Wilder's first punt

[Constantly Optimistic...]

So, what do we think?
My opinion, a brave and well thought out first go, he's had 2 days with these players.
We were all perplexed by the initial selection. Brooks at Lwb? 532? 442, 541, 433 never! Where was Trusty gonna play in a centre 3? Who was LWB?
I'm no tactical expert, but none of these imo.
Back 4 for sure it seemed, Trusty told to look after Sala, which he did commensurately, and Sala was subbed eventually!
A back 4 that looked better than the back 5 we have been playing most games. Giving us an extra man for the forward play.
Every player upped their game, we were competing, we went forward well, we passed the ball!!
I personally think Liverpool will win or at least get close to winning the EPL. They are immense in every department. Their levels of fitness are unbelievable v us. We get the ball in a threatening position, 3 or 4 players immediately on our one player. Then reverse the situation, they have 6 to 8 players in attack. Phenomal.
We are minnows in comparison. But! We competed, we strove so hard, we had opportunities, we could have won or drawn on a different night. Two debatable dodgy goals, a very good penalty shout for us. Small margins.
My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris.
Liverpool are a skillful but big team, as most EPL players are. OK if it's Messy or Bellingham coming on?
Enough said, massive and well thought improvements, keep the faith. Both Florist and Palace in freefall. Add in Luton, Burnley, maybe Everton and Fulham, not Bournemouth any more, and we have something to go at.
25 or 28 pts may be enough, depending, this year.
Thank you Chris, (and Alan) for giving us some hope, don't let it be in vain.
Keep up the hard work! 9/10 for tonight.

 

[jono_t2000]

So, what do we think?
My opinion, a brave and well thought out first go, he's had 2 days with these players.
We were all perplexed by the initial selection. Brooks at Lwb? 532? 442, 541, 433 never! Where was Trusty gonna play in a centre 3? Who was LWB?
I'm no tactical expert, but none of these imo.
Back 4 for sure it seemed, Trusty told to look after Sala, which he did commensurately, and Sala was subbed eventually!
A back 4 that looked better than the back 5 we have been playing most games. Giving us an extra man for the forward play.
Every player upped their game, we were competing, we went forward well, we passed the ball!!
I personally think Liverpool will win or at least get close to winning the EPL. They are immense in every department. Their levels of fitness are unbelievable v us. We get the ball in a threatening position, 3 or 4 players immediately on our one player. Then reverse the situation, they have 6 to 8 players in attack. Phenomal.
We are minnows in comparison. But! We competed, we strove so hard, we had opportunities, we could have won or drawn on a different night. Two debatable dodgy goals, a very good penalty shout for us. Small margins.
My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris.
Liverpool are a skillful but big team, as most EPL players are. OK if it's Messy or Bellingham coming on?
Enough said, massive and well thought improvements, keep the faith. Both Florist and Palace in freefall. Add in Luton, Burnley, maybe Everton and Fulham, not Bournemouth any more, and we have something to go at.
25 or 28 pts may be enough, depending, this year.
Thank you Chris, (and Alan) for giving us some hope, don't let it be in vain.
Keep up the hard work! 9/10 for tonight.

Definitely wasn't 3-5-2 as Wilder was quite pleased to state in the post match that it showed he didn't coach just 1 formation.

Although you say that when we had the ball they had 3-4 players on us immediately.. but to be fair I think we defended off the ball similarly... having pods of players surrounding their ball carrier pretty quickly and didn't get isolated 1 on 1 too often which was something had been happening too much previously under Hecky.

That and not relying on passing back to Wes as our default safety option and being braver on the ball looking forward as our first option were my key takeaways.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I know it’s a bit of a cliche but the ‘press’ today reminded me of the Wilder seasons when we did well.

For periods of the game soon as a scouser got the ball one went and then there was someone alongside and 2 or 3 in behind as a 2nd line press.

Then we’d have 5 mins where we just sat off and let them have the ball in front of us and looked to pick off loose passes, then would very quickly switch back to a high press again.

I know it’s hardly revolutionary but it’s much better than the passive shite we’ve employed for a lot of games this season and it yielded a couple of good chances.

Oh for Ndiaye to be on the pitch pressing, winning it and then sticking one away!

 

[Champagneblade]

Looked like 4-3-3 now I think on.

That makes more of our pace and mobility.

McAtee and Archer out wide but with a licence to cut in. It potentially gives and angle for Traore to become useful though that’s about all. Other option looked like Seriki who isn’t really ready for this level.

Osula being a handful though probably giving way to McBurnie when available.

Souza playing his proper role and doing well in it. Hamer with scope to go forward but not as a number 10.

It does give options but it is also clear where some of the weaknesses are.

Assuming Baldock not serious Wilder has options on the right.

Maybe Trusty over Lowe but then if we lost a centre back, no option but to move Trusty over.

Norwood becoming back up and seeing time out seems reasonable and is better than the Rodwells and other gambles we had last time at this level.

Hope Hamer can get form and Slimane backing him up looks reasonable.

Brooks may well emerge but the left side looks weak. You’ve got Fleck, possibly Osborn and Brooks, all of which feel like understudies rather than bona fide starters.

So to me:

1. Better keeper than Wes, though he did ok, I don’t think we have great quality in this department.

2. Another defender; he can send back Thomas and/or Larouci in January. We are short here with Egan done for a while and Bash out for the season. I can see the logic in Cashin.

3. He needs to come up with something on the left and maybe Brooks saves him. He also probably wouldn’t mind another good option, experience wise there.

4. Another creative forward. If either McAtee or Archer are out you have Traore, still unproven, and then nobody else really.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

A lot better last night against a very good team , a lot more energy , aggression & heart than I’ve seen since the City game . We actually offered some threat offensively on the break & with a bit more composure ( particularly the McAtee chance ) could have pinched a point .
The midfield had a lot more energy about them & for the first time this season pressed the ball a lot higher up the field . Brooks was excellent & as said on a previous thread Souza put in his best performance ti date for us ( and im a big critic of him )
Only 2 minor criticisms from me from what all in all was a vast improvement on some of the shite we’ve been served up was , yet again our inability to defend set pieces .. the first goal was poor after all the effort been put in. . Some training ground work required there quickly , the second taking Osula off , the minute he did that we lost any physical presence up front & thevlad had like Brooks played well .
I know Wilder probably did it go give the players a run or thought they were tiring , but a 13yr old schoolboy offers more goal threat than Traore .
Formation wise I thought we were playing a 343 , worked well and I hope we persevere with it .. all in all a vast improvement but still work in progress
UTB

 

[Nicesheffielder]

So, what do we think?
My opinion, a brave and well thought out first go, he's had 2 days with these players.
We were all perplexed by the initial selection. Brooks at Lwb? 532? 442, 541, 433 never! Where was Trusty gonna play in a centre 3? Who was LWB?
I'm no tactical expert, but none of these imo.
Back 4 for sure it seemed, Trusty told to look after Sala, which he did commensurately, and Sala was subbed eventually!
A back 4 that looked better than the back 5 we have been playing most games. Giving us an extra man for the forward play.
Every player upped their game, we were competing, we went forward well, we passed the ball!!
I personally think Liverpool will win or at least get close to winning the EPL. They are immense in every department. Their levels of fitness are unbelievable v us. We get the ball in a threatening position, 3 or 4 players immediately on our one player. Then reverse the situation, they have 6 to 8 players in attack. Phenomal.
We are minnows in comparison. But! We competed, we strove so hard, we had opportunities, we could have won or drawn on a different night. Two debatable dodgy goals, a very good penalty shout for us. Small margins.
My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris.
Liverpool are a skillful but big team, as most EPL players are. OK if it's Messy or Bellingham coming on?
Enough said, massive and well thought improvements, keep the faith. Both Florist and Palace in freefall. Add in Luton, Burnley, maybe Everton and Fulham, not Bournemouth any more, and we have something to go at.
25 or 28 pts may be enough, depending, this year.
Thank you Chris, (and Alan) for giving us some hope, don't let it be in vain.
Keep up the hard work! 9/10 for tonight.

Excellent post sire

 

[Stretch]

It was 10 times better than anything else I have seen this season, bar maybe the 2nd half v Forest and the City performance.

Keep this up and I think we will be a match for most of the teams in the bottom half of the table. It might not be enough to stay up without some additional firepower, but we will pick up points.

 

[joe casey]

"My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris."

Considering all the lads who came off (Osula especially) had run themselves into the ground and our bench is so weak we listed 3 left backs, I'm not sure what you expected him to do?

 

[Constantly Optimistic...]

"My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris."

Considering all the lads who came off (Osula especially) had run themselves into the ground and our bench is so weak we listed 3 left backs, I'm not sure what you expected him to do?

I accept your opinion wholeheartedly. Our bench is pretty dire. But I still think Fleck and Norwood fresh legs are still lesser than Vini and Trusty's tired legs. Vini had just run the length of the pitch at full pelt to make a Bashamesque recovery tackle. He couldn't have been that knackered. No way either of those two could have done that even on fresh legs.
They have benefits, don't get me wrong, both provided potential goalscoring through balls. But the energy required to contain a team like Liverpool just isn't there any more.
And my main point was height advantage. When Liverpool got a last minute corner I was terrified, only 2 players with height to compete against 8 or 9 of their 6 foot plus team. They fluffed it thank goodness.
We lack height, we are not Barcelona of a few years back where it didnt matter, we need some height to defend at least at times. Get it?

 

[Sheffsteel]

Thank you Chris, (and Alan) for giving us some hope, don't let it be in vain.
Keep up the hard work! 9/10 for tonight.

I’m very hopeful and optimistic not because I think we’ll stay up, I expect us to be very competitive after the Jan transfer window but still go down.

My optimism is more based on I think we will be strong next season in the Championship and push for promotion. Really thought Hecky was starting to lose the plot and was genuinely fearful if we kept Hecky we could have been relegated next season in the Championship.

 

[joe casey]

I accept your opinion wholeheartedly. Our bench is pretty dire. But I still think Fleck and Norwood fresh legs are still lesser than Vini and Trusty's tired legs. Vini had just run the length of the pitch at full pelt to make a Bashamesque recovery tackle. He couldn't have been that knackered. No way either of those two could have done that even on fresh legs.
They have benefits, don't get me wrong, both provided potential goalscoring through balls. But the energy required to contain a team like Liverpool just isn't there any more.
And my main point was height advantage. When Liverpool got a last minute corner I was terrified, only 2 players with height to compete against 8 or 9 of their 6 foot plus team. They fluffed it thank goodness.
We lack height, we are not Barcelona of a few years back where it didnt matter, we need some height to defend at least at times. Get it?

Yeah fair enough I understand your thinking - Trusty seemed to be signalling to the bench a few mins before he came off and slapping his thighs so presume that was precaution

 

[SUFC Guy]

So, what do we think?
My opinion, a brave and well thought out first go, he's had 2 days with these players.
We were all perplexed by the initial selection. Brooks at Lwb? 532? 442, 541, 433 never! Where was Trusty gonna play in a centre 3? Who was LWB?
I'm no tactical expert, but none of these imo.
Back 4 for sure it seemed, Trusty told to look after Sala, which he did commensurately, and Sala was subbed eventually!
A back 4 that looked better than the back 5 we have been playing most games. Giving us an extra man for the forward play.
Every player upped their game, we were competing, we went forward well, we passed the ball!!
I personally think Liverpool will win or at least get close to winning the EPL. They are immense in every department. Their levels of fitness are unbelievable v us. We get the ball in a threatening position, 3 or 4 players immediately on our one player. Then reverse the situation, they have 6 to 8 players in attack. Phenomal.
We are minnows in comparison. But! We competed, we strove so hard, we had opportunities, we could have won or drawn on a different night. Two debatable dodgy goals, a very good penalty shout for us. Small margins.
My only criticism is to bring on Norwood , Fleck and Traore for 3 of our best players tonight, and reduce our team height so substantially. We were left with only Anel and Robbo at about 6' plus. Crazy! For whatever reason. Get a grip Chris.
Liverpool are a skillful but big team, as most EPL players are. OK if it's Messy or Bellingham coming on?
Enough said, massive and well thought improvements, keep the faith. Both Florist and Palace in freefall. Add in Luton, Burnley, maybe Everton and Fulham, not Bournemouth any more, and we have something to go at.
25 or 28 pts may be enough, depending, this year.
Thank you Chris, (and Alan) for giving us some hope, don't let it be in vain.
Keep up the hard work! 9/10 for tonight.

Excellent post and I agree with all of that apart from the subs. We clearly needed fresh legs and had no option to bring on anyone with any height.

It would be nice if there was a little wonga availble in January for a few more taller players - to bring the average height of the squad to above 5'2"

UTMB

 

[dexter101]

My only surprise with the subs was that Slimane didn't come on instead of one of Norwood or Fleck. Would have been good to get him involved but seems that there is something not quite right there at the moment.

 

[CPB]

Wilders presser today.

Can't predict how we will get on tomorrow or onwards but Wilder seems more than determined and ready to fight everyone.
I'm hoping that will rub off on the team because he's trying to breed an us against the world job and that is what is required.

 

[petcharlie]

Yes so much better ,we always are when we are on the front foot instead of inviting teams on to us

 

[Keen Blade]

My only surprise with the subs was that Slimane didn't come on instead of one of Norwood or Fleck. Would have been good to get him involved but seems that there is something not quite right there at the moment.

I cannot understand why Slimane is getting no chance to play - yet another wasted signing if he can't get ahead of the old duffers

 

[ancientblade]

I cannot understand why Slimane is getting no chance to play - yet another wasted signing if he can't get ahead of the old duffers

yes me anall he cant be up to much when norwood and fleck get on before him can see him being sold in january but the big problem is the same one as in our other 2 seasons in the premier league scoring goals

 

[FTPE]

I didn't think Archer had it in him to press to be honest.
The Ndiaye squeeeeeeze was one of the biggest thing I thought we lacked.
But, Wilder's already got him doing it and we look a hell of a lot better for it.

 

[s20Blade]

Thought I was on the punting forum for a while when I saw this.