Alan Shearer

[Crafty Blade]

I have no problem with us being patient, even in the PL this season we have shown the quality to work good openings. Berge, Bash and Baldock in particular play some neat stuff and can get beyond defenders.

What i do have an issue with is when we are in perfectly good positions to cross it (or even excellent positions beyond a defence for that matter) we do not take the opportunity to deliver the ball, and on the occasions we do, the cross is woeful.

I agree with Wilder, it has to be a confidence issue. We are on autopilot, playing backwards and sideways. But we are understandably no longer dominating possession. It is now down to Wilder to address it, and drill in that we need to be more direct.

When the opportunity is on to just get the ball in first time, we need to do that. If that cross isnt on, by all means, we can continue to recycle and get beyond their defenders.

 

[SelbyBlade]

My issue was the quality of crosses when they did occur. Only Bash put over a decent one Baldock's were dire and Sander Berge despite having a great game kept over hitting crosses. I wonder if CWAK told them to make the crosses more quality because they had been gash and they therefore got scared about doing them at all. Sander Berge's corners were good but we need the tall lads in the middle for corners.

 

[metalblade]

While we are busy having four players out wide tippy tapping before they put a cross in the other team have time to get set and usually have four defenders marking our front two in the box. It drove me nuts yesterday you could see McBurnie and Brewster making runs in the box then having to check back when the cross didn't come, make another run and again have to check back as a cross wasn't delivered. One decent ball into the box all game when Berge set up Lunny who then kicked it half way up the kop.
It doesn't matter who we have up front Sharp, McGoldrick, Brewster, Mousett or McBurnie they aren't going to score with this service our midfield is wank and the wing backs are not doing as they did last season.

 

[robbiez666]

Every team we play against knows exactly what's coming. We can be breaking through the middle but we'd rather slow play down to bring in a wingback than have a go. It's like we've abandoned the middle of the pitch. Which is odd, given that we often find ourselves with a lot of room there as the opposition is set-up to stop us down the wings.

We can't just keep setting up and going out the same way hoping that something changes. We need to change the way we play. We're currently giving the opposition manager nothing much to think about as anyone who has seen us play knows how we'll play.

 

[Hartley Hare]

Somehow I feel as though my dirty laundry has been washed in public, via MOTD.

HH

 

[Yogi]

The issue with the overloads and triangles we try to create against elite level opponents is their defenders will be expected to Marshall their man and their space no excuses and are frankly capable of doing so against the quality we have. That means we aren’t dragging anyone else out of position to come and help thus not any additional creating space in the box the pits the emphasis on creating a chance solely on the quality of any delivery we can muster rather than weighting the odds slightly more in our favour by pulling a defender out.

 

[Kev Gee]

I've lost count of the amount of times that players are in and around the box and instead of shooting and making the keeper work, they play it wide. Work 3 or 4 one/twos and then either lose possession or cross it high and over everyone.

I saw a stat the other day that only around 1% of crosses result in a goal.

 

[hidesbehindapseudonym]

I imagine Wilder will just basically say "how many promotions has Alan Shearer had as a manager?". I think Shearer is right though on this; Steve McManaman was saying the same in real time during the game.

Love Wilder but he has to fix this. Just buying a couple of strikers was never the answer. Let's face it, we weren't exactly high scoring last year and the problem was clear to all of us. How many times have we stood on the Kop screaming "cross the fucking thing?"
UTB

 

[Blade56]

While we are busy having four players out wide tippy tapping before they put a cross in the other team have time to get set and usually have four defenders marking our front two in the box. It drove me nuts yesterday you could see McBurnie and Brewster making runs in the box then having to check back when the cross didn't come, make another run and again have to check back as a cross wasn't delivered. One decent ball into the box all game when Berge set up Lunny who then kicked it half way up the kop.
It doesn't matter who we have up front Sharp, McGoldrick, Brewster, Mousett or McBurnie they aren't going to score with this service our midfield is wank and the wing backs are not doing as they did last season.

When was the last time a midfielder slipped a ball through to a forward or MF making a run through? Forwards are becoming part of the triad passing group with chalk on their boots not attackers.

 

[Houso]

We miss Norwood at the corner of the box to whip one in. It was one of our most potent weapons in the last couple of seasons.

You can see them working the triangles and when it doesn't come in from that that area, they instead try to sneak in behind which rarely happens. Although, when it does, fucking Lunny should have scored.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

We have tended to do this a lot of most of CW's seasons. The only difference is we get less attacks in the PL, so when we attack and have the chance to get the ball in, we need to make at least 2/3 of them count....We arent afforded the luxury of multlple goes per game.

That's why you need quality - to make the 2/3 you get, count.

 

[hidesbehindapseudonym]

We miss Norwood at the corner of the box to whip one in. It was one of our most potent weapons in the last couple of seasons.

You can see them working the triangles and when it doesn't come in from that that area, they instead try to sneak in behind which rarely happens. Although, when it does, fucking Lunny should have scored.

Or at least hit the target

 

[steve26272]

Reckon it’s a few things
Firstly, and so they should have, teams have figured out a way to nullify us, overload our overload and let it break down naturally
At this point our ‘sum of its parts’ advantage is gone, and it’s then a man vs man battle, and as most would accept we are then up against it as due to budgets we are bargain basement stuff against most opposition
Secondly the play without fear due to no expectation has gone, it seems like there is a cautiousness as though they don’t want to be the one to carry the responsibility
Thirdly, and this is psychological, coming into last season all the players had something to prove, and on mid table championship wages, now most have shiny new contracts on probably x3 or x4 times a week - do some think they have made it? Not singling out Lunny, but he started last season on maybe £5k as a squad player, and is now looking to secure a move away in a few months where he may well get £50k

Finally CW is going through uncharted waters, never had a run this bad, and across all the divisions he’s managed, by far the worse to have it!

All said if I wasn’t going to loose 1-0 this weekend, better against Man City than, I don’t know, say Wycombe

 

[DronnieBlade]

Oh for a cross into the fucking box with a 22 year old Billy Whitehurst on the end of it. We’re too fucking nice lately. As per Dave Bassett, “Go on and splatter some cunt”. We will probably go down but by God the opposition will have some fucking bruises on them. To me that’s what being a Blades all about, you know you’ve been in a fucking game alright.

Welcome to the 21st Century .

UTB

 

[A Storm of Blades]

Totally agree with Shearer. As a defender if you know the ball isnt coming in then it's so much easier to set up against. No panic in the back line.

Even a few early miss-hit crosses can be useful as it puts you on edge knowing you might get turned around or you need to be aware of where the strikers are around you. Keeps your attention constantly split between the ball and the attackers.

Makes sense to not just lob it into the box everytime and to make clear crossing opportunities but if we keep recycling over and over gradually more and more of our players drift over and empty the middle leaving us open to being countered. If the ball is earlier then we haven't already emptied the middle and arent open to counters EVERY time.

Plus it makes it almost impossible for anyone in the box to time attacking a cross

 

[A Storm of Blades]

When was the last time a midfielder slipped a ball through to a forward or MF making a run through? Forwards are becoming part of the triad passing group with chalk on their boots not attackers.

If you YouTube Duffy goals and assists you’ll find a video from our first year back in the champ. It’s weird to watch because he constantly has the ball centrally, driving at centre halves or slipping through balls between defenders

 

[Mojo]

If we put out a workmanlike defensive midfield, the only creativity can come down the wings. Since Baldock is in horrendous form, there is nothing at all coming down the right. And with no JOC the same on the left. Bogle must play.

 

[Harrisblade]

Plus it makes it almost impossible for anyone in the box to time attacking a cross

Much as I hate to say it, even Steve Mcmanaman made a similar point in tv commentary.
He was pointing out how many times we got the ball to a crossing position, but then tapped it backward and forwards between ourselves before actually putting the ball into the box.
He noted several times that McBurnie and Brewster had done their bit by being in the box waiting, but the ball never came in early enough.
To make it worse, despite the time taken, the ball that did come in was often rubbish

 

[Superblades]

Yeah but Wilder is right, they all have better players than us, they all spend more than us, we don't belong here, we should accept that we are bottom feeders blah, blah, blah.

What happened to our warrior manager of last season.

He’s lost his bottle. He lost in from Feb onwards imo.

 

[Houston_Blade]

To quote Mourinho “don’t just be cunts, be intelligent cunts”

 

[Pompey_Blade]

7th most crosses per game. The problem is the quality of cross not quantity.

 

[A Storm of Blades]

7th most crosses per game. The problem is the quality of cross not quantity.
View attachment 96670

True but no other team almost exclusively rely on attacking from wide positions so it should be 1st

 

[Gimli]

A lot has been made of teams ‘working out the overlap’ and now we’ve apparently been found out.

I disagree.

If we’ve been found out, how were we able to make so many openings for a cross? The issue (as has been highlighted above) is the quality of crosses.

Of course we can’t create as many ‘perfect’ crossing opportunities, we’re in a better league with better defenders. We have to start improving the quality of delivery - incidentally this would be helped if we actually decided to cross the ball in rather than take 2-3 backwards passes once we’ve got into good positions.

 

[Varkanoid]

The above is true we havent been found out we just dont use it anymore or enough. Basham still runs forward on the right but no one runs forward on the left like JoC.
Nearly all the crosses yesterday came from the right, and it was also on the right when we had 3 players who should have crossed it, just tip-tapped and lost it.

If we are to attack on the right, and not put an early ball in then defenders know what we are doing. It needs mixing up more so defenders dont know whether its coming left or right.

Sadly JoC is missing.

 

[tincan]

In the championship, Norwood was the team pivot to bring the wings into play, maximising his ping. Last season Norwoods accuracy was targeted by the opposition, so Fleck protected him and the wings worked even better, as runners could set off earlier in anticipation of the ping. George and Enda disguised their shortcomings with the extra second anticipation gives.
Now whoever plays centre pivot isn't getting protected, or doesn't know the position meaning the pass to the wing is slower and any cross is hesitant. Thus 5 play tiki-taka on a wing because we lost the pivots passing. £20m Berge doesn't have sufficient knowledge of that position yet, so we should return to Norwood and prioritise protecting him, with Lunny or Ampadu until Fleck is fit again.

 

[Bladesthorpe]

Yeah but Wilder is right, they all have better players than us, they all spend more than us, we don't belong here, we should accept that we are bottom feeders blah, blah, blah.

What happened to our warrior manager of last season.

He's probably realised he's driving a Skoda against Rolls Royces and Porsches and can only put his foot to the floor and still get nowhere.

 

[pommpey]

Lot of people talking about a number ten, but at this level, and to bring someone like Berger into the game and not have him defending all the time, it means a formation switch.

----------------------------------------Ramsdale-------------------------------------

Baldock------------------Basham-------------------------Egan----------------Lowe

-----------------------------------------Norwood------------------------------------

-----------------Berge-----------------------------------------------Fleck-----------

----------------------------------------McGoldrick----------------------------------

------------------------McBurnie------------------------Brewster------------------

Is workable, as long as Norwood doesn't cross the centre line much and leaves the spadework to Berge, McGoldrick and Fleck in front of him. He should be nowhere near corners and free kicks either and needs to provide cover on possession change and challenge the breakouts. We know he's a bit bobbar at this, mind.

Didsy is good, if slow, at No10 and if anything, it's where Brooks should go if we go after him in January. He will run at oppositions and draw fouls, much the same as Grealish does (okay, but with a quarter of his talent) He will also be able to allow the front two to keep any central pairing occupied. Note: the attacking lines are now through midfield on this model.

pommpey

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

He’s just absolutely nailed his analysis of us on MOTD with as much passion as any one of us Blades.

McBurnie and Brewster should be absolutely raging at their lack of service today. We can all see it when we watch the match but when the examples are broken down, it’s clear to see that our insistence on pissing about on the wings is costing us big time.

Wilder talks about adapting all the time, he talks about how they’ve done it successfully in the past and how they won’t stand still. Well here is an example clear as day as to why we aren’t even close to scoring from open play.

For all the moaning we do about lazy punditry, it’s only fair we point out when they get it spot in.

That pissing about got us to 10th last season and got us into the Prem

 

[pommpey]

That pissing about got us to 10th last season and got us into the Prem

Nope. In the Championship, the routes to goal were more or less open and the overloads we created frightened the shit out of opposition defences. We also were good at threading passes and finding the men in the box. Last season, oppositions found it difficult to work us out and we had a pretty luminary goalkeeper.

This season. Not.

pommpey

 

[BettingBlade]

That pissing about got us to 10th last season and got us into the Prem

What got us into the prem was creating overloads on the wings and having Norwood as a pivot. We moved the ball loads quicker by constantly switching flanks and over-lapping, not this slow sideways shit that we’re seeing now.

What got us into the Prem was having a number 10 break the lines and give us another outlet through the middle. Duffy getting on the ball and threading through passes, while our strikers pulled defenders out to create space.

If it was pissing about in the Championship, we would still be there now. We don’t move the ball anywhere near as quickly as we used to do.

What got us to 10th in the Prem was playing without fear, pressing high and forcing defenders into mistakes. Allowing Fleck and Lundstram to maraude forward and create chances.

We don’t do any of that anymore. We sit back and invite pressure and when we do get forward we look devoid of ideas. We only have one method of attacking and that’s down the wings. When our CB’s are pinned back we have no plan b. There’s nothing through the middle because there’s never anyone creating any space, the ball just gets recycled out to the wing but by the time it’s got there it’s too congested to create an overload. None of our fit midfielders, other than Berge, are skilful enough to create anything on their own but even when he does get on the ball, our movement off the ball is too slow to create any openings.

Our strikers aren’t able to create any space because we’re constantly wanting to play in congested areas. When we used to get Duffy on the ball in the Championship, they could pull out wide to open spaces to create chances. Our strikers now are stuck like spare parts in the middle waiting for a cross that is never going to come. They only get involved when Ramsdale launches the ball towards them or when they are forced to come wide to actually get involved leaving a penalty area full of defenders and no attacking threat from us.

So no, that pissing about did not get us from the Championship to 10th in the Prem.