Wasn’t Kerkez off? Robbo was on at that time.
Fixing the defence?
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I missed the game and just watched the highlights.
We've seen some ropey performances in pre-season, the community shield and now the opening game and I think first and foremost Slot just needs to sort his shit out.
We can blame individuals for poor moments but whatever Slot is telling them to do out there is putting insane stress on the defence.
For one of the goals Konate was past the halfway line in near enough a RW position. The fuck is he doing there? And if it was just him, you'd say okay, but it's part of a wider trend it would seem where the whole team is just far too open and we are constantly wondering where certain players have disappeared to.
Maybe it can just about work when you've got a couple players with superhuman abilities, e.g. a peak VVD, Kante or even Walker whose pace bailed City out countless times when they were caught up field... but for us right now it just doesn't make sense.
You can't have an attacking midfield AND two super attacking fullbacks unless you're peak Barcelona. And we're just not.
We've seen some ropey performances in pre-season, the community shield and now the opening game and I think first and foremost Slot just needs to sort his shit out.
We can blame individuals for poor moments but whatever Slot is telling them to do out there is putting insane stress on the defence.
For one of the goals Konate was past the halfway line in near enough a RW position. The fuck is he doing there? And if it was just him, you'd say okay, but it's part of a wider trend it would seem where the whole team is just far too open and we are constantly wondering where certain players have disappeared to.
Maybe it can just about work when you've got a couple players with superhuman abilities, e.g. a peak VVD, Kante or even Walker whose pace bailed City out countless times when they were caught up field... but for us right now it just doesn't make sense.
You can't have an attacking midfield AND two super attacking fullbacks unless you're peak Barcelona. And we're just not.
We need to see what's what with Gravenberch back.
There wasn't anything to like about our defence last night.
Kerkez looked horrible, Frimpong lightweight & Konate all over the place.
If Konate carries on pissing around like that then Gomez has to come in. I'd prefer Bradley at right back too at this moment. If only he could stay fit.
There wasn't anything to like about our defence last night.
Kerkez looked horrible, Frimpong lightweight & Konate all over the place.
If Konate carries on pissing around like that then Gomez has to come in. I'd prefer Bradley at right back too at this moment. If only he could stay fit.
I get that Gravenberch is a good player, and key to how we operate, but how come we're so vulnerable without him? Pure keystone cops at times. 4 goals conceded in 2 games against Palace and Bournemouth and we're lucky it wasn't more. I know Endo is nowhere near Gravy in terms of ability but doesn't it make the slightest bit of sense to play him in Gravy's absence. The evidence of the last 2 games is overwhelming.
I think the team needs to keep it a bit simple for a bit for the back four and the two more defensive midfielders. Let the others worry about interchanging and when to tuck in and all that shit, until we have some small amount of solidity.
The problem is still that's what is left is imbalanced due to Salahs defensive exemption, and that there just isn't a great outball to make up for that overall instability. Ekitike was ok at taking the long ball, and worked his arse off. If he's not on the pitch, we've got no one who can help us in that respect. If we had played Bournemouth that way, due to their pressing, we may have become quite disconnected and hoofy, instead of open and silly.
That game was insanely exhausting to watch let alone play.
Agreed. It feels like we are taking too big of a jump.
In terms of an out ball, Wirtz should really be providing that. The whole point of a technical player like him is surely that he is pressure resistant, can carry the ball and / or pick out a clean pass to get us going.
To be fair, it's a combination of things.
Things really fell apart defensively when we subbed off Frimpong and Kerkez. Frimpong does have a bit of Walker acceleration/pace about him (not the strength), and it was no surprise they scored down that side when Endo was playing RB.
The problem today wasn't necessarily "the defence", as in the back 4 (though Kerkez was shite first half, and Konate shite 2nd half).
The problem is more to do with the team's ball retention, pressing and "rest defence" to prevent transition. Right now the 3 are off.
1) Ball retention - We're losing too many easy ball in the centre of the park, trying to take more risk with Flo / Mo / Szobo / Hugo. All 4 were guilty trying to make combinations and losing it easily. This is how Palace scored twice against us, and how Bournemouth counter attacked us. It's a risk-reward thing and right now the balance isn't right. Our ball retention is also not helped by the lack of an outlet (as we had with Diaz last season). Hugo has got legs, but Flo/Mo/Gakpo don't really have the legs/strength to run with the ball under pressure to give us the outlet ball. Moreover, our defending isn't helped by:
2) The rest defence - The rest defence being poorly set up. Especially for that 2nd goal. With Macca and Gravy not on the pitch. The balance is off. Szobo lost the ball trying to a trick on the edge of the box, whilst Jones and Endo were ahead of him. Szobo was playing as a 10, and Jones/Endo were our two number 6s ahead of Szobo in the box. It's fine the midfield want to rotate, but all 3 were too advanced at the time, especially when our RB (Gomez had made an underlapping run and was in the box) and Robbo, the other FB, was playing ahead of Semenyo on the edge of the box. The score was 2-1. It was a huge risk to take, and if you take that risk, you can't afford to lose the ball easily and centrally as Mo / Szobo did. (refer back to point 1.
3) The pressing - Now this wasn't so much an issue yesterday, but it was against Palace. It's why they dominated the 2nd half against us. The pressing lines between Hugo, Mo, Cody and Flo were poor. I'd say Flo and Mo were the biggest culprits in that game. The timing, angles and coordination of their pressing was off. Yesterday we did much better in that regard and won the ball off them high a few times, which could easily resulted in goals. I saw improvements in this regard, which is a positive i'll take from the game.
Quick fixes for Slot to help the team defensively:
1) Bring back Ryan. It will help us with ball retention (his press resistance) and relatively safe passing. The rest defence should also be better as he's more positionally disciplined than Szobo.
2) Get Macca back up to full fitness. Again, this will help with points 1 and 2.
3) Get Frimpong fit (if indeed his hammy is tweaked). Frimpong has got Walker like recovery pace, which helps stop transitions, so you don't get the 4 v 2 situation for the 2nd goal. Konate would have been able to concentrate on stopping Semenyo if he didn't have to worry about the 2 players free on his outside.
4) Coach Kerkez. He's too eager to engage in physical battles and dive in. The guy needs to relax. I thought he was dreadful yesterday.
5) Coach Konate. Whilst I have sympathy for the 2nd goal. He was too high positionally for the first goal, and he was generally playing like a man whose head was in the clouds. Needs to improve his concentration.
6) Coach Szobo. If he's going to play the 8 role, he can't be emptying the centre of the pitch so frequently as much as his all-action pressing is great in the 10 role, if you're playing the 8, you need a bit more positional discipline. Especially against the better teams.
7) Talking about better teams, he might have to consider playing Flo on the wing in those games and keeping the 3 midfield players from last season there. Mind you, we haven't seen a fully fit Macca, Gravy and Flo midfield yet, so this might be perfectly fine.
8) Coach Jones and Endo. I thought there were positionally (Jones) and technically (Endo) poor, again, when they came on. Too many touches, and bad decision making on/off the ball.
9) Signings - a winger, for the outlet ball. Another striker, to allow us to rest/rotate Ekitike. Another defensive midfielder, to give us what Ryan does. Another centreback, because I'm not sure Leoni is ready and we need leadership if VVD is out.
Wo, ok thanks for that. That explains.
I'd missed the sub too as I was grabbing a pint. Grabbed my seat just in time to see Robbo at the scene of the crime.
No I saw it and cheered it but didn’t recognize him in the clips afterwards!
Cheered or jeered? 🤪
I think the problem is we can’t play Kerkez & Frimpong at the same time too often - they’re both too similar in that they want to get forward and attack - they’re both too can’t both do “a Trent” and ignore their defensive duties - particularly as Mo isn’t going to be tracking back consistently.
Adam Cleary was making the point that against Palace the problem was Wirtz and Ekitike not being up to speed on our pressing - particularly Wirtz who hesitated a few times when he needed to be decisive and close down betters.
I don’t see that as anything more than bedding in - don’t expect them to be well drilled from day one.
But still… I think we need to be mixing it up at FB with Kerkez paired with Bradley and Frimpong paired with Robbo - and if anyone’s injured their’s the Gomez option (in the event he’s also not injured).
No Endo at RB ever please.
We’re too open leaving it all to Virgil & Konate.
Adam Cleary was making the point that against Palace the problem was Wirtz and Ekitike not being up to speed on our pressing - particularly Wirtz who hesitated a few times when he needed to be decisive and close down betters.
I don’t see that as anything more than bedding in - don’t expect them to be well drilled from day one.
But still… I think we need to be mixing it up at FB with Kerkez paired with Bradley and Frimpong paired with Robbo - and if anyone’s injured their’s the Gomez option (in the event he’s also not injured).
No Endo at RB ever please.
We’re too open leaving it all to Virgil & Konate.
I still don't trust Robbo at LB, he does his stupid fouls which will cost us games if he is not careful. I think Slot wants his CDM to come in deeper which means we play with 3 at the back. If all 10 players decide to occupy the half way line and beyond, there is no one at the back let alone 3. I expect our next game we will be tighter at the back
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