Tactical acumen

[Paul12]

totally agree, Rafa was very 21st centuary. unfortunately Hodgson isnt..

I think that is utter bull, but if you are so sure then maybe you should save your post and ask for comments on it at the end of the season. I am happy to do the same.

[Ben_Itez]

Judging from our performances so far this season we severely lack any tactical acumen. The City performance and set up was mind boggling in the extreme.

Yesterday was equally depressing. Right now i'm struggling to find any reasons for optimism for the coming season and that's coming from a person who is always over optimistic.

[CJ]

i am not that impressed with Roy so far but a few things

1. he comes across well and you wouldnt mess with him i dont think

2. only had short time with the players to get his ideas across

3. you dont manage a big club in Italy if you know nothing of tactics.

[Slinky Skills]

I'm willing to give Hodgson a chance as I do believe we will get better and we will start to see that once everyone is back and fit.

Torres is already looking sharper, Cole will be back soon and I can see him, Gerrard and Torres linking up well.

I think Meireiles will be a real star for us, bit of an Alonso type singing.

I think the defence will sort itself out too over the next few weeks and Reina will only get better as the season goes on.

The performances haven't been great I agree but they will improve as will the team.

[alunevans]

You can see from the WBA match thread how unimpressed I was with us on Sunday, but it seems a bit early to label Hodgson as lacking tactical ability.

He had a team of journeymen at Fulham and got them to the top half of the table, then followed that next season by getting them to a European final.

I'd say that any manager who is managing to get an inferior football team to punch above their weight has to be relying on a fair bit of tactical nous to do it.

[BrianF80]

You can see from the WBA match thread how unimpressed I was with us on Sunday, but it seems a bit early to label Hodgson as lacking tactical ability.

He had a team of journeymen at Fulham and got them to the top half of the table, then followed that next season by getting them to a European final.

I'd say that any manager who is managing to get an inferior football team to punch above their weight has to be relying on a fair bit of tactical nous to do it.

The word in Scandinavia is that he was never able to alter the course of a game, tactically. I'll be looking out for that. Man City obviously adds weight to that point.

[alunevans]

The word in Scandinavia is that he was never able to alter the course of a game, tactically. I'll be looking out for that. Man City obviously adds weight to that point.

I think he'll definitely be under the microscope. I'll be holding judgement on him for a good while yet though, while still assessing how we play in the meantime.

I remember on one of those UEFA vids he talked about the 0-0 with 10 mins to go scenario and said that managers are too prone to make changes. He said that if he had spent all week planning the game and thought this was the best way to score a goal, why not stick with it.

So you might be right in that he prefers to stick with his plan A.

After saying that, his relative success at Fulham wasn't due to the quality of his squad. It's certainly interesting seeing what will happen though, and the discussions on here are more interesting at the mo.

[DannyMan2006]

Absoloute ****e opening post in that you have based your opinion on hodgson on pretty much one game. Had that game been in January then I would understand your points. The world cup meant the senior pros have had hardly any time to take his ideas on board so we were always going to start slow.

The man city game was the worse of the bunch because changed were forced upon him at a late stage. Andeven then it was onlyaggers failure at lb that meant City beat us as they created no problems else where.

Making points at an early stage is common place in this day and age. The internet sky sports news and footy phone ins mean one bad result is a disaster. Let's see who we start September with squad wise and thenstart judging Hodgson from November at the earliest when he's had time with the players.

[DannyMan2006]

I should add, I always remember Fulham performing well against the big sides and you don't get a below average side to the final of the Europa league, beating the likes of juventus, shaktar the holders, Roma and some good german sides if you know nothing about tactics.

[alunevans]

I should add, I always remember Fulham performing well against the big sides and you don't get a below average side to the final of the Europa league, beating the likes of juventus, shaktar the holders, Roma and some good german sides if you know nothing about tactics.

that's what i said. stop copying

[BrianF80]

I think he'll definitely be under the microscope. I'll be holding judgement on him for a good while yet though, while still assessing how we play in the meantime.

I remember on one of those UEFA vids he talked about the 0-0 with 10 mins to go scenario and said that managers are too prone to make changes. He said that if he had spent all week planning the game and thought this was the best way to score a goal, why not stick with it.

So you might be right in that he prefers to stick with his plan A.

After saying that, his relative success at Fulham wasn't due to the quality of his squad. It's certainly interesting seeing what will happen though, and the discussions on here are more interesting at the mo.

I know its too early too judge but the fact he couldn't come up with a different gameplan for away games (what was it 4 wins in 2 seasons?) also leaves me thinking tactical variety is not his forte. It's not a fatal flaw anyway, at least it never has been for Slur Alex, but still food for thought.

[DannyMan2006]

that's what i said. stop copying

Sorry mate I was on me phone and just posted in reply to the OP

[Mattshark]

i would have gone with Agger or Johnson to be fair.

Dirk every time.

[DKdan]

TBH I thought Roy did at least one thing right against Brum to alter the game.

At half time he swapped Jovanovic and Kuyt, and Kuyt had a much improved second half.
And the fact that he subbed the below par Jovanovic after 59 minutes pleased me no end. If you don't deliver, you don't play - I like that.

Now how Lucas got the 90 minutes then is beyond me!

[BrianF80]

TBH I thought Roy did at least one thing right against Brum to alter the game.

At half time he swapped Jovanovic and Kuyt, and Kuyt had a much improved second half.
And the fact that he subbed the below par Jovanovic after 59 minutes pleased me no end. If you don't deliver, you don't play - I like that.

Now how Lucas got the 90 minutes then is beyond me!

True that worked well but compared to how the players would rotate positions in-game based on how play was developing before it's really not evidence of much.