[Albion] Limp

[MattBackHome]

I think that the opening post is a hysterical, pissy-knickered over reaction.

It wasn't even the worst away performance in the last week.

My two-bob advice for CH (sInce you asked) is to drop Jose for Solly and bring a rested Gross back into a 433 for Burnley.

 

[Marshy]

Its a shame you think like this. There's a lot of people all over NSC right now whose level of football analysis is extremely poor, to be generous, but I didn't think you were one of them.

Tell me its not a sense of entitlement based on several seasons of winning, that suggests we can turn up at Tottenham, play freely and get a result.

Tell me you haven't lost understanding of how CH wants to set us up away from home and his tactics for playing football and approaching games like this.

Tell me you can't see that we're in a run of poor form at the moment and getting angry at our players isn't the answer

Please? Or NSC really has absolutely collapsed in a pit of its own self-inflicted, selfish misery

I didn't get that from Easy's post at all. Just a little more adventure required at times, you have to give yourself a chance of getting a result.

 

[portlock seagull]

Timid - that was my 1 word summary after last night so Easy’s spot on in my opinion.

 

[Lush]

As others have said the inability to keep the ball is frustrating. As is the number of simple passes that go astray. What I could really do without is the cheeky first time flicks and backheels to no-one when the defence would be really grateful if you just hung on to it for a minute to give them a break.

Also when it was clear that our goal kicks meant instantly giving possession back to them, why did we not start passing it to one of our defenders sooner?

I also wished there had been a solution to our throw-ins, which again seemed to go straight to one of theirs.

 

[Gazwag]

I posted this last night.

Beaten by two flukes and should have equalised with the one chance we had.

We seemed to scared to play far to many loose passes and panicked clearances. Lots of chances to break but poor passes let us down. Bit of composure on the ball and we could have got something tonight.

 

[One Love]

I think that the opening post is a hysterical, pissy-knickered over reaction.

It wasn't even the worst away performance in the last week.

Where I can empathise with the OP, watching on the TV, there were times when Spurs were not at it and we had possession in promising positions. I thought come on, there's Albion players in space let's show what we can do and then we misplaced an easy pass or just plain bottled it and passed sideways/backwards until we had to hoof it up the pitch. Come on we are a Premier League team we have got to be better than that.

We desperately need a win to improve confidence or this season we are going to bow out with a whimper.

 

[Weststander]

MoTD had little to say about us... apart from a lack of ambition.

Going out with a whimper is disappointing but perhaps not as bad in the long term as taking severe thrashings.

The next two home games have to be different or it is Goodnight Vienna.

This.

 

[Biscuit]

Amazing the difference a month makes to the bedwetters on here. Christ on a bike. December was always going to be tough. We're doing OK.

If we had 'had a go' we would have been opened up and slaughtered.

Spurs scored a fluke on 40 minutes. If we had held it to half time I think we might have got a point. Then this place would have been a buzz about how we're 'holding our own'. Grow up FFS.

 

[BN41Albion]

Where I can empathise with the OP, watching on the TV, there were times when Spurs were not at it and we had possession in promising positions. I thought come on, there's Albion players in space let's show what we can do and then we misplaced an easy pass or just plain bottled it and passed sideways/backwards until we had to hoof it up the pitch. Come on we are a Premier League team we have got to be better than that.

We desperately need a win to improve confidence or this season we are going to bow out with a whimper.

Exactly my thinking. Completely understand that we have to sit deep and counter against the top teams. But our countering was so poor last night compared to at old Trafford. Poor passing and bottling opportunities to move the ball forward quicker was what was really frustrating last night

 

[bhawoddy]

Also when it was clear that our goal kicks meant instantly giving possession back to them, why did we not start passing it to one of our defenders sooner?

I also wished there had been a solution to our throw-ins, which again seemed to go straight to one of theirs.

because we would have ended up giving away possession closer to our goal!!! we were abysmal in possession late night.........

 

[el punal]

I didn’t have a problem with the way we set up to play, and I liked the look of our line-up when I saw it before the game, the thing that concerns me the most and got me extremely agitated last night was the inability to keep possession - especially in the first half. Giving the ball back to the opposition as easily as we did last night is asking for trouble and we were fortunate to get away with only losing 2-0. Simple passes we’re going astray, we frequently resorted to just hoofing it just to clear our lines and this was often when the player had time on the ball and it kept inviting constant pressure on ourselves. It really did look like men against boys at times when you looked at the movement and crisp passing from their players. This is basic stuff that we’re not getting right and that for me is the biggest worry.

However, we’re still in a decent position where a couple of good results will change the mood and confidence levels for everyone. A minimum of 4 points is needed from our next 2 home games. UTA !

That sums up last to a T. We did get our act together when Solly came on. A Spurs fan, who I chatted to on the train home, was concerned that, despite leading 1-0, we looked threatening until the second goal went in.

The truth is no Albion fan really expected us to get anything against Spurs, however, the performance did matter. The first half was painful but the second, thank goodness was a vast improvement. As you rightly say it's now what we do against Burnley and Watford that count. Two teams of the same "status" as us and essential that we get at least three points from the two games. I hope the boys are up for it.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I can see why the OP wrote what he did, but others have touched on an inability to turn promising attacking positions into any actual goal threat. I felt pretty good at half-time because we'd frustrated Spurs and were only behind to a freak goal. I was a little surprised to be told by a Spurs fan that we'd been worse than Stoke, but I put that down to them only being 1-0 up.

Unfortunately, the second half was more of the same. I rarely felt Spurs were in any sort of danger when we had the ball. That said, if Hemed's shot had been a yard to one side, we'd all be feeling much better this morning.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Just about turned up and took our medicine didn't we.

I KNOW its world class opposition
I KNOW from 1 to 11 they are on another level to us

But FFS, have a go at least. Unlike Saturday, I was actually encouraged when I saw the lineup. But we were just so, so MEEK tonight. Cowed by the stadium, the opposition, whatever it was. On the few occasions when we breached the halfway line with the ball, the very first thought was always to pass it backwards. Thats not being smart, or keeping possession, that was just flat-out fear. One of the worst, most pitiful away performances I have ever seen.

Arsecakes and bobbins. I know how far we've come etc etc. But tonight was the first time I've been angry this season. We need to stop turning up at these venues like we're FODDER just grateful to be there, and actually play like we believe, like we belong.

Pissed off. Bollocks.

Spot on

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Amazing the difference a month makes to the bedwetters on here. Christ on a bike..

Precisely. Last month saw NSC posters and BHA management alike preening themselves that we were comfortable in mid-table and that Albion had found their feet in the Premier league. Besides, that José Mourinho fella had said we'd given Manchester United, no less, their hardest game of the season.

Couple of weeks later and any fool can see we are clearly heading down the Premier league plughole, along with Swansea.

Snowflakes wherever you look. Can't anyone take a considered and balanced view any more?

 

[Bozza]

Precisely. Last month saw NSC posters and BHA management alike preening themselves that we were comfortable in mid-table and that Albion had found their feet in the Premier league.

I think the more grounded, whilst acknowledging the positive start we'd made, were advising caution as to the teams we'd faced, some possible opportunities missed and the games to come.

 

[Turkey]

Through work I've seen a lot of games as a neutral where one of the top 6 sides play at home against one of the bottom 14 and for me this felt pretty similar. Yes, we could have used our limited opportunities a bit better, but even those sides who may look a little more accomplished than us often don't see that translate into anything meaningful in these sort of games. I get the disappointment and the wish to just have something to get behind but also we need to be wise enough to realise it isn't just us who is turning up to these games and struggling to offer anything. We shouldn't beat ourselves up over it too much.

 

[Seagull over NZ]

I disagree with this completely. The teams that have had success against Spurs this year are the teams that have sat deep and defended well, and then countered. If we had had better quality yesterday we would have created 3-4 very good chances as a result of breaks. Teams that have tried to have a go at Spurs have often come undone and they have destroyed teams. I believe our tactics last night were spot on. Even at 70 minutes I think the approach was still fine, we could have nicked an equaliser. I find no fault in our tactics last night.

 

[Wilko]

I disagree with this completely. The teams that have had success against Spurs this year are the teams that have sat deep and defended well, and then countered. If we had had better quality yesterday we would have created 3-4 very good chances as a result of breaks. Teams that have tried to have a go at Spurs have often come undone and they have destroyed teams. I believe our tactics last night were spot on. Even at 70 minutes I think the approach was still fine, we could have nicked an equaliser. I find no fault in our tactics last night.

But we didn't counter, certainly not in the first half. When we got the ball we either turned backwards or passed it straight back to them.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

But we didn't counter, certainly not in the first half. When we got the ball we either turned backwards or passed it straight back to them.

We started to counter but Izquierdo couldn't make a decision of where to play next and so passed it back. Cue a groan from Brighton fans because we had started creating something good.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Precisely. Last month saw NSC posters and BHA management alike preening themselves that we were comfortable in mid-table and that Albion had found their feet in the Premier league. Besides, that José Mourinho fella had said we'd given Manchester United, no less, their hardest game of the season.

Couple of weeks later and any fool can see we are clearly heading down the Premier league plughole, along with Swansea.

Snowflakes wherever you look. Can't anyone take a considered and balanced view any more?

The very definition of a balanced view.