Dean Smith - Confirmed

[ChicagoLion]

You can change a game keeping the same formation, invert the wingers, keep them higher and wider than we do, be braver pushing defenders into MF when in possession. All of which is easier than changing formation in a game

But we don’t do any of that.

Yes we do. Wingers swapped sides in Wolves, Sheffield and Leeds games, if we did tonight I didn’t notice.

they swapped sides at times ,so what ?

[john e]

You can change a game keeping the same formation, invert the wingers, keep them higher and wider than we do, be braver pushing defenders into MF when in possession. All of which is easier than changing formation in a game

Yes that’s fine if you have the personnel available to do that. But if Grealish is out and the options are change formation or play Trezeguet, I think changing the formation might be the better option. If the players available aren’t up the standard required then you need to try something different

But if the players aren't up to standard...?

That’s even more damning
after a 250million player investment

All that money spent and we are still a one man team
No way that should be the case

[nigel]

Might need to duck for cover here, but give how wobbly their defence looked for the first 30 mins, I’d have been tempted to Keenan on for the second half. Probably in place of Trez.
Ok yes, he, more than likely, wouldn’t have troubled the keeper, but he certainly would have taken the pressure off Ollie

[sid1964]

If i was one of the owners who had pumped in £400 million into the club, i would be asking some serious questions this morning.

We never looked like scoring, our midfield just pass the ball sidewards or backwards

[Allan C]

The problem is that we often look worse after the substitutions.

That’s because invariably they aren’t as good as the players they’re replacing and IMO that’s our problem right now, a lack of quality and squad depth

[PeterWithe]

You can change a game keeping the same formation, invert the wingers, keep them higher and wider than we do, be braver pushing defenders into MF when in possession. All of which is easier than changing formation in a game

But we don’t do any of that.

Yes we do. Wingers swapped sides in Wolves, Sheffield and Leeds games, if we did tonight I didn’t notice.

they swapped sides at times ,so what ?

You said we don’t do it.

[Drummond]

Our best player (one of the very best anywhere) is out. The player signed to help make a difference is out of form after his injury.

With those two in and firing, we're a completely different team. Our movement, ball retention and creativity are wanting at the moment and it puts pressure on others.

We're not on the best run but it's not about the quality of the manager, it's about the quality of the players we (don't) have.

Traore has gone off the boil. Trez works hard and whilst it works when there is creativity elsewhere in the side, it makes us look weaker when there isn't. AEG just isn't consistent enough yet.

[Drummond]

If we start playing Davis from the start we'll never win another game of football.

No, never, ever again. We'll be in the Conference in 5 years.

[mr underhill]

Davis is not the answer because he isn't a striker. He does not score, end of.

[aj2k77]

Well we've failed to beat the two worst sides in the division in the last couple of weeks so something needs to be changed up, 12 goals in 15 games isn't good enough. The wide players in particular are a waste of time at the moment. If he persists in the same formation again and again then at some point I'd try:

                       Nakamba   Sanson
                                McGinn
                Watkins                   Grealish

                                Davis


Give McGinn licence to get forward more and press higher up the pitch. Watkins has already showed his ability cutting in from a wider position and has played wider for the majority of his career. Swapping around Trezeguet and El Ghazi after each poor performance is just lazy.

[Drummond]

Davis is not the answer because he isn't a striker. He does not score, end of.

end of what?

[N'ZMAV]

end of suggestion he is an option? (not sure if anyone did suggest that)

devils advocate - Davis hasn't had a run in the team to try and score, but there's probably a few good reasons for that

[brontebilly]

Other than Trez, who I have never quite warmed to, who else has looked consistently out of place?

Most have been in and out of form. A stronger squad will allow for that

That's too easy an excuse for me. Smith refused to rotate the squad for the first half of the season and for me we lost two perfectly acceptable backup players as a result.

Two of our most expensive recruits, Barkley and Traore have been dreadful for months. Have offered absolutely nothing since Grealish got injured. Throwing money at the problem is a bit too easy.

[N'ZMAV]

I'm concerned about Smith at the moment.
He has a good team, but that's it - should he be getting more out of the fringe players? or are they fringe players for a reason?

but one thing is for sure - you can't get far with 1 star player, a decent defence and a striker who get's some, but not loads of goals but hardly any help.

The owners are really going to have to pump in another £250mil at some point - we need another 10 better players, that may seem a lot of players - but we're starting to see that the likes of Luiz, McGinnand Traore are only really that useful when on top form - which, isn't often enough.

[BC Villain]

Why not do something different for a change? Surely all good leaders do this when things aren’t going well?

We have been poor for 8 or so games. The three wingers have consistently been inconsistent and are out of form. Spurs are playing badly and have been turned over in the week. Their CH’s are either out of form, average or both. Therefore why not play Davis up front with Ollie and probably Bertie and go long? Our three midfielders don’t have the ability to break Spurs down by passing through them. But no we do the same thing that hasn’t worked before and are surprised by the conclusion. Poor, poor tactics and lack of flexibility. Some players are undroppable and it shows.

Perhaps he doesn't trust the players.  Which is very daming considering they were bought on his watch