Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I'm worried about Mika.

[Phillips455]

What I'm really worried about it the while "keep passing it backwards, to the keeper  then punt" strategy.

We have been using it alot  but Why?

It isn't like we are making any moves up front so all we end up doing is punting the ball to the opposition. And the fact it wasn't cut out by the first 15-20 minutes. Really frustrating to keep seeing it happen and nothing really being corrected until very late on.

[Pettigrew]

20 hours ago, tamwell said:

Forgot how much I hate Chumbawumba.

Very much this but did enjoy the uncensored version of Mylo’s Drop the Pressure at half time. 4 mins of muthaf**kas summed up the first half perfectly. 

[ropy]

I was surprised how disappointed I was when I realised Sparrow wasn’t on the bench.  I’m not even sure I can describe what his role is I just know he injects a bit of impetus when he comes on.

A defeat allows Kettlewell an opportunity to make changes.  Seddon played against Rangers, he may come in against Celtic.  We are likely to pack the midfield so just one up front to start.  I’m not convinced Watt or Moses fit the bill so it will be Robinson or Ap Stam if he is out the loo.

[Casagolda]

With Sparrow I honestly think it’s a simple as he’s a selfless and willing runner.

Last week at Easter Road his willingness to charge forward to get on the end of flick ons or knock downs made a huge difference. We started to land on second balls and suddenly were playing much more of the game in Hibs half

None of our starting midfielders do that. Miller wants the ball to feet, Halliday doesn’t really have the legs anymore and Davor gets a nosebleed if he crosses the half way line. Midfield is always about balance and there’s very little dynamism or pace about ours. 

Also, see if you’re a team who cedes possession and looks to hit on the break, then you need some pace- we had none. The best we looked this season(imho) was when Maswanhise was in the team cause we at least carried a threat in transition who could get us up the park. It also freed up Wilson to bomb forward and those two stretching the game down one side even allowed Sods more room to manoeuvre himself up the other.

Long story short, for me if you want to set up the way Kettlewell did yesterday then you need pace and runners and we had neither. 

[Vietnam91]

3 hours ago, Phillips455 said:

What I'm really worried about it the while "keep passing it backwards, to the keeper  then punt" strategy.

We have been using it alot  but Why?

Two reasons:

One does a podcast

The other gives you an unassailable lead in Scrabble if you land on a triple word score.

Edited 8 hours ago by Vietnam91

[Busta Nut]

Let's not start makin Sparrow out to be something he's not.
He's been decent but he's about 9th in the pecking order.
The issue was we had no other options. Not that Sparrow wasn't there

[rowsdower]

Sparrow, Seddon and Paton are winning us the cup.

[wellboy1991]

4 hours ago, Phillips455 said:

What I'm really worried about it the while "keep passing it backwards, to the keeper  then punt" strategy.

We have been using it alot  but Why?

It isn't like we are making any moves up front so all we end up doing is punting the ball to the opposition. And the fact it wasn't cut out by the first 15-20 minutes. Really frustrating to keep seeing it happen and nothing really being corrected until very late on.

It’s so boring and frustrating to watch. Tbh even in the games we have won recently, it’s been pretty shite fare.

We badly lack on pace on all areas of the pitch, particularly out wide and in the centre of midfield. Someone to break the lines and create space. 

I hardly get off my arse at games anymore. Not much to get excited about. Hearts at home and Utd in the cup only games I have found entertaining.

[joewarkfanclub]

We have had a decent start to the season, but if we are honest, results have been papering over a lot of cracks. That result and performance has been coming.

We dont have a functioning midfield and there is only so long a tight defence and good set plays can keep digging you out of holes.

Not sure what SK can really do to change it up so close to the semi final. 

Theres no realistic prospect of Paton, Slattery or Nicholson being back, so we are left with what we have.

Sparrow at least offers some energy and drive going forward so his absence yesterday is concerning.

Also, Stama is clearly our best option leading the line so we need to hope it was illness yesterday rather than another injury that forced him off.

Cant see SK performing any major surgery on the starting 11 as its not his style. But he IS going to have to tweak it a little, now that teams have had a good look at what how we play.

[superwell87]

1 hour ago, rowsdower said:

Sparrow, Seddon and Paton are winning us the treble

 

FTFY

Edited 7 hours ago by superwell87

[supermarv]

For me yesterday as many have stated I don’t think our issues came from up front and Moses and Watt (who has been very poor so far) offered a lot less than Robinson and Stam. However the issues seem to be in midfield for me being massively overrun. I think Miller is excellent but he’s slightly overrated in a sense for me and when he’s not on it (can’t expect an 18 year old to be your main man every week) others need to step up, Halliday legs have looked finished since the minute he got here and never looked great at any time, Davor works hard and does the dirty work but he’s not necessarily gifted in the opposition half but does a good job all round.

[YassinMoutaouakil]

I was at Trespass earlier and they gave me a wee pamphlet on the way out. Was just flicking through before binning it and I won't be going back tbh.