Saturday's team selection, next season & Poyet's attitude!

[byf1]

I surely wasn't the only one who walked into Upton Park on Saturday, saw the line up and thought, What is Poyet playing at, whats his thought behind this team and what are we really trying to achieve here today?!

No wingers at all, which means that you need strength in the centre of the park which Poyet thought could be handled by a half fit Gary Dicker who he has rushed back into the frame & is still finding his feet, Liam Bridcutt who isnt the strongest next to his weaker and less skilled counterpart Alan Navarro, Ashley Barnes up front on his own... who on his day looks like a good league 1 player, what really was going to happen?

After a fantastic team performance and effort at home to Reading where we were very impressive, Poyet decides again to tinkle, completely change a very succesful performance and draft in different players in different roles to handle, on the whole it's more dissapointing and walking out of the ground at 4.25 with hundreds of albion behind me was a sight to see!

I do however after all of that believe in Gus, believe he will make things right. I think were doing things the right way, were trying to play football, keep it on the deck, looks good when it works but Poyet is very very young in the managament world, he will continue to make mistakes...all the best managers have but I still trust in him and hopefully he will learn from what mistakes he has made this season and I believe he will. I also believe CMS will be sold in the summer for the good of us and the player, I love CMS but lets be honest it isnt working out, I personally blaim Poyet but thats a different argument.

If we can quicken our tempo and add some strength into the team, we will win a lot of football matches next season. The quality of our current 11 isnt good enough to play a higher tempo and thats what we need, it's just too methodical at times...but the style works, it's not broken so it doesnt need fixing, it just needs tampering with and some new parts for a smoother finish.

Were going to find it tougher next season against some teams in the division who just need to watch DVD'S of teams who do a job on us, we desperately need to cope with teams who think closing us down and roughing us up wins games against us and thats just happened far to many times for me, we arnt able to ride teams pressure and thats needs to be addressed with new bodies and a different approach when under the so called kosh!

Lets get some men in the team in the summer, too many lightweight boys in the team who do not have the strength, if teams pressure us and stop us from playing and hassle us we have NO answer, none at all as we have no one else who can give it back in the right way as in leave a shoulder in, thats why we have such an awful disciplinery record as the players who play get frustrated and lash out, we need some players in the summer who arnt little boys.

Lastly a message to Mr Poyet, when you make mistakes please dont hide behind the fact of who we are playing, dont make lame excuses about how far we have come etc as we are all aware of that and yes we do sometimes need a short, rreality check but a month ago we were in an incredible position and with strange tactics and team selection I feel you have made the mistakes that have caused this season to fall by the way side, I'm sure you will learn from this but I and thousends of other have paid astronomical prices in fuel, rail and match tickets to watch the lads, give us some respect and drop the pride bullshit and admit youve made mistakes, we will respect you more for it to be honest, well I would but im only one so not all that important.

 

[andybaha]

I haven't trawled through all the other stuff on here re Saturday so if it's been discussed before then I apologise.

What I found strange was that having spent the best part of £4m on players we started the game with 8 of last seasons League 1 regulars and a goalkeeper that wasn't good enough to make the team last year. Does that mean that Gus doesn't rate the players he has bought?

 

[shaolinpunk]

I was surprised by the lineup as I thought it would be playing into West Ham's most likely game plan of closing us down. Sure enough, it did.

I'd much rather have seen a midfield 3 of Bridcutt, Vicente and Navarro/Dicker then Buckley and KLL hugging the touchline and Vokes as a physical presence in the middle. Would it have worked? Can't say for sure but I think we'd have been a lot more dangerous

 

[NickBHAFC18]

I surely wasn't the only one who walked into Upton Park on Saturday, saw the line up and thought, What is Poyet playing at, whats his thought behind this team and what are we really trying to achieve here today?!

No wingers at all, which means that you need strength in the centre of the park which Poyet thought could be handled by a half fit Gary Dicker who he has rushed back into the frame & is still finding his feet, Liam Bridcutt who isnt the strongest next to his weaker and less skilled counterpart Alan Navarro, Ashley Barnes up front on his own... who on his day looks like a good league 1 player, what really was going to happen?

After a fantastic team performance and effort at home to Reading where we were very impressive, Poyet decides again to tinkle, completely change a very succesful performance and draft in different players in different roles to handle, on the whole it's more dissapointing and walking out of the ground at 4.25 with hundreds of albion behind me was a sight to see!

I do however after all of that believe in Gus, believe he will make things right. I think were doing things the right way, were trying to play football, keep it on the deck, looks good when it works but Poyet is very very young in the managament world, he will continue to make mistakes...all the best managers have but I still trust in him and hopefully he will learn from what mistakes he has made this season and I believe he will. I also believe CMS will be sold in the summer for the good of us and the player, I love CMS but lets be honest it isnt working out, I personally blaim Poyet but thats a different argument.

If we can quicken our tempo and add some strength into the team, we will win a lot of football matches next season. The quality of our current 11 isnt good enough to play a higher tempo and thats what we need, it's just too methodical at times...but the style works, it's not broken so it doesnt need fixing, it just needs tampering with and some new parts for a smoother finish.

Were going to find it tougher next season against some teams in the division who just need to watch DVD'S of teams who do a job on us, we desperately need to cope with teams who think closing us down and roughing us up wins games against us and thats just happened far to many times for me, we arnt able to ride teams pressure and thats needs to be addressed with new bodies and a different approach when under the so called kosh!

Lets get some men in the team in the summer, too many lightweight boys in the team who do not have the strength, if teams pressure us and stop us from playing and hassle us we have NO answer, none at all as we have no one else who can give it back in the right way as in leave a shoulder in, thats why we have such an awful disciplinery record as the players who play get frustrated and lash out, we need some players in the summer who arnt little boys.

Lastly a message to Mr Poyet, when you make mistakes please dont hide behind the fact of who we are playing, dont make lame excuses about how far we have come etc as we are all aware of that and yes we do sometimes need a short, rreality check but a month ago we were in an incredible position and with strange tactics and team selection I feel you have made the mistakes that have caused this season to fall by the way side, I'm sure you will learn from this but I and thousends of other have paid astronomical prices in fuel, rail and match tickets to watch the lads, give us some respect and drop the pride bullshit and admit youve made mistakes, we will respect you more for it to be honest, well I would but im only one so not all that important.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Simster]

I didn't go but it seems to me that we lost because we gave the ball away FAR too cheaply. You can't do that at this level, whatever your team selection. For me, Poyet's biggest mistake has been bringing back Dicker (too early?). Based on what I saw v Reading, he simply hasn't adjusted to this level of football since returning, and the fact that he gave the ball away for two of the West Ham goals (one pass was partularly woeful) seems to back this up.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

I didn't go but it seems to me that we lost because we gave the ball away FAR too cheaply. You can't do that at this level, whatever your team selection. For me, Poyet's biggest mistake has been bringing back Dicker (too early?). Based on what I saw v Reading, he simply hasn't adjusted to this level of football since returning, and the fact that he gave the ball away for two of the West Ham goals (one pass was partularly woeful) seems to back this up.

As much as I genuinely LOVE Gary Dicker, he just isn't good enough for the higher end of the Championship. His footballing brain is outstanding. But he's never been fit, quick or consistent enough to warrant a place in the starting 11 IMO.

 

[Mellotron]

As much as I genuinely LOVE Gary Dicker, he just isn't good enough for the higher end of the Championship. His footballing brain is outstanding. But he's never been fit, quick or consistent enough to warrant a place in the starting 11 IMO.

Possibly, sadly true.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

As much as I genuinely LOVE Gary Dicker, he just isn't good enough for the higher end of the Championship. His footballing brain is outstanding. But he's never been fit, quick or consistent enough to warrant a place in the starting 11 IMO.

I am also a big fan of Gary Dicker but he wasn't good enough before his injury and he is obviously not good enough since. Same for Painter. They are Div 1 at best.
I didn't get to the game either but when I turned on SKY and saw we were 3 down my initial thought was 'oh god who has Gus picked this time' and wasn't then surprised to see Dicker/Painter/ Navs and Barnes all starting. As we all know Gus just got it massively, massively wrong. Just dont get when not a single one of us would have EVER started with that team, Gus' ideas about who should start are so wildly different. That's why he is doing his job and we are doing ours but are we all just clueless numpties? Cant be.
I really question whether Tony has told him we are NOT to go up this year as it's not in the plan and we are not ready. Makes no sense but neither does that starting eleven.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

When we heard the team news come through in the pub on Saturday, everyone's reaction was WTF?!

I've looked at this season as a learning curve for the whole team plus of course Gus & his coaching staff. Saturdays selection was stretching the point of experimentation to the limit. I suspect every Brighton Fan could see that line up was a recipe for disaster.

I'm loathe to slaughter Gus as he's done a fantastic job in his time here, but the decision to bring back Painter for such a vital game, who has come back from a long term injury, had no reserve games under his belt plus his ability at this level is questionable, was nothing short of crazy. The Midfield combination of Dicker, Navaro & Bridcutt with Barnes as a lone striker was......well, negative beyind belief.

It happened & we move on. If anything positive came from Saturday, it was confirmed we have some players out there who aren't up to Championship standard & Gus 'should' know who needs culling for next season.

 

[Mellotron]

I am also a big fan of Gary Dicker but he wasn't good enough before his injury and he is obviously not good enough since. Same for Painter. They are Div 1 at best.
I didn't get to the game either but when I turned on SKY and saw we were 3 down my initial thought was 'oh god who has Gus picked this time' and wasn't then surprised to see Dicker/Painter/ Navs and Barnes all starting. As we all know Gus just got it massively, massively wrong. Just dont get when not a single one of us would have EVER started with that team, Gus' ideas about who should start are so wildly different. That's why he is doing his job and we are doing ours but are we all just clueless numpties? Cant be.
I really question whether Tony has told him we are NOT to go up this year as it's not in the plan and we are not ready. Makes no sense but neither does that starting eleven.

While I understand where you're coming from you also have to remember that most of us would not have been able to make the intelligent decisions Gus HAS made that have enabled us to get to 8th/wherever we are. So it's swings and roundabouts.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

I too was surprised by the changes made on Saturday, but the real shock was how the selected team completely failed to 'dig-in' after the first goal & folded like the proverbial pack of cards. Respect to West Ham - as they were on fire from the off: but when you have so many players who failed to do even the basics, it's extremely disappointing. Given that a good number of the same starting 11 will probably be starting the game again tomorrow night, I sincerely hope they remember that they're professional footballers & go about their work in a professional manor. Frankly, their future employment at our club could well depend on it.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

While I understand where you're coming from you also have to remember that most of us would not have been able to make the intelligent decisions Gus HAS made that have enabled us to get to 8th/wherever we are. So it's swings and roundabouts.

Don't disagree with you but also strongly agree with the post above yours from Pinkie.
Some of Gus substitutions' this season have been inspired and got us the 3 points. His starting lines up seem to have got more and more defensive as the season has progressed.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I too was surprised by the changes made on Saturday, but the real shock was how the selected team completely failed to 'dig-in' after the first goal & folded like the proverbial pack of cards. Respect to West Ham - as they were on fire from the off: but when you have so many players who failed to do even the basics, it's extremely disappointing. Given that a good number of the same starting 11 will probably be starting the game again tomorrow night, I sincerely hope they remember that they're professional footballers & go about their work in a professional manor. Frankly, their future employment at our club could well depend on it.

This. Greer must shoulder a lot of the blame as captain. He should have taken a lot more responsibility at the back during the first 10 mins.

 

[Simster]

The Painter decision looks dodgy on paper, but if Mattock wasn't fit then his only alternative was to play Jara Reyes or El Abd out of position - what message does that send to Painter who is a left back by trade?

I still maintain that the worst decisions were rush Dicker back, if indeed he is up to this level at all, and not to play with any wingers.

 

[Seagulls1984]

I was surprised by the lineup as I thought it would be playing into West Ham's most likely game plan of closing us down. Sure enough, it did.

I'd much rather have seen a midfield 3 of Bridcutt, Vicente and Navarro/Dicker then Buckley and KLL hugging the touchline and Vokes as a physical presence in the middle. Would it have worked? Can't say for sure but I think we'd have been a lot more dangerous

This is the perfect formation with the players we have,we have so much pace in the squad but never play too wingers.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Don't disagree with you but also strongly agree with the post above yours from Pinkie.
Some of Gus substitutions' this season have been inspired and got us the 3 points. His starting lines up seem to have got more and more defensive as the season has progressed.

Agree. But it's odd, because he has stated a number of times he always tries to win games regardless.

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

The Painter decision looks dodgy on paper, but if Mattock wasn't fit then his only alternative was to play Jara Reyes or El Abd out of position - what message does that send to Painter who is a left back by trade?

I still maintain that the worst decisions were rush Dicker back, if indeed he is up to this level at all, and not to play with any wingers.

Not sure it matters too much what message it sends out to Painter, anyway that's Gus job to manage his players expectations. I'd have had Reyes, El Abd or even Vincelot ahead of a player who was just back from an injury in such an important game.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

When we heard the team news come through in the pub on Saturday, everyone's reaction was WTF?!

Indeed. I presumed he'd selected the team with a pin and a blindfold.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Not sure it matters too much what message it sends out to Painter, anyway that's Gus job to manage his players expectations. I'd have had Reyes, El Abd or even Vincelot ahead of a player who was just back from an injury in such an important game.

Agree.

 

[Pantani]

I too was surprised by the changes made on Saturday, but the real shock was how the selected team completely failed to 'dig-in' after the first goal & folded like the proverbial pack of cards. Respect to West Ham - as they were on fire from the off: but when you have so many players who failed to do even the basics, it's extremely disappointing. Given that a good number of the same starting 11 will probably be starting the game again tomorrow night, I sincerely hope they remember that they're professional footballers & go about their work in a professional manor. Frankly, their future employment at our club could well depend on it.

I couldn't agree more, all this slating of the team selected seems to miss this point. The fact is for the first three goals our players failed to do their jobs properly. Brez missed a routine save, Greer failed to compete for a header and the same for Painter. Can Gus really be blamed for that? Yes, he picked them but no one on here was calling for Brez or Greer to be dropped were they?