Season prospects

[Tannochsidebear 2,320]

I enjoyed reading that OP, thanks @JFK-1!

 

I am not quite in the overly optimistic group just yet, quietly hopeful would best sum up my feelings just now and the main reason for that is that, in the last 2 friendlies and the progres game, our old failings of working the ball from side to side and back again, at a pace a packed defence can cope with, gets us nowhere more often than not. We are good at creating half chances, not so good at taking them. We mostly refuse to shoot from distance, which means the defence dont have to rush out to close us down 25 yards out, they can keep their 18 yard line shape solid so there are no gaps to try to slip a pass into, so most of our attacks end up with a wide player throwing a hopeful ball into the middle to be chewed up by the defenders.

 

We are much better in open play when we win the ball high up the pitch before the opponent has the chance to regroup the Alamo along the 18 yard line, and we get most of our goals this way, but against a team like Killie, Livvy, and lets face it about 9 of the 11 opponents we will face domestically, they know fine well they just have to frustrate us and be well organised along the 18 yard line and they will keep our chances to half-chances or crosses.

 

I have seen nothing so far to see that this has changed. We have replaced Kent & Candieas, neither of which made much inroads against such defences, with Jones and Stewart/Ojo and I i'm not sure this is going to change our fortunes much. IMO we still need that master craftsmen who unlocks these defences, can get shots on target from 20-25 yards, and get goals.

[DMAA 3,603]

6 minutes ago, Tannochsidebear said:

I am not quite in the overly optimistic group just yet

I was quite annoyed to see a headline today about Ojo saying we were the best team in Scotland. When will our players learn to do their talking on the park?

[DMAA 3,603]

19 minutes ago, Tannochsidebear said:

I have seen nothing so far to see that this has changed. We have replaced Kent & Candieas, neither of which made much inroads against such defences, with Jones and Stewart/Ojo and I i'm not sure this is going to change our fortunes much. IMO we still need that master craftsmen who unlocks these defences, can get shots on target from 20-25 yards, and get goals

Good post and I do agree but I wouldn't go quite as far as you. We've found it far easier to play through teams since switching to the 4-3-2-1. Up until March we struggled badly against the top 6, a fact that some in our support didn't want to face up to. In the final 6-7 games of the season (let's not count the last game) we brushed them all aside. We definitely still lacked final product (my total exasperation with Kent's final ball is well documented on this forum), but despite that we still eventually found a way through.

 

The formation change has been like a new signing. Arfield a prime example, same player but a different position where he is like a new signing because it uses his abilities far better. And that's not to mention that the additions of Aribo, Davis and Kamara make us far more creative there (Aribo in particular). 

 

I still totally agree with you that we haven't found that creative central attacking midfielder and I wish we had signed one but I think we are definitely less in need of one than we were and I hold out hold for Stewart and Murphy to pass through defences and score from that position when they get up to speed.

Edited July 30, 2019 by DMAA

[Tannochsidebear 2,320]

11 minutes ago, DMAA said:

I was quite annoyed to see a headline today about Ojo saying we were the best team in Scotland. When will our players learn to do their talking on the park?

Spot on, it was plastered all across every paper as far as I could see. We really must educate our new players in how the gutter press operates up here, and remind them that we say nothing until we have achieved something. It only gives your opponents increased motivation and adds nothing to our cause, so STFU!!

[DMAA 3,603]

Just now, Tannochsidebear said:

Spot on, it was plastered all across every paper as far as I could see. We really must educate our new players in how the gutter press operates up here, and remind them that we say nothing until we have achieved something. It only gives your opponents increased motivation and adds nothing to our cause, so STFU!!

Neil Lennon was gifted an opportunity to come across as the level headed mature one by "shrugging it off".

[DMAA 3,603]

3 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Good post and I do agree but I wouldn't go quite as far as you. We've found it far easier to play through teams since switching to the 4-3-2-1. Up until March we struggled badly against the top 6, a fact that some in our support didn't want to face up to. In the final 6-7 games of the season (let's not count the last game) we brushed them all aside. We definitely still lacked final product (my total exasperation with Kent's final ball is well documented on this forum), but despite that we still eventually found a way through.

 

The formation change has been like a new signing. Arfield a prime example, same player but a different position where he is like a new signing because it uses his abilities far better. And that's not to mention that the additions of Aribo, Davis and Kamara make us far more creative there (Aribo in particular). 

 

I still totally agree with you that we haven't found that creative central attacking midfielder and I wish we had signed one but I think we are definitely less in need of one than we were and I hold out hold for Stewart and Murphy to pass through defences and score from that position when they get up to speed.

@Tannochsidebear if you didn't get round to reading the modern fitba article I started a thread about yesterday I'd recommend it because it explains the above very well

[Tannochsidebear 2,320]

1 minute ago, DMAA said:

Good post and I do agree but I wouldn't go quite as far as you. We've found it far easier to play through teams since switching to the 4-3-2-1. Up until March we struggled badly against the top 6, a fact that some in our support didn't want to face up to. In the final 6-7 games of the season (let's not count the last game) we brushed them all aside. We definitely still lacked final product (I've gone over my total exasperation at Kent's final ball enough on this forum), but despite that we still eventually found a way through.

 

The formation change has been like a new signing. Arfield a prime example, same player but a different position where he is like a new signing because it uses his abilities far better. And that's not to mention that the additions of Aribo, Davis and Kamara make us far more creative there (Aribo in particular). 

 

I still totally agree with you that we haven't found that creative central attacking midfielder and I wish we had signed one but I think we are definitely less in need of one than we were and I hold out hold for Stewart and Murphy to pass through defences and score from that position when they get up to speed.

I have high hopes for Murphy if he can get himself fully fit and in form he will be a first pick as he is simply better than the other options. I agree to a certain extent that in the latter part of last season we looked a lot better, however the league was gone by then, and most of our opponents had nothing to play for, so those results need scaled down a bit, and we cant just say omit Killie, as it brought to light all our old failings again!

 

Arfield is a favourite of mine, I love players who drift in unnoticed into the box and score goals, the way he does that reminds me a bit of Ian Durrant (pre-injury). Putting him into that position centrally is ideal for him and that has been the biggest positive from the formation change for me.

[Briton 314]

2 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

 

Usually the favourite pick when naming the greatest Liverpool player. It is hard to argue, but he was part of a world-class ensemble, his genius as an individual flourishing in a team already Champions of Europe when he signed in 1977"

 

 

 

It used to be Billy Liddell back in the day...apparently they were known as Liddelpool in his time. 

 

Good post BTW.

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Briton

[Bill 13,717]

Prospects for the season ahead?

 

I expect us to get off to a slower start than we'd like and the clocks will have gone back before we settle to any consistency. I think Celtic will go into an early lead and it won't be until after New Year that we begin to peg them back, with us only clinching number 55 in the last couple of weeks of the season.

[DMAA 3,603]

23 minutes ago, Tannochsidebear said:

I agree to a certain extent that in the latter part of last season we looked a lot better, however the league was gone by then, and most of our opponents had nothing to play for, so those results need scaled down a bit, and we cant just say omit Killie, as it brought to light all our old failings again!

That is massively underplaying the benefits of the new system and overlaying the role of other factors imo. The article explains very well how our opposition didn’t know how to counteract it. 

 

And the Kilmarnock game did no such thing. Aside from the fact they were playing for 3rd place we dropped Arfield, Tavernier and Davis, each were huge in that run of wins but none more so than Arfield who is integral to the formation working.

 

I think it’s fair to say we agree on a lot but just not quite on everything.