08 Nov 2020 00:04:22
Big congratulations to ole today.
On Friday i called for him to pick his go to men. This team is the team (mata greenwood aside) that produces the best results.

On a plus side to that cavani will be a great option for martial and telles for shaw and they are not a big drop off in quality (we assume in telles case) . Tuanzebe as a like for like option at cb again an option he didn't have last year.
Mata and james can cover the wide options.

That is all very positive if ole wants to play this way.
This takes us to the 3 midfield positions.
The proven 3 are fred mctom and bruno.

Fred and mctom as a pair are much better than they are as individuals. The sum of their parts forms a very hard working busy midfield and their record together is good.
I think that vdb can add something to that midfield personally but he will have to be patient. Bruno is the main man he is the fulcrum for most of our good play.
The only negative is that they turnover possession a lot. I think bruno plays with more freedom when they are behind him.

Rash is working hard getting chances martial and mata were not as involved today and the bench helped out as it should.

Good day for everybody. You could see the raw emotion and relief and satisfaction in his face and here it in his voice. People saying it was his kevin keegan moment are a bit wide of the mark imo he was just delighted and proud of his team today as he should be.

It was a dour game at times but we did get a few good chances and defended well. Maguire in particular. Also 2nd assist for shaw in a week should not go unmentioned.
I've no problem highlighting positives when i see them.
Id like to see a lot less tinkering to the system if players can't play in it don't consider them.

Best we can hope for now is that all the players come back fit and available for the West Brom game. A lot of travelling and mixing in these coupe of weeks let's hope they all come back safe and well.
10 points is better than 8 and defeat today would have been lingering for 2 weeks. So a big 3 points won today by the better team.

1.) 08 Nov 2020
08 Nov 2020 08:35:43
I think the performance, and perhaps even more tellingly, Ole's rant after the game, highlights the fact that one of our major problems is motivation, rather than ability.

OLE showed more passion and emotion is his post match interview than ANY other interview I have seen from him.

He and the players clearly feel hard done by regarding fixtures, and had a point to prove.

Maybe if they approached more games like that we would not be in the situation we are now. I think many of us have questioned the apparent lack of motivation over the last few seasons - and not just under Ole.
And I think that is a major reason why we seem to do better in the 'bigger' games.
I'm not a big fan of managers like Conte going beserk on the touchline, but OLE is far too casual and relaxed. If he showed some if the emotion during games that he showed in that post match interview yesterday, I am sure it would have some influence on the players.

It is well know how SAF would create the 'seige mentality' within the dressing room - us against the world sort of thing. The current squad, and the coaching staff as a whole, have a far to casual and accepting demeanour during games for my liking. Maybe it is different in the dressing room, I don't know, but publicly and during matched it all seems too laid back, and portrays the image that sub standard and mediocre is acceptable.

Yesterday, Ole and the players we pee'd of about something beyond their control, and came out fighting to make a point.

Maybe, just maybe it would be a good idea to approach ALL games like that?

2.) 08 Nov 2020
08 Nov 2020 10:36:25
Good thread guys and I agree Betty I think motivation is a huge problem and goes along way in explaining our inconsistency.