Substitutions vs Spurs

[Wards]

In hindsight, what would have been the best way to see out that game?

Let's assume Bogle, McAtee and Hamer had to come off.

I'd also replace the strikers.

And end up with:

Wes
Trusty Basham Ahmehodzic Robinson Thomas
Seriki Souza Davies Larouci
Slimane​

So, a line up with a few players out of positions! But five subs made. A tweaked formation. Focus on added aggression, pace, running and chasing. Keeping the back three intact. Trusty's task wouldn't be to distribute and overlap, but basically stay goalside of his man and help defend our box.

Change to a midfield four, enabling Souza and Davies to stay central and concentrate on protecting the defence. Two young athletes thrown on as wide midfielders, to run, press, challenge and chase. Both are inexperienced at top level, but we wouldn't be asking them to create, to keep possession, show composure, it was all about running and booting it away at that stage. Slimane isn't a striker, but again his main task would be to run about a bit, and he's also decent at keeping the ball under pressure and would give us added height to help defend set pieces.

I didn't give it too much thought at the time, but looking back, I think the above would have been interesting to see, given another chance to try protect that lead.

Swap Bash and Trusty and I wouldn't complain with that.

Wasn't so much about positions at the end, just a freshness and willingness to run.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Swap Bash and Trusty and I wouldn't complain with that.

Wasn't so much about positions at the end, just a freshness and willingness to run.

I think Bash may have been targeted at right back, bit tired, age starting to show, and on a yellow.

 

[Wards]

Possibly. Given we had none/little of the ball we'd probably be asking Seriki to be the one pressing out wide anyway.

I think Bash may have been targeted at right back, bit tired, age starting to show, and on a yellow.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

We absolutely needed freshness up top. Unfortunately jebbo, Brewster and Osula (all still with much to prove) weren't options and a youngster from Swedish football isn't exactly going to cut it either in such a situation just now

 

[Nedski]

There have been numerous times during Hecky's reign where players having been struggling to move let alone run, but have been ended up playing the whole 90 (or 110 in today's case). Berge in particular always looked knackered towards the end of games but wasn't subbed.

As Bergen Blade has said, today we could have done with sacrificing quality for energy. Seriki, Larouci and Traore could have come on with the instruction to bust a gut and give everything for 20 minutes just chasing the ball, rather than having some clearly exhausted players walking around causing the spurs players absolutely no problems.

My 6 year old has limited ability but a lot more energy than me and when we're having a kickabout he will do enough to make things difficult for me, simply by getting in the way and not stopping!

 

[Nedski]

And another thing - if McBurnie had been subbed when he CLEARLY needed to be, he wouldn't have been booked again and sent off

 

[Champagneblade]

I think it's a brave man who says he's putting Seriki on and leaving Norwood on the bench!

Ideally I'd have probably added Slimani and Traore but you're showing lack of depth and this is where injury is killing us.

 

[Houston_Blade]

In hindsight, what would have been the best way to see out that game?

Let's assume Bogle, McAtee and Hamer had to come off.

I'd also replace the strikers.

And end up with:

Wes
Trusty Basham Ahmehodzic Robinson Thomas
Seriki Souza Davies Larouci
Slimane​

So, a line up with a few players out of positions! But five subs made. A tweaked formation. Focus on added aggression, pace, running and chasing. Keeping the back three intact. Trusty's task wouldn't be to distribute and overlap, but basically stay goalside of his man and help defend our box.

Change to a midfield four, enabling Souza and Davies to stay central and concentrate on protecting the defence. Two young athletes thrown on as wide midfielders, to run, press, challenge and chase. Both are inexperienced at top level, but we wouldn't be asking them to create, to keep possession, show composure, it was all about running and booting it away at that stage. Slimane isn't a striker, but again his main task would be to run about a bit, and he's also decent at keeping the ball under pressure and would give us added height to help defend set pieces.

I didn't give it too much thought at the time, but looking back, I think the above would have been interesting to see, given another chance to try protect that lead.

My main take from that team you’ve got there is just how thin our squad is.

There’s a (clickbait) article tonight suggesting PH might be at risk of the sack. With the squad he’s got to choose from, to only lose by the odd goal in 4 games so far is a miracle.

 

[Bergen Blade]

I think it's a brave man who says he's putting Seriki on and leaving Norwood on the bench!

Ideally I'd have probably added Slimani and Traore but you're showing lack of depth and this is where injury is killing us.

Seriki is a phenomenal athlete. Fast, strong, mobile, can press and chase and tackle. Norwood is quite clever when it comes to get a foot on the ball when an opponent enters his zone. The problem is that opponents in this league regularly moves away from his zone/the area he can cover. When he can't get there, his ability to get a challenge in, is wasted.

Before Spurs won the corner we had nobody putting pressure on the man on the ball, Norwood can't get close. There were runs behind our defence, and our reorganised defence weren't keeping a straight line. Trusty and Basham have ended up swapping positions, due to Spurs' movement, not our own strategy.


Bash manage to get his head on the ball to give them a corner, from which they score.



Before their winner, Spurs won back possession, yet Norwood does little to track the scorer:


He escapes blame because people see Kulusevski unmarked and Norwood is nowhere near. But a more defensively minded player may have realised the threat and raced back to track him. Norwood doesn't/is unable to do that, the over-worked Robinson can't get a block in this time, and we end up conceding.

 

[riselikeasalmon]

I think Hecky will still be having too many nightmares about putting Hackford and Brooks on v Forest

 

[Keen Blade]

Hecky can't think creatively enough to improvise when it comes to seeing games out.
Forget normal positions - throw some fresh legs on with specific instructions on how to spoil for 20 mins.
Stupid to leave knackered players on.
McBurnie has done so well all game and not moaned at ref but the poor lad is physically drained when he gets a 50/50 tussle awarded against him and reacts to the decision.
So avoidable , by Hecky.

 

[mickhep]

I think Davies for Mcburnie would have been better for the last ten minutes, he was knackered and needed to come off.But we sat on our hands and did nowt.On to the next one. Utb

 

[Wards]

Just another point, I think Slimane has filled in at RB for the Tunisian national team before. Not if he's any good there but could've been an option

 

[steve26272]

Last season we win 1 0 because the game finishes after 95 minutes

True

But the rules have changed, we all know it, we’ve all seen it

We can’t blame the time keeping for lapses in doing the basics

We were worn down by the better team, helped by £130m off the bench

Last season Khedra & Brewster combined for a 94th minute winner at Swansea

They would have seen that the same as we see this

We should be man enough to own up to class, fatigue, naivety and decision making, rather than scape goating

 

[Frank the tank]

True

But the rules have changed, we all know it, we’ve all seen it

We can’t blame the time keeping for lapses in doing the basics

We were worn down by the better team, helped by £130m off the bench

Last season Khedra & Brewster combined for a 94th minute winner at Swansea

They would have seen that the same as we see this

We should be man enough to own up to class, fatigue, naivety and decision making, rather than scape goating

Well you must the man of men then
Because nearly every post you put on here is about how shit we are

 

[Brownieblade]

For me, and easy to say, big mistake was not putting Traore on, it became more and more like a training exercise the later it got, no problem with that, but for me what we lost was the outlet to get the ball forward, possibly keep or even win free kicks

If Hecky had asked me I would have put him and Larry on and just asked them to chase every clearance

 

[Snowflake]

We did well last season, really happy with it. Makes a big difference when you do your business before the season starts.

Not if you get the wrong players in haste to be “ready”. Getting McAtee is an example of having to wait to get the best option.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Seriki is a phenomenal athlete. Fast, strong, mobile, can press and chase and tackle. Norwood is quite clever when it comes to get a foot on the ball when an opponent enters his zone. The problem is that opponents in this league regularly moves away from his zone/the area he can cover. When he can't get there, his ability to get a challenge in, is wasted.

Before Spurs won the corner we had nobody putting pressure on the man on the ball, Norwood can't get close. There were runs behind our defence, and our reorganised defence weren't keeping a straight line. Trusty and Basham have ended up swapping positions, due to Spurs' movement, not our own strategy.

View attachment 171174
Bash manage to get his head on the ball to give them a corner, from which they score.



Before their winner, Spurs won back possession, yet Norwood does little to track the scorer:

View attachment 171175
He escapes blame because people see Kulusevski unmarked and Norwood is nowhere near. But a more defensively minded player may have realised the threat and raced back to track him. Norwood doesn't/is unable to do that, the over-worked Robinson can't get a block in this time, and we end up conceding.

I thought Norwood was really good when he came on, pressed well and made a few tackles and interceptions.

That last picture is damming though, assume he wanted to be an option for us in possession and thought Souza and Davies were deep enough.

 

[steve26272]

Well you must the man of men then
Because nearly every post you put on here is about how shit we are

Eh??!!

I’m always positive about stuff

What was my original post on this thread you replied to?

Look back over my previous posts and you will see im not blaming the management team, calling out players, bitching about ref's

Not sure how you can say Im been negative when I sign off a 2-1 defeat with '99% well done Hecky, lads and fans there'

My point here is both teams go into 90+ mins knowing any time wasted, intentionally or not, will be added. Assistant shows a board to say how long - agree or not thats when the game ends - some people are using words like corrupt and bent, refs wanting Spurs to score - im saying bollox!

Yesterday, we conceded in the 8th & 10th min of extra time
Palace conceded in the 8th & 10th
Games before Man U in the 6th & 11th vs Arsenal

 

[Bergen Blade]

I thought Norwood was really good when he came on, pressed well and made a few tackles and interceptions.

That last picture is damming though, assume he wanted to be an option for us in possession and thought Souza and Davies were deep enough.

Yes, he did win the ball a couple of times, when he got close to opponents, or they got close to him. But a substitute midfielder coming on to protect a lead, when we lose possession in our own half, what we need is someone with the legs and determination to chase back and try rescue the situation, rather than... slow-jogging (YouTubeLink, should start when Spurs win back possession).

 

[joe casey]

We're a centre half and striker light - it will continue to cost us when we look at the bench and having nothing to bring on

 

[alcoblade]

We have players on the pitch who can’t play 90 minutes and subs on the bench who are rustier than the stadium in S6, piss poor planning has now thrown another game away.

But….. patience.

Was it planning, or the result of holding on to the players that both got us promotion and left us skint?

 

[Shawy24]

For once, I couldn’t fault PH team selection (well I could, but I don’t know enough about the fitness of Egan nor of howTrusty and Slimane are fitting into the structure). But why does he screw up a perfectly balanced side with his substitutions? Also for two of them why so late?

I fail to see the point of Norwood full stop. He simply doesn’t have the physique and speed to combat a premiership midfield. If you are going to be under the cosh then accept it and strengthen your midfield and sort out a fast out ball. If Maca has to come off stick Slimane on and if necessary shuffle into a defensive 2 lines of 4. We are protecting a lead, we don’t need a Hollywood ping merchant because he hasn’t got anyone to ping it to. It’s a waste of a body available to foul, disrupt and generally get in the way.

On the Trusty sub, if you can’t trust the lad to start I’m not sure you why you should be chucking him on in the wrong position for theoretically the last 4 minutes? What’s the point? If Bogle is knackered then change it earlier, another 4 minutes of being knackered makes little difference.

Also I am in full agreement with @Bergenblade on Seriki. Been a revelation since returning from a shit loan spell and played well in the pre season. Worth trusting as was another lad we have let out on loan.