What's Our Problem???

Coverage of the Championship is spotty at best over here in the USA, so I've only managed to see the season opener and the first half of the Newcastle game... So, I'm asking you guys, what's going on? Why can't we win a game? On paper, we have an amazing squad for the Championship. Are our tactics and team selections that bad or are the players not performing and it's last season all over again?

In the games I've watched on TV, our problem has been the midfield 2. It's nowhere near mobile or aggressive enough to protect the back four, and nowhere near creative enough to supply our forwards. They have no goals in them either.

When we play a midfield 3 with Tshibola, things improve massively; we have the extra man to defend and the lad gets forward well.

Sadly our strikers are missing sitters and I do think that as the pressure to get a win has grown, they're simply fluffing their lines.

But against PNE, the manager showed us why we are in the state we're in; when it's clear to just about everyone that Jedi is too slow, that Westwood is struggling massively and that Tish is our in-form midfielder, the manager drops Tish and plays the other two. Then after Westwood gifted them a goal, he takes him off. He doesn't replace him with Tish or Green or any other midfielder. He just takes him off.

So now we just have Jedinobody in the midfield (4-1-5) who is too slow to chase and can't pass other than a long hoof.

Reports were that it was end-to-end football with them coming through the middle (no shit) and then us hoofing it to one of our five forwards.

The problem is the manager. The two kids we offloaded to them were, apparently, two of the best players on the pitch. PNE have done something we couldn't do; get them performing and get them motivated.

RDM has no motivational skills. He has no idea who his best players are. He has bought all these strikers and seems obliged to play them all. He has no tactical clue at all and, when the pressure is on he panics and plays Under 7's football - everyone up front and just hit it.

Not for one second did I think that a manager who got West Brom promoted and guided Chelsea to the Champions a league so could be so utterly utterly clueless. But there it is for all the world to see.

We need a new manager to help us get a little bit of confidence back....not throu any sports psychologist but through shear personality. A manager who will get at least one midfield free agent to see us through to January and then motor on from there.

Our problem lies with our peanut headed meerkat looking manager

It's weird, we have some good players, well for this level at least and yet i have absolutely zero confidence in what i'm watching! We should be there or there abouts and yet the "good" strikers we have keep missing sitters, hitting the woodwork or just going missing... Oh add missing penalties to the list now too!

Our midfield is frankly just a mess from what i've seen with slow, weak players (apart from Tshibola who looks promising in flashes). and that's it! Oh and the new keeper keeps making errors too but the back up keepers don't know how to keep a clean sheet!

It's hard to take to be honest. You can see potential in brief flashes but just nowhere near enough for my liking.

Villa_Dan wrote:Our problem lies with our peanut headed meerkat looking manager

This is our one and only problem!

As Trotters has pointed out, we're lacking midfield and leadership. Gueye apparently told RDM and the good Dr he was staying, and they were a little pissed off when he jumped ship. Quite where we were with the transfer negotiations for Sanchez and Veretout I don't know, but somehow we've ended up with Tish (young, played very little for Reading and spent most of last season injured), Jedi (not so young, doesn't appear to have the legs yet), Westwood (can't defend, can't shoot, can distribute well) and Gardner (not sure what's happening really). Sanchez on at 60 or 70 minutes would properly defend our defence (remember he was the only player who worked in Garde's 4-1-4-1?) and I reckon Veretout is a really good player who would have thrived in the Championship alongside Gueye. If we had the option to bring back Sanchez and/or Veretout in January I think we should, although if we don't I fully expect Xia to be bringing in a new midfield. Let's face it, Jedi and Tish should be the backup. Bear in mind at RB to cover De Laet we have Richards, Hutton and Bacuna.
Another issue for me was allowing Clark and Okore to go when they should have been the first choice pairing for us last season, let alone this season. Baker is a very good backup for Chester but he's not a right-sided player, and all we have to cover Elphick is... Richards.
We already had Ayew (I think he was statistically the best player in the Championship last season) and Gestede, I wonder if buying both Kodjia and McCormack was such a good idea. McCormack would have been my preference, or making Ayew our number 10 and leaving him there, but maybe RDM and Xia were trying to buy more defenders and midfielders and it didn't work out?
I'm not going to bother with RDM but it's all gone wrong and I don't see how it can come back for him.
Jordan Lyden just signed a new contract and is a defensive midfielder. Could he, Tish and Jedi make a three-man midfield? Ayew, McCormack and Kodjia up front and perhaps Adomah and Green on the bench with Gestede to turn it into a 4-4-2 if we have the luxury of making two subs (the two wingers) or even all three (with Gestede and Kodjia up front)?

We did drop a clanger though with Sanchez, Veretout, Okore and Clark going. I think we'd be further up the table if they were still here.

Westwood (can't defend, can't shoot, can distribute well)

Westwood can only distribute sideways or backwards we need someone who does forwards as well!

"We did drop a clanger though with Sanchez, Veretout, Okore and Clark going. I think we'd be further up the table if they were still here."

I don't.

I think our problem consists of three issues.

1) our midfield is shite. Was a huge mistake not signing replacements for Westwood and Gardner and Jedinak clearly doesn't have the legs anymore. Should have kept either Veretout or Sanchez for cover, but who could know Gardner was such a horrible footballer, even in the Championship. Either I don't think it would have made much difference.

2) we have way too many new players. They simply have not gelled at all. Remember when city tried buying the world in 2008 and they couldn't win for toffee, or PDC at Sunderland. Buying a whole new set of players requires a LOT of time to get synced. Right now we have eleven individuals and that's a big big part of the problem. That's why we have so many personal mistakes and akward passes. This is the second summer running we have signed a lot of first teamers. Not ideal.

3) RDM. A former central midfielder that struggles when his team has s two man midfield and thinks the solution is 415. It's like he thinks evefything will be ok, if we let all the strikers play. I'm usually a patient man, but he's lost me. Too many shit tactics, wrong subs. and not signing a couple of reliable CMs is unforgivable.

DelboyVilla wrote:

Westwood (can't defend, can't shoot, can distribute well)

Westwood can only distribute sideways or backwards we need someone who does forwards as well!

"...and that slide-rule, defence-splitting pass from Westwood...." said no commentator ever.

As for Veretout, I think he could have been brilliant in this league but it's all about the attitude and his is bad so we're well shot.

Lyden needs a run. He always looked decent. And I think Sanchez needs to be recalled provided the attitude is right.

Add a free agent into the mix, change the manager for someone who has a clue and we'll be back on our way soon enough.

Play the same side for more than one fecking game would be my guess.
To many changes going on and Westwood should never be on the pitch unless we are 10 nil up!!!!!

Trotters wrote:

DelboyVilla wrote:

Westwood (can't defend, can't shoot, can distribute well)

Westwood can only distribute sideways or backwards we need someone who does forwards as well!

"...and that slide-rule,  defence-splitting pass from Westwood...." said no commentator ever.

Like that round at the end of Mock the Week 'Things you will never hear a football commentator say'.

Our problem is who is doing the training, 
Because it is not showing on the pitch were it matters,
The manager should be telling the coaching staff what he wants, and his assistant manager, why is this not working?
We have spent large amounts of money in both seasons and still it's the same old shit being served up.
Westwood was out played by one of our youngsters, why are we not bringing on our youth team, and we sent away some decent midfield and defenders, who could have been better then what we have now.

When Robinson and Johnson did that simple one-two and sliced us open, I wanted to cry.

Pass and move shouldn't be hard to teach.

Trotters wrote:When Robinson and Johnson did that simple one-two and sliced us open, I wanted to cry.

Pass and move shouldn't be hard to teach.

Thats the first thing you learn as a footballer, why we can't do it is beyond me, we can all see that our midfield is the problem, no help going forward no cover when defending, with what we have I would like to see the Jedi, Tish & try Lyden, leave out Ayew, Grealish is a luxury at the moment we need grafters, see what happens, you can have him and other strikers on the bench to change it around if needed, it can't do any worse now can it.