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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 14:27 - Feb 15 by KrakenBlue
Watched this at lunch wondering how Rovers played against Plymouth, seemed happy to sit back but Plymouth were ruthless (till the second half)
[Post edited 15 Feb 2023 14:38]
Overlooking that Plymouth also only drew there and looks like they almost lost it, the highlights from their goals suggests two things we rarely do, but could do.
One is shooting from outside the box. As shown against Sheffield Wednesday, we have the players who can do this accurately (albeit from set-pieces) and I don't understand why we don't do it more often. Even if you don't score, potential for the ball bouncing out creates a chaos factor in the opposition's box that we seem utterly incapable of recreating with our increasingly predictable play from the wings.
Two, is that they move everything so quickly, the opposition's defence is being constantly pulled around, always having to be on their toes and reacting quickly. With us though, everything is always so slow, it allows the defence to prepare fully for whatever (eventually) comes in.
The thing is, McKenna and his team are clearly smart cookies at this football gig, far smarter than any of us on here and we have the pace and players, so why the hell can't they see this? Why do we always try and do the same thing over and over expecting different results?
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 21:13 - Feb 15 by TheBoyBlue
Overlooking that Plymouth also only drew there and looks like they almost lost it, the highlights from their goals suggests two things we rarely do, but could do.
One is shooting from outside the box. As shown against Sheffield Wednesday, we have the players who can do this accurately (albeit from set-pieces) and I don't understand why we don't do it more often. Even if you don't score, potential for the ball bouncing out creates a chaos factor in the opposition's box that we seem utterly incapable of recreating with our increasingly predictable play from the wings.
Two, is that they move everything so quickly, the opposition's defence is being constantly pulled around, always having to be on their toes and reacting quickly. With us though, everything is always so slow, it allows the defence to prepare fully for whatever (eventually) comes in.
The thing is, McKenna and his team are clearly smart cookies at this football gig, far smarter than any of us on here and we have the pace and players, so why the hell can't they see this? Why do we always try and do the same thing over and over expecting different results?
Your two points are the very things I’ve stated all season that we should be doing.
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 21:13 - Feb 15 by TheBoyBlue
Overlooking that Plymouth also only drew there and looks like they almost lost it, the highlights from their goals suggests two things we rarely do, but could do.
One is shooting from outside the box. As shown against Sheffield Wednesday, we have the players who can do this accurately (albeit from set-pieces) and I don't understand why we don't do it more often. Even if you don't score, potential for the ball bouncing out creates a chaos factor in the opposition's box that we seem utterly incapable of recreating with our increasingly predictable play from the wings.
Two, is that they move everything so quickly, the opposition's defence is being constantly pulled around, always having to be on their toes and reacting quickly. With us though, everything is always so slow, it allows the defence to prepare fully for whatever (eventually) comes in.
The thing is, McKenna and his team are clearly smart cookies at this football gig, far smarter than any of us on here and we have the pace and players, so why the hell can't they see this? Why do we always try and do the same thing over and over expecting different results?
Only Oxford have had more shots from outside the box than us. We’ve had 37 more than Wednesday.
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 11:24 - Feb 15 by pafcprogs
I would say we (Argyle) are more like you than either Wednesday or Bolton .
We find it harder to play against bigger physical teams, especially those with a good high press, but have adapted the squad so we can complete much better than say last season.
Where we are successful is that we score late goals....so on a good pitch we start fast and on a ploughed field we play on the break.
What we also have now is some depth...eight changes after the Wednesday game ( two enforced) and then a further four for Oxford, with a very different bench to the previous one.
It means we have effectively players who didn't even make the 18 in January like Earley and Butcher coming in and scoring goals/ making us competitive.
The one area I always felt you had the edge was in having that midfield nastiness we lacked in Morsy and Evans ( skill too but they can put a foot in) Matete and Butcher have recently given us that.
I look at our recruitment in January and all five have played and contributed something to our run already. Plus they changed the squad balance for the better.
I look at your recruitment and see a lot of duplication of what you already had that was working. I think Broadhead was a terrific signing, but the rest I don't think improved the strength of the herd that much...maybe Luongo if he were fit but so far he hasn't really appeared.
So are you out of it? Well obviously not because as any fool knows we always collapse at the end of the season :) But you have a tough run after the next couple, especially if Morsy doesn't time his suspension properly....
Sooner or later either we or Wednesday will hit a blip.....I think it might be Wednesday as, irony of irony, they seem to be picking up injuries and lack a bit of squad depth....
Bolton seem to be on a roll right now, more so than Derby, so with FGR and Burton to come up next six points would make a huge difference to your position.
I have posted on pasoti and Owlstalk that the table after March 11th will be the one that signals likely finishing positions in terms of who is autos and who is play offs....
Still hoping you can pip the Owls from their Entitle charge.
Please enlighten us about Camara. He has been almost totally absent for us, maybe 1 appearance, since he signed at the end of the first window. How long had he been injured for Plymouth? Seems like a total waste of a transfer fee and wages. Now we have compounded the error by signing Luongo. Evans and Ball are injury prone and all we have left in central midfield is Morsy, one booking away from suspension (?) and Humphries, very talented but still a teenager and exhausted.
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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 09:41 - Feb 16 with 1177 views
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 19:49 - Feb 15 by StNeotsBlue
You describe Hirst as "still a bit raw" but he's hardly a kid he's 24! Other than a brief period at Portsmouth hasn't torn up any trees anywhere and is yet to show much for us.
He's started twice and made four sub appearances.
Trust the process. Trust Phil.
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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 10:01 - Feb 16 with 1154 views
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 05:01 - Feb 15 by urbanblue
I had a look at all the goals scored by these teams over the last couple of games. Seems to me that in most cases they are playing fast and direct, especially Plymouth. A number of their goals seemed to be counter attacks. Didn't see any of this side to side stuff although of course may not have been shown. Also a willingness to take on a defender and power towards goal, something we just don't seem to do although Broadhead shows signs of doing this.
Interestingly, many of Bolton's 10 goals in the last two games were from set pieces especially corners. A load of big brutes piling into the box and winning the headers.
We need to be brave. Attack the opposition defence. Take them on and head into the box as opposed to just playing side to side, rinse and repeat.
[Post edited 15 Feb 2023 5:12]
Yes, it was noticeable he difference Broadhead made when coming on. Harness was always looking to drop deep and link. Broadhead was much more direct. We struggled to break out quickly as there were no centre options - it always needed a longer cross field ball to try and release players free on the flanks. Whiles some of those worked a lot didn't.
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 14:09 - Feb 15 by GreenArmy75
One of thing Schumacher insists upon is midfielders passing the ball forward.
It’s well known that he drops the players who play the safe sideways ball in midfield.
He knows we will often give the ball away but it does create a lot of chances.
I think they may be the difference.
We also score a lot of goals later in games as defenders get worn down by the constant movement of strikers. Watch out 3rd against Portsmouth….the centre half just gave up running.
Although, it wouldn’t surprise me if you won the next 10 straight…..
"Although, it wouldn’t surprise me if you won the next 10 straight….. "
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 14:09 - Feb 15 by GreenArmy75
One of thing Schumacher insists upon is midfielders passing the ball forward.
It’s well known that he drops the players who play the safe sideways ball in midfield.
He knows we will often give the ball away but it does create a lot of chances.
I think they may be the difference.
We also score a lot of goals later in games as defenders get worn down by the constant movement of strikers. Watch out 3rd against Portsmouth….the centre half just gave up running.
Although, it wouldn’t surprise me if you won the next 10 straight…..
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 08:48 - Feb 16 by Harlestonblue
Please enlighten us about Camara. He has been almost totally absent for us, maybe 1 appearance, since he signed at the end of the first window. How long had he been injured for Plymouth? Seems like a total waste of a transfer fee and wages. Now we have compounded the error by signing Luongo. Evans and Ball are injury prone and all we have left in central midfield is Morsy, one booking away from suspension (?) and Humphries, very talented but still a teenager and exhausted.
Camara has a fantastic engine and covers the ground quickly, nicking the ball and regaining possession and also carrying the ball forward. Where he falls down is in the final third of the field, his final pass or shot too often letting him down. He was injured late last season and all through the close season up until joining Ipswich. I thought the "injury" was convenient to force a transfer but it seems it wasn't. To sell him for 500k or whatever it was when he only had about 9 months left on his contract and in view of the fact he would have had no part to play anyway in the current season was with hindsight smart business for Argyle and about the most we could have expected to get for him bearing in mind he would have had no value at all by the season's end. From Argyle's point of view, 500k in the bank and freeing up a wage for a replacement rather than an injured player has worked out really well. To get an upgrade in Jay Matete in January was a further bonus. As you say he has been a waste of a transfer fee and wage for you this season which is frustrating. We have been there with James Bolton who has hardly played in 2 seasons after joining from Pompey and Mikel Miller who has hardly kicked a ball in anger since joining from Rotherham in the close season.
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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 16:51 - Feb 16 with 929 views
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 16:45 - Feb 16 by Cornishman
Camara has a fantastic engine and covers the ground quickly, nicking the ball and regaining possession and also carrying the ball forward. Where he falls down is in the final third of the field, his final pass or shot too often letting him down. He was injured late last season and all through the close season up until joining Ipswich. I thought the "injury" was convenient to force a transfer but it seems it wasn't. To sell him for 500k or whatever it was when he only had about 9 months left on his contract and in view of the fact he would have had no part to play anyway in the current season was with hindsight smart business for Argyle and about the most we could have expected to get for him bearing in mind he would have had no value at all by the season's end. From Argyle's point of view, 500k in the bank and freeing up a wage for a replacement rather than an injured player has worked out really well. To get an upgrade in Jay Matete in January was a further bonus. As you say he has been a waste of a transfer fee and wage for you this season which is frustrating. We have been there with James Bolton who has hardly played in 2 seasons after joining from Pompey and Mikel Miller who has hardly kicked a ball in anger since joining from Rotherham in the close season.
You have a manager/set up that appears to be able to identify very good players who are realistic targets and then make very good use of them. It looks like getting you to the Championship at least.
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 08:48 - Feb 16 by Harlestonblue
Please enlighten us about Camara. He has been almost totally absent for us, maybe 1 appearance, since he signed at the end of the first window. How long had he been injured for Plymouth? Seems like a total waste of a transfer fee and wages. Now we have compounded the error by signing Luongo. Evans and Ball are injury prone and all we have left in central midfield is Morsy, one booking away from suspension (?) and Humphries, very talented but still a teenager and exhausted.
Normally we buy good injured players…..it’s weird to see someone else do it…..
However this is Camaras first major injury and was an ever present for us. He is full of optimism and energy. I reckon he’s great in the dressing room which you need with Ladapo in there.
He is a great ball winner, is full of energy and drives the team forward.
He can’t pass the ball well though and his finishing always hits row z.
I’m not sure how he would fit in a high possession team as his strength is winning the ball.
He’s the type of player you’d see in a league 1 top 8 team. He wouldn’t be a regular in a championship team.
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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 19:27 - Feb 16 with 813 views
If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 16:51 - Feb 16 by Nthsuffolkblue
You have a manager/set up that appears to be able to identify very good players who are realistic targets and then make very good use of them. It looks like getting you to the Championship at least.
Yes, it's very data driven as is the recruitment at Brighton and Brentford. Our chairman made his fortune in the States with a very data driven approach to his work. It has seen us barely make a mistake in the transfer market for several years. We try to buy hungry young players for free or perhaps a few hundred thousand as we did several in January, add value to them by good coaching and sell them on for a handsome profit hopefully. Obviously currently on a smaller scale to Brighton who bought half a dozen for an average of about 7 million and have sold them on for an average of about 50 million. The Chairman knows we can't match the playing budget of Wednesday or Ipswich or fork out million pound fees and his mantra is,"We have to work smarter" to compete. All our targets are players we have monitored for about 6 months. Several of the players who joined in January we missed out on last summer but we eventually got them. We also have a clear "no dickheads" policy in the changing rooms and the last such player we had was Mr Ladapo as it happens who helped us to relegation before the new regime took over. I don't know how far we can get with the current set up and approach but a consortium of 20 American investors are now involved having put in 4.5 million to test the water, with the Chairman I think looking to hand the reins over once he feels he has taken us as far as he feels he can. The consortium includes mainly people with a top sporting background including an ice hockey star who won most valuable player awards in the States?Canadian top league. It will be an interesting ride ahead for sure.
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If virtually every team we play against has a low block... on 19:59 - Feb 16 with 776 views
The simple answer is take chances (Plymouth) and keep clean sheets (Sheffield Wednesday), isn't it?
Our low-block failures in full: Bristol Rovers (A) 0-0 - 21 to 9 Cambridge (A) 1-1 - 15 shots to 6 Lincoln (A) 1-1 - 20 to 2 Portsmouth (A) 2-2 - 14 to 7 Wycombe (A) 0-1 - 20 to 8 Cheltenham (H) 1-1 - 30 to 3 Lincoln (H) 0-1 - 33 to 3
That's a conversion rate of 3.2% across 153 shots, whilst conceding from 18% of 38 shots faced. You aren't going to win a lot of games if you need 30 shots to score and the other team need about 5.
Some equivalent fixtures for Sheffield Wednesday: Cheltenham (H) 3-0 - 23 to 6 Cambridge (A) 2-0 - 15 to 11 Lincoln (A) 1-1 - 17 to 6 Wycombe (A) 1-0 - 12 to 7
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