3 minutes ago, just said:

Not often I disagree with you Loz, but I  certainly do here. J5 does not have the vision to see some of the forward passes Enzo made in that first half, let alone the ability and passing range to execute them. The problem is not Fernandez, it's the quality of players in front of him who should be finishing much more regularly from those passes. 

You put a Kane, Halaand, M'bappe, Martinez ahead of Enzo he would destroy teams with his vision, accuracy and the range of his passing.

Not disagreeing that Enzo is head and shoulders better than Jorginho in terms of his passing range and quality.  Just concerned that when pressured he disappears a bit too easily.

What a poor team selection.. instead of going on the front foot.. he took a defensive position.. it works when you have aJT.. but Colwill and especially chalobah.. are not the greatest with their head..

we went to a back 3 and people just marked space.. what a poor thought process.. blimey a strange strange decision..

2 minutes ago, Jangz said:

What a poor team selection.. instead of going on the front foot.. he took a defensive position.. it works when you have aJT.. but Colwill and especially chalobah.. are not the greatest with their head..

What is Colwill actually good at?

He got a lot hype playing less than half of Brightons games last year but I've only seen a really poor young player this year.

You say he's not great with his head,  different people have said he's not the quickest and I've heard others say he isn't good with his feet or defending 1 vs 1

So where is this potential top centre back?

10 minutes ago, Whats_The_Mata? said:

What is Colwill actually good at?

He got a lot hype playing less than half of Brightons games last year but I've only seen a really poor young player this year.

You say he's not great with his head,  different people have said he's not the quickest and I've heard others say he isn't good with his feet or defending 1 vs 1

So where is this potential top centre back?

He is a good passed, and good young defender. The problem is he played the 1st half of the season at left back, which has lost him momentum. The other issue is Disasi isnt great, and Thiago Silva probably shouldve retired last season. So there is no senior player to guide him.

You take Real Madrid as the gold standard. Varane comes in next to Sergio Ramos over a few seasons. Vini Jn and Rodrygo play off Benzema, and they had Hazard which sisnt go to plan. Tchouameni and Camavinga are with Modric and Kroos. 

That is how players get better. They learn how to become professional footballers, and what it takes to be a big player that comes up big in the big moments, by watching, playing, and training with players that have been there and done it. 

We got rid of all our players with that profile because the club didnt want to pay there wages.

It’s just a clusterfck.. I think the board has done us in.. no manager can win with this squad.. it is so freakin unbalanced..

Sound decision only watching the first half today.  

2 hours ago, carrickblue said:

Looks to me like the idea that this is a long term project means that right now he can get away with it being a sh*t show. Surely we can't have another season of this though??

Oh, I have been pretty consistent in my view, that we need to give the project time - and that we need to take the rough with the smooths. But the issue at the moment is that there is zero progress.

Under Tuchel - we were getting results, but the team was regressing. I think he was rightly sacked.

Under Potter - we were poor and not getting results, but I saw some positive developments. Games against Milan, Dortmund and villa were all games where you could see a style of play being developed. It wasnt consistent, but it was something....and then he was gone.

Under lamps mk 2 we were a shambles.

Under Poch - we looked decent pre season, and then as soon as the season starts, he ditches the way we were set up and playing, and reverted to the same system that failed so badly under lamps. He has refused to play some players. he doesnt seem to know his best team. He is passive and reactive, rather than pro active. He doesnt seem to have any passion. We have regressed defensively and cant for love no money defend any type of cross. Aside from Petrovic and COnnor, all layers have stagnated or regressed. And week in/week out, we are seeing no signs of progress.

So - going back to my first line, I am not sure that there are any smooths to take.

For Poch to stay, I want to see a few things.

1) Stop the pissing around with playing around at the back. Disasi, Chalobah, COllwill - none of them are good enough on the ball to do it well.

2) Stop playing Jackson up front. He is rubbish.

3) Start showing some passion and intensity. Dont just sit there like a moron with your arms crossed.

4)Get the team playing it quickly. Move the ball progressively, and get it forward. I want to see us playing as if we are on fast forward.  If the players refuse to play this way, or simply cannot - then drop them.

5) Stop playing defenders as wingers, wingers as wingbacks, midfielders as strikers.  If we dont have a first team player fit to play in a position, then go to the development squad. If there is nobody in the dev squad, then go to the youth team.  They will be no worse than palmer, jackson, sterling or gallagher up front.

 

 

Another spursy masterclass from our coach. Playing a back 3 with 2 up front against a depleted mighty Brentford. It’s been a great day out with the mates but that game plan was diabolical. The away fans chanting “f**k off Mauricio” and “f**k Boehly” sums up what most of us at the ground thought of it.

4 hours ago, evissy said:

Maybe they are not as hasty as majority of people on this forum. On top of making this a successful team of young lads they need to upgrade the stadium and visit US for all kinds marketing purposes. Maybe they see things in terms of 5-10 years. You should consider that.

I’m sure you’re trying to get a job with them.

Sounds like it was business as usual today then. Don’t worry, the women are on Sky tomorrow to cleanse the palette. 

Picked a defensive team and Enzo was clearly tired. A number of players eg Chilwell  were poor and we ran out of gas at half time. Really we had a three other good opportunities we didn''t take but  they also had a couple.

I don't think we miss Silva although of course the defending still isn't great but with only two attackers and not many goals from the midfield you could argue we did well to score two and create chances. 

Colwill was poor in this game and not forming much of a partnership with Chillwell so far. 

Not surprised by the result, would have taken a point and that was that. We never looked like winning despite taking the lead and looked a better team for half of the game, as soon as Brentford decided to play we just crumbled. They should have scored 3 before we were able to put on some subs and fight back, must be our luck is turning 🤔 When was the last time a team in the top half decided to adjust formation to counter Brentford? They were on a bad run and losing players left and right, and forward thinking managers would go for it, and tried to maximize the attack, instead of doing what Poch did. We basically wasted about half of hour settling into the game with the change, never went for the second after scoring, and basically waited for their half time motivational speech and come for us in the second half. Brentford was vulnerable, if we actually tried to beat them from kick off, could have been 2 or 3 up at half time, and there wouldn't be much of a fight back in the second. Instead, we do the usual thing of playing safe, and lucky to get away with a point. This team is a long way from challenging an CL spot, it's not just getting a striker and we will be good ( that would have been true 2 seasons ago). As soon as the other team tried to press and play, we just folded.

I keep coming back to attitude, setting the team up to win. I think several on this forum saw that the midfielders needed rotating and called for one of caicedo, gallagher or enzo to be rested. We the fans knew this before the game. Its not that hard.

Another week, another game... and Garth will be asking why his bf didn't start again...

Sterling comes on in the 79' and we looked a different side, 4' later we got one back and could have won the game!

Question is, why wasn't he on from the start ?

 

going to try a positive post. 

Excellent character from the players to get the draw from defeat in a London derby where one team is in a relegation battle. 

that bottle and grit wasn't there six months ago and we would have folded... sadly, we need much more of that. So here's to hoping the players have turned a corner with guts and determination. Will take the point. 

 

In the last 5 meetings against Brentford under Thomas Franck, we have only beaten them once.

 

8 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

In the last 5 meetings against Brentford under Thomas Franck, we have only beaten them once.

 

Yes - turning into a bit of a bogey side for us for some reason.

Mind you, they did the double on Manchester City last season too ... 

Very few easy games in the PL these days.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

Yes - turning into a bit of a bogey side for us for some reason.

It's becoming a bogey league for us these days.

13 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

Another week, another game... and Garth will be asking why his bf didn't start again...

Sterling comes on in the 79' and we looked a different side, 4' later we got one back and could have won the game!

Question is, why wasn't he on from the start ?

 

It’s not a matter of who starts and who doesn’t, it’s a matter of when our manager recognizes he has to make changes and having the balls to make proactive changes vs simply allowing things to happen and only making reactionary changes in a game we should be winning. 
 

1st half is on the players. 2nd half is on the manager. It’s a mantra I believe and no surprise we are 17th in the league based on 2nd half performances. 

On 03/03/2024 at 01:10, Bebe1980 said:

Another week, another game... and Garth will be asking why his bf didn't start again...

Sterling comes on in the 79' and we looked a different side, 4' later we got one back and could have won the game!

Question is, why wasn't he on from the start ?

 

Because when Sterling starts, he is more often than not, absolute sh*te.

 

3 hours ago, Nibs said:

Because when Sterling starts, he is more often than not, absolute sh*te.

 

Purple patch king it looks like, was very good at the start of last season, and was very good at the start of this season. Haven't seen a good game from him in ages, even when he's scored in games he's been very poor. 

Didn't watch the game as was out, watch the highlights and looks like they battered us. Disasi completely cominated by Wissa? Were we that bad? 

6 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Didn't watch the game as was out, watch the highlights and looks like they battered us. Disasi completely cominated by Wissa? Were we that bad? 

First half we completely controlled, with Brentford having 11 men behind the ball for almost the entirety.

Not sure what happened at half time but Brentford were the better side for about 20-25 minutes at the start of the second half, during which they were all over us and scored twice. Poch sat on the sidelines like something out of Madame Tussards.

Somebody must have put 10p in the top of his head because finally he made some substitutions and we equalised. If he'd have done something sooner we could and should have won.

Edited March 4, 20242 yr by Gonoir Beniashile

On 03/03/2024 at 10:50, olderschoolcfc said:

going to try a positive post. 

Excellent character from the players to get the draw from defeat in a London derby where one team is in a relegation battle. 

that bottle and grit wasn't there six months ago and we would have folded... sadly, we need much more of that. So here's to hoping the players have turned a corner with guts and determination. Will take the point. 

 

I suppose a share of the spoils isn't the worst result in these 6 pointer games.

14 hours ago, Gonoir Beniashile said:

First half we completely controlled, with Brentford having 11 men behind the ball for almost the entirety.

Not sure what happened at half time but Brentford were the better side for about 20-25 minutes at the start of the second half, during which they were all over us and scored twice. Poch sat on the sidelines like something out of Madame Tussards.

Somebody must have put 10p in the top of his head because finally he made some substitutions and we equalised. If he'd have done something sooner we could and should have won.

Poch does seem a bit reluctant at times to make changes to control a game when his teams on the back foot. Reminiscent of him letting his Spurs team drop a 2-0 lead to Chelsea in a title race.