What to make of us?

[Swannyblade]

There's been a lot of knee-jerk, emotional responses after both league games this season, but I still don't know what to make of us.

In both games it's been very difficult to see what state our first team is actually in.

Against Wolves we conceded two early goals due to errors and then proceeded to play reasonably well as the game progressed but lacked quality in attacking positions. I don't know if we played decent because Wolves sat back and allowed us to or if we imposed our play on the game.

Against Villa we were down to 10 men early on, but then defended well, looked reasonably comfortable and limited the opposition to very few opportunities. Again what let us down was another error from a set play.

Hopefully Leeds will provide a better indication of where we're at because right now it's very difficult to see (other than the obvious that we're light a player or two up front).

 

[DronnieBlade]

The whole club needs a lift right now. Management team included. Nights like last night when everything seemed to conspire against us does little to raise spirits !!

A good creative midfielder and an all round striker would give us the lift we need. A spare £50m might do the trick, although, and I won’t hold back here, the clubs PL signings thus far have hardly been awe inspiring !!!

UTB

 

[Bladeinleeds]

I agree

Been a mix of some crap defending / refs decisions and naivety which have left us with uphill battles in both games. But is important to remember we did well after 20 mins against wolves and limited villa and conceivably could have got a result there.

We have had a half fit squad (JOC, mcburnie, Mcgoldrick, moose, berge) no proper pre season to involve ramsdale in.

We are still missing our main attacking target (whoever that might be) and I don’t even know if wilder had put out his best 11 as yet.

I certainly fail to see what lundstram has done to earn a place in front of Norwood and Osborn. The 11 we are fielding now is less strong that our best 11 last year imo. Its an. Important few weeks to get some upgrades in. Sign a striker on a perm contract and use the remaining loan on some creativity and I think we will be ok.

 

[Houston_Blade]

You have to judge the team on the 180+ minutes we've played so far this season and we've looked soft as shit in that time.

At 2 nil down Wolves managed the game perfectly and we didn't score or really hurt them, so saying we "played well" after giving them a 2 goal head start is not true. They didn't need to continue in the same manner that they started the game and at 2 nil down you'd expect us to be dominant in possession and them to counter.

Last night we looked sluggish for 12 minutes and then had a rearguard action that was never going to hold out due to the mandatory bollock that we drop every game.

Yes, you can't judge individual player impact in these games because they are a bizarre set of circumstances, but overall over 2 games we have been found wanting and need to improve.

 

[Espania blade]

We are a team in transition, it's going to take CW some time to find his best eleven imo

UTB

 

[Swannyblade]

I agree

Been a mix of some crap defending / refs decisions and naivety which have left us with uphill battles in both games. But is important to remember we did well after 20 mins against wolves and limited villa and conceivably could have got a result there.

We have had a half fit squad (JOC, mcburnie, Mcgoldrick, moose, berge) no proper pre season to involve ramsdale in.

We are still missing our main attacking target (whoever that might be) and I don’t even know if wilder had put out his best 11 as yet.

I certainly fail to see what lundstram has done to earn a place in front of Norwood and Osborn. The 11 we are fielding now is less strong that our best 11 last year imo. Its an. Important few weeks to get some upgrades in. Sign a striker on a perm contract and use the remaining loan on some creativity and I think we will be ok.

Agree with all that.

Really struggling to see why we persevere with some under-performing players (Stevens, Fleck, Lundstram) and drop someone like Norwood who is so important to the way we play. Would have much preferred us to keep Norwood in and play Berge in place of Lunny (Berge was looking very good in this position after the restart and was growing into the role). I think Norwood is very intelligent in the CM position in terms of positioning and often drops deeper to stop Egan being left isolated. It's hard to expect Berge to slip into this role even though I expect this to be his long term position.

Also don't believe we can just parachute in a creative midfielder in our current system - we either have to sacrifice one of the CF's and play a "Number 10" or revert to the "Duffy role" and risk losing some defensive solidity.

 

[Roygbiv]

 

[Bladeinleeds]

Agree with all that.

Really struggling to see why we persevere with some under-performing players (Stevens, Fleck, Lundstram) and drop someone like Norwood who is so important to the way we play. Would have much preferred us to keep Norwood in and play Berge in place of Lunny (Berge was looking very good in this position after the restart and was growing into the role). I think Norwood is very intelligent in the CM position in terms of positioning and often drops deeper to stop Egan being left isolated. It's hard to expect Berge to slip into this role even though I expect this to be his long term position.

Also don't believe we can just parachute in a creative midfielder in our current system - we either have to sacrifice one of the CF's and play a "Number 10" or revert to the "Duffy role" and risk losing some defensive solidity.

I agree - but I think that there needs to be an option of an attacking midfielder I. The squad. think we might be best off with a 5-3-1-1 formation. Use mcgoldrick or similar in the pocket.

2 strikers on their own doesn’t do much for us when there is no link in the midfield. Having Sharp and mcburnie up top are never going to score many. I don’t think it’s any surprise that all out best attacking results when we have used mcgoldrick to link play.

he started all the times we manage to score three goals if I am not mistaken?

 

[neverknowinglywrong]

Agree with all that.

Really struggling to see why we persevere with some under-performing players (Stevens, Fleck, Lundstram) and drop someone like Norwood who is so important to the way we play. Would have much preferred us to keep Norwood in and play Berge in place of Lunny (Berge was looking very good in this position after the restart and was growing into the role). I think Norwood is very intelligent in the CM position in terms of positioning and often drops deeper to stop Egan being left isolated. It's hard to expect Berge to slip into this role even though I expect this to be his long term position.

Also don't believe we can just parachute in a creative midfielder in our current system - we either have to sacrifice one of the CF's and play a "Number 10" or revert to the "Duffy role" and risk losing some defensive solidity.

Agree. On present form Stevens Fleck and the other one wouldn't get in my B team

 

[Swannyblade]

I agree - but I think that there needs to be an option of an attacking midfielder I. The squad. think we might be best off with a 5-3-1-1 formation. Use mcgoldrick or similar in the pocket.

2 strikers on their own doesn’t do much for us when there is no link in the midfield. Having Sharp and mcburnie up top are never going to score many. I don’t think it’s any surprise that all out best attacking results when we have used mcgoldrick to link play.

he started all the times we manage to score three goals if I am not mistaken?

Yup, our better performances have come with Didzy in the lineup bridging the gap between the midfield and attack. I don't think we're good enough to abandon the flat midfield three with leaving ourselves exposed, so the 5-3-1-1 would appear the logical choice. To play this effectively I think we need a more dynamic striker (a Moose who can consistently play 90mins would be ideal) and another option in addition to McGoldrick to play behind said striker and given freedom to wander. We are also in need of the wingbacks (looking at you Enda) rediscovering some form because so much of our attacking threat is reliant on overloads down the flanks.

 

[Deaneandagana]

Our formation & tactics are now known, the opposition play wing backs high up thus negating ours who provide most (not all) of our creativity, add into the mix nullifying Norwood, our defensively shakey start to this season & lack of goals and that’s pretty much where we are.

Need a plan B, return to form of our defensive & goals - but then I guess we all know that.

Trust CW he hasn’t let us down yet.

 

[JPBrods]

Completely agree. We've barely had time to bed in and both games have been firefights rather than competitions. We need to see where we're at in a match that isn't up in smoke 10 minutes in through rusty errors or ridiculous cards. Leeds game is big but needs to be boring so we can actually plant our feet properly into a match and get playing.

 

[Harry's Game]

If we could pick something up on Sunday, even if it’s only a point, it would give everyone a lift. Not going to be easy though Leeds are playing with sky high confidence at the moment whilst our confidence looks lower than a Corgis bollocks.

 

[bartman]

We are a team in transition, it's going to take CW some time to find his best eleven imo

UTB

8 of the starting 11 last night played for us the the championship.Transition ?

 

[Espania blade]

8 of the starting 11 last night played for us the the championship.Transition ?

That's the problem, we need better quality players, that is why he (CW) are bringing in recruits.

 

[broomhillblade]

If we could pick something up on Sunday, even if it’s only a point, it would give everyone a lift. Not going to be easy though Leeds are playing with sky high confidence at the moment whilst our confidence looks lower than a Corgis bollocks.

But look who we play after Leeds; Arsenal, Fulham, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea. Apart from Fulham, we could be struggling.

 

[metalblade]

I blame those passive pink shirts, soft as shit girly colours saps all the get up and go fight out of the players. There is a reason Norwich painted the away dressing room pink.

 

[BarryBigtime]

But look who we play after Leeds; Arsenal, Fulham, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea. Apart from Fulham, we could be struggling.

My prediction after the first five games assuming we beat Leeds and Fulham:



(just doing 1-0 wins or 0-0 draws)

 

[1987]

The system still gets us up the field and still gives us chances to create. I've said previously, I think some of our players who need a bit more belief up the pitch (fleck, stevens, baldock, lundstram) don't have it at the minute. You can see it a lot of the times they get in a position to deliver they stall and play the easy pass backwards, or just don't really want it in the first place. And when they do go for the delivery, you can often see why (pinging it off the first man), or just being a bit "off it". Wilder will be inclined to let the players play their way back into confidence and form, but its tough for the players to do that, especially when it's not just one or two. Giving them a bit of a holiday, in phases if we need to, could help. Bring in Lowe for example, eager to impress and possibly bringing with him the confidence and belief we might be lacking right now. All it takes is a spark from somewhere.

I really think that we need our players to start taking more responsibility on the pitch. Fleck to drive forward like he did, Lunny to show that little bit more quality on the ball like he did early/ mid season. The strikers to link better (difficult when you don't have a set partnership). Quicker, more accurate passing. Just belief really. Wilder talks about us being "brave" quite often, but sometimes I don't see it, even when he has.

This team can do it and I think they will, but the word I used in another thread is stale, and I think that maybe sums it up right now.

 

[CrookesBlade]

Nobody can make a proper judgement until 8 -10 games in. Making predictions this early is futile.

 

[WestSiberiaBlade]

In both games it's been very difficult to see what state our first team is actually in.

Against Wolves we conceded two early goals due to errors -- but lacked quality in attacking positions.

Against Villa we were down to 10 men early on -- Again what let us down was another error from a set play.

 

[Swannyblade]

I blame those passive pink shirts, soft as shit girly colours saps all the get up and go fight out of the players. There is a reason Norwich painted the away dressing room pink.

Pink didn't stop this guy being the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be...did it:

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Was going to start a new thread on this, but will slot this view in here and let my narcissistic side rest easy for a while...

Based on the 3 performances thus far, we're crying out for a diminutive No 10 who can play between lines, beat players 1-on-1, put in a defence splitting pass and help coordinate a counter attack....

If Duffy hadn't been such a precious cnut, he'd now be playing every week...

As it is, I think we should be on the look out for one of these as opposed to a burly No 9. If you look how much better Sharp/McBurnie/Moose look alongside McGoldrick - imagine how good they'd look with a decent No 10 feeding them...

 

[Wincobank S9 Blade]

Think a striker and attacker should’ve been priority before these 2 games I know there hardest to sign