I don't intend this thread to be about tearing apart the team etc. on one performance.
I keep hearing the same things from negatives about how awful it is and how it's the same as under mickey, to the cliches about it being the opening game, we need time to gel, etc.
I'm thinking we've had over 24 hours to get over that kneejerk reaction to the result.
So, let's look at yesterday's game more even handedly. Let's look at what went wrong and see what we have to legitimately worry about (if anything). I'm going to list some of the negatives from yesterday and see if I think it's something that we need to worry about, or if it's 'too early into season' to worry.
Formation - Some complaints about this. Ignoring this obsession british fans have with 4-4-2, I don't think it is indicative of Slade having no idea about tactics as some negatives say. Murray and Forster had late fitness tests, suggesting they weren't exactly in top form and 4-5-1 worked last week, it's entirely reasonable decision. Slade realised it wasn't working and changed it at half time.
I think this formation yesterday was a requirement more than a choice. So I don't think we need to worry about Slade's tactics just yet.
Substitutions -
Forster - Bringing him on led to us really stepping up in the second half. He made the change at the start of the half instead of recognising the need and ignoring it out of some tradition of subbing on 65th minute.
Cox - The domination we showed early in the second half was starting to wane. A change had to be made. Was McCleod the best option to replace Cox? I don't know, I think that's hard to answer without having seen McCleod's performances in training.
Dickinson - Had started to make some good runs, we needed the win and already had one not entirely fit striker, did we need to bring on another? I don't know, I hear dickinson had a slight knock, in which case maybe taking him off was more about avoiding having all our strikers carrying injuries.
As there is some sort of logic to each sub, I don't think we can accuse Slade of being just like MA with the subs.
Corners
For me, this has been an issue for several years. I can't remember the last time I got excited when we got a corner, because I tend to assume our corners are going to go the way they have for the past three years: fail to get past the first man.
This is something we need to worry about, imo. It needs attention. I can't accept this is down simply to it being the first game, not when it's been an issue this long. On the plus side, Slade did mention this as a problem in the post match interview, so at least he's aware of it. I hope he can do something to deal with it.
Playing the ball across defence
This one really frustrated me yesterday, and by the end of the game it was frustrating people around me. Too often we spent long periods of the game passing the ball from left to right across the defence.
Is this a worry? I don't know. Perhaps it was a side effect of walsall putting 11 men behind the ball, but surely we should have more imagination, more movement in midfield (perhaps midfield was too packed because of the formation, but this was an issue in the second half too, when we played 4-4-2).
It's an issue to watch. Again, Slade seemed aware of it in the post match, so maybe he'll work on it and we can chalk it up to early season.
Lack of creativity
Tied in with the last point, when we had the ball we didn't know what to do with it, there were very few runs, little movement.
At the moment I think this one is due to the team still getting to know each other, don't want to make the pass because they don't know if the team mate is gonna run, don't want to run because they don't know if the pass is gonna come etc.
Didn't turn up 'til half time
Often last year we seemed to only get going after the game was half over. Yesterday we were mostly outplayed in the first half. I thought we started brightly, but then we got nervous when Walsall started to get a hold of the game, in the second half we really kicked on.
I think this was mostly early season jitters, the team still gelling. When you're not all on the same wavelength it's hard to really get a grip on the game.
Those are just the ones I can think of at the moment. Any you disagree with? Are there complaints you have or have heard that you want to argue were things we need to be concerned about or ones we need to not worry about just yet, early days and all?
I keep hearing the same things from negatives about how awful it is and how it's the same as under mickey, to the cliches about it being the opening game, we need time to gel, etc.
I'm thinking we've had over 24 hours to get over that kneejerk reaction to the result.
So, let's look at yesterday's game more even handedly. Let's look at what went wrong and see what we have to legitimately worry about (if anything). I'm going to list some of the negatives from yesterday and see if I think it's something that we need to worry about, or if it's 'too early into season' to worry.
Formation - Some complaints about this. Ignoring this obsession british fans have with 4-4-2, I don't think it is indicative of Slade having no idea about tactics as some negatives say. Murray and Forster had late fitness tests, suggesting they weren't exactly in top form and 4-5-1 worked last week, it's entirely reasonable decision. Slade realised it wasn't working and changed it at half time.
I think this formation yesterday was a requirement more than a choice. So I don't think we need to worry about Slade's tactics just yet.
Substitutions -
Forster - Bringing him on led to us really stepping up in the second half. He made the change at the start of the half instead of recognising the need and ignoring it out of some tradition of subbing on 65th minute.
Cox - The domination we showed early in the second half was starting to wane. A change had to be made. Was McCleod the best option to replace Cox? I don't know, I think that's hard to answer without having seen McCleod's performances in training.
Dickinson - Had started to make some good runs, we needed the win and already had one not entirely fit striker, did we need to bring on another? I don't know, I hear dickinson had a slight knock, in which case maybe taking him off was more about avoiding having all our strikers carrying injuries.
As there is some sort of logic to each sub, I don't think we can accuse Slade of being just like MA with the subs.
Corners
For me, this has been an issue for several years. I can't remember the last time I got excited when we got a corner, because I tend to assume our corners are going to go the way they have for the past three years: fail to get past the first man.
This is something we need to worry about, imo. It needs attention. I can't accept this is down simply to it being the first game, not when it's been an issue this long. On the plus side, Slade did mention this as a problem in the post match interview, so at least he's aware of it. I hope he can do something to deal with it.
Playing the ball across defence
This one really frustrated me yesterday, and by the end of the game it was frustrating people around me. Too often we spent long periods of the game passing the ball from left to right across the defence.
Is this a worry? I don't know. Perhaps it was a side effect of walsall putting 11 men behind the ball, but surely we should have more imagination, more movement in midfield (perhaps midfield was too packed because of the formation, but this was an issue in the second half too, when we played 4-4-2).
It's an issue to watch. Again, Slade seemed aware of it in the post match, so maybe he'll work on it and we can chalk it up to early season.
Lack of creativity
Tied in with the last point, when we had the ball we didn't know what to do with it, there were very few runs, little movement.
At the moment I think this one is due to the team still getting to know each other, don't want to make the pass because they don't know if the team mate is gonna run, don't want to run because they don't know if the pass is gonna come etc.
Didn't turn up 'til half time
Often last year we seemed to only get going after the game was half over. Yesterday we were mostly outplayed in the first half. I thought we started brightly, but then we got nervous when Walsall started to get a hold of the game, in the second half we really kicked on.
I think this was mostly early season jitters, the team still gelling. When you're not all on the same wavelength it's hard to really get a grip on the game.
Those are just the ones I can think of at the moment. Any you disagree with? Are there complaints you have or have heard that you want to argue were things we need to be concerned about or ones we need to not worry about just yet, early days and all?
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