[Albion] Potter’s Greatest Flaw

[Skaville]

Brilliant manager, coach and technician, the best we’ve ever had. So good at analysing top opposition who will play their own style to try and beat us.

Whenever we’re the underdog we seem to out perform expectation, always in performance and often with results. However, as soon as the onus is on us to dictate a game we should win we largely fail. He can’t instil a game plan that gets results.

He talks a lot about ‘personality’, but the next step in our evolution has to be to find a way to put sides we should be beating to the sword. We need our own ‘personality’. It’s his biggest failing and he’s not ready for a ‘big club’ until he can master it. Good news for us I guess.

 

[Icy Gull]

Hard to argue with that. Is it right we’ve picked up 4 points from 24 from teams in the relegation zone when we have played them?

 

[Skaville]

Hard to argue with that. Is it right we’ve picked up 4 points from 24 from teams in the relegation zone when we have played them?

So frustrating isn’t it. He’s so good, but he’s almost a counter tactician. The players at his disposal today were far better than Newcastle’s. I have great respect for them, but we should have beaten them given their start to the season.

 

[BN41Albion]

Yep, the op is spot on I think, including the fact that he's not ready for a big club till he masters that flaw. I'm sure our stats against teams we are on paper much better than, like today, won't have gone unnoticed by bigger clubs.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Totally agree. It's not a case of 'blaming' Potter as such, but it's something he has to get a grip on if he is going to get a top job, or take us into the top half for that matter. Same old story every time we play a game where the onus is on us to attack. The way they set up first half was (end of his last season era) Hughtonesque, we should have been out of sight at HT. But you just knew that equaliser was coming, because it always does against shit teams. The points we dropped against WBA, Sheff U and Fulham last season, against Norwich and Newcastle this season, not to mention the number of times we've outplayed Palace and failed to beat them under Potter... Four wins in our last 27 against teams in the bottom three is an unbelievable stat, I reckon our record against the top sides must be comparable if not better.

 

[Swansman]

Pep Guardiolas Man City lost to Palace a week or two ago. Might not be ready for a big club.

About "teams we should beat" there is a collision of reality and fantasy:
The reality is that there are no such teams. There are no teams like that, not for Manchester City and certainly not for Brighton.

Obviously, the record against bottom teams involves Grahams tactics and choices. He makes mistakes. And when the team plays well, its also partly because of him. But the players on the pitch is, in success and failure, always the most important part in determining the outcome of a game. There is an almost frightening correlation between wages and where you end up in the league. Because player quality is the number one determining factor - and while we are saying "this and this guy, look how great they are" others are saying "look at the nice results GP is getting with such a shit squad". The truth is somewhere in between. Its a decent team with decent players and could overachieve compared to wage budget, but there are no "should" beat teams.

 

[Justice]

Not to sure about this in all the games mentioned we have failed to score the chances created, the club which ever way you look at it left GP with the same fire power that all missed last season crossed their fingers and hoped for the best. With better strikers we don’t lose these turgid games. Newcastle sat in for 75 minutes against Chelsea they have the quality to score we don’t. Not really GP’s fault the players can’t find the back of the net is it?

 

[Weststander]

Imho.

He’s Guardiola-esque in tactics - possession, hunting the ball back, inter-changeability of players, passing it into the net, pushed upfield.

Which is fine when a team wants to play ball - Arsenal, Watford, Liverpool. Exploiting their gambles.

But it so often comes to a shuddering halt when the opponents are savvy, aren’t suckered into throwing bodies forward, keep their defensive shape. Hodgson robbed us with exactly that, relying on just two or three to counter attack, Benitez’s Everton too. Others offer little ambition, but love the 6 yard chaos of set pieces to deny us.

Often, he hasn’t got the answers to that.

 

[beorhthelm]

its why Potter probably wont make it to a higher level. might do better with better players, the approach is limiting though.

 

[GT49er]

The OP has called this one right. There are teams we should beat - because we've got a better team. There are teams Citeh should beat - and they do 9 times out of 10; there are teams we hould beat - unfortunately we only manage about 3 or 4 out of those 10.

....... and this isn't all about us not getting a striker - 'any striker' - in. Fed up with all that bolleaux.

 

[portlock seagull]

What’s Latin for Heroes to Zeros? That could be our club motto really. One week we’re Chanel No.5, next Gandhi’s flip flop. So frustrating. Has ever been thus. In my 40 years anyway. Plenty of other clubs to choose if you want success. But if you want to really see how defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, then there’s no contest. Take for example our promotion season. One hand on the trophy. Two hands on the trophy. And lift…ow, nope we’ve dropped it in the final second (not even minute!) of the season when it was a shoe in. And who’s that, Mr Benitez, snatching it away for…yep, ironically today’s opponents.

 

[heathgate]

Selecting Veltman was a mistake, he was off the pace and offered nothing going forward....

Selecting March was a mistake, he offered nothing other than being a body on the pitch.

Not Potters fault, but Mwepu going off lost us the midfield and in my view the win.

Moder should have replaced Mwepu in my view, Potter was responsible for that of course.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[Danny Wilson Said]

After we scored we stopped doing the things we do when we are at our best. We started to slow down and take too many touches and the ball didn't go forward quickly enough. I don't know how often it has to happen before one or two of the players realise this. If Potter can't affect it from the technical area, then Dunk as captain has to issue a few on-field bollockings.

 

[Dibdab]

We are a bottom six teams dream to play against. Stick 9 players behind the ball, we are clueless and they just hope to snatch something on the break.

Has worked time and time again.

 

[sydney]

So frustrating isn’t it. He’s so good, but he’s almost a counter tactician. The players at his disposal today were far better than Newcastle’s. I have great respect for them, but we should have beaten them given their start to the season.

typical park the bus mentality from them but having gone a goal up we should have put them to bed......we lack nouse on the pitch sometimes and today looks like one of those days......2 points dropped...?? 100%

 

[driller]

What’s Latin for Heroes to Zeros? That could be our club motto really. One week we’re Chanel No.5, next Gandhi’s flip flop. So frustrating. Has ever been thus. In my 40 years anyway. Plenty of other clubs to choose if you want success. But if you want to really see how defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, then there’s no contest. Take for example our promotion season. One hand on the trophy. Two hands on the trophy. And lift…ow, nope we’ve dropped it in the final second (not even minute!) of the season when it was a shoe in. And who’s that, Mr Benitez, snatching it away for…yep, ironically today’s opponents.

Ab heros ad Nulla
Or roughly that.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

Hard to argue with that. Is it right we’ve picked up 4 points from 24 from teams in the relegation zone when we have played them?

Think it's 4 wins from 24 games

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Players aren't good enough in the end.

 

[stss30]

Graham really needs to work out some more effective tactics for teams who come to the Amex and park the bus, how many times were the back line passing the ball to each other at a painfully slow speed yesterday?

The only real joy we had in front of goal (penalty aside) were some crosses in the first half, particularly from Lamptey’s side, but we had no out and out striker on the pitch so no one was in the box to attack the deliveries. Ever since Muzza hung up his boots for us we have missed a physical presence in the box who can score those sort of chances with any sort of regularity. I’m not saying we have to play that way but it seems one of the only ways we can create chances against these teams, as our build up play from back to front is nowhere near quick enough to cause problems and it’s not the first time that has been evident this season.

 

[sydney]

just watched the full replay , we had numerous , decent chances that were saved or missed .......one of those days , i think newcastle rallied after the penalty and again after they scored , a few of our players were way off the mark today , bad day at the office with them having their new manager watching from the stands ......2 points dropped and an all round bad day at the office.