Back to basics - cutting out soft goals

[Champagneblade]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

 

[metalblade]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

Great post, we could be running away with this league with a bit more discipline from the players, just do your jobs right to cut out half the errors.

 

[Champagneblade]

Great post, we could be running away with this league with a bit more discipline from the players, just do your jobs right to cut out half the errors.

This is the annoying thing.

If someone scores a decent goal against you like Luton away, where you say "good header, well played, only a half chance really" then you accept that.

But even amongst the self inflicted ones, Norwich, Burnley, Sunderland. Some absolute abominations in there!

Burnley have had their amazing run yet they could still be behind us at the weekend.

We are almost top 3 despite our best efforts! Important to cut it out and win this weekend. We'll be top two then. It is a decent platform for the more elite bunch of injured players to kick on from.

 

[1973Blade]

Great post, we could be running away with this league with a bit more discipline from the players, just do your jobs right to cut out half the errors.

True, but I bet all our promotion rivals will be saying the same about their team

 

[finlaytheblade]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

Good post champers pass it on to Hecki ! They should have analyst all that! Just a reminder to them to be more professional.
Totally opposite to last season (at home especially) injuries will have played a part this season! Have to cut it out after the break as our home form has collapsed,ironically away form is good ,strange season so far
.

 

[Tarqs]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

Agree, i put in the SB yesterday about the amount of times we gift goals to the opposition. It's rare we actually concede a well worked goal.

 

[Harry's Game]

Robinson looks to have reverted to his first half of last season form, two games in succession and two goals conceded down to him.

Clarke has to come into the reckoning for Saturday

 

[Houston_Blade]

Sit back and wait for us to fuck up will become a tactic of away teams at the lane if they've got any sense.

 

[Blade.com]

Sit back and wait for us to fuck up will become a tactic of away teams at the lane if they've got any sense.

That's exactly what I told my Millers mate. He was worried we would steam roller them, told him you'll score just press them and wait for the mistake to happen. It did.

 

[Geordie Blade]

The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

I know this has been argued to death, but McBurnie's job is to attack the ball. He has to make a split-second decision and even a small delay can make a big difference. Hecky (and any other manager) in training will tell him "Don't think - just attack the ball". So the goal was a basic mistake, but the basic mistake was someone else not marking Akporn in the first place.

Great post though - I completely agree about your assessment of the value of top players. It's why I never rated MGW that highly. He did some fantastic stuff, but also made too many basic errors. I know that these are less costly for strikers, but it was way too often that he'd misplace a daft pass, try a silly backheel or just let his temper and frustration get the better of him. He's a talented player, no doubt, but I don't think he adds a much value to a team as some people think.

 

[bakeblade]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

Also the QPR goal was confounded by a mistake by Wes.
Teams at our level need to go through games by making no errors, unfortunately we make too many.
Contrast this we our opposition who have made very few mistakes.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Good post. There are clearly situations where the management and coaching staff can't really be blamed for the goal. Davies vs Norwich and Robinson vs Burnley are good examples. If individual players are continually to blame and not the structure and organisation, it is time to consider if we have, or should be getting, better options. If a player is error prone it can be difficult to fix.

What happened with Jack Robinson last season was that he managed to cut out the errors when he played regularly. This summer, when he was maybe a little rusty/unfocused, I watched him mess up in a couple of friendlies again. He then got injured and as he's just returned it may take him some time to get rid of the errors again. I'm sure Hecky tells him "just stay focused", "don't take any chances" as he gets back into the rhythm, but we may have to accept that he won't be faultless yet.

Teams know he's not as composed on the ball as some others and so they don't mark him. If he gets it, they press him a bit to force him into a harried/inaccurate pass, or just let him play his usual 'neutral' pass. When Egan had the ball Robinson was almost always available, while other options were restricted. So Robinson, our least composed player, made the second highest number of passes in the game (79! Norwood made 88, then Egan with 63 and the rest below 50. No Rotherham player had more than 32).

But if Robinson, and the rest of the team, are continually told to avoid risky passes, there's a risk that there will be too many safe passes. I remember Warnock telling Kozluk to not pass the ball in his own half. This surely cut out some mistakes, as Kozluk hoofed it forward instead, but it also affected play in general, meaning we often struggled to play a passing game, unless we got into the last third.

The point is that we have to take some risks with our passing, and we can't have too many players who aren't capable of playing good, penetrating passes. Looking at the Rotherham team, I'm not sure we have enough players who's got the abiltiy to make things happen. It's just not Robinson. Ndiaye can't do it all every game. So when limited players are having a lot of possession it can either result in scrappy games, or unnecessary risk taking when they feel they have to try to force the issue.

So I think it's a bit difficult when the focus is on individual mistakes. What should the management do? "Remember - don't mess up, OK!?!?" It's a bit like telling a band about to make a record: "Remember - don't make shit songs, OK!?!?" Personally I've always tried to categorise goals into these three:

• Counter attacks
• Open play
• Set pieces

If there's a high number of goals falling into one category, it's easier for the management to work on that, e.g. what is it about our play that means we're too often conceding from counter attacks? There's probably a mistake in there, which you've touched upon, but do we have the shape and structure in place to deal with mistakes optimally when those happen? I feel there are managers who every week goes on about the need to "cut out individual errors", and "make better decisions in the last third" etc, i.e. putting the blame on individual players. Some of them are sticking their head in the sand and won't be getting it right.

 

[Tezza1889]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

In no way trying to steal any thunder from you, but this is all I've been talking about this season, many of us hold a fear that we will ultimately come up short, and this will be the real reason..

Funny that when the strikers can't score we're solid at the back, strikers click and the defence start playing the opposition in on goal.. Its probably why we've never won anything of note during a lifetime..

(cups etc.. League one winners, hardly the FA Cup was it)

 

[Snowflake]

Great post, we could be running away with this league with a bit more discipline from the players, just do your jobs right to cut out half the errors.

How many would we score if the opposing sides also cut out basic mistakes ?
It’s a sport and that is why so many watch it.

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

I’ve long held the belief that the difference between good players and average players is not their ability to do something unexpected, which they occasionally do, but to do the basics well and without error. Simple things like miscontrolling out of play, passing a ball too short or too long, getting dispossessed in a dangerous area etc. Overall they just play the percentages better.

Now every goal can be boiled down to a mistake. Even worldies. Someone didn’t marks someone, didn’t tackle, someone didn’t close down etc. But some mistakes are well within the realms of being easily avoidable.

At a relatively high level (not Bergen Blade Blade level with multiple screenshots!), I just wanted to take a look at the nature of the goals conceded and whether cutting out daft mistakes would have made the goal easily avoidable.

Watford - Norwood plays a short corner onto Fleck’s wrong foot, he scuffs a shot, they counter and score. Low reward, high risk on this routine and also basic inability from Fleck to use his right foot. Avoidable by simply not taking a corner to the striker’s wrong foot and who has a poor scoring record anyway. -1 point.

Sunderland - poor pass from Egan when we are cruising lets Sunderland score. Avoidable simply by not risking a short pass to nothing. No point change.

Boro - Their first is a decent ball across the box after some good Wilderball. The second sees this time McBurnie chase a ball he has no chance of getting to leave Akporn all alone (similar to Brum later). Second is a avoidable to retaining positional discipline. -2 points.

Luton - An early cross from our right and the centre forward arcs a great header into the corner. Yes, someone could have got closer but it is a good goal and not a howler. Decent goal.

Birmingham - Leading 1-0, Basham inexplicably gets attracted towards the ball and leaves Deeney completely unmarked as a result. Avoidable by simple positional discipline. -2 points.

QPR - Doyle completely fails in his job of tracking the runner to allow QPR to score. Avoidable by doing the job of tracking the runner. -1 point.

Stoke - mixed feelings on this one. An inexperienced defence is all at sea for the first. Players could do their job better but from the Stoke side well worked. Second one Jagielka just out jumps Egan. It happens. Players sometimes lose duels. I’m more concerned with absolute howlers or dereliction of duty. The third, United are pushing and get caught. Decent ball across the box. No points change.

Blackpool - the first is a good header and Osborn simply isn’t tall enough. This will happen with small players. The second however, if I was lenient for Stoke’s first then you can’t be here. The entire central defence has gone fishing leaving Yates all alone. Totally avoidable if they hadn’t switched off so badly. Egan plays the third into the path of the forward. Unlucky but completely avoidable. What did he think would happen if he stuck a leg out? If he didn’t the United man was behind him. Avoidable. -2 points.

Coventry - after failing to threaten all game with United hitting the woodwork twice, Coventry smash and grab when Basham totally unnecessarily lunges in on Goekeres. Avoidable by jockeying to nowhere. -1 point.

Norwich - Davies dwells on the ball and is closed down by Pukki whose deflection fortuitously ends up in the net. The second a bounce between Anel and Pukki ricochets in the latter’s favour, some ill fortune here but the first is completely avoidable with basic awareness. -2 points.

Burnley - First one is very unlucky. Shot going to the keeper ends up in the opposite corner off Robinson’s head. Frustrating but also bad luck. Second is an unnecessary throw from Wes when little can be achieved by playing out from the back so close to half time and Robinson miscontrols, is robbed and they score. Avoidable by just getting rid or not even throwing to him. Another pass to nothing. No points change.

Rotherham - Two experienced players, Stevens and Robinson completely fail to deal with a routine throw in. The whole of The Central defence gets sucked over leaving whiles completely unmarked in the middle of the penalty area. Avoidable by just agriculturally clearing it or by team mates retaining an iota of positional discipline. -1 point.

In conclusion, we’ve conceded 19 goals in 20 games. Not the worst record. But alarmingly, 11 of these, 57%, have been through basic errors. Of those 11, 7 have been through poor basic control or passing and 4 through dereliction of duty. I have Rotherham as both but the initial error is at the throw, the rest would not occur if that was dealt with.

These fundamentally avoidable errors have coughed up a whopping 12 points. Imagine being sat on 47 points right now! We’d be largely towards that if the players who, who in the main have all played at higher levels than most of the opponents, could cut out schoolboy mistakes.

This also resonates with the injury situation where players coming back from injury in their first few games are often the ones culpable:
Basham - Coventry, Birmingham, Blackpool
Robinson - Burnley, Rotherham
McBurnie - Boro
Fleck - Watford
Davies - Norwich

The others being:
Egan - Sunderland, Blackpool
QPR - Doyle

Hopefully a more settled side will help but it does add to the debate that poor injuries = inconsistent selection = rustiness = individual errors.

Let’s cross fingers we can put an end to this type of goal and get back to early season form.

Particularly agree about Osborn not being tall enough. Fleck falls into this trap way too often too. Something needs to be done I tell you!

 

[Rufus Smalls]

Interesting stuff. The Rotherham goal was a terrible one to concede. How can we have defenders getting sucked towards the ball leaving a striker totally unmarked 10 yards out ?? I would have expected a bollocking in my school team for that !