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[Albion] Potter’s Greatest Flaw
- Thread starter Skaville
- Start date
Taybha
Whalewhine
I'm not sure we're better or worse against any particular team but we do seem ultra vulnerable after taking a lead in games, we seem to almost instantly revert to a different set of rules which must be down to the boss I suppose, the amount of times we fail to score that 2nd goal is astonishing considering how on top we usually are when we go one up.
I get you try to keep it tight for a bit after scoring but we often sink so far back we just invite the inevitable, I doubt Potter knows this and will be over the moon I've pointed his flaw out ready for our next game.
I get you try to keep it tight for a bit after scoring but we often sink so far back we just invite the inevitable, I doubt Potter knows this and will be over the moon I've pointed his flaw out ready for our next game.
Not if you look at what they cost. No, I think you may have proven the OP's point. And as a consequence we imagine we have brilliant players because Potter has coached them to look great, whereas the plum duffer, Bruce, coached his talent to be cloggers.
Edit I just realised you are the OP
B-right-on
Living the dream
As I said before, I thought the half time subs and change of formation ruined the second half for us.
First half we had Solly / Cucu who overlapping runs caused havoc down the left. Veltman /Lamptey on the right.
This got us in behind them and lots of crosses into the box and got us 1-0 up.
The subs and change of formation in the second half just played into their strengths, crowded into the midfield and we were crowded out.
Brining on Webbo, he had orders to run into the middle as he does but bringing off Lamptey and trying to push Veltman into that roll (who had an awful game imo) just didn't work. Cucu looked lost on his own 2nd half and Lamptey hardly used, instead we tried to walk it thru the middle. The "ole's" of the first half seemed to be a long time ago.
So his biggest flaw imo is not 'out thinking' that parked bus, which for me, must include the correct use of our excellent wide players skill and speed.
First half we had Solly / Cucu who overlapping runs caused havoc down the left. Veltman /Lamptey on the right.
This got us in behind them and lots of crosses into the box and got us 1-0 up.
The subs and change of formation in the second half just played into their strengths, crowded into the midfield and we were crowded out.
Brining on Webbo, he had orders to run into the middle as he does but bringing off Lamptey and trying to push Veltman into that roll (who had an awful game imo) just didn't work. Cucu looked lost on his own 2nd half and Lamptey hardly used, instead we tried to walk it thru the middle. The "ole's" of the first half seemed to be a long time ago.
So his biggest flaw imo is not 'out thinking' that parked bus, which for me, must include the correct use of our excellent wide players skill and speed.
Makes sense to me. We've seen it time and time again against sides we should be comfortably beating and either conceding late for a draw
after wasting lots of chances or losing a game we dominated.
Doonhamer7
Well-known member
- Jun 17, 2016
- 1,454
It may have been about subs but not about selection. Who would have taken veltman’s place - Webster still not fully fit, Burn injured. Mwepu played up front with Trosaard and March changing position not in midfield - mcallister was known where as good - maybe Maupay should have started 2nd half. March has been in good form so how does Potter know today wasn’t going to be his day at the office?
Got as far as 'would of'.......................
Graham has to realise that you can't play the same way against the bottom team at home that has just been successful against the top team away.
Passing the ball around the pitch at the back to create space and player overloads has proved to work against a top side but was completely pointless yesterday because they were making sure they didn't get moved out of their defensive shape. The gameplan is now widely known amongst the bottom teams in the league.
Maybe we need to be more direct against this approach, play two upfront and wingers. We would have been better off giving them the ball more so they committed players forward and then try and exploit the gaps. Trouble is we are so slow at breaking now which has to be addressed. I've lost count of the number of times Lallana gets the ball to feet, unmarked, with acres of space and automatically passes the ball back to where it came from. What is the point of that?
It's been going on a long time now and is realised by the crowd pretty early on hence the poor atmosphere at these games.
Passing the ball around the pitch at the back to create space and player overloads has proved to work against a top side but was completely pointless yesterday because they were making sure they didn't get moved out of their defensive shape. The gameplan is now widely known amongst the bottom teams in the league.
Maybe we need to be more direct against this approach, play two upfront and wingers. We would have been better off giving them the ball more so they committed players forward and then try and exploit the gaps. Trouble is we are so slow at breaking now which has to be addressed. I've lost count of the number of times Lallana gets the ball to feet, unmarked, with acres of space and automatically passes the ball back to where it came from. What is the point of that?
It's been going on a long time now and is realised by the crowd pretty early on hence the poor atmosphere at these games.
maltaseagull
Well-known member
I also noted that, once again, we sat on the back foot and did not respond to their changes in the 2nd half.
They were pressing much higher but we carried on dicking it around our penalty area.
maltaseagull
Well-known member
I thought we did plenty of that!
- Mar 1, 2021
- 559
The negative tenor of this thread is bizzare. Unless I am mistaken we are currently 6th in the premier League a position we could only have dreamed of last season. Football is a game of incidents, accidents and mistakes and we've seen them all this season. No team wins all the matches it is "supposed to" otherwise city would have beaten Palace and Liverpool would have beaten us. It's a the unpredictability of the game that makes it good to watch.
Of course we can always be better, the game was poor but for goodness sake if we are going to beat all the"teams we should" and a lot of better teams we shouldn't we would be top of the league. I don't think many of us expect that.
Of course we can always be better, the game was poor but for goodness sake if we are going to beat all the"teams we should" and a lot of better teams we shouldn't we would be top of the league. I don't think many of us expect that.
Rinkmaster
Active member
When Solly was pulled off we should have replaced him with sarmiento not maupay. That way it would have left tross down the middle where he was most useful
Why would any negativity seem bizarre?
We've spent 2 full seasons + a further 11 games watching exactly the same pitfalls.
Irrespective of the money spent, players used, praise heaped, comparisons made, Potterball has systematically failed to score the goals that beat defensive teams.
The negativity is no more bizarre than the circular nature of this issue.
Here'sWally
New member
- Sep 27, 2021
- 118
The issue is more technical than "can't win games we should win".
The problem is this:
Big teams who are confident against us = They come out and play, we have space to attack, we can play our game.
Lesser teams who are not so confident against us = 10/11 behind the ball, we have space to play infront of them, but we can't break through the crowd and struggle to score.
The challenge we have is to improve our work in very tight spaces in the forward areas. Give us space for a counter and we are deadly. But park the bus and we struggle find a way through it.
All ball playing sides have this problem, but they are usually able to solve it because they are usually very rich sides, they play this way because they have amazing players and they often find a way in key moments to break through.
The truth is we are probably playing a level / style of football which is a little on the bold side for the players we have. But they can work on it, they can improve. Over time the players we have will get better (most are young), Potter will try to help them, we will strengthen the squad over time etc. I'm not saying this squad can't play this way. Just that we are coming up against an inevitable problem when you do. If we manage to solve this problem permanently it will probably be after a combination of 1) our best players reaching their full potential, and b) further strengthening over coming windows.
Don't feel down hearted about that fact that mastery of our playing style and system will take time, because when we do solve this problem permanently , there won't be much else to solve. The difference between where we are now and solving this problem is the difference between being a quality PL side vs playing in Europe and challenging for silverware.
The problem is this:
Big teams who are confident against us = They come out and play, we have space to attack, we can play our game.
Lesser teams who are not so confident against us = 10/11 behind the ball, we have space to play infront of them, but we can't break through the crowd and struggle to score.
The challenge we have is to improve our work in very tight spaces in the forward areas. Give us space for a counter and we are deadly. But park the bus and we struggle find a way through it.
All ball playing sides have this problem, but they are usually able to solve it because they are usually very rich sides, they play this way because they have amazing players and they often find a way in key moments to break through.
The truth is we are probably playing a level / style of football which is a little on the bold side for the players we have. But they can work on it, they can improve. Over time the players we have will get better (most are young), Potter will try to help them, we will strengthen the squad over time etc. I'm not saying this squad can't play this way. Just that we are coming up against an inevitable problem when you do. If we manage to solve this problem permanently it will probably be after a combination of 1) our best players reaching their full potential, and b) further strengthening over coming windows.
Don't feel down hearted about that fact that mastery of our playing style and system will take time, because when we do solve this problem permanently , there won't be much else to solve. The difference between where we are now and solving this problem is the difference between being a quality PL side vs playing in Europe and challenging for silverware.
Yeah you're right. When we beat Kidderminster at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup I'll be demanding an open top bus parade.
I’m not sure that the players we need to improve can improve. Are we going to turn Trossard, Connolly & Maupay into Foden, Mane & Aguero?
Managers like Klopp, Guardiola, Tuchel and Solskjær can always rely on world class attacking players to get the goals when their teams are not playing well or if they face a parked bus. Potter has never had that here though arguably, he does have a hand full of ‘big six’ level players, but they are not forwards.
Give Potter the likes of Salah, Ronaldo, De Bruyne and Lukaku and he’d achieve the same success (or more in Ole’s case) as the current batch of managers of the ‘big six’.
It’s not rocket science. Look at our result against Man Utd at home last season. We play them off the pitch but they take all of their chances with brilliance from players like Fernandes and Rashford and beat us. Solskjær’s managerial career is based on relying on moments of world class attacking play from his expensive team, he is not half the manager Potter is.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
I think you’ll find that most long term Albion fans saw this as a banana skin, I expected nothing and shit myself when they equalised as I knew exactly what was coming, thanks to Sanchez it didn’t.
The Brighton way, it was always thus ( apart from spells under MA mark 1, Poyet in League One and Chris Hughton in our promotion season)
Seagull58
In the Algarve
You're dodging the issue. Potter doesn't have a strategy/tactic to beat teams who sit deep and park the bus or, if he does have one, the team doesn't execute it.