West Brom match thread

[Lecter]

need to remeber that roy has had less than 4 full weeks with and entire saquad to train with and to instill in them a better footballing philosphy than they were used to under rafa. if roy wants to go 442 or more attacking / passing then it will take more than the first few games to get the old solid / defensive way out the players systems.

all that matters for the first month or so is the results.

4-4-2 is suicidal imo

We dont have the players to play that

[Dalglish]

4-4-2 is suicidal imo

We dont have the players to play that

....or the manager

[Lecter]

....or the manager

[DannyMan2006]

According to MOTD2, we had 48% of possession compared to their 52%. Against West Brom FFS.

And before some condescending ****er 'points it out', I know we got one more goal than them - but still....under Rafa we were used to monopolising the ball, and pressing the ball when we didn't have it.

So far under Roy it looks like we're not pressing, happy to let the other team have the ball and defending with a very deep line. Anyone notice Murphy's and Etuhu's comments? Murphy said the first thing Hughes did was push the team 10-15 yards up the pitch. Etuhu said Hughes had told him to make some forward runs, whereas before he was never given that licence.

It was a poor performance really. In every game this season we've struggled to hold onto the ball and that will show in the statistics. Fulham underHodgson were a team who pressed all over the pitch and one also comfortable in posessesion so don't expect things to remain as they are.

Hopefully Meireles will help change this along with joe cole andgerrard when they finally get in the team together. Because it's one thing being out passed by Arsenal, it's quite another when we are chasing shadows v west brom and trabzonspur at home.

We'll get better.

[BrianF80]

Interesting point though about how deep we were though. I wonder of the higher line will work for fulham. With their centre backs I'd imagine they'll get caught with the ball over top before long. With our centre backs being of similar lack of fleet of foot I can see why we start deeper.


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We played a high line with the even slower pairing of Carragher and Hyypia! Offside trap + a keeper sweeping + pressing on the man in possession makes it very very possible.

But we won't do that because we are deep on purpose to draw the opponents out to create space into which we can counter-attack. We are a counter-attacking team.

[the rev leeroy brown]

But we won't do that because we are deep on purpose to draw the opponents out to create space into which we can counter-attack. We are a counter-attacking team.

no problem with being a counter - attacking team . . . . . . . . . .IMO the best counter attacking team in europe today is manure. they continually pull 10 men back to defend but they attack with great speed when they get the ball - done correctly it is very effective.

[BrianF80]

no problem with being a counter - attacking team . . . . . . . . . .IMO the best counter attacking team in europe today is manure. they continually pull 10 men back to defend but they attack with great speed when they get the ball - done correctly it is very effective.

Very true, but Manure aren't a counter-attacking team per se. Yes they play the transition game as well as anyone, but they can also play the possession game as well. And their approach to getting teams drawn out includes **** we don't do like scoring two goals! I haven't seen anything that hints at us having that balance. Have you?

[Fernandinho]

With torres on the pitch I can see us doing anything vs Manure. think back to the win vs them early last season. torres got away with a solid goal and we spent most of the game soaking up pressure

[little dave hedgehog]

One thing that concerned me was the amount of time Poulsen was caught wrongside of the ball when West Brom were attacking

He clearly isnt the quickest of players and therefore I'd expect him to hold more than he did

His previous game at home he sat more and his positional play looked half decent

Yesterday he was all over the gaff, whether it was an off day or he was just uncertain of his role / teammates (Lucas) I dont know but it is worrying to see someone so easily exposed particularly against such a poor outfit as West Brom

poulsen also got sucked into the right back position a lot, even when we were in possession. even when lucas was already over by the right hand touchline. having both cm's pulling way over to one side can't be good, can it?

no wonder you couldn't make out any sort of formation when we were trying to turn the ball over.

[Craig_H]

According to MOTD2, we had 48% of possession compared to their 52%. Against West Brom FFS.

And before some condescending ****er 'points it out', I know we got one more goal than them - but still....under Rafa we were used to monopolising the ball, and pressing the ball when we didn't have it.

So far under Roy it looks like we're not pressing, happy to let the other team have the ball and defending with a very deep line. Anyone notice Murphy's and Etuhu's comments? Murphy said the first thing Hughes did was push the team 10-15 yards up the pitch. Etuhu said Hughes had told him to make some forward runs, whereas before he was never given that licence.

Spot on. The way we just didnt press the ball at all, seriously concerned me. Against West ****ing Brom. A better side would destroy us, if we give them that much time and space on the ball. In fact, never mind 'would', Man City DID.

Very ****ing worrying.

[Craig_H]

It was a poor performance really. In every game this season we've struggled to hold onto the ball and that will show in the statistics. Fulham underHodgson were a team who pressed all over the pitch and one also comfortable in posessesion so don't expect things to remain as they are.

Hopefully Meireles will help change this along with joe cole andgerrard when they finally get in the team together. Because it's one thing being out passed by Arsenal, it's quite another when we are chasing shadows v west brom and trabzonspur at home.

We'll get better.

I dont get why we're the total opposite then. They do not have better players than us.

The awful distribution from DM was also horrible. Lucas and Poulsen gave the ball away for fun, and it was disturbing to see that, as with when we had Alonso, the back four were constantly giving the ball short to the DM, and asking them to distribute it and get our attacks under way...

Unfortunately, they were giving it short to Poulsen and Lucas, who had neither the idea of what to do with it, nor the ability.

We played a high line with the even slower pairing of Carragher and Hyypia! Offside trap + a keeper sweeping + pressing on the man in possession makes it very very possible.

But we won't do that because we are deep on purpose to draw the opponents out to create space into which we can counter-attack. We are a counter-attacking team.

Yep, i was thinking the same.

Yesterday reminded me of us under Houllier, where long balls to Owen were our only way of attacking. Except, we've upgraded to Torres now.

[BrianF80]

Yep, i was thinking the same.

Yesterday reminded me of us under Houllier, where long balls to Owen were our only way of attacking. Except, we've upgraded to Torres now.

I don't think it'll be quite as 1-dimensional but like you, I'm seeing a pattern here. 2 DMs and 2CMs who are renowned for their long passing! Scary.

I'm sure its even more apparent at the ground than on TV but the wide(sic) players are like 10-15 yds infield, basically as auxiliary CMs. So the width we have is Torres pulling wide. WTF! Rule 1 Torres=central to score goals. He put in as many crosses as he had shots yesterday. That's what worries me. Don't **** w/Torres, he's all we got good at the moment. Worrying.

[Craig_H]

I don't think it'll be quite as 1-dimensional but like you, I'm seeing a pattern here. 2 DMs and 2CMs who are renowned for their long passing! Scary.

I'm sure its even more apparent at the ground than on TV but the wide(sic) players are like 10-15 yds infield, basically as auxiliary CMs. So the width we have is Torres pulling wide. WTF! Rule 1 Torres=central to score goals. He put in as many crosses as he had shots yesterday. That's what worries me. Don't **** w/Torres, he's all we got good at the moment. Worrying.

Absolutely. Jovanovic and Kuyt were incredibly narrow - not only when we attack, but also when we were defending - meaning the opposition fullback was able to get forward and when the ball got played out to him, he was in acres, with his wide midfielder ahead of him for support, leaving OUR full back facing TWO players coming towards him, without Kuyt or Jovanovic there to help.

[Bender]

couple of other things Maxi has been sick and Gerrard has been sufferring with a bad back prior to the wba game

[BrianF80]

Absolutely. Jovanovic and Kuyt were incredibly narrow - not only when we attack, but also when we were defending - meaning the opposition fullback was able to get forward and when the ball got played out to him, he was in acres, with his wide midfielder ahead of him for support, leaving OUR full back facing TWO players coming towards him, without Kuyt or Jovanovic there to help.

Yeah cheers, thats the way it looked to me. I don't get it, Benitez would do that from time to time when the opposition had a center forward who was crap in the air and he wanted to encourage the opposition to cross to him vs. through balls. But this seems to be a deliberate and consistent thing. I really don't get it TBH.