The Scarlet Pimpernel Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 We have been very tight at the back lately with Mac encouraging the team to continue to be so. Although it has been obviously a good move results wise have we lost a bit of the attacking flair we enjoyed last season because of it? Can we be more fluid going forward and still keep clean sheets? I'm thinking this is the next development we need to pull away from the pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i-Ram Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Five 1-0 wins over our next 5 games will suit me just fine. Flair is a luxury in February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wixman1884 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We have been very tight at the back lately with Mac encouraging the team to continue to be so. Although it has been obviously a good move results wise have we lost a bit of the attacking flair we enjoyed last season because of it? Can we be more fluid going forward and still keep clean sheets? I'm thinking this is the next development we need to pull away from the pack. I think Thorne coming back will remedy a lot of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We have been very tight at the back lately with Mac encouraging the team to continue to be so. Although it has been obviously a good move results wise have we lost a bit of the attacking flair we enjoyed last season because of it? Can we be more fluid going forward and still keep clean sheets? I'm thinking this is the next development we need to pull away from the pack. he talks about the teams at the top in his pre match interview. "most important thing has been keeping clean sheets" "hard to beat" etc etc. in the rams player interview, (thats longer) he's saying the training being more about recovery in the coming month, when we get so many games together, and that the players have had to do the other aspects of training and prep already, and that should carry us into a busy spell. i'm hoping with the additions of the extra and top end quality we just signed and a solid run at the back (despite t'forest game) it should come together in the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North_Stand_Ram Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We've hardly been short of goals, have we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Five 1-0 wins over our next 5 games will suit me just fine. Flair is a luxury in February. Five 2-0 wins would be better for my dicky ticker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scarlet Pimpernel Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 We've hardly been short of goals, have we? No we haven't but don't we need to keep improving to pull away at the top? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Five 1-0 wins over our next 5 games will suit me just fine. Flair is a luxury in February. If we don't fully utilise our attacking flair it will cost us automatic promotion. Flair is not a luxury for us, its a necessity. Best form of defence and all that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I always worry when there's a lot of focus on clean sheets and "being hard to beat". It only takes a deflection off Keogh's backside to go 1-0 down. But despite the talk we're still creating plenty of chances when goals are needed. At 0-0 or worse we're an attacking team. Compared to last season... I think half the reason we aren't as fast and suicidal in attack is purely to do with how every team gets behind the ball so much quicker now that a draw with Derby is a good result. The opposition now are much more reactive to us than last season where they'd focus more on their own game. Good thread though. Because tbh it's something that niggles at my mind but there's no solid evidence or reason to voice concern. But in the back of mind is Twente fans saying Mac's second spell was much more defensive and slightly negative. I don't want us to move away from what made us so good to try and make us perfect. There's tightening up and just managing games a bit more sensibly than the 3-3 draw at Birmingham. And then there's the focus on being hard to beat and assuming that the chances and goals will come. They won't. I don't think the scared to lose also rans that have clogged up the bottom of the PL (Villa, Norwich teams like that) ever set out to just draw every week. But that's how they ended up. So worried about what they're letting in that they were/are negative teams. That's just a niggling concern. I'm not making accusations or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimmu Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We are pretty far from the last season's style. Not a friend of it, but I can accept it as long as we go up. I'm more of friend of keeping possession and gungho than safety first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRam Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I think Thorne coming back will remedy a lot of this I agree with that, Thorne allowed us to keep the scoring and defend as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Uttox is right, attack is the best form of defence. The Burnley way of going up was clean sheets, the Leicester way was all out attack. I think this is a good thread and something to discuss because you could argue that our formation is a defensive variation of 4-3-3 not the pure dutch model. The McClaren version i think was born of the players we had, and our limited striking options, so we build goals. With Bent in there, ince, and Lingard, it opens things quite a bit. I like the way we play but take the Blackburn home game where we tic tac the ball around and had barely any shots on goal until Steve mixed it up after about 60 mins. We dominated but the whole crowd was getting frustrated that we might never score. Just feel that if we have a right go with 2 strikers etc and lingard and ince in there right from the score, we'd score a bunch and scare the crap out of our opponents. I'm sure he's thinking about it, but it seems apparent that he will go with tried and trusted and if it doesn't work do the same as he did v blackburn with all those game breaking players coming on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyinLiverpool Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 There's no pleasing some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srg Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Anyone that's actually watched all these games will know these clean sheets have been through more luck than 10 man behind the ball stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r4derby Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 If we were to win the next 10 games 1-0, regardless of how attacking we are, we will "pull away from the pack". I'm not sure why people are so worried about us focusing more on the defensive side. When has anyone seen us play for a 0-0 draw in the past 2 season? Seriously, even on Tues eve when we travel to free-scoring Bmouth, we will go with the aim of winning 1 or 2 nil. Keogh will make the odd mistake, and if/when he does he will make a block or Granty will make an important save. And, if we do concede, do people think we won't create chances or score goals. We had a pretty good team in that department anyway, and then we add Bent, Ince and Lingaard in the last month...seriously! Also, last season we would score 3-4 goals in a game once a month, and would score most games. Because we were not the team people gunned for. As the season progressed, teams were starting to realise that we were one of the teams to stop. This season, we went in as the number one team to stop scoring. Therefore, every teams game plan aims to stop us playing. It was always going to be more difficult. Yet we have a striker on 19 goals, are one of the leagues top scorers, and most supporters would say we are only just moving out of gear 2. Clean sheets mean you don't lose. I will take 1-0 over 4-3 all day at this point in the season. We know we can score, it's nice to know the team are starting to realise they can also keep others out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kernow Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 You attack from the back. If you don't concede a goal you can't lose, simple. I'm confident in our team's scoring ability so if we didn't concede a goal for the rest of the season, we would win every game apart from maybe 3 or 4. It's all well and good scoring 4 goals in a game but if you concede 5 then it counts for absolutely nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Not reaching the flair of last season has niggled away at me too. But we keep hearing SM talking about "maturity" of players and performances. This is what we are seeing. Diciplined and clinical. Last year we were overloading teams with attempts at goal. This year all we need is one - do your job, pick your moment and take it. Ruthless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 There's no pleasing some people. That's why I said it's a niggling concern that I haven't mentioned because I knew I'd get comments like this. I am pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyinLiverpool Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 That's why I said it's a niggling concern that I haven't mentioned because I knew I'd get comments like this. I am pleased. I do believe that it wasn't you who started this thread. However, if the cap fits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I do believe that it wasn't you who started this thread. However, if the cap fits. It doesn't. Because I'm pleased. As is the OP judging from all his other posts on all the other threads. He just made an observation. We have changed/evolved slightly from last season. Last season was full of threads about our dodgy defence and soft goals. But it was probably just as strong defence as now if not stronger. As a team though we were more reckless. More aggressive. More open. Discussing the who, what and why is hardly moaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.