Arrogant Set Piece Keith's Colony of Cockneys vs Sexy Tindall's 6 Foot + Emerald Green Monsters

[YorkshireExile 88]

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Howe will sort the Woltemade situation.

 

I'm not really sure where Woltemade gets in the team when Wissa is back. 

[Gemmill 63116]

2 minutes ago, YorkshireExile said:

 

I'm not really sure where Woltemade gets in the team when Wissa is back. 

 

Well Eddie Howe bought him knowing he was also gonna sign Wissa, so he'll know.

[YorkshireExile 88]

Or he bought him because he was desperate and had money to spend? Back then the Wissa deal was looking unlikely so doubt Howe was planning how to play them together. Had we already bought Wissa (or someone else) I doubt Woltemade would have ever been on the radar. Now Howe has the problem of how to use a player he's spent 70m on who doesn't fit the style of play he prefers, and that's now showing in the performances.

[Holden McGroin 9890]

Strand-Larsen and (I think) Sesko don't run in behind as well so I think we were after a different type of player to compliment Wissa.

[Gemmill 63116]

2 minutes ago, YorkshireExile said:

Or he bought him because he was desperate and had money to spend? Back then the Wissa deal was looking unlikely so doubt Howe was planning how to play them together. Had we already bought Wissa (or someone else) I doubt Woltemade would have ever been on the radar. Now Howe has the problem of how to use a player he's spent 70m on who doesn't fit the style of play he prefers, and that's now showing in the performances.

 

Howe's mantra from the word go has been that we can't afford to make expensive mistakes in the transfer market, so it seems unlikely we would have departed from that. 

 

I think you're wrong that we wouldn't have bought Woltemade if we had signed Wissa btw. We were looking for Wissa plus a big money striker signing all summer. 

[YorkshireExile 88]

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I think you're wrong that we wouldn't have bought Woltemade if we had signed Wissa btw.

 

Well whatever the plan was it's been exposed by unforeseen events. Seems to me the need to adapt to a new style of play forced by the introduction of Woltemade (not his fault BTW, I feel sorry for the lad) has had a negative impact across the whole team. They just don't seem to know what to do going forward, probably due to a lack of training time, and that's resulted in some individuals losing the plot. The last two performances have all the hallmarks of an unhappy camp who are frustrated, not trusting each other and not liking the way they're being asked to play. 

[Holden McGroin 9890]

A lot of our identity over the past few years has been fast, expositive attacks, often on the counter attack.  Thats just not there anymore. I think Howe wanted to add an extra dimension to our play. Maybe use Big Nick  against certain opposition to utilise a game plan. Whatever it is , it's not working at the moment. Realistically Wissa is going to take weeks to get upto speed after his debut so I don't see a quick fix here.

 

Im chilled though, I'd take 10th and a couple of good cup runs again. We need to have perspective of where we come from and as long as the players are still buying into it, then the manager should be safe.

 

 

Edited November 10 by Holden McGroin

[Craig 12368]

The problem with our identity being the fast counter-attacking attacks is that we're trying to do it 2-3 years down the line with largely the same, and aging personnel. We can't lose sight of the fact Trippier is now 35, Schar 34, Burn 33, Murphy 30. Even Joelinton, Barnes & Bruno are 28+. 

I'm not saying they're past it, but we need to be mindful of that in our approach to games. If we're sticking with those players we need to adapt the system; if we want to rigidly stick to a system, we need to offload and re-invest. What we can't keep doing is continue trying to get the same output out them for time immemorial. And that's before you factor in other teams working out how to deal with us - West Ham and Brentford had both clearly done their homework.

[Holden McGroin 9890]

Ive been saying it since the the 2022/23 season that Howe needs to evolve to a more technical and less intense style of play if we are to be more successful in all competitions. Its great to watch when are suffocating teams then explode with a few quick fire goals to kill the game but its too intense (especially as you say with ageing players) to keep it up for 2 games per week.

 

Im happy to follow Howe though. He has done more than enough to earn a "down" season or 2. The grass isn't always greener.

 

 

[YorkshireExile 88]

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I'd take 10th and a couple of good cup runs again

 

I reckon mid-table is nailed on this year. With the personnel and spending power at our disposal expecting to be in the top 5 every season on top of cups/euro games is unrealistic. Better to be in and out of the CL though than in and out of the championship or the perennial relegation battles of the Bruce years. Some people have very short memories.

 

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We can't lose sight of the fact Trippier is now 35, Schar 34, Burn 33, Murphy 30. Even Joelinton, Barnes & Bruno are 28+. 

 

This too. We're definitely looking a bit old. Getting younger blood in either through the academy or from elsewhere needs to be top priority for the new DoF.

[Holden McGroin 9890]

Bruno and Barnes are still 27 btw. Even 28 is still prime anyway. Agree about defence although a first choice defence might be Tino-Thiaw-Botman-Hall which suddenly looks quite youthful. 

[NobbySol 414]

51 minutes ago, Craig said:

The problem with our identity being the fast counter-attacking attacks is that we're trying to do it 2-3 years down the line with largely the same, and aging personnel. We can't lose sight of the fact Trippier is now 35, Schar 34, Burn 33, Murphy 30. Even Joelinton, Barnes & Bruno are 28+. 

I'm not saying they're past it, but we need to be mindful of that in our approach to games. If we're sticking with those players we need to adapt the system; if we want to rigidly stick to a system, we need to offload and re-invest. What we can't keep doing is continue trying to get the same output out them for time immemorial. And that's before you factor in other teams working out how to deal with us - West Ham and Brentford had both clearly done their homework.

 

I think you're totally spot on. You saw with Liverpool teams that play ultra aggresive high press, with continuous sprints - they need to be replaced every few years especially early 30s.

 

You can't have the luxury of having 2 or 3 who don't press in a system and tactic like that. It is all or nothing, or there will be exposure between lines. Fine margins.

 

Trippier, Schar and Burn don't appear to be able to as well in that regard anymore.

 

Murphy is immensely frustrating but loveable in the same breath. He's not got the engine and is very weak in the tackle. 

 

Joelinton looks like he's carrying an injury and would benefit from a number of weeks out.

 

Bruno and Tonali are playing 2 games a week, without breaks, both in club and then international duty. Hasn't effected Tonali as much but you can see neither are pressing as we have historically, or head out on a solo mission.

 

I think we are suffering from an identity change but haven’t worked out where we are going yet. Alternatively, they're all aligned but it's taking time.

 

We have an aging squad that needs replacing gradually and are stung considerably when a full back is out or when wingers aren't on form. Don't seem to alter at all from 433.

 

Appreciate I'm offering no solutions 

Edited November 10 by NobbySol

[YorkshireExile 88]

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Bruno and Tonali are playing 2 games a week, without breaks, both in club and then international duty.

 

Which begs the question of why the hell didn't Howe play Miley against Brentford? It's frustrating that he constantly goes on about what an important and talented player he is but can't bring himself to pick him when an obvious opportunity presents itself. He isn't going to get any better sitting on his backside, and Bruno/Tonali will just get worse the more games they're asked to play. Same goes for Joelinton and Ramsey.

[The Fish 12555]

24 minutes ago, YorkshireExile said:

 

Which begs the question of why the hell didn't Howe play Miley against Brentford? It's frustrating that he constantly goes on about what an important and talented player he is but can't bring himself to pick him when an obvious opportunity presents itself. He isn't going to get any better sitting on his backside, and Bruno/Tonali will just get worse the more games they're asked to play. Same goes for Joelinton and Ramsey.

 

 

Because Miley isn't as good as the favoured 3. I think it was an act of desperation/reliance from Howe. He knows the games of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton inside out. He knows that the first two can be the spark that delivers a performance. He'd rather gamble on tired better quality, than fresh youthful exuberance.

[Dougle 4598]

8 minutes ago, The Fish said:

 

 

Because Miley isn't as good as the favoured 3. I think it was an act of desperation/reliance from Howe. He knows the games of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton inside out. He knows that the first two can be the spark that delivers a performance. He'd rather gamble on tired better quality, than fresh youthful exuberance.

 

Have you been watching Joelinton's recent performances?

[YorkshireExile 88]

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Because Miley isn't as good as the favoured 3

And he never will be if not given the opportunity to play. I could understand if the favoured three maintained a decent standard, even if tired, but they've been consistently average (and that's being generous) in most of our away games this season.

[The Fish 12555]

1 minute ago, Dougle said:

 

Have you been watching Joelinton's recent performances?

[Dougle 4598]

You ok hun?

[Craig 12368]

Favouring certain individuals is one of Howe's few flaws. Pope, Burn, Joelinton & Gordon have all got the nod at times this season based on his trust in them, rather than him thinking more pragmatically. 

In a perverse sense, the Champions League IS easier than the Premier League - not many in the CL play with the same speed an intensity as those in the PL do and I think we're finding those matches tougher - it's very easy to draw the view that the PL is easier than the CL. 

Demonstrates to me that we're still some way short of the likes of Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool in that they're able to sustain a CL campaign and still do enough in the league to qualify for it again next season. We're currently in a similar place to Villa, Spurs & Man Utd. 

The next level for us is to achieve repeated CL qualification year on year. If that means we exit the tournament after the league stage then we may just have to do that. 

[The Fish 12555]

1 minute ago, Dougle said:

You ok hun?

I figured if you were allowed to reply to my post with some non sequitur, so could I.

[Dougle 4598]

4 minutes ago, The Fish said:

I figured if you were allowed to reply to my post with some non sequitur, so could I.

 

Of course it fucking follows. You were talking about Eddie Howe playing (tired) players with better quality over young, exuberant, perhaps less talented players, and I was simply pointing out that Joelinton has certainly not looked some kind of massive talent over the last few games. So yes, it is relevant.

[Gemmill 63116]

He played Joelinton v Brentford cos of their set piece threat. Simple as that. Now you can both stop bickering. 

[Holden McGroin 9890]

Miley is 3cm taller than Joelinton.

[Gemmill 63116]

4 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

Miley is 3cm taller than Joelinton.

 

So? There isn't a player in the Premier League that wouldn't rather come up against Miley in a physical challenge. 

Edited November 10 by Gemmill

[Holden McGroin 9890]

I think the point is he is still a big lad. He is hardly Ryan Fraser.,