[Albion] Roberto De Zerbi: "Now we don't have high motivation"

[dazzer6666]

Stinker of a run-in couldn't have come at a worse time. Villa. Newcastle. Chelsea. ManU. Sake! If things haven't quite gone toxic yet, they almost certainly will have done after that little lot

Actually don’t think they will (any more than they are already for some). A fair % (me included) seem to have written the rest of the season off (there have been enough highlights to balance the pisspoor second half) and are ready for the rest/window/pre-season and to see what happens in that period - it’ll go more toxic if we don’t sign anyone and DeZ goes public with anything controversial though. Feels like we’re spinning our wheels now waiting to see what TB/PB do next.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

I’ve thought about this a lot today. My initial post (a few pages back) was expressing disappointment that our players couldn’t be bothered.

However having had time to reflect I think some of us are being overly harsh. One of the things I like about RDZ is his honesty. The problem is sometimes that means he is too honest for his own good. They won’t be the first set of players in the history of football to be coasting towards the end of the season. We can’t go down, quite a few who played yesterday are either knackered, or young and inexperienced. The injuries have done for us. We all know that. I hoped for better but overall maybe we should cut the team and manager some slack. They have done so much this season and I still think had we got a better draw in Europa we could have gone very deep in that competition. We may well have been beaten by the winners.

So overall, I’m still Team RDZ.

Don't think ' a better ' draw would have made much difference. Its how you set up, particularly away from home. If you are committed to only playing one way and your in-game management is down to resting certain players and wrapping others up in cotton wool, then you are asking for trouble against experienced European opponents.
We gifted the first leg to Roma through intransigence and dare I say, arrogance. Players encouraged to dwell on the ball will always be found out by strong and clever opponents.
European football calls for versatility and adaptability. Attributes not apparent in the RDZ locker. Our European campaign was aided by a very poor ( at the time ) Ajax and an ordinary AEK. The moment we met someone half decent we were gone.

 

[zamora the merrier]

Don't think ' a better ' draw would have made much difference. Its how you set up, particularly away from home. If you are committed to only playing one way and your in-game management is down to resting certain players and wrapping others up in cotton wool, then you are asking for trouble against experienced European opponents.
We gifted the first leg to Roma through intransigence and dare I say, arrogance. Players encouraged to dwell on the ball will always be found out by strong and clever opponents.
European football calls for versatility and adaptability. Attributes not apparent in the RDZ locker. Our European campaign was aided by a very poor ( at the time ) Ajax and an ordinary AEK. The moment we met someone half decent we were gone.

Absolutely nailed it although I years to come we will remember it in a more positive light (the Ajax and AEK bit)

 

[raymondo]

And significantly fitter apparently to also win a treble !

I think that's one of the things that makes them world class...being physically stronger and/,or quicker to recover from injury.

 

[Krafty]

Don't think ' a better ' draw would have made much difference. Its how you set up, particularly away from home. If you are committed to only playing one way and your in-game management is down to resting certain players and wrapping others up in cotton wool, then you are asking for trouble against experienced European opponents.
We gifted the first leg to Roma through intransigence and dare I say, arrogance. Players encouraged to dwell on the ball will always be found out by strong and clever opponents.
European football calls for versatility and adaptability. Attributes not apparent in the RDZ locker. Our European campaign was aided by a very poor ( at the time ) Ajax and an ordinary AEK. The moment we met someone half decent we were gone.

I understand your point here. However we faced Marseille twice, certainly a good side, and took four points off them.

It was always going to be tough against Roma, not only because they are a strong, experienced side, but we also had a stretched squad. I believe we had more injuries at the last sixteen stage of the European campaign than before.

Even with a better draw, I doubt that we could’ve went much further. But, it was incredible what we did achieve with Europe.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

I understand your point here. However we faced Marseille twice, certainly a good side, and took four points off them.

It was always going to be tough against Roma, not only because they are a strong, experienced side, but we also had a stretched squad. I believe we had more injuries at the last sixteen stage of the European campaign than before.

Even with a better draw, I doubt that we could’ve went much further. But, it was incredible what we did achieve with Europe.

It also ignored the way we very much did adapt to two very difficult fixtures in Athens away and Marseille at home. Were those performances straight out of the De Zerbi manual? Absolutely lot. We were a lot more defensive.

 

[Krafty]

It also ignored the way we very much did adapt to two very difficult fixtures in Athens away and Marseille at home. Were those performances straight out of the De Zerbi manual? Absolutely lot. We were a lot more defensive.

Agreed. We recorded a few clean sheets during that time which could suggest a change of plan.

However, I understand some fans’ cause of concern currently. We have been offensively and defensively poor for several matches now and there has been no change in playing style. Perhaps, there is no Plan B?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Good - that’s one Moderator on board declaring for Team RDZ - any more?

It depends what constitutes 'Team RDZ'?

If it means, 'would a focused RDZ, fully committed to the Albion, have our support?', then I'm 100% certain that ALL of the NSC moderating team are 'Team RDZ'. He's potentially a great coach. If he's properly invested in the project, then I'd be excited to find out what he can achieve.

If however, being 'Team RDZ' means being in thrall to a guy, anything less than 100% committed, then I for one would be OUT.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Good - that’s one Moderator on board declaring for Team RDZ - any more?

Just to pick up on this, when it comes to football, our opinions on here carry no more weight than any other poster. Indeed, that's true for most other topics. Only when it comes to discussions on board culture, user behaviour etc do they matter slightly more, and even then the overall responsibility lies with @Bozza

I understand that your post is light hearted by the way, but there is a tendency for some to be deferential on football threads or, more likely, to feel that having your opinion challenged by a mod is somehow existential. It isn't. We like talking about football too. It's why we're here.

I couldn't tell you where we all are on this topic. All I have to go on our some posts on here and comments on our whatsapp. However, I know @hans kraay fan club has some concerns about RDZ and those are increasing. I openly love the guy (De Zerbi, that is, not Hans!), his passion, his belief, his desire to make everything better, but that's a big, big crash when it stops working, and it's only human to consider whether that is temporary or permanent. I'm starting to see the same bad things in RDZ that hans has for a while.

In the ideal scenario we get through to the end of the season, Mitoma and March make full recoveries and are just as effective and we fix a midfield that's gone from one of the strongest in the league to one of the weakest. And, please FFS, we stop arsing about with keepers and pick one and stick with him. And we do this all under RDZ who makes small tweaks to tactics that other teams once again have to invest time in sussing out.

But if he goes I won't be devastated, and I will concede there's a scenario or two where we'd be better off. I wouldn't have said that in January. Back then RDZ leaving would have devastated me. Unfortunately, he has to take the lions share of responsibility for passionate, ambitious fans falling out of love with him.

TL;DR? I am only just Team RDZ, from being all in.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It depends what constitutes 'Team RDZ'?

If it means, 'would a focused RDZ, fully committed to the Albion, have our support?', then I'm 100% certain that ALL of the NSC moderating team are 'Team RDZ'. He's potentially a great coach. If he's properly invested in the project, then I'd be excited to find out what he can achieve.

If however, being 'Team RDZ' means being in thrall to a guy, anything less than 100% committed, then I for one would be OUT.

Ha! Was replying at the same time as you. Think this pretty much confirms some of what I said though