| What I still don’t understand is … 22:56 - May 25 with 3650 views | ringwoodblue |
Why did we get worse as the season progressed rather than better? Did opposition teams just work us out after the first few months? Were we too predictable? Was it injuries to key players? Did the players just stop trying so hard? |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 23:14 - May 25 with 2893 views | reusersfreekicks |
Strange isn't it. Think Delap was a surprise to teams at the start of the season plus injuries were a problem |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 02:56 - May 26 with 2708 views | Illinoisblue |
Injuries. Frequently exposed on the left, nothing on the right expect for Omari cutting inside, massive gaps in the middle. Injuries. Very minimal prem experience. Injuries. A wobbly keeper for half the season. Constant changes in defence. Nothing much up top other than Delap. Injuries. Content inability in every single game to apply any sort of sustained pressure on teams.
Think that covers it. Is it August yet? |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 03:47 - May 26 with 2633 views | Illinoisblue |
Meant to add: 90% of our set pieces were awful. They were such a weapon for us last season. | |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 04:15 - May 26 with 2612 views | MVBlue |
As we bedded the new players in....
The confidence and nous and patterns of play faded. Also, Premier League teams seem to really kick into gear further into the season. All mistakes were punished, our solidity waned.
Fade away |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 06:30 - May 26 with 2453 views | RegencyBlue |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 03:47 - May 26 by Illinoisblue |
Meant to add: 90% of our set pieces were awful. They were such a weapon for us last season. |
Yeah, the set piece coach who started last summer hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory. They really have been appallingly bad this season! |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 06:38 - May 26 with 2428 views | Crawfordsboot |
Dont underestimate the sheer physicality of the Premiership. Week after week playing against faster stronger players has taken its toll. As the Hammers management commented “we thought our physicality would cause Ipswich problems” - and it did! |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 07:25 - May 26 with 2299 views | ArnieM |
Our PL opponents are superiorvtacyicslky and during the second half if the season ( and even during games( were able to change their approach to counter McKenna's approach/ tactics. McKenna continued with plan A and opponents knew exactly how he'd set up and play. This will also be the case next season unless has it in his locker to ADAPT, and I've said this all season. |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 07:59 - May 26 with 2141 views | Churchman |
No, the players kept trying. I sit close enough to see that and have seen in the past what ‘stop trying’ looks like. Inevitably they lost some confidence as beating after beating took its toll. Losing has become normal.
The rest of your questions: the answer is yes to all.
I would add the opposition players were better and as these teams settled, they showed it. Physically stronger and in many cases quicker and more skilful. At their best some of our players could keep up with them for a period of time and that was about it. Even yesterday, we on occasions needed two touches or a hesitation and whoosh, West Ham were gone.
Long ball from the keeper? Did that a few times and Hirst did well. Be they won every knock down and every 50/50. As usual, lose the ball attacking and they’d go straight through us. We were short of ‘legs’ in the middle in particular. It’s been that way all season.
Looking back, I never felt the settled cohesion of last season or the second half of the season before. No control over games - just bits and pieces. Often, players would look for each other rather than know where they are.
I understand why KM rotated players as much as he did. Much of it was forced, but not always. This particularly applied in defence which went from organised, if flawed, to disorganised and flawed.
So in conclusion, there are many reasons why we collapsed. There will need to be an honest assessment of them all. There’s a lot to do in a short space of time. |  | | |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:01 - May 26 with 2140 views | BloomBlue |
The confidence eroded, and as they say; football is 90% confidence, 10% ability.
Once confidence goes it's hard to get it back.
I'm said it before, and I'll say it again...our season was a mirror image of Burnley's last season. Playing well in some parts of games but punished for the first mistake, fine margins and all that, but failing to win erodes away at the confidence. Burnley did the same.
Yesterday being a classic example. OK it was a dead rubber, but you would think no pressure on the players would make it easier. We started brightly, but WH have one moment of creating a chance and we're behind. We get back into at the start of the 2nd half, but the players didn't have the belief.
Players like Hutchinson looked like they wanted the final whistle from the first seconds. The confidence is shot, the players, manager, club need the break. Hopefully we can gain some confidence back during the preseason. |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:01 - May 26 with 2136 views | Herbivore |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 07:25 - May 26 by ArnieM |
Our PL opponents are superiorvtacyicslky and during the second half if the season ( and even during games( were able to change their approach to counter McKenna's approach/ tactics. McKenna continued with plan A and opponents knew exactly how he'd set up and play. This will also be the case next season unless has it in his locker to ADAPT, and I've said this all season. |
And you've been wrong all season. |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:11 - May 26 with 2074 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 07:25 - May 26 by ArnieM |
Our PL opponents are superiorvtacyicslky and during the second half if the season ( and even during games( were able to change their approach to counter McKenna's approach/ tactics. McKenna continued with plan A and opponents knew exactly how he'd set up and play. This will also be the case next season unless has it in his locker to ADAPT, and I've said this all season. |
You've also said he's changed things too much, so you've covered yourself either way (and been wrong on both counts). |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:14 - May 26 with 2061 views | Len_Brennan |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:01 - May 26 by Herbivore |
And you've been wrong all season. |
I can't speak about the whole season, but I don't see what he said that is wrong in that particular post? |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:15 - May 26 with 2058 views | bsw72 |
Loss of confidence played a massive part in it. Losing becomes a habit and mentally when you concede a goal the worst is expected. Just human nature. On top of that throw in injuries, lack of squad depth, inexperience and general fatigue.
Last couple of years winning was a habit, and the confidence to turn a losing position into winning, this season it flipped and when we conceded one goal we often retreated into a shell and conceded another or worse.
Not unexpected, and I think the seeds were sown with the Brentford away result and then compounded with the results against Bournemouth and Leicester at home.
EDIT: I also think that despite popular opinion, Muric earned us more points than he cost us, and while that doesn’t suit the narrative of a lot of supporters the form over the half of the season he didn’t play was far worse to that he did play in. [Post edited 26 May 8:37]
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:19 - May 26 with 2031 views | muccletonjoe |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 07:25 - May 26 by ArnieM |
Our PL opponents are superiorvtacyicslky and during the second half if the season ( and even during games( were able to change their approach to counter McKenna's approach/ tactics. McKenna continued with plan A and opponents knew exactly how he'd set up and play. This will also be the case next season unless has it in his locker to ADAPT, and I've said this all season. |
Precisely. Anyone thinking playing the same tactics, formation for an entire season in the hope that one day it might work, is the way to navigate a season in the Premier league, will never get the message that it Is not good management |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:26 - May 26 with 1986 views | Lord_Lucan |
I think they lacked belief. An early win and it could have all been different.
I refer again to Brentford away.
That’s when it got into their heads. |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:35 - May 26 with 1909 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:19 - May 26 by muccletonjoe |
Precisely. Anyone thinking playing the same tactics, formation for an entire season in the hope that one day it might work, is the way to navigate a season in the Premier league, will never get the message that it Is not good management |
We didn't play the same tactics and formation for an entire season. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:45 - May 26 with 1849 views | Herbivore |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:26 - May 26 by Lord_Lucan |
I think they lacked belief. An early win and it could have all been different.
I refer again to Brentford away.
That’s when it got into their heads. |
Think even earlier than that, if we'd turned either of our good performances against Fulham and Villa into a win at PR it might have given us some momentum at home. Then the Leicester and Man U games a bit later we similarly should have won and didn't. Needed some of those games to go our way really to give us a chance but I still think it'd have been beyond us to stay up, especially with the injuries we've had. | |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:47 - May 26 with 1826 views | Nutkins_Return |
Lost momentum and belief and ultimately couldn't continue the intensity. Psychologically a bit more fragile and just as the belief has sapped it's been incredibly hard to deal with the in game intensity in the Prem. Never stopped trying but lost the edge we need given inferior physical attributes and ability compared to opponents. We're not miles off it. Just the margins have grown a percent or two too much. | |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:48 - May 26 with 1814 views | DJR |
When it comes to away games, I don't think we got worse as the season progressed. We put in a number of very good performances after Christmas and with a bit of luck could have got more points than we did. Fulham, Palace, Man Utd and Leicester spring to mind. [Post edited 26 May 8:49]
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:54 - May 26 with 1747 views | lurcher |
Fatigue, a number of injured players and just the realisation that we wouldn't stay up. |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 09:08 - May 26 with 1682 views | Churchman |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 08:14 - May 26 by Len_Brennan |
I can't speak about the whole season, but I don't see what he said that is wrong in that particular post? |
The reality is that most of our players were not as good as the opposition. Take Broadhead. Smashing player. Got the lot. But against Wolves he looked like the last pick in the playground. Everything he can do, they could do better and had the physicality to go with it. That goes for most of the team.
You can adapt until your head falls off, but if the opposition are organised and on it, you will lose if your players are not good enough. If you ambush Wimbledon style in say the way Luton did in their apology of a ground, you might do ok for a while, but it’ll unravel and you are left with a non football playing rabble - as they were.
Play like an away team and hope for the best? We did that. Long ball? Tried that and back it came. Out from the back? West Ham were pressing us half way up the North Stand so that didn’t go so well - and West Ham were one of the poorer teams to visit this season. | | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 09:15 - May 26 with 1641 views | rexron |
Fitness might be an issue. Maybe the training were to soft? |  |
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| What I still don’t understand is … on 09:25 - May 26 with 1587 views | billlm |
Physicality and a decimated squad dosent go much further than that, |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 09:27 - May 26 with 1582 views | BlueForYou |
Our lack of class eventually got exposed as confidence slowly drained out as the season went on. Our inability to mark & tackle, control the ball, our lack of pace, our terrible defending, plus a few injuries, all were exposed brutally at times. Need to regroup & work hard on these things. Won't be easy turning a losing mentality around. Part of the process I think & as long as we adapt, learn from what's happened, & develop, then we should be fine. |  | | |
| What I still don’t understand is … on 10:18 - May 26 with 1420 views | Radlett_blue |
I. Other teams worked us out - the best chance for a promoted team to pick up points is early in a season.
2. Injuries.
3. Confidence. Losing regularly becomes infectious. That's 9 home defeats in a row. |  |
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