[Albion] De Zerbi got it badly wrong today

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

De Zerbi seems to have a big weakness in terms of squad rotation and managing player loads. He is obviously still a relatively young manager, especially in the EPL, so hopefully he will improve in this area.
Is it thought of over there that he should have rotated the squad more over the season or managed minutes better during games

Is that the manager weakness or the squad weakness? We have a big injury list, no right back, and a forward (Welbeck) who needs his minutes managed. Yes Forest went wrong but who was moaning about rotation when we pumped Wolves 6-0 with a b team, or on Thursday night

Enciso and Gilmour have looked so good - neither has played too many games. Not sure the logic can apply to them.

Doesn't mean they have the fitness for 3 high pressure top division games in quick succession

 

[Marshy]

Totally agree that De Zerbi ball was never going to work against a Dyche team, especially one in the relegation zone. Needed something different today but the changes at HT were too little too late.

too little too late ? what you wanted 4 subs after 15 mins ?

Im just kidding, seriouisly he will have learnt a lot today.

There was zero press from Everton dragging our centre halfs too within 30 yards of there goal.
When the pass into an extremely congested central area then failed it was simply a race down the other end of the pitch.

Shit happens, we were due a poor one.

I thought 2nd half we were more than decent, although the game was done.
If we could have got one within 15 mins of the restart it would have got interesting.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Only in hindsight did he pick wrong team. Nobody was on field that had not done ok before.
Plain simple a defence that has been good all season was terrible and gifted goals in first half

Everyone I spoke to pre-match was surprised Gilmour wasn’t starting with MacA as the 10. Those opinions weren’t hindsight against a Dyche team we knew would rough us up and try to dominate the midfield.

 

[Milano]

too little too late ? what you wanted 4 subs after 15 mins ?

Im just kidding, seriouisly he will have learnt a lot today.

There was zero press from Everton dragging our centre halfs too within 30 yards of there goal.
When the pass into an extremely congested central area then failed it was simply a race down the other end of the pitch.

Shit happens, we were due a poor one.

I thought 2nd half we were more than decent, although the game was done.
If we could have got one within 15 mins of the restart it would have got interesting.

Yep this is how I saw it too. We had Everton hanging on for the first 20 mins of the 2nd half, March & Ferguson in particular changed the dynamic completely. Had we scored in that period then it could have been very different.
Where I disagree is I would have made at least 1 sub, perhaps 2, in that first half because we were that bad. I’m assuming the reason he didn’t is because he knew that SM and EF only had 45 mins in them yesterday, he’s a smart guy and could see like everyone else in that stadium that Undav and Goodnight were being destroyed.

 

[BNthree]

too little too late ? what you wanted 4 subs after 15 mins ?

Im just kidding, seriouisly he will have learnt a lot today.

There was zero press from Everton dragging our centre halfs too within 30 yards of there goal.
When the pass into an extremely congested central area then failed it was simply a race down the other end of the pitch.

Shit happens, we were due a poor one.

I thought 2nd half we were more than decent, although the game was done.
If we could have got one within 15 mins of the restart it would have got interesting.

Too little too late as the damage was already done. Should have changed formation and tactics after their second went in.

 

[keaton]

Playing Welbeck in the Attacking midfield role does t work either as passing is probably his weakest attribute.

I seem to remember a home game where he played in attacking midfield recently and it seemed to fairly well

 

[Soul Finger]

Some valid points in the original post.

I'm just so glad other posters have the benefit of hindsight.

I think we would have done better if we hadn't conceded five goals to be honest.

 

[macbeth]

was obvious we needed that extra man in midfield. everton cleared pretty much every cross we threw at them, so we should’ve been looking for more cutbacks. quite unlucky hitting the bar twice as well. if we’d scored then it could’ve been a different game, no danger of them losing anything by the time we actually scored.

what this did highlight to me is a lack of physicality in the midfield. they were first to everything, quicker to every 50/50 and just looked stronger than us all round. agree that probably wouldn’t have happed had lallana or milner been playing, but i also don’t think it would’ve happened had we had someone capable of physically managing gueye and doucoure

 

[trueblue]

Why not at the business end just play your best 11?

Because some of them are knackered? The club has all the data to know this and the fact Solly March - benched for 2 games in a row - sustained a muscle injury just proves the point. I'm sure RDZ would love to put out the same team every week and use the youngsters (Ferguson aside) sparingly from the bench.

The biggest thing that struck me about the game was that we sent in a lot more far post crosses from deep than usual, particularly from the left. It looked a deliberate ploy as Mitoma was doing it right from the start. Can only assume we felt they had a weakness there (as Solly showed Mykolenko's not much cop) but it played into the hands of Mina and Tarkowski. Seemed a variation from our usual style.

 

[Hornblower]

Neither do I. So you're wasting your breath.

That was a division 3 post at best.

You'll be asking for the board to be sacked, next.

I really don’t know what you’re on about with this post, I didn’t ask for anyone to be sacked.

 

[Weststander]

Because some of them are knackered? The club has all the data to know this and the fact Solly March - benched for 2 games in a row - sustained a muscle injury just proves the point. I'm sure RDZ would love to put out the same team every week and use the youngsters (Ferguson aside) sparingly from the bench.

The biggest thing that struck me about the game was that we sent in a lot more far post crosses from deep than usual, particularly from the left. It looked a deliberate ploy as Mitoma was doing it right from the start. Can only assume we felt they had a weakness there (as Solly showed Mykolenko's not much cop) but it played into the hands of Mina and Tarkowski. Seemed a variation from our usual style.

Enciso
Colwill
Ferguson
Gilmour

Didn’t look tired at all. How much football have they played?

 

[Littlemo]

s that the manager weakness or the squad weakness? We have a big injury list, no right back, and a forward (Welbeck) who needs his minutes managed. Yes Forest went wrong but who was moaning about rotation when we pumped Wolves 6-0 with a b team, or on Thursday night

I think to be fair it’s a bit of both. We don’t have much depth in the squad and it’s clear that some of the bench options aren’t really ready so it’s definitely the case that squad weakness is a massive part.

That said the group of players he has in the first team squad, are what he has to work with and so not accepting that and trying to give them more time/experience over the season has been a mistake.

I think not using Enciso, Gilmour, maybe Van Hecke, who have all had pretty decent games earlier in the season, has been a bit odd. They might not be up there with the best players yet but they are all capable enough at filling in and doing a job for the team, so seeing a bit more time for them would have been sensible.

 

[trueblue]

Enciso
Colwill
Ferguson
Gilmour

Didn’t look tired at all. How much football have they played?

Enciso left out because we reverted to the front pairing that worked so well together against Wolves and helped us beat them 6-0.
Colwill left out because Webster has been playing well.
Ferguson left out because we're not rushing him back from injury so we don't lose him for the rest of the season like March.
Gilmour left out so we could play Mac Allister and Caicedo together - our strongest midfield pairing, which is what you said you wanted.

 

[Adam_Chaouachi22]

We were lethargic from the very first kick of the ball. You could see their first goal coming from 10 seconds in, only took them another 30. No excuse for fans leaving so early though. If you can enjoy the wins you have to take the losses. That's football. At least for true supporters anyway. We'll bounce back.

After full time I came down the steps to show support for our lads! If I'm paying 35 to 50 quid for a ticket, I'm staying until full time.

 

[ROSM]

Is it possible that March has been carrying an injury hence why his minutes have been managed since the semi final? Even before what looks like a hamstring injury he was running poorly following a challenge

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I really don’t know what you’re on about with this post, I didn’t ask for anyone to be sacked.

Apologies. I over reacted.

I agree the outcome was not the one we wanted and, one could rightly argue that, because it was a debacle, the buck must stop somewhere, and that the manager's choices would be a good working hypothesis on where the buck should stop.

However whatabout the players? Or the cleverness of the oppostition on the day?

I can't presume to think I know better than the manager, even with the hindsight of the retro spectroscope.

And I will not allow my disappointment to spawn a blame narrative.

Obviously if this carries on now, week after week, our style having been Found Out and RDZ unable to mend things, it will be a different story.

Till then I'll view it as a one-off.

But I was needlessly pissy, so please accept my apology.

 

[Weststander]

Enciso left out because we reverted to the front pairing that worked so well together against Wolves and helped us beat them 6-0.
Colwill left out because Webster has been playing well.
Ferguson left out because we're not rushing him back from injury so we don't lose him for the rest of the season like March.
Gilmour left out so we could play Mac Allister and Caicedo together - our strongest midfield pairing, which is what you said you wanted.

Enciso left out because we reverted to the front pairing that worked so well together against Wolves and helped us beat them 6-0.
Colwill left out because Webster has been playing well.
Ferguson left out because we're not rushing him back from injury so we don't lose him for the rest of the season like March.
Gilmour left out so we could play Mac Allister and Caicedo together - our strongest midfield pairing, which is what you said you wanted.

So it wasn’t fatigue at all, your initial reply to me.

And I’ve always favoured a centre midfield trio. That’s not an Albion thing, it extends to all football. It’s where games are often won or lost. Irrespective that two worked so well in the 6-0. We saw this last night, 5 big units overwhelmed our numbers. From the very first seconds.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Enciso left out because we reverted to the front pairing that worked so well together against Wolves and helped us beat them 6-0.
Colwill left out because Webster has been playing well.
Ferguson left out because we're not rushing him back from injury so we don't lose him for the rest of the season like March.
Gilmour left out so we could play Mac Allister and Caicedo together - our strongest midfield pairing, which is what you said you wanted.

Why couldn't Gilmour play with Mac A and Caicedo? Gross has been enabling Mac A to play at the apex of a midfield 3 through the season, my feeling is Gilmour's inclusion would have been at the expense of Undav, not Mac or Moises.

 

[kuzushi]

De Zerbi ball was never going to work against a Dyche team, especially one in the relegation zone. Needed something different today but the changes at HT were too little too late.

Perhaps it was a useful lesson. It'll be interesting to see whether we will see a different approach next time we come up against a team like yesterday's opponents.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Reckon RDZ just got a bit over-cocky with his starting line-up yesterday. Maybe just assumed that any starting line-up he chucked out there would be enough to see off Everton. Unlike his predecessor, reckon he's smart enough to have genuinely learnt from that and will maybe play his strongest team from the off next time