We play our best system which is 433, with 3 midfielders with legs. That means no 10, but duel 8s giving Dougie the chance to screen from higher up and it means you have to kill your darlings. It's Ings or Watkins through the middle, not both.For me, I think our beat team is probably;Martinez TargettMingsKonsa CashMcGinn DougieSansonBailey IngsBuendia How about we play that against West Ham and see how we fare.
Quote from: Sexual Ealing on October 24, 2021, 10:54:50 AMI certainly agree that we need a manager who changes things when we're playing shit, but where are they? Pep, Klopp, Bielsa definitely aren't 'tactically flexible'.I've seen Bielsa take an underperforming player off after 30 minutes, something Smith would never, ever do. As for Klopp etc, perhaps they don't need to be that flexible if they're winning 60-70% of matches using their favoured tactics.
I certainly agree that we need a manager who changes things when we're playing shit, but where are they? Pep, Klopp, Bielsa definitely aren't 'tactically flexible'.
Quote from: curiousorange on October 24, 2021, 10:05:38 PMUnder Ellis we acted small time. So then we were taken over, and looked like we might do it differently, until it became too expensive not to act small time. So then we were sold again, and it looked like being small time might be optimistic.So then, we were bought by two people who have unimaginable levels of wealth. And I refuse to believe that after all of the above, we won't take decisions which allow us to break out of that "it'll do for now" mindset. Smith won't see out the season, and I doubt he'll see out the year.I still think he'll see out the season, unless it looks like a top 10 finish is entirely beyond us. If we're hovering in the 12th-8th places then he'll finish the season and the owners will decide next summer whether or not the progress has been sufficient. I suspect it would not be - they will want another demonstrable year-on-year improvement, I'd imagine. Right now, this season after 9 games, we are clearly behind where we want to be - but a season isn't played over 9 games. And in each full season, he's improved us compared to the last. Losing three on the bounce doesn't make him any more deserving of the sack than winning three in a row guarantees his job for another year.Would I swap him to Thomas Tuchel? In a heartbeat, and I say that as someone who really likes Dean - but the reality is that Tuchel-level managers are few and far between, and we're probably not quite ready as a club to attract a Tier 1 manager yet (though maybe the owners would be willing to throw around the sort of money required to get one?)Either way, I'd be surprised if he got the boot before the end of the season unless the current poor run extends into December.
Under Ellis we acted small time. So then we were taken over, and looked like we might do it differently, until it became too expensive not to act small time. So then we were sold again, and it looked like being small time might be optimistic.So then, we were bought by two people who have unimaginable levels of wealth. And I refuse to believe that after all of the above, we won't take decisions which allow us to break out of that "it'll do for now" mindset. Smith won't see out the season, and I doubt he'll see out the year.
Did we have more points after 11 games in 19/20? I get the feeling we did so that would be pretty sobering and worrying stat.
It is obvious now that the summer was an absolute shit show and has completely derailed the Club.The Grealish saga and how it was handled was unfortunate but the decisions that have been taken since then have got us to where we are today, instead of looking forward to a push towards Europe we look more likely to be scrapping it out in the bottom 6.Replacing Grealish with Bailey Ings and Buendia.Acquiring Young and TuanzabeLetting Heaton go.3 senior coaches leavingThe failure to bring in a DCMSo without a proper pre season we have attempted to cope with a huge change in coaching, tactics , formation and players.It’s no wonder we are in a mess.I think it is too easy to level all of the blame at Smith although he is hugely culpable for in trying and failing to shoehorn Ings and Tuanzabe into a new formation.The question I have is, will be sacking Smith alone be enough to get us back on track?Or should we be questioning the direction being taken by Lang and Purslow if we want to satisfy the question of this thread?