| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... 13:56 - May 18 with 4415 views | Kieran_Knows |
... Woolfenden for the majority of the first half of the season. Madness. |  |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 08:50 - May 19 with 601 views | wkj |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 08:32 - May 19 by itfcjoe |
I think someone mentioned it above - but the fact we were going:
Ward-Woolf-McGuinness-Chambers over Ward-Woolf-Chambers-Donacien was baffling.
Chambers was adding far more at CB with a combination of his leadership and ability than Nsiala or McGuinness last season and Donacien would have added more at RB as they were expecting to push on and both Chambers and Ward weren't able to do that when playing 3 games a week.
Yet the defence was still pretty solid, as ever it was our attack letting us down |
At the time I feel Chambers sometimes had the ability to offer a bit more there, but died halfway through his last season with us, so really it's a tough agreement to make in the context of an entire season. He should never have been the preferred option on the right though, that is not a great spot for players in physical decline.
Through a comedy of errors we ended up with one of the worst defensive lines imaginable with McGuinness and Toto involved, a result of Hurst, Lambert and Cook not really being that attentive to the back line - in contrast to Mick who built the team from the back.
The problem with looking at the analytics for out defensive line under those managers is that whilst we may not concede very much, we were not linking up at all well with other passages of play - this is where Woolfenden comes in under McKenna. He can move forward when he's with Donacien and Edmundson, and his passing and through ball quality is very very good. Paired with the fact that Edmundson managed to get a lot more going down the left - it is little wonder why we end up struggling to score when either of those players are out.
I have the feeling that a lot of people in our support base don't understand what role a Ball Playing Defender has in a team, and furthermore, how to identify when one is playing well or not. It's not hard to see why this impacts our goal scoring potential the way that it does, and why BPDs and Sweeper keepers are so highly sought in the elite leagues - possibly even more so than wingers. |  |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 08:57 - May 19 with 587 views | BloomBlue |
I still can't get my head around after that first game and Wolf's mistake for the 2nd goal that some Town fans were claiming the Wolf should never wear the shirt again and we should let him go as he's a liability. I never understand why some fans make judgements based on the odd mistake by a footballer learning his trade. |  | | |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 09:10 - May 19 with 573 views | itfcjoe |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 08:50 - May 19 by wkj |
At the time I feel Chambers sometimes had the ability to offer a bit more there, but died halfway through his last season with us, so really it's a tough agreement to make in the context of an entire season. He should never have been the preferred option on the right though, that is not a great spot for players in physical decline.
Through a comedy of errors we ended up with one of the worst defensive lines imaginable with McGuinness and Toto involved, a result of Hurst, Lambert and Cook not really being that attentive to the back line - in contrast to Mick who built the team from the back.
The problem with looking at the analytics for out defensive line under those managers is that whilst we may not concede very much, we were not linking up at all well with other passages of play - this is where Woolfenden comes in under McKenna. He can move forward when he's with Donacien and Edmundson, and his passing and through ball quality is very very good. Paired with the fact that Edmundson managed to get a lot more going down the left - it is little wonder why we end up struggling to score when either of those players are out.
I have the feeling that a lot of people in our support base don't understand what role a Ball Playing Defender has in a team, and furthermore, how to identify when one is playing well or not. It's not hard to see why this impacts our goal scoring potential the way that it does, and why BPDs and Sweeper keepers are so highly sought in the elite leagues - possibly even more so than wingers. |
I had an epiphany when listening to another manager talking about us and saying how PL was an excellent defensive manager and had never really considered it as he came in with such a swashbuckling style initially - but we were very well organised defensively for the majority of his reign in L1.
There was very little through the lines though, and often the wrong players playing in what were key positions - i.e. as the full backs slowed down last season we lost what needed to be key weapons in that formation and style.
It happened under Cook where we ended up with JD as an orthodox RB in a style that needed a flyer there, and Harper as a central midfielder when it needed a sitter.
There are a myriad of stats which would show where Woolf excels with things like progressive passes and ball carrying and his numbers have always remained high on those even when dipping in and out of the team and out of form. They are numbers that certain defenders just couldn't replicate no matter how well they play as they simply don't have the right abilities - but they are the skills that separate top defenders from average ones.
It's incredible how quickly we looked like a functioning and flexible team under McKenna, it reminded me of the Burley team where someone liek Jamie Clapham was so key to us being flexible as could play anywhere and everyone pivoted around him |  |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 09:32 - May 19 with 544 views | wkj |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 09:10 - May 19 by itfcjoe |
I had an epiphany when listening to another manager talking about us and saying how PL was an excellent defensive manager and had never really considered it as he came in with such a swashbuckling style initially - but we were very well organised defensively for the majority of his reign in L1.
There was very little through the lines though, and often the wrong players playing in what were key positions - i.e. as the full backs slowed down last season we lost what needed to be key weapons in that formation and style.
It happened under Cook where we ended up with JD as an orthodox RB in a style that needed a flyer there, and Harper as a central midfielder when it needed a sitter.
There are a myriad of stats which would show where Woolf excels with things like progressive passes and ball carrying and his numbers have always remained high on those even when dipping in and out of the team and out of form. They are numbers that certain defenders just couldn't replicate no matter how well they play as they simply don't have the right abilities - but they are the skills that separate top defenders from average ones.
It's incredible how quickly we looked like a functioning and flexible team under McKenna, it reminded me of the Burley team where someone liek Jamie Clapham was so key to us being flexible as could play anywhere and everyone pivoted around him |
I think you nailed it on the head there with the word flexibility. We have a lot of players who excel in various facets of the game, but struggle to adapt when needed. This is why I think we're keeping Kayden Jackson. I think the dude could play in the AM role, and even on the left if we switched to a FB/Winger formation to see games out. Also, a reason why Evans is better than some give him credit for - whilst he's not a show stopper, he does seem to understand how various styles of MCs work. | |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 11:27 - May 19 with 498 views | textbackup |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 15:31 - May 18 by Mach_foreignBlue |
No you are totally wrong. |
no he fcking isnt.
pompy away when he won 4-0, first min, toto went for a control/pass thing, rolled over ball and they were through..... an ounce of quality from pompy striker and they are 1-0 up. |  |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 11:29 - May 19 with 495 views | Kieran_Knows |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 17:24 - May 18 by PhilTWTD |
Think ideally Cook wouldn't have played Nsiala. He seemed not to rate Woolfenden, was another I think he would have happily seen leave. Maybe felt he was too laidback. Fortunately there don't appear to have been any takers last summer. |
Cook definitely rated Woolfenden, but as you say, he thought he was too laidback.
Still, criminal that Nsiala was getting games over him. | |
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| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 12:32 - May 19 with 460 views | Mach_foreignBlue |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 11:27 - May 19 by textbackup |
no he fcking isnt.
pompy away when he won 4-0, first min, toto went for a control/pass thing, rolled over ball and they were through..... an ounce of quality from pompy striker and they are 1-0 up. |
Are we going to bash the players for every single minor/major mistake like you do? Town 0-1 Cambridge , what did happen prior to their goal? Woolfenden gave away a stupid, needless foul but you have never had an issue with this did you? Had it been Nsiala causing that free-kick for them you would have been talking about this.
Pompey away 4-0, yes good example as from that game onwards the defence fared reasonably well. Prior to that we had been shipping goals. |  | | |
| I still can't get my head around Cook starting Nsiala over... on 13:52 - May 19 with 418 views | Exiled2Surrey |
My only concern with Woolfie is at set pieces - and in particular when attacking. I could be wrong, but I think we had at least 3 goals disallowed for him being offside this season (Portsmouth, Burton, Cambridge). OK, the Portsmouth one should not have been chalked off, but it was still his positioning that caused the flag to go up. That is where he needs his cool head.
But we all know that we are saving all our set piece goals for next season :) |  | | |
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