| It's the high block again. 10:02 - Dec 4 with 1198 views | homer_123 |
Saw it last season on more than one occasion.
Teams sit high but don't press initially. They only press after the first or second pass out from the back.
It offers no space to play through and we didn't really manage to get in behind Palace, which is where the space is when teams do this.
The positives for me were Cajuste (apart from his throws), he really looks very good. Morsy was disciplined in the second half, which was good to see.
Harry Clarke did OK but a couple of errors might have been costly but overall, he performed well. Hutch was better, again, on the right - saw much more of the ball second half.
Defensively, we look good. I posted last night on this. We look a much tighter unit now but it comes at the cost of not being quite as attacking. Therefore, if we are staying this way, we have to really take chances when they come our way.
Broady looked tidy (that ball was never out by the way) when he came on.
The concerning things from last. Burns is a shadow of his former self (at least as an attacking threat). Whether it's the fall out from his injury, lack of form or that he's being asked to sit back a little more to help defensively - it's a worry. Did he beat the first man either with a run or cross last night? Hutch offered much more wide right when the changes we were made.
Isolated Delap...for the first time I can remember, Delap was isolated an awful lot last night - again, this is the downside of being more defensive but we were slow to support him last night (he did well but it's a big big ask). For me, I'd like to see a redress back to being a little more attacking. I understand why KM has looked to tighten up but I am not convinced that defending is our strength, we'll see.
Not great last night. Palace are a good unit to be fair but that is a game we are looking to win.
We go again Sunday! |  |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:20 - Dec 4 with 1111 views | Vic |
I’m concerned that we’re asking a lot of Delap - massive ask to hope he can keep up his early season form. Very few young players sustain his levels in their first season. |  |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:24 - Dec 4 with 1087 views | gringoblue |
I agree with all of that! |  | | |
| It's the high block again. on 10:25 - Dec 4 with 1087 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| It's the high block again. on 10:20 - Dec 4 by Vic |
I’m concerned that we’re asking a lot of Delap - massive ask to hope he can keep up his early season form. Very few young players sustain his levels in their first season. |
I think the last few weeks have raised his profile to an extent that some people (not necessarily our fans) are judging him as a £50m player.
He's a 21 year old £15m (not expensive by Prem standards) player who is still learning and will make mistakes. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:33]
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| It's the high block again. on 10:32 - Dec 4 with 1056 views | homer_123 |
| It's the high block again. on 10:25 - Dec 4 by Marshalls_Mullet |
I think the last few weeks have raised his profile to an extent that some people (not necessarily our fans) are judging him as a £50m player.
He's a 21 year old £15m (not expensive by Prem standards) player who is still learning and will make mistakes. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:33]
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Agreed Mullers. | |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:33 - Dec 4 with 1047 views | FrimleyBlue |
| It's the high block again. on 10:25 - Dec 4 by Marshalls_Mullet |
I think the last few weeks have raised his profile to an extent that some people (not necessarily our fans) are judging him as a £50m player.
He's a 21 year old £15m (not expensive by Prem standards) player who is still learning and will make mistakes. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:33]
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He's also one, i'd also like to see on the right hand side when we get a new striker in jan.
Imagine a combo of a new striker, delap on the right, hutch behind with szmodics on the left, lethal. |  |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:43 - Dec 4 with 967 views | homer_123 |
| It's the high block again. on 10:33 - Dec 4 by FrimleyBlue |
He's also one, i'd also like to see on the right hand side when we get a new striker in jan.
Imagine a combo of a new striker, delap on the right, hutch behind with szmodics on the left, lethal. |
And yet, again, Hutch saw more of the ball, was more influential and was more effective wide right last night.
EDIT: long term, that central role will be his but I think that is further down the line, in fact much further down. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:43]
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| It's the high block again. on 10:44 - Dec 4 with 954 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
| It's the high block again. on 10:43 - Dec 4 by homer_123 |
And yet, again, Hutch saw more of the ball, was more influential and was more effective wide right last night.
EDIT: long term, that central role will be his but I think that is further down the line, in fact much further down. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:43]
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Hutch seemed to beat his man every time with ease when out wide. | |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:45 - Dec 4 with 955 views | GeoffSentence |
Regarding that Broady ball not being out, the other lino made a similar incorrect decision in the first half as we were breaking. It's like they have forgotten that the whole of the ball has to cross the line. |  |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:45 - Dec 4 with 948 views | FrimleyBlue |
| It's the high block again. on 10:43 - Dec 4 by homer_123 |
And yet, again, Hutch saw more of the ball, was more influential and was more effective wide right last night.
EDIT: long term, that central role will be his but I think that is further down the line, in fact much further down. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:43]
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Yeah I know, as you know I prefer him there, but clearly KM does prefer him central so im giving up the ghost with that one. | |
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| It's the high block again. on 10:45 - Dec 4 with 943 views | homer_123 |
| It's the high block again. on 10:44 - Dec 4 by Marshalls_Mullet |
Hutch seemed to beat his man every time with ease when out wide. |
Even when he had two on him.
Right now, and certainly with Oggy out, he is out most effective attacking wide right player. | |
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| It's the high block again. on 11:34 - Dec 4 with 801 views | HighgateBlue |
We bemoaned the low block in league one, and now it's the high block! Teams will try to block us, of that we can be fairly sure. Joking aside, we are not unlocking it and are creating the fewest good chances in the league (well, we're bottom on xG per 90 mins).
Cajuste - agreed. Our throws have not been potent for, well, a long time. Delap needs to get dad on the case.
Morsy - very lucky not to get a yellow, given that the ref calibrated himself at the stoppier, startier end of things. But that's who Morsy is. I'm Ok with that, and I think he had a decent enough game.
HClarke - yeah Ok, but Axel is a real miss.
Shout out to O'Shea for playing on with that serious gash (like he's played on through his back problems), and for my money he's becoming our best performing centre back, in a cohort which on paper appears to be much of a fairly decent but not incredible muchness. I wonder if Greaves is back up to speed after injury? Or maybe credit just needs to go to Mateta for shaking him off. Not as much credit as the faintly barmy Jim Rosenthal wanted to give him, mind (although he also thought he himself was hilarious for using the word "magnifique" a million times).
Hutch - he can't score worldies every game, and yes he was better last night than in his quiet spell.
JClarke - dribbly, but no real end product. Is it harsh to ask if he's really an upgrade on Kyle Edwards? He cost a LOT of money, and Sunderland fans said he was the second coming. He comes second a lot. I've seen no real evidence in a Town shirt that he can shoot, and he also seems a little light weight. Maybe I still have certain Fulham players burned into my retinas.
Broady - agreed, and I think this was a positive of the night. We looked a little more like we might make the break through late on, and Broady was involved enough times in that, but sadly Delap wasn't around and I'm not convinced by Ali in the premier league, at the present time.
Burns - sadly yes. This season he's a shadow of his former self. Is that just form, is that the different (harder!) challenge of the premier league? Dunno, but if he's not going to make inroads, and Ogbene is out forever, then what do we do down the right in home games? Play Hutch there and then have different options in the middle - Chappers, Sammy, Broady? That's what I'd advocate.
I think Burns' ineffectiveness was part of Delap seeming isolated, but that might just be because of the amount of times we try to have joy down the right, and my bias of what I happen to see more closely.
We really do ask a lot of Delap. We can have hoped for him to do no more than he has done. We seem to be less than clinical, but statistically our real attacking problem is chance creation, not finishing. Having said that, we've got to score a header. We're not a short side in the main (sorry Chappers), and I can think of a few chances that have gone begging recently. |  | | |
| It's the high block again. on 11:40 - Dec 4 with 757 views | ZapatasMoustache |
| It's the high block again. on 10:43 - Dec 4 by homer_123 |
And yet, again, Hutch saw more of the ball, was more influential and was more effective wide right last night.
EDIT: long term, that central role will be his but I think that is further down the line, in fact much further down. [Post edited 4 Dec 2024 10:43]
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Agreed; said this on the AAH thread but first half it seemed like Omari was being dragged wide (Wes had a poor game and Clarke faded after a great first 20m or so). This left the ten somewhat empty and Delap either having to drop way deeper than usual or up on his own as a pure target man, neither of which is a very effective option. The wide men have to work hard and efficiently to allow the ten space to interact with Delap. |  | | |
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