What Can We Do

[cidercity1987]

To be tighter at the back?

We appear to have lost so much compared to last season?

Any answers? 

Is it just Dickie back or deeper than that? 

I think it's missing Matty James but many think otherwise?

[grifty]

Dropping Pring was a good start, need Roberts to get up to speed.

McNally hasn’t looked great so need him to bed in quickly.

Then cut out silly individual errors/losing concentration 

[Bristol Oil Services]

1 hour ago, cidercity1987 said:

To be tighter at the back?

 

Get Nige back?

[Gratz260689]

1 hour ago, grifty said:

Dropping Pring was a good start, need Roberts to get up to speed.

McNally hasn’t looked great so need him to bed in quickly.

Then cut out silly individual errors/losing concentration 

Thought roberts had an absolute shocker first half!! 

[cidercity]

1 hour ago, grifty said:

Dropping Pring was a good start, need Roberts to get up to speed.

McNally hasn’t looked great so need him to bed in quickly.

Then cut out silly individual errors/losing concentration 

Funny how we had the fourth best defence last season with Pring in it, maybe it’s what the manager is asking him to do, Robert’s is a good left sided CM, not the best left back/wing back. Mind you anyone with Mehmeti in front of them is feked.

 

[RedLionLad]

13 minutes ago, Gratz260689 said:

Thought roberts had an absolute shocker first half!! 

Definitely a very poor 45 minutes. Couldn’t seem to do anything right.

[milo1111]

2 minutes ago, RedLionLad said:

Definitely a very poor 45 minutes. Couldn’t seem to do anything right.

That cross for Armstrongs header where he should have scored was good. But yes apart from that he was below par.

[KegCity]

McNally was poor today in my opinion, really seemed to lack composure. We will miss Dickie whilst he’s out.

[Harry]

Yep. Roberts was awful first half. 
Pring hasn’t started the season brilliantly but he’s been set up to fail really. 
Roberts hasn’t done anything today to say “it’s my shirt now” 

[Dullmoan Tone]

34 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

Get Nige back?

Missing those last minute goals?

[eardun]

Dickie is a massive loss. I also think McNally would prefer to play on the right hand side but needs must. However I think if we play with the shape/personnel we started the second half today, that will help - we just looked more balanced. 

 

[BS3 Ark at Ee]

Dickie is a huge loss. I thought Roberts did ok. Seemed more keen than Pring to play a ball into the box…..Cam has seemed reluctant lately to drive into the box or put a cross in 

[DaveNoMercy64]

Not sure where all the Roberts hate has come from? I thought he had a great first half, the majority of our chances came from him 

[Back of the Dolman]

17 minutes ago, DaveNoMercy64 said:

Not sure where all the Roberts hate has come from? I thought he had a great first half, the majority of our chances came from him 

I didn’t think he had a bad game, but he definitely had more support and options today than Cam Pring has been getting all season 

[Ashtongreight]

39 minutes ago, Back of the Dolman said:

I didn’t think he had a bad game, but he definitely had more support and options today than Cam Pring has been getting all season 

Really??, I thought first half the set up was the same, Twine in front of Robert’s, no different to what Pring had has, second half I agree, although Mehmeti not the best for defending either. Pring has looked a bit “flat” recently to me. 

[Davefevs]

Was disappointed with Goodrham today - Roberts kept him quiet.  And I’ve never got the fuss about Kioso who offered eff all going forward.  That saved our left side getting overloaded to some extent.

[HengroveReds]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Was disappointed with Goodrham today - Roberts kept him quiet.  And I’ve never got the fuss about Kioso who offered eff all going forward.  That saved our left side getting overloaded to some extent.

Dembele was the one who stood out most

[cidercity1987]

For the Harris miss, we've got 4 of our players jogging back vaguely shadowing the guy with the ball, no one notices the overlapping player who starts well back and outsprints ours. Then in the middle our two CDs fail to pick up their one striker in the box.

Very poor all round, lack of energy and commitment there 

[nickolas]

13 hours ago, grifty said:

Dropping Pring was a good start, need Roberts to get up to speed.

McNally hasn’t looked great so need him to bed in quickly.

Then cut out silly individual errors/losing concentration 

You mean the Pring whos had to play the first 5 games as full back, Left centre back and also left wing as hes had zero cover in front of him due to Twine being played there and not staying there??

Clueless slagging of Pring!!

Edited Sunday at 07:12 by nickolas

[grifty]

2 hours ago, nickolas said:

You mean the Pring whos had to play the first 5 games as full back, Left centre back and also left wing as hes had zero cover in front of him due to Twine being played there and not staying there??

Clueless slagging of Pring!!

Pring has been poor for nearly a whole season, due to Roberts injury we were unable to rest Pring and tried to play him back into form which hasn’t worked.

Roberts showed more attacking ability/nous than Pring has for a while now. 

All I said was dropping Pring was a good start to to OP question, it’s not slagging Pring off, he needs a rest or a break to come back like he did a couple of seasons ago when he was unplayable.

We’ve now got a squad where we can drop out of form players, we need to use that.

[grifty]

14 hours ago, Gratz260689 said:

Thought roberts had an absolute shocker first half!! 

Yes nothing really came off for him. He had a couple of good crosses and shot blocked but his touch was off, but it was first first start and he's playing along side McNally for the first time so as I said, need to get him up to speed.

[grifty]

14 hours ago, cidercity said:

Funny how we had the fourth best defence last season with Pring in it, maybe it’s what the manager is asking him to do, Robert’s is a good left sided CM, not the best left back/wing back. Mind you anyone with Mehmeti in front of them is feked.

And how has that defence started this season? Not saying it's entirely down to Pring btw, I think Bring is a good player, just out of form and trying to play him back into form isn't working. He seems to lost all confidence in taking a man on.

[SydneyCity]

When playing out from the back, absolutely every single player needs to be on board and switched on. If a single player isn’t, the whole thing falls apart. McNally looks average so far but our midfield is getting dragged all over the place and played out of the game. I actually don’t think our midfield is bad. It lacks composure at times but I think that comes from our patterns and triggers being very easy to work out and play around / through. This is why our defence is bad.

Edited Sunday at 09:51 by SydneyCity

[ciderwithtommy]

We don’t look “at it” defensively, we are passive. As bad as Knight was for Blackburns 3rd last week, ditto Robert’s for the Harris miss. Sprinting and putting your body on the line are minimums at this level if you want clean sheets. Appreciate the “process” talk, but I do question the real desire of the players when defending. 

[cidercity]

On 22/09/2024 at 10:42, grifty said:

And how has that defence started this season? Not saying it's entirely down to Pring btw, I think Bring is a good player, just out of form and trying to play him back into form isn't working. He seems to lost all confidence in taking a man on.

See I don't think he is out of form, I just think he is knackered with the way he is being asked to play. Also he is getting no help on that left hand side at all. 

[BobBobBobbin]

On 22/09/2024 at 10:42, grifty said:

And how has that defence started this season? Not saying it's entirely down to Pring btw, I think Bring is a good player, just out of form and trying to play him back into form isn't working. He seems to lost all confidence in taking a man on.

you're seeing the symptom but not the cause.

Pring is being asked to do the task of two and a half players on his own so we can carry Twine. Roberts was asked to the do the same first half on Saturday and wasn't great as a result.

Both are good players who have been set up to fail by being given an impossible task.

CAM to LM is too far to transition effectively. LW to LB is also far too far. Manning has got the rotations horrible wrong so far this season. Hence the calls for balance to the in possession shape.

I genuinely think we could get both of the shapes that Manning desires (3241 in possession, 442 OOP) if we changed the personnel and rotations slightly. He's just put all the strain on the LHS. 

[Red from afar]

IMO, he's also struggling with the possession based game being instilled. In my eyes he's never been the most technical of players, his technical close control/ first touch has never been the best, but was great as the marauding power/pace LB role. Now he's being asked to play a game that doesn't really suit him whilst being overloaded and I think his confidence is shot.

[Numero Uno]

On 22/09/2024 at 00:13, DaveNoMercy64 said:

Not sure where all the Roberts hate has come from? I thought he had a great first half, the majority of our chances came from him 

I haven’t seen one single poster saying they “hate” Roberts. What makes you say that? What is being pointed out is that he’s a lot better on the ball than he is defensively.

As with all things it’s about getting the balance right. No good losing 3-2 where your full back sets up two of them but is out of position or gets skinned for the three you conceded. The last place Luke McNally wants to be is a covering his full back constantly.

Liam has got to find a way of enabling Roberts to do his stuff on the ball without us being completely open down the right hand side when we lose it. The way Oxford broke on us for that Harris open goal that should win them the game really was way to easy.

[DaveInSA]

Good defending starts in midfield, at least in the context where teams are walking right through the middle. 

If you defensive midfielder positions are good and they screen the back 4 effectively, then the back four can do their job. Without being pulled into the areas where DMs should be. Then the structure goes and it’s a walk in the park to get though us. I’ve seen BCFC be so poor at this over the years. 

Is it a coincidence that James goes - defence becomes ?

[Davefevs]

28 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

I haven’t seen one single poster saying they “hate” Roberts. What makes you say that? What is being pointed out is that he’s a lot better on the ball than he is defensively.

As with all things it’s about getting the balance right. No good losing 3-2 where your full back sets up two of them but is out of position or gets skinned for the three you conceded. The last place Luke McNally wants to be is a covering his full back constantly.

Liam has got to find a way of enabling Roberts to do his stuff on the ball without us being completely open down the right hand side when we lose it. The way Oxford broke on us for that Harris open goal that should win them the game really was way to easy.

Q.E.D.

Q.O.S. (Question of Sport)…what happened next?

[Red Cyril 2]

On 21/09/2024 at 19:02, cidercity1987 said:

To be tighter at the back?

We appear to have lost so much compared to last season?

Any answers? 

Is it just Dickie back or deeper than that? 

I think it's missing Matty James but many think otherwise?

Yes Matty James is a big miss and our midfield two just don't protect the defence at all well. Who is fit first Atkinson or Dickie?

[redrob]

On 21/09/2024 at 20:36, Harry said:

Yep. Roberts was awful first half. 
Pring hasn’t started the season brilliantly but he’s been set up to fail really. 
Roberts hasn’t done anything today to say “it’s my shirt now” 

According to Manning he was fantastic 

[Harry]

2 hours ago, redrob said:

According to Manning he was fantastic 

Lucky I don’t listen to a bloody word he says then. Because he talks bollox 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Some of our underlying numbers (defensively) aren't that bad all told.

Some are, some aren't.

69 Shots Against in 6 Games, could be worse. 12 Goals against at however..

I'm not saying our underlying are Top 6 but they're okay.

Better balanced 2nd Half Saturday? Perhaps. That could help in both aspects.

The Pring issue yeah as in he was quite exposed by Twine on the left. I expect these numbers have worsened post Dickie too but all sides have injuries (Ipswich last year barely tbh).

What I would also add is that last year irrespective of manager, is that our underlying defensive numbers didn't equate to 4th best defence. They may have even had similarities to this year.