| A few thoughts on where we are now 07:55 - Sep 23 with 6527 views | Steve_M |
Having been away for Fulham and then missed Brighton, Saturday was the first game I managed to see live since the first two, it really doesn't take much to have a big gap between games in this division. That gives us a good amount of time to prepare but longer to get over bad results.
And Saturday was very nearly a bad result, it was a slightly strange game as, on the over all balance of play, a draw was definitely the right result but for much of the second half Southampton had a measure of control that we struggled to break and, until the last couple of minutes, had by far the better chances. It was quite reminiscent of the match last April in that regard - as well as in the conclusion.
Defensively we looked comfortable for much of the time, but also vulnerable out of almost nothing, obviously everyone has seen the goal we conceded, it was a bad one with both O'Shea and Axel missing chances to clear the ball and then Greaves and Davis being beaten by Lallana's excellent pass. It wasn't the only time we seemed to suddenly be under real pressure, some good balls on their part but I don't think we'll be too happy with how we dealt with them.
Individually it was ok, but collectively lacking a bit: Muric did well and looked much more comfortable than a month ago, O'Shea had a poor start to the game IMO but was ok after that and I thought Greaves threw himself into blocks a bit too readily at times. I also wonder if Wolfenden might play in some home games when we expect to have more possession as a lot seemed to go through Greaves at times.
Further forward, we are very much a team in formation, we know that in League One it took a while for players to get up to speed with how we play and that is similarly the case now. Despite a lot of possession we aren't creating a lot of chances from open play at the moment, again individuals are largely ok but the collective result will have to improve.
Omari remains the most threatening of our forward players, he looks like he can make something happen far more often than any of the others. His decision-making is a bit off at the moment and he clearly got frustrated on Saturday, as seen in a pointless yellow card, but it's easy to forget how raw he was a year ago and how much he improved over the season; the improvement he needs to make now is a much smaller one.
Under McKenna, we've consistently used our substitutes effectively and Saturday was no exception, Hirst and Taylor in particular made a big difference the former having two chances (anyone seen a video of the first one, we couldn't tell how good a chance it was?) and the latter getting stuck in as well as playing the key pass to Clarke for the second Hirst chance.
I do wish we had been able to sign Downes in the Summer though, for all Phillips experience FD would be a better option for the medium term, and I thought he was very good on Saturday (at least until Taylor rattled him with that tackle) consistently being first to the ball and breaking forward with it. Phillips staying fit is going to be pretty important to our season I think given his experience.
We have a lot of new players needing to adapt and not a great deal of Premier League experience in the squad so all of this will improve as the season goes on. To that end, it's been important not to start off by falling behind and we've done that with a little bit of good fortune but also a lot of work.
I'm still a bit concerned that we might have given ourselves too much to do to become a good enough team to stay up, three goals from five games obviously needs to improve a bit and we need to win some matches soon before the confidence of promotion drops a bit on and off the field. In that regard getting such a late goal as on Saturday can only help - such an enjoyable moment and a properly manic celebration in the away end.
COYFB. [Post edited 23 Sep 2024 13:50]
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 13:33 - Sep 23 with 1056 views | ReusersTown |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:54 - Sep 23 by portmanking |
I think that's where Hirst is going to become more of an option to start games away from home. Delap just doesn't appear to have the same instincts (or attributes) to bring others into play. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop at times. I do wonder whether he would be better-suited to that Burns role in a Walters-esque style.
However, the problem you then have is lacking a quality replacement for Hirst off the bench, which is still mystifying as to why we didn't get that done before Aug 31st. |
Well it wasn't mystifying, we tried as hard as we could to get the right players in. |  | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 18:15 - Sep 23 with 925 views | Steve_M |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:26 - Sep 23 by Kev_W |
Your key phrase is that we are a team in formation and this accounts for some but not necessarily all the current shortcomings. We are still short of PL level firepower in attack as evidenced by the attempted signings in the summer transfer window.
I wonder if we will see the formation evolve as the team develops – it feels like we outnumbered in midfield at times, 3 v 2 etc.
Not as convinced about Downes. I think Philips is the better signing for us this season as he offers a bit more control and particularly if Morsy is suspended/injured we need the authority he can provide. |
"I wonder if we will see the formation evolve as the team develops – it feels like we outnumbered in midfield at times, 3 v 2 etc."
That was certainly the case at times on Saturday, particularly with the lack of link up play further forward and Chaplin's lack of physicality may make this season too much for him. If we do play three at times then Taylor certainly made a case for his having a role on Saturday.
On Phillips, I did contradict myself a bit as we definitely need that experience this season, something FD doesn't have yet. I'm looking forward to seeing him play live for us, hopefully Sunday. | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 18:32 - Sep 23 with 902 views | victorysquad |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 10:44 - Sep 23 by Coastalblue |
Agree with you regarding Philips this season, but kind of read the point as if we'd had Downes this season and survived, we'd still have Downes next season as opposed to looking for a Philips replacement, and potentially a Sami replacement too.
As omebody said above, it is fine margins and what was apparent to me on Saturday was the difference between now and after Christmas last season when we had a well drilled side of players who not only knew their role but knew everybody elses so misplaced passes or taking the ball unsure of options were far less common. Of course there is an increased pace adding to that now, but it will continue to improve as the side wears itself a new groove it slots into. |
I think if we have any connections with Flynn still within the club (or through the supporters), we should keep very close contact with him this season, because if Southampton go down, and we stay up, you would think there is a deal to be done there. I don't know if he 'wants' to move back to Braintree or to Suffolk in general, but I think we need to keep that door well and truly open.
I think he has unfinished business at this football club. | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 19:28 - Sep 23 with 848 views | Coastalblue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 18:32 - Sep 23 by victorysquad |
I think if we have any connections with Flynn still within the club (or through the supporters), we should keep very close contact with him this season, because if Southampton go down, and we stay up, you would think there is a deal to be done there. I don't know if he 'wants' to move back to Braintree or to Suffolk in general, but I think we need to keep that door well and truly open.
I think he has unfinished business at this football club. |
I understood he's quite matey with Wolfy, but that's anecdotal. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:28 - Sep 24 with 710 views | MVBlue |
If we are aiming for 17th and not falling behind early on we are fine.
McKenna is recruiting in defence and making us tough to beat, which is important.
We are getting some points on the board, and hes having to ease in new players.
I am going to reserve judgement until 10 games in to see where we end up. But it seems that attacking wise we need Clarke to bed in, Phillips to hold his place alongside Morsy, the wingers to have good games. Then we'll be in the market January for a new striker again. |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:15 - Sep 24 with 657 views | itfcjoe |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 19:28 - Sep 23 by Coastalblue |
I understood he's quite matey with Wolfy, but that's anecdotal. |
His partner is an Ipswich girl and they are pregnant or have just had a baby so can't imagine it will be too tough a sell to get him here if we are in PL and they are in the Champ - it was very close this summer but understandably wanted to stay under a manager who has been brilliant for him |  |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 11:07 - Sep 24 with 583 views | portmanking |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 09:15 - Sep 24 by itfcjoe |
His partner is an Ipswich girl and they are pregnant or have just had a baby so can't imagine it will be too tough a sell to get him here if we are in PL and they are in the Champ - it was very close this summer but understandably wanted to stay under a manager who has been brilliant for him |
If we're in the PL and they're in the Champ in 2025/26, I'd like to think our sights will be set higher than Flynn! | | | |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 15:24 - Sep 24 with 497 views | Europablue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 08:20 - Sep 23 by PioneerBlue |
Agree with basically everything you say but there is a slight tone of negativity!
There is so much going right not least the speed of adjustment for likes of Leif, Axel, Morsy, Szmodics, Burns, Omari and Delap. I’m not saying they are perfect but they are all contributing at the level. The games played and the points picked up sometimes from losing positions. The reaction to loss. The hard to beat and three draws on the back of losses. Muric. Greaves. Hirst and Broadhead adding to squad depth after injury lay ups. Not currently in the bottom three (on points).
Lots done, massive amount to do and a very long way to go. |
I'm finding it hard not to feel a little negative, but that is probably because I let my expectations get out of check. I thought that we would somehow be getting results like we did at the start of last season, but the huge factor is that we were a settled team playing against unsettled teams and picking up points. Now we are integrating a lot of players into the team and we have played two top three sides and drawn the rest. I remember looking at the step up in the quality of sides and trying to see a run of games in which we could pick up points and it looked very tricky, and yet somehow we overcame that. Just looking at fixtures this year, you could make a case for losing any of them by a fine margin. Still there are a lot of winnable games too.
I think KM will be fairly happy with where we are at currently. I would imagine that we will only improve and the togetherness of the club as well as the fans will only be an asset as we go deeper into the season. It really has gone from being anxious about keeping on the automatic promotion pace to being anxious about staying on the survival pace. My expectations have depressingly gone from making a good stab at the league to taking 17th place right now. | | | |
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| A few thoughts on where we are now on 15:39 - Sep 24 with 483 views | Europablue |
| A few thoughts on where we are now on 11:48 - Sep 23 by Swansea_Blue |
That's the only disappointment about the window for me. If we'd have got the Greek fella, I think we'd have an extra cutting edge. We've got very little PL/top league experience in our front line (well, none really) and I think that will end up hurting us until players find their feet.
But it's a small gripe and we've obviously had to do a huge amount of work across the whole team. And by and large seem to have done well in signing players with potential. The future's bright as long a we can find a way to survive the present. Which we are, just about. And of course we can strengthen again in January.
It's a tough league. Tougher than I remember from last time, as even the poorer teams are very well organised and the best are on a whole different level. There are 6 teams without a win so far and another two teams with only 1 win. It's brutal. The gaps between the top and bottom are huge.
I was getting a bit carried away in the summer and thought we may surprise a few teams and would cope reasonably well. Based on what we've seen so far, the reality is probably that we will do very well to just stay up. |
Exactly.
I see Everton giving away leads and see them picking up a lot more points later in the season. Then I see Wolves getting only one point and see that they have played some very good sides and surely they will pick up sooner rather than later, and I can't imagine Palace not picking up a few wins. All in all, we will do very well to just stay ahead of any of those teams plus the other two promoted teams. Southampton looked ready to fall apart in front of the home crowd then scored a good goal from a pass that we should never have given them a chance to make and Leicester have had some decent results like us, but there is some negativity about the manager as well as there is around Russell. | | | |
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