by Snowflake Royal »
27 Feb 2021 23:05
royalp-we CountryRoyal royalp-we I actually like that Pauno has been consistent with team selections and the way he sets the team up. History has shown its the only way to build a decent side; and is a key reason why we are in the playoffs.
I have a little chuckle when I see fans posting that we should change up the formation or drop our 20+ goal striker.
We are going through a sticky patch. We did what we needed to today and the defence were solid. All the players involved have been a part of beating some of the best sides in the division in the way we set up. The form will return; but we shouldn’t throw away what has been a winning formula for us this season.
I think the issue is, is that for the most part the sticky patch seems almost entirely self-made. We haven’t been particularly unlucky, we haven’t had loads of outrageous decisions against us. We’ve made what appear to be several managerial tactical mistakes which didn’t need to be made.
So at what point do you consider trying something different up top? Even if it’s to bring Joao on from the bench for a game? What happens if he doesn’t score for the rest of the season? Hypothetically do you persist because “well he’s already scored 20 goals?”
It does seem that current predicament is often ignored or justified by unrelated historical context. Not being particularly bothered about changing us being shit, because in the past we were once good, is a lame argument.
Am I happy that we won today’? Of course. Am I delighted where we are in the table? Yes absolutely. Did I think we would be here at the start of the season? No, I don’t think anyone realistically could have.
Does that mean that given all of this we shouldn’t question or be disappointed with a current situation, and on current trend, its possible consequences in the future? I don’t think so.
When we went through the bad patch after our great start it wasn’t that bad because we could point to injuries to blame and were often still playing quite well.
Like I said, I feel that in this spell of poor performances and results it has largely been down to our own doing, and so far haven’t shown too many signs of rectifying those mistakes.
Imho.
Oh you’re right the problems in recent fixtures have been entirely self made. I guess the question to ask is what’s changed?
We haven’t all of a sudden become a bad team with no direction. We’ve played teams battling for survival. The system served has us well, it’s not historical context as we’ve played this system all season and done very well. Only 3/4 weeks ago we beat Bournemouth relatively comfortably and many were saying we were shoe-ins for autos. We’ve had a couple of other decent performances since then too.
Admittedly I’m a glass half full kind of mindset. It’s not that I’m not bothered about us being shit or below par in a few fixtures; it’s more a point that I’d be majorly disappointed if we moved away from a system and the players that have got us to this position at such a critical point in the season.
That’s a monumental risk which I’m glad Pauno isn’t taking and he’s obviously got faith that they will get back to a previous level of performance which served us well at the start but also just a few weeks back.
For the record, I agree with a lot of what CR is saying, but I'm also not someone who is demanding we change formation as if that's easy and a simple solution to any problem.
But what I do want to see is players picked in suitable positions. We did perfectly well early on in the season with Laurent and Rino paired and Semedo forward. I can't stand Aluko, but he's a viable option instead of Semedo if Pauno has decided he can't play forward (after using him there for months). Then theres Tetek. Looked decent in some cameos. Not suggesting he starts, but there's no reason to be so reluctant to make a substitution and have it like for like.
It looks to me like Pauno has seen Rino's running, and decided he can do more damage further forward, but has failed to assess his ability to finish or play someone in. It's like he made that substitution to bring off Holmes and is now scared of making attacking changes until far too late for fear of conceding a couple of quick goals. He's not using his squad effectively. He's brought Moore in, and shifted McIntyre out to LB when McIntyre had been playing exceptionally well at CB, then dropped him.
I'm not a huge fan of Puscas, but you cannot solely rely on Joao for goals. We need an alternative. And that alternative needs to get match sharp. He does that by playing 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there. Maybe starting a mid-week game to give a break. Not 4 mins, or 11 or 12.
There's a fair amount of worrying judgement going on here. And we have seen a manager come in and show promise for six months only to fall apart far too many times. We need Pauno to get his head back in the game and start making better decisions. I mean, I guess we don't need it. Because anything at this point is still a moderately successful season. And I'm certainly not desperate to go up. THere's no way anyone should be suggesting he should go. But there's nothing wrong with being unhappy with his recent performance and wanting that to improve.
I'd be much happier if I'd thought this was a win that seemed to push us back in the right direction. But for me it was inspite of the same problems, not fixing them. Maybe Rino is out and maybe that will be the solution (it's certainly not his fault, but maybe it will force Pauno's hand). I hope so, but I want Pauno to make more sensible decisions - they certainly don't have to be what I'd do, but they should be sound - not be forced into them. Because what happens when he's no longer forced.
