[Football] What’s worse?

[Albion in the north]

For me there is no doubt that this is the most frustrating season ever. I go in to each game thinking that this will be the game that all those chances will be put away only to see us mess it up again. Eat, Drink, Watch, Repeat. Thats pretty much the definition of frustration. I feel for the guys who are now struggling to take this, mentally, during the current situation. I was the same this weekend. Something else was not going right, events that I had been looking forward to were being cancelled and on others people were making no decision at all and then to have the football of the last week on top of this, I totally get where they are coming from. All I can say is that tomorrow is another day. Im pretty much an eternal optimist but this last week or so has pushed me close.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

But he keeps getting in there.

He has the mentality which will eventually get him goals.

My feeling is that it will be elsewhere, but at his age there is every chance he will he'll have a decent career

I'd argue we don't do that very well a lot of the time. How many decent crosses have we seen this year - Solly in particular before injury - that have ended up with nothing? Saturday's case in point was in the final minutes when Moder put one in the perfect area and no-one was anywhere near it, the sort of chance Murray in particular would have been on the end of.

I understand Connolly is young and may well improve but those that thrive at this level tend to do so when given the chance especially in teams that create chances. Rooney was a stand out at the Euro's before his 20th birthday.

 

[Hugo Rune]

This has been the most frustrating season I've ever seen. We've sunk to depths of misfortune I would have said were impossible.

I agree with this.

Though looking at the back end of Hughton’s reign, we scored 1 point in a string of 6 fixtures (Southampton to Spurs) with just 6 shots on target in those 540 minutes. There was only one hope back then, the hope that Cardiff would be worse than us, luckily they were. On top of that, the football being played was the worst we’d seen since the lowest moments of Hyypia. Nothing under Potter has been that bad except the finals 25mins of the 1st half vs Wolves.

I noticed the Burnley ‘block’ on Kane’s shot alongside Dunk’s ‘block’ on Rashford’s shot earlier in the season, both just sailed in. If we’re creating so many chances now, the ball will surely find it’s way into the back of the net at some point, it seems a statistical given. That is the hope now. In the meantime, I’m loving our attacking possession based football, it is a joy to behold and helps soften the horrific downs we get as we miss big chance after big chance.

 

[blue-shifted]

I agree with this.

Though looking at the back end of Hughton’s reign, we scored 1 point in a string of 6 fixtures (Southampton to Spurs) with just 6 shots on target in those 540 minutes. There was only one hope back then, the hope that Cardiff would be worse than us, luckily they were. On top of that, the football being played was the worst we’d seen since the lowest moments of Hyypia. Nothing under Potter has been that bad except the finals 25mins of the 1st half vs Wolves.

I noticed the Burnley ‘block’ on Kane’s shot alongside Dunk’s ‘block’ on Rashford’s shot earlier in the season, both just sailed in. If we’re creating so many chances now, the ball will surely find it’s way into the back of the net at some point, it seems a statistical given. That is the hope now. In the meantime, I’m loving our attacking possession based football, it is a joy to behold and helps soften the horrific downs we get as we miss big chance after big chance.

There are horrific downs. But we won at Anfield a few weeks ago, then beat Spurs. Had a run of 6 games conceding one goal.

I wanted to punch a wall on Saturday and 2 walls on the Monday before, so there's been plenty of good moments to enjoy this season

 

[brightn'ove]

hmm what's worse, watching a team who look like they don't know how to play football, or a team that look like prime barcelona with a league two strikeforce.

football is more than goals, so definitely the first one.

 

[warmleyseagull]

Is it really a dichotomy? Doesn't 'playing well' include 'taking chances'?

Seems to me that we have ourselves in a sort of Year 0 mentality. Potter and something no-one wants to smell in year -1. Surely at the end of the day it is players that matter. Simple fact is that CH realised we don't have the class to make top 10 so survival mode; in the end we were poor at that as well. GP ripped up the book and said we'll play top 10 style and see. Curiously, they didn't end up much different in terms of results.

Endless 'polls'; 'what's wrong' threads; 'we are much better than we are because Xg says so' etc threads. They simply don't matter. All that matters is we don't have the talent to make the system work as it should and consequently farm in the lower regions. Choice is to risk it and be damned, or be Burnley or Palace. Take your choice and stick with it.

 

[whosthedaddy]

The most frustrating aspect of all is that every Albion fan was looking for our scouts to uncover a striker who'd fit the bill, and then purchase them in the last few transfer windows.

Time after time we either bought duds or worse, they failed to find anyone at all. The fans knew what was required once Murray's legs had run out of steam, we were screaming at the recruitment team to bring us the chosen one, but on this score they failed miserably, hence we are where we are.

THIS is the most frustrating thing

 

[nickjhs]

I agree, however you are missing the point. It’s of course worse footballing wise to just be crap but when did you feel more frustrated and wound up? We were woeful those last few months under Hughton but I feel more frustrated now as we promise so much and throw it all away in the final third.

I can’t imagine how Potter picks the team up after these last 3 games.

I am not missing the point. Sure I get frustrated, and btw I don't even see it as the final third, its the final kick, everything up to that point is often excellent. What I think we forget though is that many games finish as nil all draws or one nil. Which means all teams have the same issue., admittedly you have smash and grab games like Palace where they get two chances and take both, but that it not the norm. We don't have a striker that can be relied upon to get it right once or twice a game, Trossard is the most frustrating he makes his own space and yet manages to hit the woodwork so often, I don't get frustrated with Maupay any more, as I expect him to cock it up.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Is it really a dichotomy? Doesn't 'playing well' include 'taking chances'?

Seems to me that we have ourselves in a sort of Year 0 mentality. Potter and something no-one wants to smell in year -1. Surely at the end of the day it is players that matter. Simple fact is that CH realised we don't have the class to make top 10 so survival mode; in the end we were poor at that as well. GP ripped up the book and said we'll play top 10 style and see. Curiously, they didn't end up much different in terms of results.

I agree that we don’t currently have the class but that is just our front line.

If we’d been able to hire a time machine and swap Maupay, Welbeck & Connolly with the Albion League One Champions team strike force of Murray, Wood & Barnes; we’d be top 10 this season, in fact I believe we’d have more than 40 points presently.

Our finishing this season is League Two level or lower.