[Albion] Thoughts on that missing killer instinct

[sydney]

See post #109 for a counter argument why the above might not be the case.

Even when we did pass around our half to try to draw Villa out, they didn’t come. We actually got in behind / exploited space with fast attacks against Spurs and Liverpool because they did come out.

If a team is tactically sitting in, how do you draw them out? Perhaps by some of the play you’re describing.

no , we need to finish off the fast break occasionally , not go back round the houses and back to the goalie....see lester v liverpool ....fast break. villa are no mugs

we have beaten leeds (another fast break specialist) spurs and liverpool so im not complaining ....just watched man u huff and puff against a packed wba defence for the 2nd half ......even the "top" teams cant get through a 7 man defence , if the away team parks the bus then thats that .....maybe why we do better away from home..? wba nearly nicked it ...on the break. twice.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Don’t beat yourselves up, they defended with their lives yesterday, throwing their bodies at everything and whatever got past them Martinez either brilliantly saved or luckily blocked.
We were not toothless.

One day, maybe soon we will score a bucketload.

This. FFS. This.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

no , we need to finish off the fast break occasionally , not go back round the houses and back to the goalie....see lester v liverpool ....fast break. villa are no mugs

we have beaten leeds (another fast break specialist) spurs and liverpool so im not complaining ....just watched man u huff and puff against a packed wba defence for the 2nd half ......even the "top" teams cant get through a 7 man defence , if the away team parks the bus then thats that .....maybe why we do better away from home..? wba nearly nicked it ...on the break. twice.

To ‘counter attack’ you need the other team to attack, that’s why it’s a counter. Villa had what 2 chances? There simply weren’t that many opportunities to counter. When we did, we did lack a bit of quality on the quick balls.

What you’re saying is you’d have preferred us to give a bit of ball and control up to Villa to allow them to come at us a bit so we can counter more. I think we might have been doing this earlier in the season but we were conceding too many goals. We’ve tightened up, rightly so, we’re incredibly difficult to score against this season.

26 chances, 9 on target, clean sheet, not sure you can blame the tactics. Just need some quality in the shooting positions.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Our expected goals should certainly be an attractive reason for joining Brighton.

I'm sure Rhian Brewster must be laying in bed every night wondering 'what if?'

I lie in bed thinking Thank God we didn't!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I don't think we lack a killer instinct at all and I think the forwards we have in Maupay, Trossard, Connolly and Welbeck at least are good enough. I think our failing is that we are too slow in the build up, so there's never any room for the forwards to shoot or get enough power on a header, however well directed. The goals have come from fast breaks, mesmerising passing moves or set pieces. Whilst we have developed the ability to stifle the opposition, the loss of Lamptey and now March have left us playing our passing moves with 8 or 9 players ahead of us instead of exposing two or three. The guys who get the shots and headers away rarely have a clear view of goal and when Maupay receives the ball in the box, he often has his back to goal and can't make space for an unhindered shot so often scuffs it. I don't have the answers for the personnel to add pace and obviously I don't see them in training. But many of the strikers named in the opening post would also struggle to score for us because they too would have a crowded goalmouth to break through. Our ponderous build up leads our strikers not to be clinical, not to lack killer instinct, but to need to be perfect. You can't buy perfect, but perhaps speeding our moves up a bit sometimes would help.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Okay show me where the improvement in our finishing is. Absurd!? The only absurd thing is our lack of progress in this area.


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Managers can't put the ball in the back of the net. He put out a side that created 26 shots on goal, limited them to just 1 weak effort, transitioned beautifully from defence to attack and back again.

The rest is down to the strikers, who are largely young and inexperienced at this level, or on the recruitment team to sign better strikers. I think the signs are there with the young strikers, Maupays finish against West ham, Connolly against Wolves and Trossard against Spurs all in recent weeks.

It's already been shown how Maupays goal scoring record compares favorably with other top strikers at the same age, similar to both Ings and Calvert-Lewin for example. https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/show...how-to-score&p=9711367&viewfull=1#post9711367

And hardly any striker was prolific at Connollys tender age. Lots of room to grow for the pair

 

[b.w.2.]

What’s he going to say, he’s not happy publicly? Yeah that’s going to help their already fragile confidence isn’t it.

How about we can work to improve our finishing or similar


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[b.w.2.]

This. FFS. This.

I think not


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[b.w.2.]

Managers can't put the ball in the back of the net. He put out a side that created 26 shots on goal, limited them to just 1 weak effort, transitioned beautifully from defence to attack and back again.

The rest is down to the strikers, who are largely young and inexperienced at this level, or on the recruitment team to sign better strikers. I think the signs are there with the young strikers, Maupays finish against West ham, Connolly against Wolves and Trossard against Spurs all in recent weeks.

It's already been shown how Maupays goal scoring record compares favorably with other top strikers at the same age, similar to both Ings and Calvert-Lewin for example. https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/show...how-to-score&p=9711367&viewfull=1#post9711367

And hardly any striker was prolific at Connollys tender age. Lots of room to grow for the pair

Again, I love your optimism. And I hope you are right. I also agree (unsurprisingly) that we probably need to pull off one striker recruitment gem [emoji184]


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[Super Steve Earle]

Again, I love your optimism. And I hope you are right. I also agree (unsurprisingly) that we probably need to pull off one striker recruitment gem [emoji184]


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Do you ever post about anything else or do you just spend your life waiting for us not to score so you can start up again?

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

How about we can work to improve our finishing or similar


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Which I am certain he has said. Sounds like you have an ace to grind.

 

[Hugo Rune]

I don't think we lack a killer instinct at all and I think the forwards we have in Maupay, Trossard, Connolly and Welbeck at least are good enough. I think our failing is that we are too slow in the build up, so there's never any room for the forwards to shoot or get enough power on a header, however well directed.

There might well be something in this but when playing the team with the second best 1st half defensive record in the Premier League (Villa), they regularly placed their box full of bodies. There was never any space.

However I could pick out around 3 or 4 big chances against the likes of Burnley, Sheff Utd, Fulham (especially at home) where players have just shot directly at the keeper, wide or just over, it happens so so often. Whether it’s Dunk or Webster from set pieces or Welbeck, Connolly, Trossard and Maupay from open play, it’s been the defining story of our season juxtapositioned with such wonderful play in every other aspect of the game.

I challenge you to come back to me after the next two games a find examples of when we’re not transitioning the ball quick enough, teams like Villa have worked us out and Palace and West Brom will follow suit; fill the penalty area with bodies, cross your fingers Brighton don’t get any luck or score an amazing goal and take the point.

 

[paulfuzz]

Still. Keeper, looking great. Defence, 1 goal conceded in 6. Dependable, brilliant on the ball. Defensive midfield. Getting better all the time, our ball winning stats amongst best in the game. Attack, getting better and better, lovely movement, pressing. Wing backs, a real strength of ours, whoever is playing there.

All improved under Potter. Building from the back, working out what works and what doesn't. Trying different personnel in different positions. Brave to look beyond the next game and give young players experience and experiment with partnerships.

Who'd bet against him raising the striking side of the game next?

In GP I trust. I think you have to be a glass always empty pessimist to not see all the improvements in the team/team/squad selection this season.
I trust that GP will get the team scoring soon and not relying on one or two to get them all.

 

[Swansman]

Do you ever post about anything else or do you just spend your life waiting for us not to score so you can start up again?

Indeed fascinating (or something). On and on and on about strikers and buying new strikers. I had a similar phase back when I played Championship Manager 01/02, always buying loads of strikers to my teams. Then I turned 13 and moved on.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

There might well be something in this but when playing the team with the second best 1st half defensive record in the Premier League (Villa), they regularly placed their box full of bodies. There was never any space.

However I could pick out around 3 or 4 big chances against the likes of Burnley, Sheff Utd, Fulham (especially at home) where players have just shot directly at the keeper, wide or just over, it happens so so often. Whether it’s Dunk or Webster from set pieces or Welbeck, Connolly, Trossard and Maupay from open play, it’s been the defining story of our season juxtapositioned with such wonderful play in every other aspect of the game.

I challenge you to come back to me after the next two games a find examples of when we’re not transitioning the ball quick enough, teams like Villa have worked us out and Palace and West Brom will follow suit; fill the penalty area with bodies, cross your fingers Brighton don’t get any luck or score an amazing goal and take the point.

I'm not being combative about my opinion which is no more analysed than that, and rather than look for future examples of where we don't transition quickly enough, my thinking comes from the goals we have scored that aren't from set pieces. They seem to my mind (memory, not research) to have been lovely quick flowing intuitive moves. The misses seem less so.

 

[Richy_Seagull]

It's very simple, what don't you understand?

This?

"It's far too simplistic to look at the xG and say we should be top 6. For example, we could have 20 shots with an xG of 0.1, so our xG would be 2, whereas the other team could have two shots with an xG of 0.5, so an xG of 1."


We could have 20 shots of an xG of .1 (which means that on average 1/10 = goal)
Opposition could have 2 shots of an xG of .5 (which means that on average 1/2 = goal)


So xG would be around 2 - 1....That's how it works.

 

[albionalex]

This?

"It's far too simplistic to look at the xG and say we should be top 6. For example, we could have 20 shots with an xG of 0.1, so our xG would be 2, whereas the other team could have two shots with an xG of 0.5, so an xG of 1."


We could have 20 shots of an xG of .1 (which means that on average 1/10 = goal)
Opposition could have 2 shots of an xG of .5 (which means that on average 1/2 = goal)


So xG would be around 2 - 1....That's how it works.

Exactly. But does that mean the team that has 2 the xG should win?

 

[b.w.2.]

Which I am certain he has said. Sounds like you have an ace to grind.

My axe definitely needs grinding! [emoji6]


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[b.w.2.]

Do you ever post about anything else or do you just spend your life waiting for us not to score so you can start up again?

The latter! [emoji6]


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[b.w.2.]

Indeed fascinating (or something). On and on and on about strikers and buying new strikers. I had a similar phase back when I played Championship Manager 01/02, always buying loads of strikers to my teams. Then I turned 13 and moved on.

Did your acquisitions work?


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