At home but where is the comfort?

[supertom]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Newcastle doesn't really fit in with the example of those other two games. As for fighting back we've got a lot of spirit, more than we had under latter O Neill onwards. Unfortunately trying to attack at 100mph doesn't always work. Sheer force of will got us the win against City. Weimann just got his head down and ran straight through several City defenders until one of them fouled him. Subtle it was not. It worked granted. There was great fortune about the winning goal too.
But you can't expect it to work out that way all the time. Sometimes you've got to be a bit more considered in attack. That will require the addition to our game of a few elements, including experience, better technique (which will mean new players) and more than one game plan.

It's quite clear that we've got more issues that need addressing than aspects which are fine.

[eastie]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

[LeeB]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

It's not a discussion, it's a series of bed-wetting ninnies flim-flamming their opinions from game to game.

[ktvillan]

Another thing I have noticed is that, last year, and even this year at Arsenal, when we didn't have the ball, we'd work like fuck to get it back - harrying and closing down the opposition.

For most of this season, though, there doesn't seem to have been anything like enough of that. It is almost as if they've been reading the papers about how dangerous they are on the counter attack and have decided they don't really need to do that any more, they'll just let the opposition keep the ball and do what they want with it.

This has infuriated me a fair bit too. Most of the time, they don't look too 'young and hungry' to me. I wonder if being so poor, so often is beginning to dent their self-belief at all?

It was noted on MOTD I think how Southampton's player were constantly in the faces of their opponents in their opponents half, stopping them from building anything easily.  As Paulie said they've spent a bit on players but not astronomical amounts, and their current success has a lot to do with the way the manager has them playing, working hard to get the ball back and then doing something creative with it.   We do seem to have gone slack in the closing down department.

[LeeB]

Another thing I have noticed is that, last year, and even this year at Arsenal, when we didn't have the ball, we'd work like fuck to get it back - harrying and closing down the opposition.

For most of this season, though, there doesn't seem to have been anything like enough of that. It is almost as if they've been reading the papers about how dangerous they are on the counter attack and have decided they don't really need to do that any more, they'll just let the opposition keep the ball and do what they want with it.

This has infuriated me a fair bit too. Most of the time, they don't look too 'young and hungry' to me. I wonder if being so poor, so often is beginning to dent their self-belief at all?

It was noted on MOTD I think how Southampton's player were constantly in the faces of their opponents in their opponents half, stopping them from building anything easily.  As Paulie said they've spent a bit on players but not astronomical amounts, and their current success has a lot to do with the way the manager has them playing, working hard to get the ball back and then doing something creative with it.   We do seem to have gone slack in the closing down department.

Actually, I'm going to have to agree with this.

[fredm]

Another thing I have noticed is that, last year, and even this year at Arsenal, when we didn't have the ball, we'd work like fuck to get it back - harrying and closing down the opposition.

For most of this season, though, there doesn't seem to have been anything like enough of that. It is almost as if they've been reading the papers about how dangerous they are on the counter attack and have decided they don't really need to do that any more, they'll just let the opposition keep the ball and do what they want with it.

It's frustrating. At the same time we do still expend a lot of energy though, without doing much with it. We kind of circle around their players as they pass it around us, without getting close enough. We're not pressing high enough up the pitch either (we tend to do most of our pressing in our own half, and invite pressure). One of Gabby's specialities has always been pressing high up the pitch. A defender thinks they have time, but his pace catches them a bit flat and then they'll often give away a throw in a good position, or sometimes a corner. It gets us some territory and the chance to have an attack. He's not been doing this so much, or chasing what looks like a lost cause but is turned into something.

I said this on here in the after match thread for Spurs. What really pee,d me off was when Lloris got the ball Gabby immediately ran back into our half of the field to Mark their full back!!! FFS!  That meant that their central defenders had all the time in the world to collect the ball, turn and play a pass.

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[Clampy]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

It's not a discussion, it's a series of bed-wetting ninnies flim-flamming their opinions from game to game.

Is the right answer.

[eastie]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

It's not a discussion, it's a series of bed-wetting ninnies flim-flamming their opinions from game to game.

Is the right answer.

There's the pot calling the kettle black  indeed
Four home defeats in 5 and a horrific home record in recent years - surely those fans are entitled to voice concern - not one person on this forum this season has called for lamberts head that I know of .


There have been some excellent posts on this thread on all sides - we are all in this together and we shall all come through it together .

[Clampy]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

It's not a discussion, it's a series of bed-wetting ninnies flim-flamming their opinions from game to game.

Is the right answer.

There's the pot calling the kettle black  indeed

Indeed.

[Clampy]

I see how this thread is going. Anything good we have done this season is down to pure luck and all bad stuff is due to Lambert's no good, we are just crap, we have too many young players, need and old head etc etc.

And oh yes we go to pieces when the other team scores, our heads drop as was when Arsenal, Newcastle and mancity twice took the lead?
 

Now now affers , calm down - it's just a discussion not a witch- hunt against lambert.

It's not a discussion, it's a series of bed-wetting ninnies flim-flamming their opinions from game to game.

Is the right answer.

There's the pot calling the kettle black  indeed
Four home defeats in 5 and a horrific home record in recent years - surely those fans are entitled to voice concern - not one person on this forum this season has called for lamberts head that I know of .


There have been some excellent posts on this thread on all sides - we are all in this together and we shall all come through it together .

Lovely edit as always easts.

[eastie]

Added to the above post rather than make a new one - apologies.

[Chris Harte]

The way I see it:

Liverpool - expected to lose that as a fan (although I hope he players didn't have that attitude).
Tottenham - as above.
Man City - expected to lose but won.
Everton - should have won from the chances we had but ballsed it up.
Newcastle - for the love of whatever, why did we have to lose this one?

So from that I deduce that we are only one home win behind what may have been expected.

Cardiff and Sunderland up next - expecting to see six points. Anything less and I think that would have been the appropriate time to open this thread.

[Pat McMahon]

I was listening to Danny Mills last night and he was saying that Steve McLaren used to tell a select few players (depending on their position) to get stuck in early on and press hard, and push a couple of the forwards to have an early shot, often speculative. His logic was that this got the crowd going and maintained the noise / momentum that many crowds have at kick off.

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