[Albion] Attacking width

[Ozymandias86]

Hamstring?

Not a Speck of truth to this... Baloney

 

[Swansman]

This isn’t meant as a slight against Potter, but I believe he still has no idea what his best XI is.

There is none. Football doesnt work like that anymore if you dont have eleven players who are head and shoulders above the others in quality, which is not the case. The best eleven against Liverpool is not the best eleven against Norwich and vice versa.

I do expect a bit more stability in the starting eleven once GP has had another window to shape his team but predicting a starting eleven and the formation will always be a bit of a guesswork with GP. Even in Swansea where he had possibly the thinnest Championship squad ever he found ways to surprise.

A starting eleven could look entirely "normal" but as the game began McBurnie would "randomly" play to the left or right, harrassing a tiny wing back with his physique while a winger like Daniel James or Wayne Routledge would **** around with their slow, sluggish central defenders. Or like against Manchester City in the FA Cup when defensive midfielder/playmaker Matt Grimes played central defender for the first time just to be able to dictate play from the back.

GP is never going to be predictable, selecting the same team and same formation week in week out. You'll see a lot of weird shit in the nextcoming years whether you like it or not. Most times its going to work out great and sometimes - like yesterdays attempt with two right backs - it might fail.

 

[doogie004]

I'm not convinced he feels he needs to know what a best Xi is.

Even assuming everyone is fit, fresh and not being "rested" for an upcoming fixture, I think Potter will make selections based on countering particular opposition threats and/or targeting opposition weaknesses.

Didn’t look like that last might


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[Swansman]

Didn’t look like that last might


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He noticed that the United attackers completely ****ed especially the wing backs in the previous meeting back in November and started with two right backs + Bissouma glued to the left wing for the first 25 minutes, almost making it a double left back setup as well. In attack the team played it long to try quick counter attacks with Connolly & Lamptey against their not particularly quick central defenders.

It didnt succeed but Bozza's point - "I think Potter will make selections based on countering particular opposition threats and/or targeting opposition weaknesses" - is pretty obviously what happened yesterday, despite the failure (or rather quite expected lack of success).

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I'm not convinced he feels he needs to know what a best Xi is.

Even assuming everyone is fit, fresh and not being "rested" for an upcoming fixture, I think Potter will make selections based on countering particular opposition threats and/or targeting opposition weaknesses.

Surely it would be beneficial to have a base formation, a go to side with a well rehearsed set of players that could be used in games where we’re going to see little of the ball and spend the majority of the game on the back foot. Last night we had young players playing in unorthodox positions against a team of bang in form internationals, just seemed a tad naive to me.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

There is none. Football doesnt work like that anymore if you dont have eleven players who are head and shoulders above the others in quality, which is not the case. The best eleven against Liverpool is not the best eleven against Norwich and vice versa.

I do expect a bit more stability in the starting eleven once GP has had another window to shape his team but predicting a starting eleven and the formation will always be a bit of a guesswork with GP. Even in Swansea where he had possibly the thinnest Championship squad ever he found ways to surprise.

A starting eleven could look entirely "normal" but as the game began McBurnie would "randomly" play to the left or right, harrassing a tiny wing back with his physique while a winger like Daniel James or Wayne Routledge would **** around with their slow, sluggish central defenders. Or like against Manchester City in the FA Cup when defensive midfielder/playmaker Matt Grimes played central defender for the first time just to be able to dictate play from the back.

GP is never going to be predictable, selecting the same team and same formation week in week out. You'll see a lot of weird shit in the nextcoming years whether you like it or not. Most times its going to work out great and sometimes - like yesterdays attempt with two right backs - it might fail.

It does still work like that for various teams. Wolves, Palace, and Burnley for example, they all trot out the same formation week in week out, and they all seem to stick as close to the same XI as possible.

 

[AlbionBro]

That lad Ali J is 2nd division at best, not sure what we saw in that one.

 

[Machiavelli]

There is none. Football doesnt work like that anymore if you dont have eleven players who are head and shoulders above the others in quality, which is not the case. The best eleven against Liverpool is not the best eleven against Norwich and vice versa.

I do expect a bit more stability in the starting eleven once GP has had another window to shape his team but predicting a starting eleven and the formation will always be a bit of a guesswork with GP. Even in Swansea where he had possibly the thinnest Championship squad ever he found ways to surprise.

A starting eleven could look entirely "normal" but as the game began McBurnie would "randomly" play to the left or right, harrassing a tiny wing back with his physique while a winger like Daniel James or Wayne Routledge would **** around with their slow, sluggish central defenders. Or like against Manchester City in the FA Cup when defensive midfielder/playmaker Matt Grimes played central defender for the first time just to be able to dictate play from the back.

GP is never going to be predictable, selecting the same team and same formation week in week out. You'll see a lot of weird shit in the nextcoming years whether you like it or not. Most times its going to work out great and sometimes - like yesterdays attempt with two right backs - it might fail.

Another good post, although I'd be more precise with the opening sentence. Liverpool have one and, as DFP has pointed out, so do Wolves (just about), Burnley and Palace.
We don't have one currently, and that's in large part because we don't have m/any stand-out players. I'm hoping that will change in the transfer window, when we go for quality not quantity, and I think you alluded to that. Currently, we only really have a handful (at best) of automatic picks: Ryan, Dunk, Bissouma, Propper (normally he's a shoe-in for me and Potter, but he really was dreadful last night) and probably Maupay. You add two or three quality additions (one of which might be White, another Lamptey) and then you begin to get a more settled line up.

 

[The Fits]

Surely it would be beneficial to have a base formation, a go to side with a well rehearsed set of players that could be used in games where we’re going to see little of the ball and spend the majority of the game on the back foot. Last night we had young players playing in unorthodox positions against a team of bang in form internationals, just seemed a tad naive to me.

Naive and there is possibly a little bit of arrogance there too. Any manager should know his best 11 and strongest formation. Yes, you make tactical switches from that base to suit opposition, but you don't just blindly assume you can put any player in any formation and it will work. Players need repetition and clear, consistent orders. It's not rocket science.
Some smart Alec will no doubt say 'you know more than about football management that Potter then?', and the answer is obviously not. But i do know that there are many, many managers in the British game and beyond who are more experienced and more successful than Potter and almost all of them subscribe to the idea of consistency in their match day decision making.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Amazing given the glut of wide players that have come our way over recent years and, indeed, those we still own, that our starting line-up against Manchester United involved playing a right-back (Lamptey) wide on the right and a central-midfielder (Bissouma) wide on the left.

Izquierdo: parma-injured.
Knockaert: at Fulham
Trossard: sub
March: sub
Ali J: last seen alive several months ago

Resting up in Hampshire?

Edit : I see this slice of comedy has now passed its sell by date..

 

[Perkino]

True that Burn hasn't let us down, but his forward runs produce zero or little - also when was the last time he (or any of our tall defenders) scored a header from a corner or free kick? I'm surprised Potter hasn't given Bernardo more game time at left back, see what the lad can do, before he decides he's not welcome here: and If he wants to keep using Burn, then rotate him with Webster.

Burn won't get a sniff at CB as him and Dunk both prefer to play on the left side. I was very shocked to see Bernardo come on and play CB with Burn remaining at LB

 

[herecomesaregular]

I admit it Potter annoys me...
Arsenal was hugely enjoyable but they outplayed us and it was a very lucky 3 points.
Leicester are obviously well out of form and yet to score a goal.
United made us look like a boys club team first half.
I agree with previous remarks regarding how frequently his tactical changes come about..... because his original formation has been disastrous. After these changes we then tend to play better but we are lucky if we're still in the game by then. I bet he absolutely loves the new subs rule and the drinks break, oh the chance to tinker and tinker again.
Hopefully, he's learning fast (and it has been an enjoyable ride with him so far) but I don't think he's the tactical genius he thinks he is.
Man U stuck with the team and formation that outplayed Sheff U.

 

[Swansman]

Another good post, although I'd be more precise with the opening sentence. Liverpool have one and, as DFP has pointed out, so do Wolves (just about), Burnley and Palace.
We don't have one currently, and that's in large part because we don't have m/any stand-out players. I'm hoping that will change in the transfer window, when we go for quality not quantity, and I think you alluded to that. Currently, we only really have a handful (at best) of automatic picks: Ryan, Dunk, Bissouma, Propper (normally he's a shoe-in for me and Potter, but he really was dreadful last night) and probably Maupay. You add two or three quality additions (one of which might be White, another Lamptey) and then you begin to get a more settled line up.

True, and I think this will be the case eventually - a bit more stability in selections. The teams mentioned are quite different to the BHAFC squad. Wolves got a fantastic starting eleven (they do rotate a bit though), Burnley got the worst bench in the PL and Hodgson... if he is anything like the coach he was when in Sweden, every move on the pitch is meticulously planned in absurdum playing the exact same (cynical) way no matter the opponent, which is good for stability short-term but not if you got high ambitions, and when he leaves they are fairly likely to become a complete ship wreck.

But sure, I think a bit more stability will come. If Potter had i.e. a Bissouma playing at his current level already in August he would have started week in week out, instead he had four more or less evenly good central midfielders with different qualities and then it is wiser to be more adaptive. Its never going to be Hodgson levels of consistency (which is probably good) but probably a bit less extreme than this year.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

There is none. Football doesnt work like that anymore if you dont have eleven players who are head and shoulders above the others in quality, which is not the case. The best eleven against Liverpool is not the best eleven against Norwich and vice versa.

I do expect a bit more stability in the starting eleven once GP has had another window to shape his team but predicting a starting eleven and the formation will always be a bit of a guesswork with GP. Even in Swansea where he had possibly the thinnest Championship squad ever he found ways to surprise.

A starting eleven could look entirely "normal" but as the game began McBurnie would "randomly" play to the left or right, harrassing a tiny wing back with his physique while a winger like Daniel James or Wayne Routledge would **** around with their slow, sluggish central defenders. Or like against Manchester City in the FA Cup when defensive midfielder/playmaker Matt Grimes played central defender for the first time just to be able to dictate play from the back.

GP is never going to be predictable, selecting the same team and same formation week in week out. You'll see a lot of weird shit in the nextcoming years whether you like it or not. Most times its going to work out great and sometimes - like yesterdays attempt with two right backs - it might fail.

This.

There are some rather Old Skool posters on NSC (well, 'we' are generally old people so no surprise there).

The difference between the Albion and Manure yesterday was the 8 changes (yes, eight) that ManUre made after the previous game included several players who would command 30-60 million transfer fees, and have or will earn countess international caps. ManU do not play the same team every week like Burnley or Wolves. Also, ManU are probably now the number 3 side in England (yes, better than Leicester, Wolves and Chelsea, maybe on a par with Chelsea who we have beaten in the league, er, never).

We have good players, certainly. But not that good, and yesterday we were a bit too tentative in the first half. That said who knows we could have gone for it and been 0-4 down at half time. It is what it is.

To bite the carpet and demand the sacking of our manager because we were a bit shit in the first half against ManU kind of resonates with the comments in the media that we seem to play better in an empty stadium perhaps because the ignorate contingent among the fans are not there to get on the backs of the players early doors. Ignorant and entitled - some of our fans. Who knew?

And people still slagging off Ali J need to give it a rest. Potter will play him when he sees fit. I'm happy with that.

 

[herecomesaregular]

This.

There are some rather Old Skool posters on NSC (well, 'we' are generally old people so no surprise there).

The difference between the Albion and Manure yesterday was the 8 changes (yes, eight) that ManUre made after the previous game included several players who would command 30-60 million transfer fees, and have or will earn countess international caps. ManU do not play the same team every week like Burnley or Wolves. Also, ManU are probably now the number 3 side in England (yes, better than Leicester, Wolves and Chelsea, maybe on a par with Chelsea who we have beaten in the league, er, never).

We have good players, certainly. But not that good, and yesterday we were a bit too tentative in the first half. That said who knows we could have gone for it and been 0-4 down at half time. It is what it is.

To bite the carpet and demand the sacking of our manager because we were a bit shit in the first half against ManU kind of resonates with the comments in the media that we seem to play better in an empty stadium perhaps because the ignorate contingent among the fans are not there to get on the backs of the players early doors. Ignorant and entitled - some of our fans. Who knew?

And people still slagging off Ali J need to give it a rest. Potter will play him when he sees fit. I'm happy with that.

Man U played the same team and formation as their previous league game? The cup game was a run out of 2nd fiddlers.

 

[Giraffe]

The problem with these sort of players is they are all totally unreliable. Any that aren't are snapped up by the big boys. We have a lot of wingers that look great for 30 mins, especially coming on as a sub, but reliability is a massive problem.

In terms of reliability I'd put them in this order but they are all much of a muchness

March
Knockaert
Izquierdo
Trossard
Ali J

The only thing I'd say is Knockaert, for all his faults, was more capable of winning a game single handed than the others, albeit that didn't happen very often. We don't have any match winners, the whole team has to turn up.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

This.

There are some rather Old Skool posters on NSC (well, 'we' are generally old people so no surprise there).

The difference between the Albion and Manure yesterday was the 8 changes (yes, eight) that ManUre made after the previous game included several players who would command 30-60 million transfer fees, and have or will earn countess international caps. ManU do not play the same team every week like Burnley or Wolves. Also, ManU are probably now the number 3 side in England (yes, better than Leicester, Wolves and Chelsea, maybe on a par with Chelsea who we have beaten in the league, er, never).

We have good players, certainly. But not that good, and yesterday we were a bit too tentative in the first half. That said who knows we could have gone for it and been 0-4 down at half time. It is what it is.

To bite the carpet and demand the sacking of our manager because we were a bit shit in the first half against ManU kind of resonates with the comments in the media that we seem to play better in an empty stadium perhaps because the ignorate contingent among the fans are not there to get on the backs of the players early doors. Ignorant and entitled - some of our fans. Who knew?

And people still slagging off Ali J need to give it a rest. Potter will play him when he sees fit. I'm happy with that.

This reads a bit like some of the snide articles you can find in some of the broadsheets, definitely an air of “I see football better than you”.

 

[doogie004]

He noticed that the United attackers completely ****ed especially the wing backs in the previous meeting back in November and started with two right backs + Bissouma glued to the left wing for the first 25 minutes, almost making it a double left back setup as well. In attack the team played it long to try quick counter attacks with Connolly & Lamptey against their not particularly quick central defenders.

It didnt succeed but Bozza's point - "I think Potter will make selections based on countering particular opposition threats and/or targeting opposition weaknesses" - is pretty obviously what happened yesterday, despite the failure (or rather quite expected lack of success).

Still disagree
Just think he try’s to be too clever . As long as he learns then that’s fine .But to me the team looked defeated right from the start . He was bought in to be a bit more attack minded it was almost back to the end days of hughton where all we are going to do is defend . Utd are the best team yet to visit the Amex but way to much respect given .If we are to progress then we have got to start having a go at home . Second half showed what we could do with the right players playing in right positions


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[The Fits]

Still disagree
Just think he try’s to be too clever . As long as he learns then that’s fine .But to me the team looked defeated right from the start . He was bought in to be a bit more attack minded it was almost back to the end days of hughton where all we are going to do is defend . Utd are the best team yet to visit the Amex but way to much respect given .If we are to progress then we have got to start having a go at home . Second half showed what we could do with the right players playing in right positions


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Also, it's really easy to just accuse anybody questioning this as being negative or knowing nothing about football. Fine. I am not a better manager than Potter.
But, there are lots and lots of more experienced and more successful managers around and almost all of them know their best team and formation. Even Ranieri, one of the few (relatively) successful unpredictable managers had his greatest success at Leicester and I can reel off that team and formation off the top of my head.

 

[Grassman]

Resting up in Hampshire?

Edit : I see this slice of comedy has now passed its sell by date..

Not sure what the problem with him is, but he certainly used to LEAN BACK when he had a shot....