03 Jan 2022 20:49:49
Rb is 20 and lb 22, with Gordon still a kid, it pleasing to see we are looking to mix the youth with some experience (dcl - I know he's still quite young, gray, richy, doucoure)
Plenty of people go on about coaching and tactics but not sure how much training rafa does. A lot of bosses don't take training. Dunc got to tale some blame there. Or, they could be doing everything in training perfectly then once they cross the white line they fall apart and nothing manager can do about that. You could see how frustrated rafa was when the 2nd went in. Seems like he's told them a hundred times what to do but they still won't do what is asked.
Keane being the prime example. He spoke himself about entail issues and not liking the criticism from the crowd, needing psychologist. Can almost see him crumble on pitch once he makes a mistake or opponents score. This probly affects other cbs too as they try to cover for him.
I think we need to start looking at 433/ 451
Pickford
Patterson
Godfrey
Mina/ branthwaite
Mickey
New cdm
New cdm/ Allan
Doucoure
Gray
Dcl
Gordon/ richy
Still gives us
Gomez/ townsend/ coleman/ keane/ gbamin/ simms/ dobbin as subs/ back up
Means we can sell, give away, drown: iwobi, rondon, Holgate, digne, davies.
03 Jan 2022 21:07:30
Mental health for Keane
Formation is quite flexible. can have 1 or 2 sitting in midfield and doucoure box to box free from defending as much.
Wingers can drop to make a 5 in midfield without the ball but support dcl when we do.
03 Jan 2022 21:31:50
Benitez leads the coaching, sets the tactics and picks the team.
He stated when he came that he was looking to improve all players by 6%. Well most appear to have gone backwards or at best stood still.
His reluctance to change tactics or shape of the team during games is not only frustrating the fans, but also the players. Allan was fuming on the bench when he was taken off, ironically just as he was having a decent spell in the game.
Agree signing young players is a good sign. But not playing the young players we already have does not make any sense. Especially given how they performed against Chelsea.
I still think his stubbornness to change will be his downfall.
03 Jan 2022 21:19:39
Don't mention Duncan should take some of the blame or you will have his worshippers having a pop at you.
03 Jan 2022 22:01:01
Brass, dunno how you can say he doesn't make changes to players or tactics, when first 6 or 7 games, he did and we won most, even from being behind.
Injuries kicked in and he has made mistakes, he would probly admit that in private but all managers make them.
Maybe the younger players we have are not actually as good as the players we put out, or he just wants to protect them from the abuse from the stands if they make a mistake or don't play well, a la barkley, Davies, Holgate, stones, etc. We all know our fans are guilty of hurling some nasty abuse at the players.
{Ed025's Note - but then again geoff when he gave the likes of branthwaite and dobbin a shot they done very well mate, and even simms to a certain extent, and it gave the crowd a massive lift..
03 Jan 2022 22:07:06
Well that's three different formations you have put forward now. But to be fair it's two more than Benitez uses. ?.
03 Jan 2022 22:48:27
Too much football manager that, brass. Think I'm the next Howard kendall. Lol
Tbf Ed, branthwaite has done really well when carlo was here and the Chelsea game. needs to play regularly.
Can't say I've seen dobbin and simms do an awful lot.
They are fast but so was cadamarteri and Vaughan and look where they ended up.
I do believe he is missing a trick here, he could use it to his advantage. If he plays the kids and we win a few then he's a genius. If we lose then he can tell the fans, I told you so. They not ready.
{Ed025's Note - if he played them geoff maybe it would save his job..
03 Jan 2022 23:31:02
C’mon, Reg, if anyone’s having a pop it’s you mate. Entitled to your opinion of course. Mine is that I don’t understand the anti Ferguson narrative. We can direct blame at him if it makes anyone feel better, but Benitez, as manager takes responsibility for the players as well as the back room staff.
04 Jan 2022 05:12:53
Sure we haven't seen much of the kids to see what they can do. Sure maybe they're not great. But we sure have seen too much Rondon and Iwobi and we know they aren't great, good, or good enough. When something isn't working no matter how stubborn you are trying to be eventually you have to try something, anything different. All matches start with the same dismal approach. Then after we're behind nothing happens until very late the players do start pushing forward and if he isn't already playing Rondon is sent in to slow the attact further. No ambition, no joy.