Bravery

[rammieib]

One of the common themes for me in all the games so far is the lack of bravery to make critical runs in behind. The style of play, whilst I applaud it and can see what they are trying to do, lacks a cutting edge because the ball is always to feet.

At the moment, Smith is always going to be the fall guy. I almost see him as a square peg in a round hole. The guy obviously has talent, but it’s not offensive talent. He almost looks lost when he’s around the opposition box. Bird and Hourihane are going to be the two holders for sure but Smith is an excellent third choice. (Sorry Thommo).

I hope the introduction of DM today will lead to him starting now instead of Smith. He won’t get in behind but his close touch and creativity in the pockets of space will be essential. I see Dobbin fording his way into the team soon as his pace offers something the others don’t have.

It’s early days and I am certainly not disappointed. Less can be said of a handful of fans around me tonight who seem to have forgotten where we were six weeks ago.

However - please be braver off the ball Derby!

[Rev]

 

 

[Millenniumram]

Think it’s a bit harsh to lump all the games so far together.

Last night was the first performance that concerned me. In all the previous games, whilst we might not have scored enough goals, the chances were certainly there. The movement was good, the energy was good, and we were generally pretty incisive with our passing. It genuinely was only the final touch that was really missing, which isn’t hugely unexpected early in the season when players are lacking sharpness. Even after losing the Charlton game, I was confident that team was promotion quality.

I was incredibly frustrated last night however. In part, this was because I’d hope to see performances progress as the team becomes fitter, not regress. Also, let’s be fair, Shrewsbury are a poor quality side even in this League. To their credit, they're very organised and good at what they do (Cotterill has always been an underrated manager in my view) - but with the level of quality we’ve brought in this summer, we really should be beating that side if we want to challenge for promotion. It was very disappointing to see such a lacklustre performance. You can have all the possession you want, but if you don’t have the desire to score a goal, then you won’t win games. To a man, we were very passive last night, lacking energy, movement and willingness to make something happen (bravery, as the OP alludes to).

Its a team problem imo though, not individuals. I can’t look at last nights performance and pinpoint one player who was “at fault” for us dropping the two points. It’s a mentality thing, where the whole team needs to lose this cautious mindset we’ve had ever since Cocu joined, and attack this league - because there’s no doubt in my opinion that this squad is capable of winning League One. That has to start with the manager - the thing that worried me most was how pleased Rosenior was with last nights performance. Like that level of creativity is acceptable. He’s got all the tools at his disposal to get this club back to the Championship and he has to deliver - to do this, he  must be braver, and that will transmit to the team.

Appreciate I may be coming across overly harsh here, which isn’t my intention. Our start to the season hasn’t been far off where we need to be, and it’s only really one game where we’ve let ourselves down. Let’s hope it’s just a blip, and we start banging the goals in soon - it’s not impossible, based on what I’ve seen from this squad. It’s just Rosenior’s comments last night that concerned me and prompted me to write this post. I, and others, are probably reading too much into one game. Battering Fleetwood on Saturday would certainly do a lot to calm my lingering concerns over this season. Let’s hope we do and Rosenior proves he’s the right man long term.

P.S. As an aside, whilst I don’t think last nights performance was down to individuals, I do think there’s an issue in midfield. Smith and Hourihane just don’t work as a pair - both talented footballers no doubt, but both largely defensive minded. Having them both on the pitch leaves us with quite a negative midfield, which contributes to our lack of bravery on the ball. Sibley needs to be in there (or preferably Knight once we sign a RB), to add some balance and attacking threat in the middle of the park.

[Van der MoodHoover]

8 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

Think it’s a bit harsh to lump all the games so far together.

Last night was the first performance that concerned me. In all the previous games, whilst we might not have scored enough goals, the chances were certainly there. The movement was good, the energy was good, and we were generally pretty incisive with our passing. It genuinely was only the final touch that was really missing, which isn’t hugely unexpected early in the season when players are lacking sharpness. Even after losing the Charlton game, I was confident that team was promotion quality.

I was incredibly frustrated last night however. In part, this was because I’d hope to see performances progress as the team becomes fitter, not regress. Also, let’s be fair, Shrewsbury are a poor quality side even in this League. To their credit, they're very organised and good at what they do (Cotterill has always been an underrated manager in my view) - but with the level of quality we’ve brought in this summer, we really should be beating that side if we want to challenge for promotion. It was very disappointing to see such a lacklustre performance. You can have all the possession you want, but if you don’t have the desire to score a goal, then you won’t win games. To a man, we were very passive last night, lacking energy, movement and willingness to make something happen (bravery, as the OP alludes to).

Its a team problem imo though, not individuals. I can’t look at last nights performance and pinpoint one player who was “at fault” for us dropping the two points. It’s a mentality thing, where the whole team needs to lose this cautious mindset we’ve had ever since Cocu joined, and attack this league - because there’s no doubt in my opinion that this squad is capable of winning League One. That has to start with the manager - the thing that worried me most was how pleased Rosenior was with last nights performance. Like that level of creativity is acceptable. He’s got all the tools at his disposal to get this club back to the Championship and he has to deliver - to do this, he  must be braver, and that will transmit to the team.

Appreciate I may be coming across overly harsh here, which isn’t my intention. Our start to the season hasn’t been far off where we need to be, and it’s only really one game where we’ve let ourselves down. Let’s hope it’s just a blip, and we start banging the goals in soon - it’s not impossible, based on what I’ve seen from this squad. It’s just Rosenior’s comments last night that concerned me and prompted me to write this post. I, and others, are probably reading too much into one game. Battering Fleetwood on Saturday would certainly do a lot to calm my lingering concerns over this season. Let’s hope we do and Rosenior proves he’s the right man long term.

P.S. As an aside, whilst I don’t think last nights performance was down to individuals, I do think there’s an issue in midfield. Smith and Hourihane just don’t work as a pair - both talented footballers no doubt, but both largely defensive minded. Having them both on the pitch leaves us with quite a negative midfield, which contributes to our lack of bravery on the ball. Sibley needs to be in there (or preferably Knight once we sign a RB), to add some balance and attacking threat in the middle of the park.

Are we even still looking for a RB? There hasn't been any sniff of new blood on the transfer forum for a couple of weeks now. 

Rosie has stopped talking about loans as well? Least for a while. 

[Millenniumram]

7 hours ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Are we even still looking for a RB? There hasn't been any sniff of new blood on the transfer forum for a couple of weeks now. 

Rosie has stopped talking about loans as well? Least for a while. 

I really hope so, Knight is never a RB - his talent is massively wasted there. My theory is that maybe (hopefully!) Rosenior is playing mind games a bit in the media. Trying to make out that we don’t need a RB so that we don’t appear desperate, and teams are more willing to do financially fair deals for players we’re interested in, for fear of a deal falling through if not.

I’ve always expected there to be a bit of a lull in transfer activity around this stage in the window, as we wait for the best loans to become available. That’s the trouble with only being able to sign frees or loans - players either have to come in very early, or very late. The transfer window closes in the not too distant future though, so I’d hope to see things liven up next week. We’re still 4 signings short imo.

[Crewton]

Hourihane being "defensive minded" is a new one on me. I think at the moment he is struggling for a bit of consistency, as are a number of players, but the 'problem' of balance in midfield is nothing to do with him and Smith being too similar imo, it's that at times they're not quite working as a unit, they're a bit disconnected, which is why I can understand the call for Knight to be knitting it all together because he's got the energy to do it. But I also think it could be improved simply by Bird playing further up the pitch and leaving Smith as the anchor.