What makes us so good?

[TigerTedd]

 

We battered plenty of teams last season, were far and away the top scorers but in the end it counted for naught.

[TigerTedd]

 we're as strong at the back

[May Contain Nuts]

​Maybe we've learned something from last season. Last season we were nearly there, and this season we've improved, which is great to see. One of the ways in which we've improved as that we've matured, and maybe that goes for the coaching staff too. We've learned that it's okay to control a match, wait for our chances and pick the opponent apart, we don't have to go hell for leather all the time.

[uttoxram75]

We're by far, the greatest team,

the world has ever seen.......

[TigerTedd]

​Indeed, now if only some more people at the games would realise how true your last line is.

[Dimmu]

I'm convinced it all stems from Sam Rush and his appointment. He probably realised that what was happening at the club when he came in was that he was never going to convince the owners to back the team and player management. He has bought in an extremely professional player management team that has the ability and experience to create positive results, that have far more global success, and this Sam has been able to sell to the owners, which have in turn shown a willingness to back Sam's vision. Early positive results and progress has lead to increased confidence, and the forward momentum has continued. The current management have the experience to entice a broader/better standard of player in a style of play that is positive. It has been mentioned on a number of occasions, that the money is there for the team, and I'm confident that it would not have been made available with the former set-up. This is in no way designed to have a free swing at the previous management, and more a comment about the difference in successful experience.

[Ram8]

Steve McLaren's management , Sam Rush and the board , the playing style , the players ( obviously ) , some more than others ..

As for a previous model of a team promoted from the Championship , look no further than Swansea , under a succession of excellent managers , particularly Roberto Martinez , Brendan Rodgers and Garry Monk .. very few expensive / 'star' players , playing it out patiently from the back , brave , mainly short passing and quick movement .. they are the best , most stable team by a country mile to go up to the Premiership and compete with the big boys in the past few years , maintaining a 'second tier' slot behind the top six on a regular basis ..

And Derby are already playing the same brand of football , and have a similar business model off the pitch .. 

 

[Yani P]

I think its because we refuse to play Championship football, we pass it we have great movement,  players keep going for the whole game so even when we are not right on it we tend to wear teams down in the last 20 minutes. When we are really on song we are remorseless.

 

I actually think we are still not playing as well as we were towards the back end of last season when we looked unbeatable and destroyed teams. If we get back to that level with this squad we will be a scary proposition.

 

I think in summary when we click it really is a joy to watch...the skill is just top notch and I am very confident that with a small number of key position quality additions we will survive easily in the Premier League.

[StaffsRam]

Genuine question - What makes us so good?

I've seen plenty of managers this season say that we're the best team in the league, destined for the Premier League etc. And Charlton's boss is the latest to laud us after ou win against them tonight.

[needles]

Good thread and some good points made, but in over-simplistic terms I think the difference between us and the rest of the league over the season has been, 1) Will Hughes, and 2) Chris Martin. Both players provide something that you just don't see in the Championship. Add the depth of squad, manager, stability, facilities, support, etc and we're game on.

The cherry on the cake is George Thorne, equally an exceptional level of quality in this league. The though of the three of them back together has me moist at the gusset.

[StaffsRam]

Thorne's quality was evident at the back end of last season. That's what made the summer injury so devastating, we knew what we were losing. 

That being the case, it was important that we hung in there, there or thereabouts, until he got back. Better than that, we're top, and he's coming back into that. We're a strong side without him. We're a better one still with him. 

Now's when we need to use our experience from last season - neither Boro' or Bournemouth were there - this is relatively new for them - the lure of the PL to Bournemouth in particular must be daunting. Everyone's going to get a degree of the jitters in the run-in - Boro' have slipped of late, so have Bournemouth. We fared best out of it, even though we dropped points as well. We look like we're coming through the other side of that now though, so again, I hope we just use our experience from last season to drive on - a run of another 3/4 straight wins before we go into the 4 crunch games, and we could well be in a situation where we could afford to lose the majority or even all of them, and still remain in the top two. Having said that though, I hope we go out and batter the likes of Norwich and Boro.

[Shuff264]

Its consistency I think, we are good a across the board. Bournemouth are great going forward, but poor at the back. Boro are the opposite, Ipswich are similar. The most games we've gone in the champ this season without winning is 2, Boro have gone 3 Bournemouth 6, again consistent. We dont smash teams, but routinely beat teams 2-0 without even trying. 

Other teams have there stars, and are strong in certain areas,but as a team and squad we arent really matched. Especially when it comes to strength in depth.

Often with managers praising us its mind games or trying to cover there own arses.

[Howard Canitbé]

It's a combination of factors, as others before have said, squad depth, player quality, the style of football we play. But I have to say for me the key word is consistency. McClaren kept saying it last year and with excellent reason. We may not absolutely batter teams in the way Watford and Bournemouth have, but we just keep going, even when the going gets tough. It's hard to think of a single game this season where I didn't see us getting anything out of it. Only Boro away springs to mind, and that's because we just didn't show up that day.

Watford and Bournemouth both have slightly higher goals scored than us, but both have had several BIG wins (Muff's 8-0 stands out). We've just kept consistently delivering several goals a game, and again, there aren't many where we've failed to score at all. 

People bang on about improving our GD with a big win, but we just keep patiently adding to our total. Combined with a defence that has a tendency to go on a run of clean sheets at points during the season, we're been steady climbers, rather than flash-in-the-pan success. 

The maturity many have toted by not going gung-ho when we don't need to has also played it's part. We're dropping less point from winning positions, and gaining more from losing positions than we did last year.

[Dimmu]

'cause we had Nigel.

 

[Van der MoodHoover]

It's a combination of factors, as others before have said, squad depth, player quality, the style of football we play. But I have to say for me the key word is consistency. McClaren kept saying it last year and with excellent reason. We may not absolutely batter teams in the way Watford and Bournemouth have, but we just keep going, even when the going gets tough. It's hard to think of a single game this season where I didn't see us getting anything out of it. Only Boro away springs to mind, and that's because we just didn't show up that day.

Watford and Bournemouth both have slightly higher goals scored than us, but both have had several BIG wins (Muff's 8-0 stands out). We've just kept consistently delivering several goals a game, and again, there aren't many where we've failed to score at all. 

People bang on about improving our GD with a big win, but we just keep patiently adding to our total. Combined with a defence that has a tendency to go on a run of clean sheets at points during the season, we're been steady climbers, rather than flash-in-the-pan success. 

The maturity many have toted by not going gung-ho when we don't need to has also played it's part. We're dropping less point from winning positions, and gaining more from losing positions than we did last year.

[DesertRam]

Quite right, consistency is the answer, we've ironed out the lows, consequently we don't seem to have

as many of the highs we did last season - our highs now are not the occasional 5-0s,  its the increase

in the number of wins and decrease in the losses. Its also the year of the RAM!

[TuffLuff]

As others have said, it's mainly consistency. We have never gone through a bad spell all season. When we have lost a game, it's then spurred on a good run of results.

 

What I've found impressive in comparison to other seasons, is that Derby haven't really come across playing a team at 'a good time'. As an example Bournemouth played Birmingham in the last days of Lee Clark and got an 8 0, we went there and got a result when Rowett had got some pretty decent form. That's a tough thing to do. Last season we played lots of teams when they were on a downturn (hence I think we saw quite a few managers get sacked/resign after playing us, if I'm not mistaken). This season I think we've been able to pick up results against teams in form rather than out of form.

[Wolfie]

As others have said, it's mainly consistency. We have never gone through a bad spell all season. When we have lost a game, it's then spurred on a good run of results.

 

What I've found impressive in comparison to other seasons, is that Derby haven't really come across playing a team at 'a good time'. As an example Bournemouth played Birmingham in the last days of Lee Clark and got an 8 0, we went there and got a result when Rowett had got some pretty decent form. That's a tough thing to do. Last season we played lots of teams when they were on a downturn (hence I think we saw quite a few managers get sacked/resign after playing us, if I'm not mistaken). This season I think we've been able to pick up results against teams in form rather than out of form.

[TuffLuff]

​Except that we played Forest at the perfect time but didn't turn up for that game.

That aside, I agree with you.

[Thierry Ennui]

In a weird way, I see that game as Pearce's final gift to the Forest fans. I think he knew he was on his way out the door and if he got that result for the fans he could walk out with bragging rights at the very least. Afterwards they never really picked up and he didn't seem bothered.