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Is MoPe a defensive manager?


doddisalegend

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I keep reading people saying that he is but I'd argue he isn't. Boring, unadventurous, obsessed by possession and ponderous certainly but defensive no way.

 

A defensive manager yesterday would have parked the bus and looked to play on the break but we were open as hell. Not a week goes by when some team doesn't just carve through our defence like a hot knife.

 

Under Koeman, even under Puel, the defence was generally solid but this season its awful.

 

Sure we've lost some good CBs in recent seasons but a good defensive manager (like Dyche) would at least make us hard to break down.

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I dont know what he is.

I do know the defence isnt very good, through the middle anyway. That'll be down to not replacing the decent centre backs we have had and sold then.

I do know the attack isnt very good.

 

So with a crap defence and a virtually non existent attack we are, basically, in the ****e up to our necks.

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Wasn't Ward -Prowse playing out on the right wing/right attacking forward? I know he had a header in the box(his second) when a natural attacker/attacking player would have been aware how much time he had and would probably have chested the ball and shot. The fact it was Ward-Prowse who found himself in that position and not Boufal/Redmond/Long tells me we have a defensive minded manager.

Played a lone forward yesterday, 5 midfielders and I'd argue only one of whom is comfortable out wide, at home to a good attacking side but one with vulnerable full backs. Defensive.

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I don't know what sort of manager he is, I still have absolutley no idea what he's trying to achieve with us.

 

This.

 

I don't know what sort of manager he is meant to be but I do know we played Liverpool four times last season and they didn't score against us once.

 

And this.

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Wasn't Ward -Prowse playing out on the right wing/right attacking forward? I know he had a header in the box(his second) when a natural attacker/attacking player would have been aware how much time he had and would probably have chested the ball and shot. The fact it was Ward-Prowse who found himself in that position and not Boufal/Redmond/Long tells me we have a defensive minded manager.

Played a lone forward yesterday, 5 midfielders and I'd argue only one of whom is comfortable out wide, at home to a good attacking side but one with vulnerable full backs. Defensive.

 

 

See I thought we set up far to open against a team like Liverpool pushing our full backs up and playing a high line was just an invite to their front line. We tried to play like we always do which slow and ponderous possession football with no cutting edge which to me isn't the same thing as a well drilled defensive performance.

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See I thought we set up far to open against a team like Liverpool pushing our full backs up and playing a high line was just an invite to their front line. We tried to play like we always do which slow and ponderous possession football with no cutting edge which to me isn't the same thing as a well drilled defensive performance.

 

Only Bertrand got forward. Very few attacks went down our right side through Cedric. The only opportunity JWP had to cross for Carrillo’s was from deep as he wasn’t going push any higher. Playing three DMs who barely entered Liverpool’s half, in principle, gave us a solid base from which the fullbacks could attack.

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Only Bertrand got forward. Very few attacks went down our right side through Cedric. The only opportunity JWP had to cross for Carrillo’s was from deep as he wasn’t going push any higher. Playing three DMs who barely entered Liverpool’s half, in principle, gave us a solid base from which the fullbacks could attack.

 

 

Cedric got forward a fair few times just not to any great effect his final ball being as usual **** poor.

 

Liverpool's first goal bypassed our whole midfield in like two touches because we had pressed up to high.

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Cedric got forward a fair few times just not to any great effect his final ball being as usual **** poor.

 

Liverpool's first goal bypassed our whole midfield in like two touches because we had pressed up to high.

 

It came because Bertrand messed up his corner on the right and the ball came to a Liverpool player, initially only Soares was back and we were caught out of shape and Hoedt desperately trying to get back had an air shot and missed the ball leaving only Soares left to defend against two Liverpool attackers.

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I keep reading people saying that he is but I'd argue he isn't. Boring, unadventurous, obsessed by possession and ponderous certainly but defensive no way.

 

A defensive manager yesterday would have parked the bus and looked to play on the break but we were open as hell. Not a week goes by when some team doesn't just carve through our defence like a hot knife.

 

Under Koeman, even under Puel, the defence was generally solid but this season its awful.

 

Sure we've lost some good CBs in recent seasons but a good defensive manager (like Dyche) would at least make us hard to break down.

 

personally don't think he is a manager or a coach TBH

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He seems scared to have more than two attack minded players on the pitch at any given time, apart from perhaps the last few minutes if we are 2+ goals behind. I would deem that cautios/negative rather than defensive.

 

That aside I have no idea what he's about, as game after game we just look a complete mess tactically whilst team selection seems to be picking random numbers out of a hat for each position.

 

It's astonishing really that he's still in a job, but I don't expect that to change any time soon, and even if it did it would probably be too late now. He should have been sacked two months ago.

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He’s very poor at organizing defenses. If he is a defensive manager, then you would have thought that being good at organizing defences would be a prerequisite for such a label.

 

Like others on here, I just think that he is a terrible manager. He’s bad at indentifying talent (or lack of talent) and in particular he’s a poor tactician.

 

You almost feel like this season has been treated like some kind of developmental opportunity for him.

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Just because he isn't a very good defensive manager doesn't mean he isn't a defensive manager.

 

Puel was a defensive manager, but much better at it. His time with us has led him to learn that you need to strike more of a balance in this league, hence the better attacking displays for Leicester (plus Mahrez and Vardy are to them what Mane and Pelle were to us).

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He is just a cowardly, timid coach that lacks the ability to see the balance and shape of a team. He has picked a system and hasn't a clue how to make it work by picking one forward and five midfielders that ensure it can't work and constantly shuffling from those available when it doesn't work.

 

The management of this club are pocketing millions but showing breathtaking incompetence.

Edited by derry
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OK, I'll put this in 'former Saints Manager' terms.

 

If you put 'attacking' Saints manager into Google, you should get - Chris Nicholl - 4-2-4 against Liverpool at home, trounced them 4-1.

 

If you put 'defensive' Saints manager into Google, you should get - this goon MP - 4-5-1 against every bloody opponent - you could play AFC Totton (no disrespect) and he'd still play one upfront and Gabbi on the bench.

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Is he a defensive manager - dunno, but he is a totally s***e manager who should never have been let near our club. Gross dereliction of duty by our Board this time round, compounded by the fact that they have not acted once the magnitude of their mistake became apparent months ago.

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Unadventurous, dull, boring, conservative. The Dacia Sandero of football coaches.

We get the ball looking to break, then I see 5 players ambling forward, not looking to support. We never 'go' for it, it's always slow, ponderous, predictable. With our slow, predictable players.

Poor coach, poor recruitment, poor direction.

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He is a rubbish manager but not replacing Van **** doesn't help.

 

We are a couple of injuries away from a Yoshida - Bednarek CB pairing - that is just ****ing scary.

 

Not defending the manager or club at all, but, Spurs are also only 2 injuries away from being a very average side. Like are quite a few Prem league clubs to be honest.

 

But it is staggering, astonishing, that MoPo hasn't been sacked yet. Did anyone hear his post match interview yesterday? An embarrassment

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Good question and can’t think. Ian Holloway and Phil Brown although had good runs beforehand
Good shout with Phil brown. Reading Wikipedia it looks like he was eventually sacked the season they got relegated - but not until March and after a run of 1 win in 15 (sound familiar?). Holloway doesn't appear to have had as bad a run as that and I think he at least managed to take Blackpool to the last day. They also played some good football from memory with what was a very limited squad.

 

As you say, both managers had success before their poor runs so you could argue that they deserved longer in their jobs due to that. I certainly can't think of anyone else who has had such a poor run in the Premier league without the mitigating factor or previous success with that team to explain why they are being kept on.

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He's been schooled under Rafa Benítez, what do people really expect? Like Benítez he'll set sides up to be solid, be safe and not get beat, good attacking play is a bonus. However, unlike Benítez or even Claude Puel for that matter, he hasn't got the tactical nous or gravitas to do that properly, so we end up where we are now. Boring & defensive, safe without taking risks, but unable to grind out 0-0's. Contrast Sunday with Puels efforts against Liverpool last season, particularly the home league game. We went home frustrated but with a point in the bag. So yes he is a defensive manager, a pretty poor one, but a defensive one.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I think some of the critism aimed at him is a little unfair.

He does try to change things and we weren't defensive enough at times...on Sunday both goals were due to over committing players forward, against Liverpool FFS. Had he not watched the Swansea game?

 

 

I think his issue is he doesn't know what he wants to see,he has no idea of his best team or formation or way of playing. Therefore we play a sort of "nothing" style..we don't break quickly, we don't defend deep or high. We don't press the ball often. We just go out and play football and see what happens.

 

Tactically he is light years behind any other manager in the league, even the likes of BFS..at least he knows what he wants his teams to do.

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Ultra defensive. Just the same as Puel. For evidence just listen to him banging on and on about controlling the game. That means having the ball and retaining possession at all costs. Ball recycling. Ball retention is the ultimate form of defence and Mope thinks it's everything. Nothing else matters. We keep the ball, we grow. **** off.

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Ultra defensive. Just the same as Puel. For evidence just listen to him banging on and on about controlling the game. That means having the ball and retaining possession at all costs. Ball recycling. Ball retention is the ultimate form of defence and Mope thinks it's everything. Nothing else matters. We keep the ball, we grow. **** off.

 

 

Possession isn't defensive in it's self though. Man city play possession football (including iirc the highest number of back passes in the league) and no one is calling them defensive its what you do with the possession that counts we are slow and ponderous with it, moving the ball painfully slowly up pitch, but then most of our players are slow and ponderous so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

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