Dean Smith - Confirmed

[mr underhill]

but surely, they should already  be fit?

[Davkaus]

After an hour? I was shocked to see (during breaks in play) some of them looking a bit fucked during the first half whereas the Arse players weren't even sweating.

I think it's a consequence of us being so poor on the ball. We lose possession far too cheaply, then spend the game chasing shadows, our players have to cover far more ground than the other team because of this. Even with a 1 man advantage, we let them have far more possession and spent 50 minutes chasing them, instead of holding the ball and taking advantage of the extra space.

[Dogtanian]

After an hour? I was shocked to see (during breaks in play) some of them looking a bit fucked during the first half whereas the Arse players weren't even sweating.

I think it's a consequence of us being so poor on the ball. We lose possession far too cheaply, then spend the game chasing shadows, our players have to cover far more ground than the other team because of this. Even with a 1 man advantage, we let them have far more possession and spent 50 minutes chasing them, instead of holding the ball and taking advantage of the extra space.

That's exactly it.  We had an extra man, we can't handle being pressed and lose the ball too easily.  Then when we have the ball we are too eager to take a long shot or a long pass that ends up with it coming straight back at us and we have to press ourselves for too long.

[Badsastard]

Are there any stats available to verify the assumption that we're doing more running than the opposition teams?

[danno]

Are there any stats available to verify the assumption that we're doing more running than the opposition teams?

Couldn't find anything. But I did find a stat that puts us 17th in the league in terms of touches of the ball. Only Newcastle Burnley and Bournemouth have had the ball less than us.

[PaulWinch again]

Are there any stats available to verify the assumption that we're doing more running than the opposition teams?

Probably, but the indicator would be the possession stats. If you don’t have the ball you’re probably chasing it.

[Badsastard]

Are there any stats available to verify the assumption that we're doing more running than the opposition teams?

Probably, but the indicator would be the possession stats. If you don’t have the ball you’re probably chasing it.

This can happen but there doesn't necessarily have to be a correlation between possession (or lack of) and distance covered. From last season's stats (as of the article I'm looking at from the 18th of March) it appears that Cardiff covered the least ground and admittedly without checking I'm assuming their possession stats would be relatively low too.

We don't have a high energy high pressing style without the ball so I'm wondering if the assumption we are covering more distance than our opponents is actually true. If it isn't I'm wondering why some of our players seem to significantly tire earlier than the opposition.

[SoccerHQ]

Also didn't like the fact that he laid blame on the players yesterday, when in reality, HE was solely to blame for yesterday's loss. A bit of honesty wouldn't go amiss?

A lot of the midfield were shot after 65 mins, yet he didn't freshen it up accordingly with Hourihane/Lansbury. You've also got to question the club's fitness training. Professional athletes shouldn't be breathing out of their arses after an hour. You may argue that the Premier League is a different ballgame, but Norwich/Sheff utd don't seem to be struggling as we are?

Really want him to succeed, but so far, he's like a rabbit caught with headlights coming straight at him. Come on Dean, sort it out!

Can only guess it's like summer 2015 transfer window, you bring plenty of players late in the window and they miss the key early weeks of pre season when you build up your core fitness and so you're playing catch up as the season goes on.

[PeterWithe]

but surely, they should already  be fit?

Yes but my guess is that we have misjudged, through inexperience, exactly how fit they needed to be. From memory there were only a few teams last season who played the energetic high press (Leeds, Sheff Utd and Norwich) whereas this season nearly everyone does.

I said somewhere on a thread that its very noticeable, to me at least, how much faster the PL has got in the relatively short time we've been away.

[JUAN PABLO]

when we gave  Elmo a new contract  I wasnt expecting him to be our new right winger . The Luiz not on the bench was a weird one , its not as he plays Henri and Conor much and Luiz was 15 million.

Id have started with Luiz and Marvellous or at least brought him on to tighten up at 2-1 .   But not to get fresh legs on is criminal.

7 pts from next 3 games please

[JUAN PABLO]

ps is Hause still injured?

got to be better than Taylor

[LukeJames]

The thing with Taylor is hes been absolutely fine, defensively more than decent but he does limit us so much from varying outr attacks down the left hand side.

[Dogtanian]

Taylor has been a pleasant surprise this season as I think a great many of us felt the Premiership would be too much for him, I feel he has improved over last season so far.  He has his limitations, but he hasn't been the failure lots of us were expecting.

[Luke8]

ps is Hause still injured?

got to be better than Taylor

Hause is predominately a centre back though. Taylor has been fine, but I expect Targett will be our first choice left back once he gets up to speed.

[olaftab]

Taylor has been a pleasant surprise this season as I think a great many of us felt the Premiership would be too much for him, I feel he has improved over last season so far.  He has his limitations, but he hasn't been the failure lots of us were expecting.

I thought Taylor was fine yesterday and Mings little nod that really should have been a row X hoof made him look bad.