aside from the mid season buys everything else is pure speculation on our parts
you're saying there is no plan B? give us an example of a plan b we DIDNT use?
poor fitness? proof? just cause our players dont know how to press doesnt mean they arent fit
poor squad rotation? if harry rotated players that were winning and we got bad results you would have a field day...what was he supposed to do anyway? tell us how you would have liked him to rotate the squad and with whom?
ease at which teams can nullify us? i'll give you that, but aside from the top two we were the amongst the best of the rest and everyone gets nullified by teams parking the bus....i do agree though that we can let teams come back into games against us and that does need addressing
for me our confidence fell , our form dropped ....thats all that happened. pure and simple
1) I said a CLEARLY defined Plan B: put it this way, when Lennon or Bale are out of our team all things seem to fall apart. Why is this? I believe beyond this team Harry doesn't have a clear plan as to how to proceed:
GK
Walker CB CB BAE
Lennon, Parker or Sandro, Modric, Bale
VDV
Ade
This Bale playing right wing when it CLEARLY isn't working does not count as a plan B for me.
2) Did you think our players knew how to press in the first half of the season, when we WERE pressing well? If they haven't been recently either a) they don't really know how to press and weren't pressing before or b) there were fitness issues
3) Yes poor squad rotation. See the declines of Pienaar, Krancjar and Bassong for exhibits.
Pienaar could have at least covered the right wing to give us balance when Lennon was out (Walker also had poor protection). Why was he not used when Lennon was injured?? Probabaly would have been better him there than Bale.
Krancjar. He is the type of creative player who can unlock a defence when they are parking the bus, with a rasping shot or a deft flick here or there that can draw them out. His lack of fitness is a much an issue with generally poor squad use as well as perhaps his own issues.
Bassong. He was part of the team that got us 4th and I donÔÇÖt believe he has turned bad overnight. I think there are confidence issues, not helped by the public lambasting after he conceded the penalty against Blackpool last season. Again, could have been very useful as part of the squad. Good pace too.
They are not poor players, but due to inadequate squad rotation they become either unfit, lacked confidence or become very rusty. Better involvement beyond just Europa league games may have helped them augment our squad.
Overall, I think Harry has us playing very good to watch progressive football, but the problem is there is a lack of structure, good SQUAD management and planning. It all things very off-the-cuff to me. Sooner or later this approach (both on and off the field) will be easily nullified and will only get us so far.
This season was a BIG opportunity to stamp our place in the position to build a good base to challenge. We did very well in the CL last time with this method of approach; do you think itÔÇÖll get us as far again ÔÇô assuming Chelski donÔÇÖt win and we get through a qualifier? Sadly, I very much doubt it