[Albion] What did we do differently tonight?

[Justice]

THIS!!

A big part of our lack of home success this season, is 0 fans at the Amex.

Not only does it inspire our players, it heaps pressure onto the opposition defence.
Watching Ederson ( he passes better than most outfield players, don't ya know) shank clearance after clearance out for a throw in was joyous.

I would wager that we would have won 4 or 5 othe rgames this season with fans in the stadium.

Maybe obviously last night was special after a year with no fans, if only a packed Amex could make that much noise on a regular basis it might be beneficial to the team. Then I’ve always said it’s the teams performance that creates an atmosphere

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

This, we looked like Brighton tonight, played like Brighton tonight for once we looked like we wanted to win a game of football.

We’ve looked like that many times this season and not got the rewards. Tonight things clicked, we took chances, City squandered our mistakes at the end. The opportunity we presented to them at the end was no different to the West Ham game really, just the City player found the back of the South stand rather than in off the post.

 

[Guinness Boy]

For those who were there or for those who watched on TV (sadly, I was unable to do either) - what did we do differently tonight that resulted in scoring THREE goals and overcoming a 2 goal deficit vs the PL Champions?

Yes, I appreciate that we were playing against 10 men, but then we did vs. Sheffield United and still huffed and puffed to a miserable 1-1 draw (although we did, predictably, blow some guilt-edged chances to win that one).

I imgaine the 8,000+ in the stadium more than played their part but did we play noticeably differently to create and convert our chances?

Without reading the whole thread you've covered a fair bit of it. For me there were a number of differences:

1) Played against 10 men for 80 minutes. An 11 man City wouldn't have let us have that much of the ball or push up that much.
2) Let in fans. I was there and have no voice this morning and I was in the ESU Library. The fans were incredible. We pretty much sucked the ball in to the net in the second half
3) Finished well. At last - see also 4 below
4) Had some luck - at last
5) Took off Ali J. It wasn't his night. Lallana ran the show when he came on.
6) Great team spirit. The pile on Dan Burn was incredible. I'm not saying the team spirit is always BAD because it doesn't seem to be but we were missing the one who sulks....
7) There was some great analysis of our positional play on MOTD. We loaded central midfield and overloaded them on our left. Moder was absolutely outstanding but Biss was so solid in the middle and our centre backs confident enough to push on. It does go back to point one. You don't leave just Adam Webster back when you're playing an 11 man City but I feel Potter learned from that Sheffield United game and came up with the perfect strategy against 10.
8) Didn't panic when we went 2 down. Not sure if that would or would not happen without fans. We'll never know.
9) The controversial one - Potter's mask slipping after the first. I know there's been a side debate about him "showing passion" and I don't think any of us really want a Steve Evans style pressure cooker on the sideline, but personally I like that he over celebrated the first, He shouldn't have told himself off.

 

[Swansman]

Imo the football was similar to what we've seen all season though it was obvious that the crowd helped bringing in some extra energy.

The main difference was that City didnt pack their penalty area with players at all times. That BDB goal doesnt happen against CP or Sheffield etc. How to solve the problems of opponents parking the bus should and most likely will be one of the highest priorities to work on in the pre-season. Its one of the most difficult things in football and I'm not expecting to beat every single team that plays like that, but just improving it a little bit would mean a lot.

Then I’ve always said it’s the teams performance that creates an atmosphere

That is no law of nature - its up to you if you are a supporter (carrying the team) or a spectator (getting carried by it).

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

Without reading the whole thread you've covered a fair bit of it. For me there were a number of differences:

1) Played against 10 men for 80 minutes. An 11 man City wouldn't have let us have that much of the ball or push up that much.
2) Let in fans. I was there and have no voice this morning and I was in the ESU Library. The fans were incredible. We pretty much sucked the ball in to the net in the second half
3) Finished well. At last - see also 4 below
4) Had some luck - at last
5) Took off Ali J. It wasn't his night. Lallana ran the show when he came on.
6) Great team spirit. The pile on Dan Burn was incredible. I'm not saying the team spirit is always BAD because it doesn't seem to be but we were missing the one who sulks....
7) There was some great analysis of our positional play on MOTD. We loaded central midfield and overloaded them on our left. Moder was absolutely outstanding but Biss was so solid in the middle and our centre backs confident enough to push on. It does go back to point one. You don't leave just Adam Webster back when you're playing an 11 man City but I feel Potter learned from that Sheffield United game and came up with the perfect strategy against 10.
8) Didn't panic when we went 2 down. Not sure if that would or would not happen without fans. We'll never know.
9) The controversial one - Potter's mask slipping after the first. I know there's been a side debate about him "showing passion" and I don't think any of us really want a Steve Evans style pressure cooker on the sideline, but personally I like that he over celebrated the first, He shouldn't have told himself off.

We might not have had as much of the ball, but the reverse fixture suggested we were just a bit of belief/ being clinical from getting a result at their place. 2 down, 10 men or not, that was massive to come back.

Point 8. all season our spirit has been great, it really has. Conceding that second straight after HT would have knocked the stuffing out of many teams and you wouldn’t blame them either. All season we’ve taken some massive knock backs and always come out fighting. Not always got the results of course, but always looked like we have that spirit.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Without reading the whole thread you've covered a fair bit of it. For me there were a number of differences:

1) Played against 10 men for 80 minutes. An 11 man City wouldn't have let us have that much of the ball or push up that much.
2) Let in fans. I was there and have no voice this morning and I was in the ESU Library. The fans were incredible. We pretty much sucked the ball in to the net in the second half
3) Finished well. At last - see also 4 below
4) Had some luck - at last
5) Took off Ali J. It wasn't his night. Lallana ran the show when he came on.
6) Great team spirit. The pile on Dan Burn was incredible. I'm not saying the team spirit is always BAD because it doesn't seem to be but we were missing the one who sulks....
7) There was some great analysis of our positional play on MOTD. We loaded central midfield and overloaded them on our left. Moder was absolutely outstanding but Biss was so solid in the middle and our centre backs confident enough to push on. It does go back to point one. You don't leave just Adam Webster back when you're playing an 11 man City but I feel Potter learned from that Sheffield United game and came up with the perfect strategy against 10.
8) Didn't panic when we went 2 down. Not sure if that would or would not happen without fans. We'll never know.
9) The controversial one - Potter's mask slipping after the first. I know there's been a side debate about him "showing passion" and I don't think any of us really want a Steve Evans style pressure cooker on the sideline, but personally I like that he over celebrated the first, He shouldn't have told himself off.

All of this.

Was a shame Welbeck came off as he looked ‘hungry’, but Trossard was outstanding.

However, Maybe controversial but perhaps we are better without both our forwards (which would normally include Maupay), as we had more control and the movement was a lot better...

 

[Guinness Boy]

We might not have had as much of the ball, but the reverse fixture suggested we were just a bit of belief/ being clinical from getting a result at their place. 2 down, 10 men or not, that was massive to come back.

Point 8. all season our spirit has been great, it really has. Conceding that second straight after HT would have knocked the stuffing out of many teams and you wouldn’t blame them either. All season we’ve taken some massive knock backs and always come out fighting. Not always got the results of course, but always looked like we have that spirit.

I took the bolded bit as the point of the thread. With a bit more belief and better finishing we'd probably be in or around where Leeds are.

Fair enough on point 8. I've never felt the dressing room had been "lost" except for during the first half against Wolves at home. Maupay coming straight out and winning the penalty put that one to bed and that was probably the season's turning point. But compare and contrast to the last time we played City at home and conceded from everywhere. Same coach, many of the same players (not Lallana and Moder though), very different result.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

All of this.

Was a shame Welbeck came off as he looked ‘hungry’, but Trossard was outstanding.

However, Maybe controversial but perhaps we are better without both our forwards (which would normally include Maupay), as we had more control and the movement was a lot better...

I’ve said quite a few times Maupay has a bit of space when he drops because he doesn’t cause any panic. You have Trossard coming at you from those spaces when he’s in the mood (and he was last night) and you’re panicking as City did, throw a few other players like Moder right on their game, and things start to open up. Without a focal point, you’re right everyone took responsibility for looking to get a chance.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Maybe obviously last night was special after a year with no fans, if only a packed Amex could make that much noise on a regular basis it might be beneficial to the team. Then I’ve always said it’s the teams performance that creates an atmosphere

It's a bit of both in my experience.
A team's performance can kill a good atmosphere every bit as much as a good one will enliven the crowd.

I've been saying for a while that the sort of performances the team have put in this season would have had the Amex rocking.

The Palace/Villa/United/Liverpool games yielded just 2 points.
But the performances were really good. A home crowd would have tipped the balance in those game, IMO.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

We wore the stripes. Took me a long time to realise but we are blue and white. Let’s not go back.

Oh and probably playing against 10 men with an eye on champions league and the euros. But let’s make no mistake we showed tonight the team we could have been all season.

Had exactly the same experience, probably 30 minutes in (and after I'd noticed the 21/22 kit ad on the big screen) until I realised.
Nice kit

 

[Justice]

It's a bit of both in my experience.
A team's performance can kill a good atmosphere every bit as much as a good one will enliven the crowd.

I've been saying for a while that the sort of performances the team have put in this season would have had the Amex rocking.

The Palace/Villa/United/Liverpool games yielded just 2 points.
But the performances were really good. A home crowd would have tipped the balance in those game, IMO.

Next season we will hopefully find out.

 

[Originunknown]

We didn't conspire against ourselves to throw it away. We almost did but held the nerve. Magnificent.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

I don't see that we did a lot different. The team selection hardly drew hopes of three goals, but enforced changes and all, it did.
The shots went in for a change. Luck was with us . I wonder if the players felt less stress because nobody expected a win? Anyway, we got the reward for all the hard work . Bring on The Arsenal !

 

[cjd]

Very strange how last nights game almost mirrored the Wolves v Man City game in 2019.

Man city have player sent off in 12 th minute.

They go 2-0 up in the 50th minute .

They eventually lose 3-2.

 

[Simster]

80 mins against 10 men, meant they were very thin in attack. But we got at their defence and rattled them, and won the midfield battle too. Great performance, notwithstanding giving away a couple of soft goals. I’m going to enjoy this for a few days

As I said on the match thread, it was an outstanding performance and an absolute object lesson on how to run 10 men ragged. For all but occasional 2 or 3 minute spells, it was utterly relentless. And of course, we did something we haven't done all season - we took our chances. Our xG in this game was actually quite low at 1.3 (Man City was 0.97).

Had we got at Sheffield United like that, we'd have beaten them 6-1.

[MENTION=70]Easy 10[/MENTION] is right though, Ali J needs to be moved on.

 

[zefarelly]

Shoot the ball in between the goal sticks.

this, shoot and score. . . . rocket science not required.