Post Match Leicester 1 Barnsley 2

[Mawsley]

From the TV/stream perspective - Peltier gets sucked forward and no one drops into the hole from midfield to cover him.

 

[MerseyFox]

Our problem has been the midfield and it has been that way for a long time. Pearson's faith in the 'old guard' is touching but misplaced. There are other midfielder that he can try and fit into a system but he seems very determined to do it his way regardless whether he has the personnel.

 

[Biffa Bacon]

From the TV/stream perspective - Peltier gets sucked forward and no one drops into the hole from midfield to cover him.

It's been that way all season, at West Ham the lack of cover meant that PK was often chasing back 2 players with the midfield watching on, fans in our stands were giving Paul loads of stick for it but it was not his fault. The static midfield is a massive disadvantage, 3 players in there on Saturday don't chase and tackle enough (Wellens, King, Gally).

And why the hell are we relying on the fullbacks getting forward when there are 5 midfield players on the pitch?

 

[Matt_B]

Our problem has been the midfield and it has been that way for a long time. Pearson's faith in the 'old guard' is touching but misplaced. There are other midfielder that he can try and fit into a system but he seems very determined to do it his way regardless whether he has the personnel.

Which other midfielders?

 

[Profondo Rosso]

Our problem has been the midfield and it has been that way for a long time. Pearson's faith in the 'old guard' is touching but misplaced. There are other midfielder that he can try and fit into a system but he seems very determined to do it his way regardless whether he has the personnel.

I dunno, I think the defence is a problem too, or at least its positioning. As Matt says a lot of the goals we are conceding are seeming to come down the wings with either full-back well out of position recently and we've still yet to find a decent consistantly good defensive partnership. There were a couple of very sticky moments in that game where Tunchev and Mills were all over the place and that one in the final stages of the game where Vaz Te just seemed to walk in between Mills and Tunchev and neither did anything about it, tbf Vaz Te had 2 or 3 one-on-ones he really should have scored, which all came about by poor positioning from the defence, or in once case, a poor back pass from the defence, more than the midfield. Not sure it's as simple as saying the midfield is the problem. I think it's more to do with poor positioning from our defence though and it's only really short of a good organiser, but that's one thing we don't seem to have on our books atm.

 

[Matt_B]

I dunno, I think the defence is a problem too, or at least its positioning. As Matt says a lot of the goals we are conceding are seeming to come down the wings with either full-back well out of position recently and we've still yet to find a decent consistantly good defensive partnership. There were a couple of very sticky moments in that game where Tunchev and Mills were all over the place and that one in the final stages of the game where Vaz Te just seemed to walk in between Mills and Tunchev and neither did anything about it, tbf Vaz Te had 2 or 3 one-on-ones he really should have scored, which all came about by poor positioning from the defence, or in once case, a poor back pass from the defence, more than the midfield. Not sure it's as simple as saying the midfield is the problem. I think it's more to do with poor positioning from our defence though and it's only really short of a good organiser, but that's one thing we don't seem to have on our books atm.

I think the problem is a serious lack of confidence. Some of the touches and passes were so bad, even not under pressure and over 2 yards. Nobody has any confidence in themselves or each other it seems and I guess it stems from not playing a system they fit into and the crowd's reaction to every misplaced pass or shot.

 

[MerseyFox]

The defense is exposed because the midfield rarely track back! The midfield pushes forward without any screen in front of the defense. Then the fullbacks push forward as well to support. The play is then slowed down by one of the midfield player, then we lose the ball with them all out of position. The choice of pass by the midfield is extremely poor at the moment. They don't seem to know whether to send it wide to cross or go through the middle.

 

[The Old Fox]

I think it now needs time and Pearson to up his game.

I know that you have not said so, but there seems to be a belief that the owners are now willing to 'ease the pace' and that promotion in a couple of seasons will do. Is this wishful thinking, or is there any evidence to support same?

My gut feeling is that immediate promotion is still expected.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

I think the problem is a serious lack of confidence. Some of the touches and passes were so bad, even not under pressure and over 2 yards. Nobody has any confidence in themselves or each other it seems and I guess it stems from not playing a system they fit into and the crowd's reaction to every misplaced pass or shot.

Ture.

The defense is exposed because the midfield rarely track back! The midfield pushes forward without any screen in front of the defense. Then the fullbacks push forward as well to support. The play is then slowed down by one of the midfield player, then we lose the ball with them all out of position. The choice of pass by the midfield is extremely poor at the moment. They don't seem to know whether to send it wide to cross or go through the middle.

I get what you're saying, but I do think people have been too easy to scapegoat the midfield and we lack an organiser at the back as well. Even when the defence are being exposed they're still not dealing with it that well.

 

[Willlow]

I'm confused, from comments on here it seems that we all now hate Gally and Wellens, I thought we hated Beckford?

 

[Profondo Rosso]

I'm confused, from comments on here it seems that we all now hate Gally and Wellens, I thought we hated Beckford?

Wellens has been the major scapegoat all season. Or at least since that Derby game when we did so well without him. That was the game where it all seemed to stem from.

 

[Lako42]

I'm confused, from comments on here it seems that we all now hate Gally and Wellens, I thought we hated Beckford?

Gally is by far and away the most deserved of criticism.

 

[Hazzman]

It's been that way all season, at West Ham the lack of cover meant that PK was often chasing back 2 players with the midfield watching on, fans in our stands were giving Paul loads of stick for it but it was not his fault.

I don't disagree but on both of the occasions you mention, the full-backs sold themselves short once back in position. Diving in on the player rather than standing him up.

 

[Hazzman]

They are clearly not talentless though, they just don't work as the unit they are assembled into and at the minute there are no other options.

On Brown Noses reserves point, I heard someone mention on TalkSport that there are no reserve leagues any more at all, is this the case? I always thought it was a case of us opting out, but is there anything to opt in to?

There are. Derby are currently leading one....hence the impact of their young lads, Ball and Bennett.

 

[Hazzman]

One reason given at that time was that the reserve leagues were too big - which was also one reason given for kicking the non-prem teams out of the premier reserve league. The reserve team would have had as many or more fixtures as the first team, at a time when most of them would also have been playing in the youth league most weeks. I recall that towards the end of the last season in the premier reserve league they were having difficulty putting out a full squad for several games, with some players turning out 3 times in a week.

That's the way I read the situation about reserve league football. Very few clubs can afford such big squads and the Premier League clubs choose to either their reserve players in the likes of Europa League/League Cup or offload on loan.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

Don't know why we don't have a similar situation to in Germany and Spain, where the likes of Bayern, Dortmund, Madrid, Barca etc. have reserve teams which are in the third or second tier and are competitive and in which players are registered for, separate to their first team.

I would say that's definitely a contributing factor a to why Spain and Germany have produce much better and much more talents than England in recent years. Because all their young players basically start playing second or third tier football as youngsters and work their way up.

Reserve and youth fixtures in England are barely competitive and no one hardly goes and watches them, whereas in Germany and Spain their young players are playing regularly in professional league in front of competitive crowds from the age of 16 in their reserve teams.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

Just change the damned midfield. There are options, not many, but there are. Dyer (limited - but committed and has his uses), Abe, Danns and begrudgingly Gally as we have no other options for the right side of midfield. King atleast showed a bit of effort making a few runs when in posession against Barnsley but it wasn't enough and there was still none of his trademark off the ball runs. Guess we could play King in the middle and stick Danns out on the right until we find a decent alternative for playing wide right?

 

[western road]

the contributing factor is that we have four divisions and the Continent play probably two, the rest are feeder teams for the big boys
and our Football League would'nt countenance such an action, as it condems the smaller clubs to ablivion

 

[Hazzman]

Don't know why we don't have a similar situation to in Germany and Spain, where the likes of Bayern, Dortmund, Madrid, Barca etc. have reserve teams which are in the third or second tier and are competitive and in which players are registered for, separate to their first team.

I would say that's definitely a contributing factor a to why Spain and Germany have produce much better and much more talents than England in recent years. Because all their young players basically start playing second or third tier football as youngsters and work their way up.

Reserve and youth fixtures in England are barely competitive and no one hardly goes and watches them, whereas in Germany and Spain their young players are in professional league in front of competitive crowds from the age of 16 in their reserve teams.

Being abused in Spain now and phased out in Germany. Be interesting to see what knock effect there is. The loan system in Spain is being used like Doncaster over here and Germany has spread to three main divisions (Bayern Amateur struggling in the third tier) with very few B sides in the regional fourth tier.

 

[western road]

We have been wanting a ball winner and a playmaker in midfield for 2 to three seasons now