all over the field. I will be more than happy to be wrong, because that means that Adkins will keep his job and we will all but likely stay up. However, this is only 2 wins and we need to build on this further. Edited 27 November, 2012 by Dibden Purlieu Saint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelvinsRightGlove Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 I think to a certain degree, and certainly in my opinion, the errors were due to the quality of players. Better players tend to make less mistakes, and a certain amount of blame has got be placed with Adkins for not strengthening CB, or not making it expressly clear to the transfer committee during the Summer. Of course, maybe he did, and maybe that is why he has got a stay of execution as the transfer committee did not equip him well enough. People have not been too worried about the quality of performances, because in general we have looked good going forward. The bad performances though against Wigan, which was woeful, Arsenal, first half v Villa, West Ham (although performance wasn't THAT bad but team selection was wrong) and West Brom were worrying, and we did look out of our depth all over the field. I will be more than happy to be wrong, because that means that Adkins will keep his job and we will all but likely stay up. However, this is only 2 wins and we need to build on this further. Completely agree with this. I guess my point was kind of that knee-jerk reactions shouldn't be made based on a few games/performances (good or bad). A coouple of poor performances doesn't mean we are certs to go down, just like a few good performances doesn't mean we will definitely stay up. I'll get off the fence and say I think we will stay up, though it will be a slog with plenty more ups and downs to come. I think some people were over-the-top in criticising excessively the team and Adkins. The green shoots are certainly there, and if these performances can be backed up, and with a couple of quality additions in January I am confident we can stay up - with Adkins in charge. Of course the team absolutely need to work hard to prevent more performances like those against Wigan/West Ham, but we have seen that is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank's cousin Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 It's funny how hard it is for some to admit they may have over-reacted. . I over react on here all the time...usually having biten to the WUMs - oh well, off guard when on here as its like a stress ball. Some on here have serious anger issues (sorry Alps ;-) - others appear discontent with the regime, others just laugh at all of us getting so worked up about it... hey ho, feck it, matters not in the grand scheme of things - and Bearsy is always good to put it all into perspective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Completely agree with this. I guess my point was kind of that knee-jerk reactions shouldn't be made based on a few games/performances (good or bad). A coouple of poor performances doesn't mean we are certs to go down, just like a few good performances doesn't mean we will definitely stay up. I'll get off the fence and say I think we will stay up, though it will be a slog with plenty more ups and downs to come. I think some people were over-the-top in criticising excessively the team and Adkins. The green shoots are certainly there, and if these performances can be backed up, and with a couple of quality additions in January I am confident we can stay up - with Adkins in charge. Of course the team absolutely need to work hard to prevent more performances like those against Wigan/West Ham, but we have seen that is possible. I also think the 'knee jerk' reactions need to be properly read and read in context. You have a lot of people on here that will misconstrue your opinions and will go out of their way to exagerrate them. A number of my supposed 'opinions' have come in the form of questions, or musings, and not opinions (if you read the thread below). However, if you get 3 or 4 people shouting that someone said 1 thing, over and over, you don't have the time or (eventually) inclination to try to defend yourself. I was happy to admit that I have been wrong on occassion, and on a few of the threads below. However, there is also a lot of truth and a lot of correct ascertions in those threads which obviously get overlooked. It's the way these things work unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelvinsRightGlove Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 I also think the 'knee jerk' reactions need to be properly read and read in context. You have a lot of people on here that will misconstrue your opinions and will go out of their way to exagerrate them. A number of my supposed 'opinions' have come in the form of questions, or musings, and not opinions (if you read the thread below). However, if you get 3 or 4 people shouting that someone said 1 thing, over and over, you don't have the time or (eventually) inclination to try to defend yourself. I was happy to admit that I have been wrong on occassion, and on a few of the threads below. However, there is also a lot of truth and a lot of correct ascertions in those threads which obviously get overlooked. It's the way these things work unfortunately. I fear you think this is directed solely at you, this was certainly not the case. It was more a general comment in reference to a much larger group of posters that were everywhere on here just a few weeks back and have yet suddenly gone rather quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 OK, but what did that mean then? Which one isn't good enough? Thats difficult to answer. I reckon on law-of averages, Shaw or Clyne will be up to the right standard by January, possibly both, and I genuinely think we need one more CB. A good one, mind. So, 1 or 2 refinforcements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Tender Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Thats difficult to answer. I reckon on law-of averages, Shaw or Clyne will be up to the right standard by January, possibly both, and I genuinely think we need one more CB. A good one, mind. So, 1 or 2 refinforcements. We certainly could do with some decent back-up in case the current four are injured or suspended. It remains to be seen whether in January we can get in players of a higher calibre than our current defence, (who are improving match by match), but if we can, then it increases competition for a place in the team and increases the options for squad rotation and substitutions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eelpie Posted 27 November, 2012 Share Posted 27 November, 2012 Cork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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