crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 57 minutes ago, capt_oats said: Kelly coming flying out his goal at Tynecastle to needlessly concede the penalty and again the other night against St Mirren for Brophy's first goal being examples. I honestly struggle to apportion any blame to Kelly in the St. Mirren goal, Mugabi just let Brophy run right across and gifted him a one-on-one chance. I don’t see what Kelly could have done other than come out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 16 minutes ago, 'WellDel said: A couple of competent full backs would be nice, but oh, for some fucking midfielders. I actually feel for them. They haven't been great by any stretch, but they're stuck betwixt and between. If they go forward, the central midfielders are barely dropping in to cover, the wide players end up either drifting inside or so high that they're f**k all use defensively. If they stay back and defend, we're absolutely over run in midfield because having three central guys doing more or less the same thing ends up super narrow. It also seems to be that we're quite happy to cede the wings and let crosses come in and we're confident we'll defend them, which is probably fine a lot of the time, but today was absolutely hopeless because they'll just keep coming again and again. I'm not entirely sure, I'll go back and look, but I'm pretty sure about half the goals we concede are from full-backs actually getting forward like they're presumably being asked to and then the whole thing going to pot. The whole thing ends up constantly looking like we're playing with a man down, because you're asking guys to be in two places at once. You're also susceptible to a ball in behind (like Brophy x2) because you have to ask your defenders to be so high, and presumably, again, asking your fullbacks to somehow fucking cover because they have pace. It doesn't work, and it'd a fucking mess. The squad we have is better than its showing without question, and it is being utilised in the wrong way, imo. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 (edited) 29 minutes ago, crazylegsjoe_mfc said: I honestly struggle to apportion any blame to Kelly in the St. Mirren goal, Mugabi just let Brophy run right across and gifted him a one-on-one chance. I don’t see what Kelly could have done other than come out. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of blame to spread around with that goal. It just kind of felt like he committed then second guessed himself (probably after conceding the penalty against Hearts) so checked out about 6 yards away from Brophy and kind of left himself in no mans land. If you've come out that far just keep going (without launching yourself at his feet obvs). Edited October 31, 2021 by capt_oats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Also, again, as with Jota's, why is he trying to cover his far post? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 We're in unanimous agreement of a few things here: Sean Goss is absolutely fucking dug meat. Our tactics are also dug meat. Whatever the f**k Alexander is trying to implement here he cannot honestly say he's watched us in the last few weeks and thought "aye this is sound". @thisGRAEME's picked it apart in more detail than I will here but it's just dung. There's a half decent team in this massively unbalanced squad but this 4-3-3 set up is absolutely not the way to get it to work. I don't think it's unfair to say that there should be serious questions asked of Alexander after today. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZX1886 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 (edited) Alexander talking about the red card effecting the game is strange, O’Donnell wasn’t sent off until the 67th minute when we were 3-1 down. In reality, we didn’t have a single shot after Rangers first goal. Edited October 31, 2021 by ZX1886 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Just now, ZX1886 said: Alexander talking about the red card effecting the game, O’Donnell wasn’t sent off until 67th minute when we were 3-1 down. In reality, we didn’t have a single shot after Rangers first goal. I am very, very, very, very, very, very tired of his post match shit tbqh. I get we've had some shit decisions against us but there's no way you can blame today on a red card. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZX1886 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 I am very, very, very, very, very, very tired of his post match shit tbqh. I get we've had some shit decisions against us but there's no way you can blame today on a red card. I think GA knows if he admits he got it wrong the media will quote him on it when he decides to do the exact same thing the following week. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'WellDel Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 (edited) 52 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said: It doesn't work, and it'd a fucking mess. The squad we have is better than its showing without question, and it is being utilised in the wrong way, imo. Definitely. I'm probably being a bit harsh on SOD, but he's had a torrid few weeks without question. On the opposite side, I'm simply not a fan of McGinley. Carroll is no worse a defender, and offensively offers much more, his delivery is night and day to McGinley's. As has been discussed before though, there obviously must be some trust issue or something going on there, otherwise Carroll would surely have the jersey. Centre of defence and our front line, on their day, are as good as most others, whereas our midfield is amongst the worst. G.A. needs to stop being so blindly stubborn in his approach and find a system and formation that plays to the players strengths, until we can get to the January window and address the midfield deficiencies. Hopefully the young guy we've lined up to come in can help in that department, but another 1 or 2 on top are required. Pinning all your hopes on one youngster coming from the league of Ireland to solve all your midfield/creative problems would be quite the gamble. What we currently have simply won't do, and will see us around the foot of the table come the business end of the season. We've only had one round of fixtures and in terms of points we're sitting not too badly, but the downward trajectory in recent weeks is alarming. Something needs to change, and it needs to start at Pittodrie. No more bullshit post match interviews and deflection. Big week ahead for the manager. Edited October 31, 2021 by 'WellDel 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisGRAEME Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Someone, I forget who, apologies, highlight that it’s like Robinson’s season when the squad ended up unbalanced and I’d agree. We’ve ended up with 6 ‘options across the front 3’, 5 centre halves, 9 (!) central midfielders, and 1 (two if you count Grimshaw I suppose but Alexander doesn’t seem to fancy him there) right back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kapowzer Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 This is how you do Moneyball. Flow take note. Really interesting summary 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, thisGRAEME said: Someone, I forget who, apologies, highlight that it’s like Robinson’s season when the squad ended up unbalanced and I’d agree. We’ve ended up with 6 ‘options across the front 3’, 5 centre halves, 9 (!) central midfielders, and 1 (two if you count Grimshaw I suppose but Alexander doesn’t seem to fancy him there) right back. The 4-3-3 doesn't work with this set of players. The midfield might as well be sat in the stand next to me and all of our wingers/wide forwards are out of form so completely rubbish. Essentially we hope that Mugabi single handedly defends and Tony Watt makes something himself. For me I would like to go down the BACK THREE'S BACK ALRIGHT route soon to at least make us more solid. Although I do understand that none of our wide players are at all defensive enough to play at wing back. Donnelly appears to have dropped off the face of the earth so it's almost as if Goss is in by default. I think judgement's passed on Maguire now as if he can't get a game ahead of Crawford for most of last season and Goss this season he's clearly not good enough. Serious questions should be asked of Alexander's selection policy now, for me. I completely lost the heid when he hooked Shields ahead of Roberts yesterday despite him being the only one giving the Rangers defence anything to think about. To then hook Slattery as well is mind boggling. Add to that his repeated selection of Goss, who is one of the worst signings we've made in years, and McGinley, who is absolutely shite but compounded by having Goss' empty jersey floating in front of him. The next fixtures are awful. Aberdeen have pulled their finger out and Hearts are good this season. Edited November 1, 2021 by well fan for life 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropy Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 Wasn’t there, didn’t see it, didn’t happen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 I legitimately don't have a fucking clue what he's on about here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, well fan for life said: I legitimately don't have a fucking clue what he's on about here. Aye, me neither. We have had a raw deal from the officials lately, but if you concede six goals after said incident (which I have absolutely no recollection of) I would rather we focussed on rectifying that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, well fan for life said: I legitimately don't have a fucking clue what he's on about here. Nope, me either. The only thing I can think of is when Watt slid in from Roberts' cross at 1-0. Was GA claiming Watt had somehow been fouled? If so, then there's clutching at straws and then there's that. I was fuming yesterday. Not with losing 6-1 to Rangers, that can happen if they turn up and are clinical, which they were. It's the manner of the defeat. Did we have a shot on target after the goal? Did McGregor actually touch the ball in the second half? It was an embarrassment and the "tactics" of the manager were the shittiest of shitshows. Let's just say I wouldn't be upset if he was out of a job tomorrow morning. The prospect of watching another six months of this brand of whatever the f**k it is makes me what to just stay in the house on a Saturday afternoon. Edited November 1, 2021 by Desp 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 What formation would you play with this squad? As others have mentioned, it's very unbalanced. We have Shields, Van Veen and Watt who all, to me, look like they'd thrive in a front two, although I'm not sure we have the wingers to play a 4-4-2 and playing a 3-5-2 doesn't solve the conundrum of having to play three central midfielders when we don't have three good ones. I really wish we'd focused more on quality than quantity this summer in our transfer dealings. We seem to be back at the point where we have a massive squad with little quality. Who would we really miss if they left this squad? Watt, Kelly, Slattery and Ojala for me. I'll could probably extend that to Mugabi in this seasons form, although he's made a few key mistakes of late. Anyone other than that come into the very cliched "can do a job" category. But very few add a lot of quality to the team. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
well fan for life Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 38 minutes ago, Desp said: Nope, me either. The only thing I can think of is when Watt slid in from Roberts' cross at 1-0. Was GA claiming Watt had somehow been fouled? If so, then there's clutching at straws and then there's that. I was fuming yesterday. Not with losing 6-1 to Rangers, that can happen if they turn up and are clinical, which they were. It's the manner of the defeat. Did we have a shot on target after the goal? Did McGregor actually touch the ball in the second half? It was an embarrassment and the "tactics" of the manager were the shittiest of shitshows. Let's just say I wouldn't be upset if he was out of a job tomorrow morning. The prospect of watching another six months of this brand of whatever the f**k it is makes me what to just stay in the house on a Saturday afternoon. I've not quite boarded the Alexander out bus but I'm in the pub at the station thinking about it. To the extent that if news broke this afternoon that he'd been emptied I would not even be slightly sad about it. He's clearly got this very set idea of how he wants to play football but he cannot honestly say our recent performances have been acceptable in any way. I'm completely prepared for another 4-3-3 shit show next week though because he will not change anything about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 I was more forgiving of his "style", or lack thereof, last season when he arrived and inherited a shitshow and only had the hardest transfer window there's ever been to make any changes to it. I actually thought he deserved praise for finding a way that lot could get results. However, I certainly did not envisage it being a permanent solution, as it now seems. I said the other day, as @capt_oats mentioned again about how many of the goals we conceded were so soft. There's also a bit of me on reflection that is sympathetic to the defence that when our system allows the other team to attack that much, by law of averages they're bound to slip up once or twice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazylegsjoe_mfc Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Desp said: Nope, me either. The only thing I can think of is when Watt slid in from Roberts' cross at 1-0. Was GA claiming Watt had somehow been fouled? If so, then there's clutching at straws and then there's that. In the full article I read, it's a handball he claims it for. I never saw any handball certainly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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