Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Are we becoming stale?
Even Poch now repeats the same old platitudes. He is in danger of becoming so repetitive that even the players stop listening. His total commitment to wingbacks relies on a solid platform behind them. On Saturday, he left our back two criminally exposed to Liverpool's front three - and in all honesty we should have had a pasting. I called for Sanchez to be introduced at half-time yet once again Poch was too slow (? too stubborn) to change things even though it was patently obvious that the plan wasn't working.
We certainly seem to have lost the verve and vibrancy that characterised Poch's early seasons in charge. Have our players got older and stopped chasing around, closing down like dervishes as they once did? Has once magnificent performances of fresh youth - Kane, Dele, Coco, Eriksen - been replaced by ageing mediocrity? I know they are still technically young but their youthful exuberance has seemingly worn off.
Our talisman, Kane, had been virtually unplayable until his ankle injury. He was a total goal machine. However, he isn't even getting shots off any more (7 against Pool last year with two goals compared to just two shots on Saturday). Indeed, virtually all his key stats are right down and the one that intrigued me the most was that he did 45 sprints against Liverpool last season while on Saturday he did only 7 - with a significantly lower top speed.
Furthermore we had real beasts in midfield - Wanyama was fantastic (now not the same player), Dembele was imperious (now a shadow) Dier had a great couple of seasons but has now looked poor for some time. We once bullied teams in midfield. We no longer do so. We had beasts with a capital B. I read that we were the only team in the Premier League over the weekend that didn't field a single player over 6'3'' (United had six!) Is it now our fate to be bullied in this key area? When Dembele was at his best, he created the room for Eriksen to shine. Without this space created for him, Eriksen too often looks ordinary.
We need to sort out our once solid defence. Poch needs to decide one and for all whether we go two or three at the back. My preference, if he continues to play high line full backs who aren't great at defending, is that we need three at the back.
The club failed to freshen things up with new players over the summer. Poch must now freshen things up with the resources at his disposal. It is a challenge, but we will see what sort of manager he is. Can he continue to inspire the players who he does have available to him - after all they are not exactly bad players. Over to you Poch. And please, no more disastrous tactics like against the Pool.
Even Poch now repeats the same old platitudes. He is in danger of becoming so repetitive that even the players stop listening. His total commitment to wingbacks relies on a solid platform behind them. On Saturday, he left our back two criminally exposed to Liverpool's front three - and in all honesty we should have had a pasting. I called for Sanchez to be introduced at half-time yet once again Poch was too slow (? too stubborn) to change things even though it was patently obvious that the plan wasn't working.
We certainly seem to have lost the verve and vibrancy that characterised Poch's early seasons in charge. Have our players got older and stopped chasing around, closing down like dervishes as they once did? Has once magnificent performances of fresh youth - Kane, Dele, Coco, Eriksen - been replaced by ageing mediocrity? I know they are still technically young but their youthful exuberance has seemingly worn off.
Our talisman, Kane, had been virtually unplayable until his ankle injury. He was a total goal machine. However, he isn't even getting shots off any more (7 against Pool last year with two goals compared to just two shots on Saturday). Indeed, virtually all his key stats are right down and the one that intrigued me the most was that he did 45 sprints against Liverpool last season while on Saturday he did only 7 - with a significantly lower top speed.
Furthermore we had real beasts in midfield - Wanyama was fantastic (now not the same player), Dembele was imperious (now a shadow) Dier had a great couple of seasons but has now looked poor for some time. We once bullied teams in midfield. We no longer do so. We had beasts with a capital B. I read that we were the only team in the Premier League over the weekend that didn't field a single player over 6'3'' (United had six!) Is it now our fate to be bullied in this key area? When Dembele was at his best, he created the room for Eriksen to shine. Without this space created for him, Eriksen too often looks ordinary.
We need to sort out our once solid defence. Poch needs to decide one and for all whether we go two or three at the back. My preference, if he continues to play high line full backs who aren't great at defending, is that we need three at the back.
The club failed to freshen things up with new players over the summer. Poch must now freshen things up with the resources at his disposal. It is a challenge, but we will see what sort of manager he is. Can he continue to inspire the players who he does have available to him - after all they are not exactly bad players. Over to you Poch. And please, no more disastrous tactics like against the Pool.
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