Tactics...

[Nick77]

Ok I'm no Bill Shankly or Brian Clough but I need 2 get a few things off my chest:

1.) Why be scared of smaller teams & play 1 lone striker at home? (Stoke, Fulham, West Ham & Hull).
2.) If we are gonna play a lone striker, (which is tough for the best strikers in the world, let alone ours) could we at least play someone who is in fact a striker & not Kuyt?
3.) Why pay 20 million pounds for a striker & not play him at all, but instead bring on Lucas & El Zhar who are more than likely not gonna get you the winning goal you need?
4.) Why bring Babel on & put him on the left when Kuyt CLEARLY needed some help up front AND when we were CLEARLY the better team who were bound to score had we had another striker up top?
5.) When facing a defensive set-piece - what is the point of having every player in your own box ffs?!
6.) Why do some of our players concentrate & generally play better against better opposition yet play ****e against ****e opposition?
7.) How the feck did Kuyt last 90 mins today?!
8.) Thank God for Gerrard, but it's getting ridiculous now!

This thread is not only about today's performance but the season in general. And yes I know we are still top & I'm not saying sack Rafa either. We could have & should have been 10 points clear by now really putting the pressure on Chelski & Manure, but instead I see us throwing it all away.
We have a great chance this season but it looks like some of the players don't want it as bad as the fans.
And finally if those feckin Mancs win the league this year, I don't think I'll be able to bear watching football anymore!

[Joe King]

Nope, its a mental thing. We don't have the bottle. Can't take the pressure and nor can Rafa.

[Matt]

Said it in the other thread but 1 striker is fine if it's Fernando Torres, if it's Dirk Kuyt then you're asking for trouble.

We've now got to go and win at the Emirates because if Chelsea win their next two and we lose next week they'll open up a nice little gap that'll take more than one defeat to close.

[CincyRed]

The point about being ten pts clear is spot on.

I really don't see any defense to Rafa's tactics today. Playing 1 striker at home to those sides only makes sense if that one striker is Torres and we play the 4231. But it hasnt been. After the midweek game, to not Babel on the right and one of Keane or NGog from the start was shocking.

[Exiled_red]

The lone striker issue for me comes down to a question of do you pick the players to fit the system or pick the system to fit the players?

When everyone is fit this isn't a problem if we had Torres up front in that system I doubt as many people would be commenting on it. The problem is that Torres aside no one else can play the lone striker role, both Kuyt and Keane have shown this season IMO that they can't play the role when Torres is out.

So for me the question is do we change the system to maybe a 4-4-2 when Torres is out? As this suits both Keane and Kuyt better but may disrupt the midfield

[Joe King]

Had Rafa picked the system with Torres up front, no doubt, no one would have complained. He can play that role and has shown he can do it effectively.

[Sarb]

Cant spend20m on a striker and leave him on the bench at home against a team like Hull.

It's defensive tactics I'm afraid from in the main a defensive manager

[wiw]

Nope, its a mental thing. We don't have the bottle. Can't take the pressure and nor can Rafa.

Hmm it's not that clear cut but I agree. We're bottling this big time, but saying that, for us to win the league this is necessary imo. We were never going to storm ahead, stay ahead and win the league - to be honest I hope Chelsea do win and go 1st..then it's time to roll our sleeves up, something we're great at. We should be first by about 10 points as the original poster said, but I'd be more nervous right now if that was the case to be honest

[rage]

i'm sure heskey will come in january and sort out our tactics.

when does it stop being bad luck and poor management? rafa has some serious explaining to do.

[Joe King]

Hmm it's not that clear cut but I agree. We're bottling this big time

I simply think we can't cope with the pressure. I would be more than happy to take Heskey now, he can offer plan B

[blacky]

Agreed. All the above comments are correct. Rafa blew it today BIG ****in time. How can the team have confidence if the manager has none. He needed some brass balls today. Should have taken Dossena off and brought on Keane. No guts no glory.

[Exiled_red]

Cant spend20m on a striker and leave him on the bench at home against a team like Hull.

It's defensive tactics I'm afraid from in the main a defensive manager

I don't think the performance today was that negative, we created plenty chances and had good possession and control of the game the problem was that we didn't have someone capable of putting the ball in the net. I am confident that if Torres has been fit, we would have played the same system but the result would have been different

[wiw]

I simply think we can't cope with the pressure. I would be more than happy to take Heskey now, he can offer plan B

See my edit...but again, I agree. Despite his flaws I'd love us to sign Heskey It was never going to be easy though...we will go on a run after Christmas that we can be sure of - everyone at the club wants the league more than anything

[barnes10]

we cannot finish chances. we create a lot and as a team, are pretty attacking. we're not defensive, defensively solid yes, but we create far too many chances to be labeled a defensive team.

our problem is the final pass, the shot, the composure etc. at this we are absolutely terrible.

until that changes, we're not winning the league. simple as that really. the league's too competitive now to keep getting away with that.

[Joe King]

See my edit...but again, I agree. Despite his flaws I'd love us to sign Heskey It was never going to be easy though...we will go on a run after Christmas that we can be sure of - everyone at the club wants the league more than anything

The worrying thing here is that this so called slump isn't coming out of our system. We always seem nervous at home. I think our next home game - should we win by a goal - it will bring back the confidence to the players and the supporters.