[Albion] We are 4th in the Premier League (behind Liverpool, Man City & Chelsea)

[portlock seagull]

We’d be in first place with Liverpool’s front 3, there is no doubt about that at all.

Thankfully, Bloom has a lot more cerebral integrity than the majority of our supporters and Potter will be going nowhere. Like the academy, it’s a long term project. So many of our simpler fans will just not be able to understand this concept.

Hi Paul...!

 

[Perkino]

But we do this- quite a lot I think.. I agree with much of your post, but this is the point for me.. Just yesterday's game, but plenty of other examples I think.. Lallana slides Connolly in 1st half, .. shoots weakly and not widely enough of the GK. Trossard cut-back for Maupay 1st half : weak finish cleared ; Connolly's header.. cross whipped in from Ali J; Maupay missed short (tricky) 1st time volley from header and then 2nd bite gets knocked over the bar. These were all chances that our play created that Aguero would have nailed at least 1, 2 or maybe 3 of them!

Man City are well drilled and hugely predictable, they have no plan B and always play the percentages. This doesn't matter because they have hugely gifted individuals and can rotate players in and out each knowing exactly where to pass, run and where chances will appear. We have a bunch of players uncertain of where to run who is the best option for the pass and if or when a ball may be delivered this creates several half chances and leaves us frustrated.

We do so much so well but we lack that last little bit, a settled formation/starting line up/game plan would help

 

[Uh_huh_him]

We’d be in first place with Liverpool’s front 3, there is no doubt about that at all.

Thankfully, Bloom has a lot more cerebral integrity than the majority of our supporters and Potter will be going nowhere. Like the academy, it’s a long term project. So many of our simpler fans will just not be able to understand this concept.

Whilst I agree with you, the fact of the matter is we don't have Liverpool's front three and never will have.
Hughton was much derided for his style, but pragmatically, if Tony doesn't want to break the bank, then backs to the wall defending is the most pragmatic option.

My only complaint against the "wetters" is they want to be competitive at this level and play attractive football, and they don't care how affordable that is.

From my perspective, I can see that Potter has the bravery (stupidity?) to play attacking football without the players to fully support it.
He's doing quite a good job at it, IMO. It's just it is unlikely to bring success.

For me, the only question which Potter needs to answer is the confidence levels in the camp.
Emotional intelligence is supposed to be one of Potter's strengths.
He needs to start showing it.

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lens]

Man City are well drilled and hugely predictable, they have no plan B and always play the percentages. This doesn't matter because they have hugely gifted individuals and can rotate players in and out each knowing exactly where to pass, run and where chances will appear. We have a bunch of players uncertain of where to run who is the best option for the pass and if or when a ball may be delivered this creates several half chances and leaves us frustrated.

We do so much so well but we lack that last little bit, a settled formation/starting line up/game plan would help

Sure - agree with most of your points, just not the one that we simply float the ball into strikers and that even Aguero would struggle playing with us. I am not suggesting we are Man City, but we are more creative than it feels and a striker in form would reasonably do pretty well with us atm?

 

[Wozza]

Ah, so if you have a great manager anyone could score goals in the PL? It got nothing to do with quality etc? Weird that all these teams spend so much money when this is the case.

Potter has been at the club long enough to heavily influence transfers.

He must have told his bosses that Maupay, Connolly and Welbeck would be enough upfront, and that Jahanbakhsh, Bernardo etc were worth retaining.

If he needed different/better attacking options in the close season, he should have asked for them.

Goals were a problem last season, and nothing has been done to address it.

Meanwhile, we bought bloody Joël Veltman.

It's simply not right to blame Potter's failings on the cards he's dealt when Potter himself has been choosing the friggin cards.

One home win all year. Enough is enough!

 

[Swansman]

Potter has been at the club long enough to heavily influence transfers.

He must have told his bosses that Maupay, Connolly and Welbeck would be enough upfront, and that Jahanbakhsh, Bernardo etc were worth retaining.

If he needed different/better attacking options in the close season, he should have asked for them.

Goals were a problem last season, and nothing has been done to address it.

Meanwhile, we bought bloody Joël Veltman.

It's simply not right to blame Potter's failings on the cards he's dealt when Potter himself has been choosing the friggin cards.

One home win all year. Enough is enough!

Signing Welbeck after the transfer window closed screams "we didnt get any of our targets". We know that Brighton offered Ali J to AZ, likely to other clubs as well. As for Bernardo you have to be deluded to think that Potter got any faith in him. Buying and selling players is not just pushing a button. Of course Potter got some influence on transfers - as PB (or if it was DA) described it, Potter tells them the positions he wants to strengthen, DA & crew work out a list of players and then GP gets involved again. Buying and selling players is not his job.

 

[Wozza]

Buying and selling players is not his job.

I'm aware of that. It's still Potter's squad. I'm still holding him responsible for one home win in 2020. No excuses.

 

[NooBHA]

No one has a clue what strikers we are playing from one week to the next, and it's destroyed the confidence of our players. No wonder they are so tentative and cant hit a barn door. Potter simply doesn't know his best team and is flailing

I don't think he is flailing - I think he is trying to do too many things.

1. Trying to ensure there is a pathway from the Academy and bleeding youngsters into the team
2. Trying to ensure that the players signed in recent transfer windows are in the team too
3. Trying to ensure that the best players play when they should play

Some times the above 3 points will contradict or compromise each other and you cant do all 3 at the same time. When that happens there is a tendency to rotate to ensure that all 3 are met at least some of the time.

The majority of Managers Managing their players will realise that when players are out of the team and not playing. They get used to not playing and become accepting of it. Some wont and will ask to move on because of it.

Sad as that sounds that's what happens, they become accepting of not playing and usually those fringe players at most Clubs will get game time in the Cup Matches as opposed to continual rotation in the first team during League Matches. Continual rotation can be a bit more difficult for some players to accept because if they feel they played well in a match and then are not starting in the next match they can feel aggrieved or hard done by when that happens. And some players might resent it. They shouldn't but some do.

It is a difficult thing to get the right balance on and that is why knowing who you are working with is important. Managing their expectations isn't easy.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Potter has been at the club long enough to heavily influence transfers.

He must have told his bosses that Maupay, Connolly and Welbeck would be enough upfront, and that Jahanbakhsh, Bernardo etc were worth retaining.

If he needed different/better attacking options in the close season, he should have asked for them.

Goals were a problem last season, and nothing has been done to address it.

Meanwhile, we bought bloody Joël Veltman.

It's simply not right to blame Potter's failings on the cards he's dealt when Potter himself has been choosing the friggin cards.

One home win all year. Enough is enough!

The end of season chat last season must have been quite the misunderstanding.

"So, Graham, nice football, six points off Arsenal and a higher points tally than last season. We can build on that, What do we need?"

"A striker who can put away chances commensurate with our attacking xG and a proper left back. A bit more pace on the ball and moving it would be good too."

"Right you are".

(five minutes later Dan Ashworth's phone rings)

"Yep, he said he wants a relatively slow but technically proficient utility defender to strengthen the right hand side of our defence"

 

[7oaksgull]

I'm aware of that. It's still Potter's squad. I'm still holding him responsible for one home win in 2020. No excuses.

Why the obsession about home wins? Are you bothered about how many teams we've beaten who's names start the the letter 'B' ? it doesn't matter where the wins come from. They are all just worth 3 points

 

[Wozza]

Why the obsession about home wins? Are you bothered about how many teams we've beaten who's names start the the letter 'B' ? it doesn't matter where the wins come from. They are all just worth 3 points

I think someone has posted Potter's PPG record - home and away - somewhere. It's grim reading either way. He doesn't win football matches.

I'm convinced that if there had been crowds at home games all year, there would have been massive fan unrest and the board would have been forced to act by now.

 

[7oaksgull]

I think someone has posted Potter's PPG record - home and away - somewhere. It's grim reading either way. He doesn't win football matches.

I'm convinced that if there had been crowds at home games all year, there would have been massive fan unrest and the board would have been forced to act by now.

Surely the measure of his success, or otherwise, is total points and league position over the medium term. Were you disappointed with how we did in his first season in charge last year? Of course there are some things that are concerning for all of us. Equally I believe that we fully deserved to win against both Man U and Palace this season. A total of 17 points at this stage would be a decent outcome in my opinion. It's not like we are stuck at the bottom of the table getting hammered every week. We got well beaten at Everton and Leicester and were poor in the second half against West Brom. But other than that we've always been in games. We create a huge numer of chances but for whatever reason we can't take them. That's true not just for the strikers but also for our midfield players and our defenders when trying to score from corners. We created decent chances against Fulham and three gilt edged chances yesterday for Maupay, Connolly and Jahanbakhsh.

 

[One Love]

Just awaiting the "but its Potters job to make sure that the strikers score".

Ok. Fine. But whats the strikers job then?

It's not just the strikers though is it.

All the players, doesn't matter what position, doesn't matter whether they are front side or benchwarmers, are terrible at finishing, not just this year but last year as well as our xG showed.

So then you wonder, is it every single players fault or is there a common denominator?

 

[One Love]

https://understat.com/league/EPL

Incredible coaching achievement by Graham Potter.

He can only prepare the team and influence overall performances. He can't put the ball in the net.

We were the same last year but to a lesser degree.

I spent the whole season expecting our luck to change.

Guess what, it got worse and I don't expect it to get better as it's not down to bad luck.

 

[DJ NOBO]

I'm afraid that stat just confirms what anyone who has watched us this season already knows. We are nearly always 'in the game' often dominating for long periods and making enough chances to win, against teams throughout this league. We've all known we need a top class finisher ever since Glen started to slow down when he turned 25

My big worry is that even splashing out £40M doesn't guarantee us what we want. I think there was a fair bit of optimism that Welbeck could be that if he could stay fit. Well he's stayed fit

Don’t point the finger at Welbeck. Overall he’s done Ok.
If Anyone expected him to be a £40m player that would make them mental.

Also you are right that if we spent big money on a striker it wouldn’t guarantee success. But going with what we’ve got pretty much guarantees failure.

It’s long overdue that we buy a proper, decent forward which would mean Welbeck becomes a good option off the bench rather than the best we’ve got.

 

[The Fits]

Similarities with Arsenal IMHO.
Arteta..

It's very similar to the last few weeks: we are trying, dominating the game, but in the small moments we are losing it. We had chances but the last shot, the last pass is not going our way

The Independent today...

Arsenal are incredibly easy to defend against and as Jamie Carragher had noted during commentary of the fixture on the weekend: "They move the ball very slowly from back to front and very rarely expose defenders one-on-one.”

Difference is they have a genuinely world class striker. So it might be as easy to turn to the tide as we'd hope if we 'simply' get a better striker in.

 

[The Fits]

I think someone has posted Potter's PPG record - home and away - somewhere. It's grim reading either way. He doesn't win football matches.

I'm convinced that if there had been crowds at home games all year, there would have been massive fan unrest and the board would have been forced to act by now.

That was me. It's just under 1 in 5 at home, our home record, since he has been here. Totally agree, if the fans were back it wouldn't be a nice atmosphere at the Amex.

 

[SimpKingpin]

We're number 1 in the league for draws.
6 in total.

Guess who is 2nd?
Man City, with 5 draws.

What's changed for Man City? Very short break AND Aguero and Jesus were injured.
Both are back now but lacking match fitness/sharpness.

It would suggest to me we are pretty good at controlling games but lack the players who can put it in the back of the net.

Not new news.
The question is whether you think this is Potter's fault or a severe lack of quality up front.

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

We were the same last year but to a lesser degree.

I spent the whole season expecting our luck to change.

Guess what, it got worse and I don't expect it to get better as it's not down to bad luck.

No, it's down to a lack of quality up top.

Last season we had a rookie kid playing his first premier league season, a championship striker playing his first premier league season and a 36 year old playing his last premier league season.

This season we have swapped the 36 year old for a free transfer coming back from two years of injuries.

There's no point blaming the manager for a lack of goals when he is being given no help from the board in tackling the obvious issue.

 

[Barham's tash]

I get the stat doomsayers won’t like this but it more than proves the methods are ‘working’ it’s the on pitch execution that isn’t.

TB will therefore still back GP and anyone hoping otherwise is blinkered to the realities of modern foo

look what Calvert-Lewin has done with proper striker coaching from Ferguson.

Said similar to someone else this week. Who would you get in?