Weaknesses are obvious

[Champagneblade]

1. When Duffy runs out of puff there is nobody to take over from him.

2. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch but is simply not ruthless enough.

That to me is where we fall short, form of other players accepted.

Woodburn has been a huge let down and if we still had Brooks, it's here where his skill would help to run the clock down. We're not at it late in games of late because that spark has fizzled out around 70 minutes and there is nothing in the squad to ignite it.

McGoldrick and Clark would be good subs at this level. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch and could be a good impact sub but his goal output is not enough to be relied upon. Take away the pens and he's hardly threatened in open play. Yesterday's miss was a prime example. If that chance came to Billy it would have been in the roof of the next and 2-0. To other's points, it's a shame we didn't get Marriott.

Pity is, despite yesterday's poor showing we are so very close. A decent penalty kick and some more professional defending yesterday and we'd be top.

 

[blade too long]

Despite being poor let's it lose sight we are level with West Brom and derby who both spent gazillions more than us
We fell away a bit last season with Brooks so saying he'd help is not the answer. We were just well off our usual standards yesterday
It's our cohesion and team work that carries us forward but that was in short supply. Love Freeman but his crosses into the box turned into defensive clearances.
Thought Flecks in built radar for passes was turned off. Billy Sharp was totally bullied out of the game for there most part. The biggest faults yesterday were the passing and the missed tackles. It was endemic throughout the team .

 

[Houston_Blade]

We rely heavily on the whole team all playing well week in week out with a maximum of 1 or 2 passengers. What we can't legislate for is when 7/8 players have an off day in games like yesterday. It might be due to motivation as some have suggested, I do get the feeling that some players believe their own hype at times. It might also be due to the fact that Rotherham play a style that in recent history we haven't been able to cope with (big strong team with a direct approach), it seems that we still can't cope with it.

I personally think that we're pretty easy to nullify by getting the wingers to push onto our CB's when they are receiving the ball from the GK and then we have to go long, which we're shit at. The other option is that you pack the edge of the defensive box like the pigs did and we haven't a clue how to break teams down. I think more teams are now able to counter our play and we are seeing that reflected in the results (Derby, Forest, Pigs, Rotherham in recent games).

Our weakness when this happens is that we don't have enough good options on the bench to change things on the pitch. This will continue to be a weakness as we shop in the bargain basement, not much we can do about it with a rich chairman willing to spend heavily on players that can unlock games, however I don't want us to have £150k+ of weekly wages sat on the bench just in case so I accept our limitations.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

We've needed another Duffy since Brooks left, it's nothing new, unfortunately Woodburn doesn't seem to be the answer for whatever reason and Washington looks like another who will drift away within a year of signing. Two key signings needed in January.

 

[Bladezz]

We had a lot of the ball in the defence. The strikers didn’t have much of the ball. The midfielders (including wingbacks) just didn’t get on the ball. Fleck and Norwood were terrible.

 

[sitwell]

Blaming Mcgoldrick is so wide of the mark its untrue.

 

[bladeinspain]

Blaming Mcgoldrick is so wide of the mark its untrue.

He did seem to bottle out of challenges..

 

[Davalon]

Blaming Mcgoldrick is so wide of the mark its untrue.

True but his application in the first half was pitiful.

 

[Champagneblade]

Blaming Mcgoldrick is so wide of the mark its untrue.

I didn't blame McGoldrick.

I said him not contributing enough goals is one of the weaknesses.

This wasn't about yesterday but overall. We lack cover for Duffy and we lack a second reliable scorer this season beyond Sharp.

McGoldrick is a nice player to have around. He doesn't score enough goals though to be part of a front two to rely upon for the entire season without alternatives. At the moment if Sharp doesn't get it on plate, our forwards don't achieve enough. Not for a team to finish top two.

I think Kenneth Zohore would be useful addition. That would take pressure off McGoldrick and Leon in that we'd have 4 useful alternatives. I see we are linked with a young lad at Sunderland today.

For Duffy, Freeman is an obvious choice but can't see QPR releasing him.

 

[mattbianco1]

We need a powerful striker who can attack balls with his head. We also need 1 who can turn nothing into something. We've not had that since 11/12 season - Evans would often receive the ball with his back to goal 30 odd yards out and before you knew it, he'd powered through and scored. We have nobody that can do that either.

So that's 2 strikers. Plus a Duffy challenger.

That Taylor for them yesterday was awesome, wonder if he could be moulded into a Duffy player? He seems more of a winger but I was highly impressed with him. Their #23 on the other side was great too. Both pacey and tricky.

So to summarise..

Andy Carroll and Jermain Defoe on loan.
Taylor from Rotherham on a permanent.

 

[PaulHalfway]

So many over hit crosses again and poor final ball when in numerous good attacking positions

 

[Cerberus Blade]

So many over hit crosses again and poor final ball when in numerous good attacking positions

yes, that as well. But the main reason we didn't win yesterday was we didn't hold onto the ball and pass it very well. Too many times we were hitting 50/50 balls to no one. I thought in the first half, when it was still 0-0, that we were doing this. I recall Egan and O'Connell just heading it forwards to no one, or putting a boot under it. Several times I was shouting "HOLD IT" - there was no need whatsoever to be clearing the ball, they weren't under pressure. But it was like a bloody hot potato that they couldn't wait to get rid of.

We abandoned our calm, composed passing principles and that allowed Rotherham to have the ball and hurt us with it. If they didn't have the ball they couldn't hurt us, simple as. But we yielded possession so easily, and what's worse, we didn't win it back! Very unlike the United that we've been watching all season - but credit to Rotherham too - that was a Warnockesque type performance, where sheer guts and effort overcame skill.

 

[blade53]

The bottom line is that we were just not "at it" yesterday . I always say you know what we are in for from this team after the first 5 minutes , and when Rotherham came at us from the off & could have scored twice I was concerned. But when we scored against the run of play with one of the few quality moves we produced all day I thought we would settle down & take control. Sadly it didn't happen ,and as others have said, I too like McGoldrick , but he had two chances that he should have scored from , the one where he was put clear through but he walked back because he thought he was offside but wasn't , then the open goal before halftime . Scoring either one of them would surely have killed the game for us.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

We didn't ought to be able to compete on the basis of resources alone, but the fact is when we're at it, we can. Clubs like Villa and Derby ought to have this division sewn up.

It's just frustrating when we utterly batter Derby, Stoke, Forest, the pigs and come away with little to show for it.

 

[Speedracer]

So many threads here when we don't play well accuse the players variously of being crap, not fit, overweight, not caring, slow, blowing out of their arses after an hour, the list goes on. Conversely a good win & performance sees us being lauded as brilliant, full of the best players in the league that will be whisked away by other clubs if we don't achieve promotion, the list goes on.
The biggest difference between top class players & the rest is consistency, they can keep performances sky high week after week after week. Our players to a man are at the pinnacle of what they have achieved so far in their careers, so are vastly over performing now in comparison, & when they let their standards slip, for whatever reason, they are lambasted. It is beyond question that we need quality additions, & most know our budget is a long way short of what is needed to improve us in January, so we have to work on players strengths & weaknesses to try & get even a 1% improvement. We are not a jekyll & hyde that is brilliant one game & crap the next, we are mostly pretty consistently performing above our level, & that inevitably leads to fans claiming things are badly wrong when a poor performance occurs.
Of course it is natural to be disappointed when we have a day like yesterday, but it is just not realistic to expect us to win & play well every week. We are a classic case of the whole sum being better than the individual parts, & that fact in itself endears the club to me even more, we are doing great but are a work in progress & because of board room issues & lack of spending power Wilder & Knill have to work so hard with what they have.
Fair criticism is fine, but the wild emotional swings between when we play well or poorly are not a true reflection of where we are right now, I really hope that entitlement like that shown at S6 is not creeping in here.

 

[Sean Thornton]

The number of times our players were overhitting passes, underhitting them, giving it straight to opponents and sometimes appearing to volley the ball at pace to a player only a few yards away was extraordinary. Ultimately, that lack of composure cost us the three points.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

I agree with the original poster in that when Duffy goes off/doesnt play we struggle. We do miss Brooks, more so for what he would have done this year, rather than what he did in the second part of last season (he was obviously unfit due to illness). A Brooks-like player was badly missed against Pigs and Forest (i.e. can turn a tight game). Lets not forget we are good side when we at full pelt - we just need to add to the team so we can win games when we arent at our best (which is key to getting promoted).

Addtionally, and I know wing-backs might not be a priority, but I honestly think if we can improve upon Freeman in the window we should. He's done OK, and when on song, can make a difference. But he can be quite wasteful with his final ball. If we could improve on crosses into the box from the right, we'd score more goals. Baldock is decent but I am not sure he's got quite the attacking skill we need (if we want to keep playing this way).

 

[Dnblade]

yes, that as well. But the main reason we didn't win yesterday was we didn't hold onto the ball and pass it very well. Too many times we were hitting 50/50 balls to no one. I thought in the first half, when it was still 0-0, that we were doing this. I recall Egan and O'Connell just heading it forwards to no one, or putting a boot under it. Several times I was shouting "HOLD IT" - there was no need whatsoever to be clearing the ball, they weren't under pressure. But it was like a bloody hot potato that they couldn't wait to get rid of.

We abandoned our calm, composed passing principles and that allowed Rotherham to have the ball and hurt us with it. If they didn't have the ball they couldn't hurt us, simple as. But we yielded possession so easily, and what's worse, we didn't win it back! Very unlike the United that we've been watching all season - but credit to Rotherham too - that was a Warnockesque type performance, where sheer guts and effort overcame skill.

I agree,we just kept giving them the ball back,and if you give them that amount of chances to cross the ball they will eventually make something from it.
Our passing kept breaking down,when we did string a few passes together we scored the 2nd goal...it seemed we couldn't cope with their pressing.
Don't know why we kept trying to hit Billy and McG with long balls that were never going to win...we just seemed to play into their hands,and as good as they were at what they do,there was 3 points there for the taking for me.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I agree with the original poster in that when Duffy goes off/doesnt play we struggle. We do miss Brooks, more so for what he would have done this year, rather than what he did in the second part of last season (he was obviously unfit due to illness). A Brooks-like player was badly missed against Pigs and Forest (i.e. can turn a tight game). Lets not forget we are good side when we at full pelt - we just need to add to the team so we can win games when we arent at our best (which is key to getting promoted).

Addtionally, and I know wing-backs might not be a priority, but I honestly think if we can improve upon Freeman in the window we should. He's done OK, and when on song, can make a difference. But he can be quite wasteful with his final ball. If we could improve on crosses into the box from the right, we'd score more goals. Baldock is decent but I am not sure he's got quite the attacking skill we need (if we want to keep playing this way).

We weren't that good when Duffy was on. (. That's not blaming him before anyone starts)

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

We weren't that good when Duffy was on. (. That's not blaming him before anyone starts)

We weren't yesterday but we have been in loads of other games.

 

[SB_90]

I love this team. Ive said before this team are lovingly named bunch of misfits because majority of this team wasnt wanted by others & they are exceeding all expectations by competing with this teams considering the other top 7 have a player that cost more than starting 11. & we are proving that you dont have to bankrupt club to get promotion

But im moving towards having to spend some money. Because this 11 on its A game is amazing & match for anyone but like all sportsman nobody can play their A Game 9 months of the year 38/46 games a season. Without comparing apples with oranges the dominant sportsman in other sports. Like Phil Taylor, Roger Federer or Lewis Hamilton. Is they have brilliant B game to see them through the form up & downs & i feel we need to get more strength, investment, more game winners in january as my main worries is the 'regrets' 'what if' & wilder could leave such unfulfilled potential.

 

[stringer]

We fell away a bit last season with Brooks so saying he'd help is not the answer. We were just well off our usual standards yesterday

With Brooks recovering from serious illness. If you believe this squad wouldn’t be stronger with Brooks in it... I’d have to strongly disagree

 

[snootyfenooty]

With Brooks recovering from serious illness. If you believe this squad wouldn’t be stronger with Brooks in it... I’d have to strongly disagree

He's also inferring that if Wilder couldn't do with Brooks what Eddie Howe is currently doing then Wilder is a dipshit.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

He's also inferring that if Wilder couldn't do with Brooks what Eddie Howe is currently doing then Wilder is a dipshit.

I didn't read it quite that way tbh. I think he was just saying that even having a talented player like Brooks wasn't enough to stop our decline. The facts are though, Brooks rarely played! I think he made 8 or 9 starts all season, less than a quarter of the games. Some of that was down to illness, but a lot of it was down to Wilder not picking him. Whether that was Wilder's way of keeping him grounded, or keeping him from the prying eyes of bigger clubs, I don't know. But if it was the latter it didn't work.

I posted on here last season saying we shouldn't sell Brooks in January, simply because if we held onto him he'd be worth 3 or 4 times what we could get for him in a year or 18 months time. It seems like we had no choice anyhow as he wanted to leave. But I wonder if Wilder had used him more often whether that may have persuaded him to stay? He was a bit-part player for us and yet an amazing young talent the likes of which we haven't seen for years. It doesn't surprise me that he's getting regular football in the Prem and looking perfectly at home at that level.

I think we all agree that the main reason for our decline last season was the loss of Coutts. We are much stronger now and Norwood has been a fantastic signing. But, we don't have any "game-changers" apart from Duffy. That's what we miss most about Brooks.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

1. When Duffy runs out of puff there is nobody to take over from him.

2. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch but is simply not ruthless enough.

That to me is where we fall short, form of other players accepted.

Woodburn has been a huge let down and if we still had Brooks, it's here where his skill would help to run the clock down. We're not at it late in games of late because that spark has fizzled out around 70 minutes and there is nothing in the squad to ignite it.

McGoldrick and Clark would be good subs at this level. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch and could be a good impact sub but his goal output is not enough to be relied upon. Take away the pens and he's hardly threatened in open play. Yesterday's miss was a prime example. If that chance came to Billy it would have been in the roof of the next and 2-0. To other's points, it's a shame we didn't get Marriott.

Pity is, despite yesterday's poor showing we are so very close. A decent penalty kick and some more professional defending yesterday and we'd be top.

The main problem yesterday was we just played crap all over the pitch - a staggeringly inept performance apart from the keeper.
We do need strengthening but yesterday was all about how poor we were on the day.

 

[wavy-blade]

We always sell our best players , end of thread .

 

[GrayBlade]

He did seem to bottle out of challenges..

He wasn’t the only one

 

[Marcus Tullius Cicero]

1. When Duffy runs out of puff there is nobody to take over from him.

2. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch but is simply not ruthless enough.

That to me is where we fall short, form of other players accepted.

Woodburn has been a huge let down and if we still had Brooks, it's here where his skill would help to run the clock down. We're not at it late in games of late because that spark has fizzled out around 70 minutes and there is nothing in the squad to ignite it.

McGoldrick and Clark would be good subs at this level. McGoldrick is a lovely player to watch and could be a good impact sub but his goal output is not enough to be relied upon. Take away the pens and he's hardly threatened in open play. Yesterday's miss was a prime example. If that chance came to Billy it would have been in the roof of the next and 2-0. To other's points, it's a shame we didn't get Marriott.

Pity is, despite yesterday's poor showing we are so very close. A decent penalty kick and some more professional defending yesterday and we'd be top.

So many over hit crosses again and poor final ball when in numerous good attacking positions

Lets face it, we have a half decent mid table championship squad, if they play their socks off and get stuck in every game. Unfortunately if we want to go forwards we need more intelligent players who cost a lot more money. Warnocks Match of the Day interviews are (well what can you do against the big teams with all their spending power). If we want our Chris on the Match of the day giving his thoughts on a 4 or 5 nil battering by Man City we need to spend.

 

[essexblade73]

Half time talk. (Agressively) "show me something else in the 2nd half" ...works for me on FM lolz

 

[snootyfenooty]

Lets face it, we have a half decent mid table championship squad, if they play their socks off and get stuck in every game. Unfortunately if we want to go forwards we need more intelligent players who cost a lot more money. Warnocks Match of the Day interviews are (well what can you do against the big teams with all their spending power). If we want our Chris on the Match of the day giving his thoughts on a 4 or 5 nil battering by Man City we need to spend.

Cardiff went up supposedly £120m better off but Warnock's only had a fraction of that to spend, the owner is getting his money back first. Tan's on a win-win because the Warnock-can't-manage-in-the-Prem lines will be trotted out to get him off the hook. I'm afraid that would also be the case with us if we went up and we would have to put up with the same sort of interview.