Why have we been getting worse in recent weeks?

[Chris_Martin]

30 minutes ago, DCFClks said:

I agree, Recent games having been reminding me more and more of Cocu.

• High defensive line with no press.
• Pointless, dangerous possession at the back.
• No movement in the final 3rd
• Opposition just waiting for our defenders to make an error and score from it. 

Except even worse than when Cocu was here.

A massive problem is a complete lack of link up play between our defense/midfield and our attack. No players able to find pockets around the opposition box, No player picking the ball off the defense, turning and playing a forward pass or running at the opposition. The only players remotely like that are Sibley, Lawrence and possibly now Watson. Lawrence is injured, I don't know what,s happened to Sibley. Watson hopefully might get a start soon.

 

Spot on.

[DCFC Kicks]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We can't keep playing 2 of Shinnie, Knight & Bird, or all 3 together. Yes they probably limit the amount of goals we let in, but when we go behind in games that's it, we're helpless.

[Chris_Martin]

2 minutes ago, DCFClks said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We can't keep playing 2 of Shinnie, Knight & Bird, or all 3 together. Yes they probably limit the amount of goals we let in, but when we go behind in games that's it, we're helpless.

i get your point, but who else is there?

[Jourdan]

Quite simple really - we were getting results at an unsustainable level.

Look at the last year. This is a team of extremes. 10 wins in 16 to 2 wins in 19 under Cocu, to 8 wins in 16 and now a run of 1 win in 5 (and possibly worse to come) under Rooney.

People got too comfortable and too enamoured by the initial form under Rooney. I’ve never been truly convinced by him, but credit where it’s due for the results we were getting.

It always felt like we were going through an extended honeymoon period under Rooney and a slump was always coming and we would be exposed sooner or later.

And here we are. In the coming weeks, we are going to see what Rooney and this team are really made of. This run of games through March and April is really tough.

Fortunately, it seems like we might get a reprieve by virtue of there being four or five teams too erratic to capitalise and put us in danger. We only need to scrape together 12 points from 12 games, after all.

But my biggest worry right now is next season. This team needs a lot of work, a whole lot of work, and I feel it might be too big a job for Rooney unless those millions of investment finally reach us.

[Millenniumram]

Bielik’s injury is definitely a massive part of it. He’s literally one of the best players I’ve ever seen play in this division, levels above most other players in our team. Any side would massively miss a player like that. He’s got the sort of quality which means he can make all of the players around him look better as well. Without him, we’re reduced to seeing the actual quality of most of our squad - which is pretty damn crap. 

Rooney’s inexperience as a manager is starting to show through now as well. The debacle against Cardiff was just ludicrous. Constantly switching formations and playing players out of the position really isn’t helping. He doesn’t seem to have a defined style which we’ve properly worked on, all this trying to counter the opposition all the time must be very confusing for the players. He also seems to value players who run around a lot over and above actually good footballers - it’s no wonder we struggle to create anything when we have Shinnie and Knight starting over Sibley.

And then there’s the simple fact that our team just isn’t good enough, and has been gradually getting worse over time. The 5 signings in January don’t appear to have improved much. 

[rammieib]

30 minutes ago, Chris_Martin said:

4-4-2 is partly the problem though.

It always leaves us outnumbered in midfield.

I do kind of agree with that but if the alternative is pretty much not to have a shot in 90 minutes, I’d sooner go for that option.

Knight and Shinnie would be my option.

Either way - Crux of the problem is that our players just aren’t good enough.

[RamNut]

I think we do have some good players.

not so long ago we could all see what an exciting talent Sibley was.Knight was unreal for his age. Buchanan was being described as one of the best full backs in the league. 
but they seem to be overloaded with instructions and responsibilities. Making knight captain hasn’t helped. 
constantly switching systems has gradually eroded the basis of what we had.

This is a tight league. A 10-15% drop in quality is all it takes to start losing. The good news is that therefore it should be repairable. 

[Ramarena]

I think it’s a mixture of the below:

- losing Beilik

- chopping and changing tactics, line ups-

- five loanees changing the squad dynamic and not offering enough quality.

- Still lack a goal scorer, creative midfielder and a good winger.

I’ve seen people suggesting Rooney’s jobs in danger. I don’t think that’s anywhere near the case..........however recent games have been very disappointing and he needs to work out where things have gone wrong and address it ASAP! 

[Chris_Martin]

19 minutes ago, rammieib said:

I do kind of agree with that but if the alternative is pretty much not to have a shot in 90 minutes, I’d sooner go for that option.

Knight and Shinnie would be my option.

Either way - Crux of the problem is that our players just aren’t good enough.

why are they the only 2 options?

we played 4-4-2 today, it was terrible. 

4-3-3 seems to suit our players best but we haven't really used it since Bielik's injury, not sure why?

the last few weeks we have played, 4-4-2,  4-3-3,  3-4-3,  4-2-3-1,  3-5-2

[Stuniverse]

10 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

- Still lack a goal scorer, creative midfielder and a good winger.

That’s the crux of the matter for me.

[Tyler Durden]

I don't think anyone in the recruitment team at Derby has an idea of the concept of what a winger is. 

[brady1993]

My honest opinion is that it's a combination of factors. 

Bielik

Bielik at the time of his injury was far and the way best player in the squad. He was in a single breadth our best midfielder defensively, our best passer, our best carrier of the ball and our best link player. He was carrying the midfield and it only functioned despite being unbalanced because of him. 

Teams have worked us out

Whilst it's easy to point to Bieliks injury the rot in performance and results started earlier. Basically teams clicked onto that Bielik was essentially our primary means of progression and that Shinnie and Knight weren't interested or weren't able to get on the ball and help out. So teams could make sure Bielik was marked tightly and encourage us to pass away from him where they could target the like of Shinnie for quick turnovers. It was excerbated when we played a 4231 because it's much easier to confine a midfielder when he's set up on one side. This is a problem we actually recognised and try to address with brining in Bird at 10 and that looked like it might have been effective had we not lost Bielik.

Inability to change games fast enough

This has been a major issue throughout Rooney's tenure that when games are going really wrong we are frequently way too slow to react. With the last two games being prime examples. Cardiff we were 1 down at half time, had we changed things at half time we could have maybe got back into that game but we let it slide until we are 3 down and out of the game. Or today a must win game that we clearly aren't at it in and we wait till nearly 70 mins to make changes that could have be made after 30.

A reluctance to drop Shinnie and/Or Knight 

Both have pretty much started every game under Rooney regardless of tactics, opposition and their performance level. Knight in particular is often shoe horned into the side regardless of whether it makes sense to play him or Knight. I rate Knight highly but he's plainly not a #10, nor is he a left winger and yet we persist on playing him in positions he's completely ineffectual. Case in point why we were starting him in a game we really needed to win on the left wing.

Shinnie is a useful squad player and excels at certain things but is also a flawed player. This especially comes to the fore in a 4231 where you end up lop sided in midfield as you can't play through half of your double pivot. 

As I've said giving how much their skill set overlaps I think we should only be playing one of them if we want to have a balanced midfield.

Chances created from open play 

All of the above contribute to what is the largest factor and something that we've failed to solve all season. We just don't create chance from open play and have no clear plan on how we are going to do it. Our plan currently amounts to get it wide and try to win a set piece which despite doing alright at set pieces is ineffectual because set pieces are statistically a poor way of getting goals. I believe this a systematic issue as opposed to personal (although that clearly plays a part of it) because we have a number of players who are way way below their usual rate of scoring.  This is the key problem and the one we have to try to fix. 

[Jourdan]

11 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

Still lack a goal scorer, creative midfielder and a good winger.

The problem is that we could have said exactly that going into the summer window last year. Two windows have passed and we’ve only made these glaring issues worse.

If Rooney is going to stand a chance next season, big changes are needed behind the scenes. Investment needs to arrive and things need to be shaken up in the recruitment department.

[DCFC Kicks]

25 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

Still lack a goal scorer, creative midfielder and a good winger.

So about half the team then?

[Inverurie Ram]

Not simple really - we all have no idea how the players feel or behave from one day to another under different circumstances.

We all behave differently are motivated differently and if team selections are constantly changing then results are likely to change also. Certain players will believe they have performed in training but are not been selected, some players appear to start game after game when many fans on here point out they are not performing and appear to be the same players being subbed off when we fall behind in games or are drawing games, and looking unlikely to score.

WR has currently mentioned that Shinnie should be recalled by Scotland and that Buchanan will play for England in the future and both players have appeared to struggle since the praise of WR and we know from the questions asked by RamsTV that WR speaks and praises the guys privately. I believe neither player has chosen to drop their standards in recent games, it's just how life works, one day everything is tickety boo and then the next day certain things don't naturally fall into place.

@LeedsCityRam @Cam the Ram and a few others have mentioned the important matter of having something else than hard working players, the presence of a few clever footballers, thinking footballers with quality to read games, run games, control games, manage games and be able to make the game ours more than what we are currently achieving.

Beilik on his day is a wonderful example of such, but you need at least 3 or 4 of these type of characters in your team to be successful all communicating and driving each other on. CKR is another good example but like Martin if you are the only one doing it, showing it, it sometimes becomes too much and we can all remember seeing Martin get frustrated with other team mates not meeting the standards he was aware of.

CKR is being supportive of others, but that self drive, that quality is lacking in quite a few at this moment of time.

Clarke shows it and drives on, but we appear to only have 1 or 2 of these type of players playing at the moment. Marshall has taken a knock and we miss his belief and confidence and we have shown in some games we are capable of playing, especially when playing the top sides in the division.

WR has mentioned it a few times that the players need to believe in themselves more, and I totally agree as the amount of risk passes forward to safe passes back are always with the teams that play with confidence and belief.

The behind the scenes lack of a takeover, wages not being paid, lack of normality and us fans not being there to support them is not helping but keeping things simple and working hard is sometimes not enough to win games in the championship, it's having quality and clever footballers that can mix the game up physically and mentally to win games at this level.

 

[Abu Derby]

Have they been paid? Performances indicate otherwise. 

[Ramarena]

3 minutes ago, DCFClks said:

So about half the team then?

 

You’ll scare the others!

[DCFC Kicks]

8 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

The problem is that we could have said exactly that going into the summer window last year. Two windows have passed and we’ve only made these glaring issues worse.

If Rooney is going to stand a chance next season, big changes are needed behind the scenes. Investment needs to arrive and things need to be shaken up in the recruitment department.

The whole clubs been in a suspended state ever since Mel decided he wanted to sell. No one wants to address any problems with long term solutions. It's only been short term solutions whether it be financial loans or player loans. The longer it goes on the worse it gets. We just need to scrape through this season and hopefully the situation will be resolved. 

I actually think the recruitment has improved a lot recently. Byrne and Marshall look worth while signings and Jozwiak & Bielik have huge potential and we should sell them for a lot more than we paid, even though Jozwiak's been struggling recently, I'm confident he'll improve. But it's still not enough and we need more.

My main concern is Rooney's constant changes each game. I'd like to see at least some kind of style to build on going into next season

[brady1993]

39 minutes ago, Chris_Martin said:

why are they the only 2 options?

we played 4-4-2 today, it was terrible. 

4-3-3 seems to suit our players best but we haven't really used it since Bielik's injury, not sure why?

the last few weeks we have played, 4-4-2,  4-3-3,  3-4-3,  4-2-3-1,  3-5-2

To be honest we didn't even use it much with Bielik in the team. It was only really against Swansea and Birmingham that we used it and haven't really used it bar the travesty against Cardiff. 

I'm at a loss as to why because insist on shoe horning Knight in at 10 and trying to play Shinnie as part of a double pivot and neither of which works.

[Chris_Martin]

6 minutes ago, DCFClks said:

 

My main concern is Rooney's constant changes each game. I'd like to see at least some kind of style to build on going into next season

Yes me too. 

Otherwise we will probably end up using the first part of next season to work out our best formation/style. Need to set the foundations now, then we will know exactly what's needed recruitment wise in the summer, and hopefully hit the ground running next season.