Didn't see the match but I've seen us play pretty poorly at WHL over the years so a loss was no surprise. I think some supporters are frustrated with the results when they see teams with new managers/systems doing well. Clarke at WBA anybody? Even fat Sam's WHU are doing better with Carroll to boot (and insult). I think BR has made some poor buys and the Carroll affair is mostly his doing. I don't subscribe to the notion that these things take time but the thought of replacing the manager is not an option. So we stand still in midtable until Downers & his ilk are offloaded and 2 proven goal scorers/creators arrive.
Just a few things that I need to mention. 1. Gareth Bale and his dive. I read it here on bigsoccer. And that is it. I wanted to watch the said dive but Skysports have not shown it, and Match of the day on BBC was happy not to show it. Questionable journalism, but only foreigners dive. I have no idea why he is the heartthrob of the journalists but that diving bullshit everyone does it but only foreigners get blamed for it. 2. Similar to the point above skysports generally do not show the pre-game handshakes. With the exception of Terry-Ferdinand and Suarez-Evra. Recently after Williams gave disparaging remarks against Suarez, the heads at sky allowed the handshakes to be shown and even mentioned "Will they shake hands" as Williams approached Suarez. Bastards! Did not get to watch the game but I was quite happy that the team kept on trying. That is a positive sign. Also Henderson is showing signs of improvement which is commendable, and Downing should just stop playing football altogether. He could retire from the sport I recommend that. I suppose I do not blame Downing for letting Lennon in on goal, as Downing was played out of position, but surely he goes to training everyday and he sees these manoeuvres day in day out yet he stood there hoping. The Enrique experiment. I have mixed feelings about this. He is good at both positions LB and LM. But his experience lies in LB, he has been coached for quite a few years of his life at LB. Yes it is refreshing to see him play at the front but we end up weakening the LB position. Is it worth the sacrifice to concede goals at the expense of hoping to score more goals? I would prefer he either gets pushed back to LB and we play Assaidi, or better, either Flannagan/Johnson play in this position to allow Enrique to play further up. Allen- By the sounds of it, it is getting tough on him. He makes mistakes cause he has little support in the middle. It seems like lack of leadership/communication at the centre and we get situations where only one midfielder is available during an opposition counter attack, and only one midfielder goes to support the attack when we attack. Again this goes down to coaching and training but it will pick up with Lucas in the fold. I might get slated for this but did we really need to spend £15 million on a player we did not need? Do we really need Sahin on his wages? Were Shelvey, Henderson, Spearing (Loan to Bolton), Adam(Stoke) not good enough until Lucas came on. I like Allen but I would have preferred if we spent that money on our urgent needs. One for the future I suppose. Assaidi-Lack of playing time? He can interchange with Sterling who right now seems like he has been playing football 24 hours a day for 2 weeks. Seems tired and lethargic and that will ultimately cost us because his creativity will be dampened out and he will lunge into someone and risk a red as his defensive capabilities need some work on. The 2012 summer transfer window was not the worst in terms of potential future players but it is high time we make one transfer window count and ultimately define our current aspirations which at the moment should be to finish 6-8 any worse then that and we can consider this season a failure. The winter transfer window will be quite a treat to watch as fans because we will get to see Rodgers ability to pin point talent at good prices (and a precarious league position) and the owners commitment to their manager.
Cooling off period over. Downing experiment is simply not working. Let him go back to Villa for 5m. Benteke would thrive off his crosses if they ever beat the first man. I'm at a loss as to what to do about LB until Wisdom/Kelly return. Move Enrique back? Agger out wide? Robbo? Glen is going to move back to that side as soon as one of the young guys gets back from injury. It is obvious that BR doesn't rate Flanno. While it would be nice to see another youth come through, I just don't think he has the pace/skill to succeed in our system. He'll end up getting transferred out to a Championship club at year end. Like Henderson again. His play has picked up quite a bit. It is clear that, as football365 noted on Monday, he is almost being ignored by some of our players when he gets into good positions and we choose the safe option of playing it to the RB/LB instead of threading through the middle. Allen needs to find him a bit more often instead of choosing the safe pass. If Lucas makes his comeback and is doing fine physically at January 15, I'd cancel the rest of Sahin's loan as he's just taking up wages that can be used in the summer on transfer fees. Allen and SG look a little lost. SG played well for England this summer, with a defined role, stuck to it, showed tremendous discipline tactically and in use of the ball. Right now, it looks as if he is unsure whether he should be sitting back or going forward, getting stuck in a middle ground and going nowhere quickly. And Allen continues to give away silly free kicks and his use of the ball is growing less intelligent as of late. Sterling needs a break. Assaidi needs a game. A striker in January is imperative. All that said, we're unlucky not to come away with something from this game - unlucky not to have 2 pens, several clear chances not converted. Movement caused problems. Onwards and upwards.
Why not start throwing Yesil out there when we need a goal? I mean what could it hurt at this point? The kid has shown a knack for scoring and it's not like we're not regularly starting someone who is younger than him anyway.
Ask Lucas how fun it is being thrown out there as a youngster when the team is struggling. I'm not a huge fan of significant minutes for Yesil at this point.
That is understandable. I suppose we have not got a comfortable lead in a while. If we did it might be useful to send the young players on for experience. We are either chasing a game or waiting for it to end once in a winning position. However Yesil is 18 and Sterling 17 and again I really hope we rest Sterling sooner rather then later as these are teenagers and as weird as it sounds still going through physical changes.
Ugth, such as last season at WHL. So much talk about progress/lack of progress through previous regimes, but I just recall the 2011 team looking like a Ch'ship squad against a Top 4 side at WHL.