Ratings vs West Brom

[whitesocks]

In the managers defence i dont know what else he could have done because i dont believe we have enough or any real game changers to come off the bench.

Pullis changed his team at half time - and we did not have an answer.
West Brom were pushing right up - they were not frightened of Kane's pace - in fact his 2 1st half chances aside, Kane was very quiet. He was contained.
MP should have tried pulling him deeper, and let Eriksen or Alli play up top.
If that did not work, then Rose has pace - move him right up and give them something to think about.
Rightfully or wrongfully, MP doesn't really roll the dice - he knows the shape he wants and the players have to work hard to make it work. Mourinho would often take a FB off he he needed the win. Sometimes it worked.
There is no plan B with MP. I guess he feels the discipline will pay off in the longer run.

 

[mpickard2087]

I'm not sure last night just proves that we need signings to beef up our attack/options and that was to blame. Whatever individual quality you put out it can be a struggle against a well drilled, disciplined, hard working outfit. For me there were a few tactical tweaks that I would have liked to see and I feel we struggled to adapt.

I think this was definitely one of those games where we were far too narrow and ended up getting in each others way, with the play predominantly being in front of the oppositions brick wall. I think when this happens you also run the risk of overplaying and looking a bit lax. Sometimes you have to get away from the man with the ball and give him some space to operate and decent options. In fairness to Poch there have been a couple of times this season (I think once introducing Chadli and once Townsend, but you don't necessarily have to make subs) where he's made a change, just stationed players wider with their starting positions, 'stretched' our shape a bit and as a consequence the opposition can't defend quite so narrowly, and that has 'declogged' the centre of the park and given us a bit more room for manoeuvre and we've gone on to find the breakthrough. This game it didn't happen though.

I also think (and said earlier in the thread) I don't think our movement was good enough, particularly up top. I don't know if Kane was struggling or something but it was very poor by his standards. If I could have said one thing to him it would have been to try and pull into channels, even just between centre back and fullback, and play on the last defender looking for the through pass. We saw virtually none of that last night. He was often hidden, and I go back to everything happening in front of the defence.

Finally we lacked a bit of width from the right side with Walker who really needed to pay much further forward in my opinion.

I didn't mind the Mason sub. I thought we might have someone making runs and ghosting in behind at long last, but he just seemed to play Dier's role (admittedly we had little control on the game) which was a bit disappointing to see.

I'd have had Trippier on for Walker with instructions to play as far upfield as he could, Chadli on earlier looking to make runs and get in behind them, Mason with similar instructions.

These may not have ultimately worked, but they seemed the more obvious ones to me watching it unfold. Certainly feel something had to be done, rather than sticking with what was going on.

A case of missed opportunities and maybe lacking ideas/inspiration both on and off the pitch. One of those nights unfortunately!

 

[shelfboy68]

I'm not sure last night just proves that we need signings to beef up our attack/options and that was to blame. Whatever individual quality you put out it can be a struggle against a well drilled, disciplined, hard working outfit. For me there were a few tactical tweaks that I would have liked to see and I feel we struggled to adapt.

I think this was definitely one of those games where we were far too narrow and ended up getting in each others way, with the play predominantly being in front of the oppositions brick wall. I think when this happens you also run the risk of overplaying and looking a bit lax. Sometimes you have to get away from the man with the ball and give him some space to operate and decent options. In fairness to Poch there have been a couple of times this season (I think once introducing Chadli and once Townsend, but you don't necessarily have to make subs) where he's made a change, just stationed players wider with their starting positions, 'stretched' our shape a bit and as a consequence the opposition can't defend quite so narrowly, and that has 'declogged' the centre of the park and given us a bit more room for manoeuvre and we've gone on to find the breakthrough. This game it didn't happen though.

I also think (and said earlier in the thread) I don't think our movement was good enough, particularly up top. I don't know if Kane was struggling or something but it was very poor by his standards. If I could have said one thing to him it would have been to try and pull into channels, even just between centre back and fullback, and play on the last defender looking for the through pass. We saw virtually none of that last night. He was often hidden, and I go back to everything happening in front of the defence.

Finally we lacked a bit of width from the right side with Walker who really needed to pay much further forward in my opinion.

I didn't mind the Mason sub. I thought we might have someone making runs and ghosting in behind at long last, but he just seemed to play Dier's role (admittedly we had little control on the game) which was a bit disappointing to see.

I'd have had Trippier on for Walker with instructions to play as far upfield as he could, Chadli on earlier looking to make runs and get in behind them, Mason with similar instructions.

These may not have ultimately worked, but they seemed the more obvious ones to me watching it unfold. Certainly feel something had to be done, rather than sticking with what was going on.

A case of missed opportunities and maybe lacking ideas/inspiration both on and off the pitch. One of those nights unfortunately!

Unfortunately what a night to be lacking in ideas and opportunities our biggest one for years, i think the occasion got to the players Personally which is why they didnt quite hit the heights we expected on the night.

 

[EastLondonYid]

We can discuss and debate the game forever...

If Lamela's shot is just a few inches in we win and no one says a word and everything is great.

Martial scores at 0-0 and we probably don't win...

Thin margins in most games.

 

[yankspurs]

Pullis changed his team at half time - and we did not have an answer.
West Brom were pushing right up - they were not frightened of Kane's pace - in fact his 2 1st half chances aside, Kane was very quiet. He was contained.
MP should have tried pulling him deeper, and let Eriksen or Alli play up top.
If that did not work, then Rose has pace - move him right up and give them something to think about.
Rightfully or wrongfully, MP doesn't really roll the dice - he knows the shape he wants and the players have to work hard to make it work. Mourinho would often take a FB off he he needed the win. Sometimes it worked.
There is no plan B with MP. I guess he feels the discipline will pay off in the longer run.

We needed N'Jie on the bench. His pace would have tore WBA apart and opened things up for Kane. Would have been the perfect sub for Dier getting hurt at 80' or for one of the fullbacks earlier to go for it. But oh well.

That is my complaint with Poch. Alot of times, he lacks a plan b or waits wayyy too late to change it up and it costs us points.

 

[yankspurs]

We can discuss and debate the game forever...

If Lamela;s shot is 2 inches in we win and no one says a word and everything is great.

Martial scores at 0-0 and we probably don't win...

Thin margins in most games.

We had a few that hit the post and didnt go in. And that is the story of the title this season. Those havent gone in for us. But they always do for Leicester. We've gotten no luck. Leicester has gotten all the luck in the world. It hurts because we were clearly the best team in the league this year and coming in 2nd to a team that is living on luck.

 

[EastLondonYid]

We had a few that hit the post and didnt go in. And that is the story of the title this season. Those havent gone in for us. But they always do for Leicester. We've gotten no luck. Leicester has gotten all the luck in the world. It hurts because we were clearly the best team in the league this year and coming in 2nd to a team that is living on luck.

Agree to a certain extent....but any team that sits top for 135 days deserves to win it imo...however which way.
Everytime we had a chance to put pressure on them we have failed to do so...hey our team is young and hopefully will grow and learn.