We’ve got the 80th minutePlus Jitters

[Ellafella]

Our shape is wrong. Playing 2 defensive midfielders keeps us too deep. There’s quite a stretch between midfield and attack therefore. All residual Cocu stuff? 
The result is that we are not compact as a unit or mobile enough. We tire, retreat and concede. We’ve dropped 10 points due to goals conceded around the 80th minute: 

This is one for Mac to sort out.

[Duracell]

The problem is compounded by not having Russell Anderson or Jake Buxton as an extra 'body' to bring on. That infallible tactic served us well for years.

[Coneheadjohn]

Lack of confidence?

We started to play like my old house school football team once we’d scored.

Get rid of it,kick it out etc etc.

[England Ram]

Yesterdays problem was compounded by the substitution and subsequent reshuffle of the back 4.

If you have been playing next to someone all game and then have to move positions as well as around and have someone new thrown in makes it very messy.

What they should have done was to bring on an extra midfielder and moved Bileik back at add to the numbers rather than moving them about, or bring on an extra defender for a forward to keep the back 4  in place and add a body and lose a bit up front.

We did the worst thing and that was take off the right back, move a central defender out wide, bring in another central defender so we still had a back 4 but with brand new personal in there and no time to communicate to each other while we were under pressure.

[nottingram]

To me it would seem far more effective to bring on someone to retain the ball higher up the pitch than an extra defender, as we did yesterday, and for much of Cocu’s reign when we were leading.

As yesterday showed you can have all the big defenders in the world heading balls clear but when you’ve no midfielders left to cover other areas it’s no good. Davies and Wisdom go for the same ball and Bielik and Bird were suckered back into the box (inexperience). 

I know the squad is limited but surely you get Whittaker or Sibley on to carry the ball high up the pitch.

[i-Ram]

Whilst you have Lawrence, Knight and Holmes as as part of your front 3 we need 2 defensive midfielders. We keep losing the ball (and/or momentum with Lawrence) when those 3 get involved, leaving us exposed if our fullbacks are up expecting something positive to happen. Nothing for McClaren to do. He should get on with the job he was recruited to do a few days ago.

[RoyMac5]

20 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

Nothing for McClaren to do. He should get on with the job he was recruited to do a few days ago.

Prepare us for League 1? Lots of technical stuff with wage caps and so on?

[BBG83]

55 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

All residual Cocu stuff? 

Give it a rest.

Its a lack of confidence (from Cocu, Rosenior, Rooney, anyone) in us actually having the personnel to score goals and win games. Not got a prolific striker in the first team and haven't had for a while. So we setup (in hope and fear) to try and not lose.

If Rooney thought we did have players capable he'd change the system. We need a transfer window ASAP.

[SamUltraRam]

We've only scored 7 goals all season but we've actually been leading 6 times - only holding onto the lead once. That's a lot of lost points . 

Unlike the Nigel Clough team who had limitations but did have strength of character, this team do not have it

Strong characters like Shaun Barker, Craig Bryson, Jake Buxton & Jamie Ward do not exist in this team 

[cheron85]

57 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

he result is that we are not compact as a unit or mobile enough. We tire, retreat and concede. We’ve dropped 10 points due to goals conceded around the 80th minute: 

See I think we have a first 80 mins problem

We should have killed off a number of games where we were the better side and failed to get a second goal

[i-Ram]

19 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Prepare us for League 1? Lots of technical stuff with wage caps and so on?

If you like, but you are a bit more pessimistic than me. We will get out of this. 

McClaren should be focussing at the mo. on ensuring that the new owners are not put off by recent events, guiding them as to managerial options (including experienced support for Rooney if he is the anointed one) and making sure that come 1 January he, the management team, our recruitment team and scouts are all as one as to who should be moved out, and that we secure our key targets (funds permitting). He shouldn’t be acting as a counselling mentor to Jordon Ibe, or actively working out solutions to our shape and why we flag with 10 minutes to go. That is the manager’s job, and McClaren should only be making himself available when advice is sought.

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, i-Ram said:

Whilst you have Lawrence, Knight and Holmes as as part of your front 3 we need 2 defensive midfielders. We keep losing the ball (and/or momentum with Lawrence) when those 3 get involved, leaving us exposed if our fullbacks are up expecting something positive to happen. Nothing for McClaren to do. He should get on with the job he was recruited to do a few days ago.

It would be daft not to draw on his great eye for shape issues and strongly suspect that’s part of why he’s back.

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, CocuCrazyCocuMad said:

Give it a rest.

Its a lack of confidence (from Cocu, Rosenior, Rooney, anyone) in us actually having the personnel to score goals and win games. Not got a prolific striker in the first team and haven't had for a while. So we setup (in hope and fear) to try and not lose.

If Rooney thought we did have players capable he'd change the system. We need a transfer window ASAP.

It’s a valid point not a backslap at Cocu so no need for brusque rudeness @CocuCrazyCocuMad.

Wazza’s pre-match yesterday said he wants the Players to be brave and take the option to go forward at every opportunity. That’s the aspiration but plenty of times we got on the point of delivery only to stop, turn back and re-cycle with it often ending up back at Marshall. The retention and re-cycle was a key tenet of Cocu’s: whilst it keeps the ball it allows the opposition to re-group and we lose the initiative. So, Wazza needs to de-programme this from the players’ mindset. Ie create the behaviour on the pitch. There’s still a lot of “hangover” from Cocu’s retain and recycle approach. It lets the opposition off the hook. 

[SouthernRam]

For some reason we always switch things up at the back when we are 1-0 up. We either go to a back 5 or one of the full backs comes off. We allow pressure onto us and then inevitably concede.

[RoyMac5]

1 hour ago, i-Ram said:

If you like, but you are a bit more pessimistic than me. We will get out of this. 

Not pessimistic, panicking! 

 

[RoyMac5]

11 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

Wazza’s pre-match yesterday said he wants the Players to be brave and take the option to go forward at every opportunity.

So why so late with subs, and why bring Davies on?

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, i-Ram said:

If you like, but you are a bit more pessimistic than me. We will get out of this. 

McClaren should be focussing at the mo. on ensuring that the new owners are not put off by recent events, guiding them as to managerial options (including experienced support for Rooney if he is the anointed one) and making sure that come 1 January he, the management team, our recruitment team and scouts are all as one as to who should be moved out, and that we secure our key targets (funds permitting). He shouldn’t be acting as a counselling mentor to Jordon Ibe, or actively working out solutions to our shape and why we flag with 10 minutes to go. That is the manager’s job, and McClaren should only be making himself available when advice is sought.

Disagree strongly. He’s on the payroll. He’s part of the Club management. He has the skills and experience. Why would you not draw on that - out of sheer inflexibility? Its all hands to the pumps not “sorry - that’s not part of my Job Description Wazza”. 

[lagavulinram]

I think we needed fresh legs at 60-65mins. Half time would have been better.

 

Why we substitute really late in the ham?

[Ellafella]

6 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

So why so late with subs, and why bring Davies on?

Yes. Agree. Don’t know why. Wazza needs the courage of his convictions. 

[BBG83]

42 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

It’s a valid point not a backslap at Cocu so no need for brusque rudeness @CocuCrazyCocuMad.

Wazza’s pre-match yesterday said he wants the Players to be brave and take the option to go forward at every opportunity. That’s the aspiration but plenty of times we got on the point of delivery only to stop, turn back and re-cycle with it often ending up back at Marshall. The retention and re-cycle was a key tenet of Cocu’s: whilst it keeps the ball it allows the opposition to re-group and we lose the initiative. So, Wazza needs to de-programme this from the players’ mindset. Ie create the behaviour on the pitch. There’s still a lot of “hangover” from Cocu’s retain and recycle approach. It lets the opposition off the hook. 

Ok. But we don’t have the players to play as Rooney wishes. It’s alright saying it but you need a forward who holds it up and brings others into play and other forwards that make runs and distract/confuse the opposition. We don’t have any of that.

So while Cocu’s style was frustrating it wasn’t his final solution. That required money and signings. He was just starting to create the funds and then we binned him before he could get the right players in (that’s if our recruitment is even capable).

I hear people saying ‘you’ve got to work with what you have’. He was, they’re just not very good. He had a philosophy and he was building to play that way better in the future.

Any manager now will of course have to change the style but we’re still left with an inadequate attacking squad so we will not be an attacking team without the signings required in January.