BFTG Bournemouth - sponsored by no midfield

[sandman]

Think Gorkss is getting a hard time on here. I reckon he's been alright in the past two home games (can't comment on away performances). Wins almost every header and I think Pearce is better playing with Gorkss along side, and being the right hand centre back (his natural side?) which is usually Morrision's preferred position. Granted, he's not the best with the ball at his feet but, surprisingly, he played two superb balls yesterday. Just think he brings the best out of Pearce.

Did anyone else think McCarthy should have come for the free kick as it was launched into the box leading up to their first goal? Their player made the header on the edge of the six yard box - maybe he could have come and punched it before their player got there?

'greed about Gorkss. Thought he and the rest of the defence were actually ok yesterday and it was the midfield and up front where we were most lacking. Gorkss seems to be past the point of no return as regards people judging his performances when others, who are more celebrated, aren't playing to their full potential.

As for the McCarthy comment, possibly but there are certain players who you can't criticise on here (see the guy who made mistakes for both goals yesterday) so expect a barrage of abuse to come in your direction for suggesting it.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Folk on here are traditionally sheeplike

Gorkss will always be their whipping boy, despite his decent appearances since his recall.

[3points]

Gorkss will always be their whipping boy, despite his decent appearances since his recall.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Its the Midfield our problem lies.
There is virtually zero supply to our forwards.

WE HAVE NO CREATIVITY!

[bcubed]

Great away performance from an average side. Barely got out of their own half in the first 45 and scored with their first two genuine chances. Hit us on the break and played triangles around us second half.

I get the logic in dropping Pog for that shape, Sharp started ok, but I think the wrong striker went to the bench. Pog's link up play has been excellent recently. We played decent football lacking penetration until they scored. We got in down the wings better than against Charlton, but whenever we got a cross in it was too close to the keeper or to a defender. Partly this was down to just hitting the cross into the zone rather than looking for an individual and partly it was because we barely had more than two in the box. No one broke late to hit space in the 18 yard box.

Guthrie starts dropping too deep after 30 minutes and we rarely offer ourselves to the player on the ball. We almost never have a triangle on, we seem scared of the centre circle and there's not enough movement. Especially for throw ins, although they were far better than Charlton.

People may blame Guthrie for one of the goals for giving it away, but it was a terrible ball to him from Gorkss who I thought was playing people into trouble all game. And when he wasn't he was hoofing it.

WTF were McCleary and Williams doing swapping places midway through the second half!?

McCarthy 8 no chance with either goal
Gunter 7 overlapped well and didn't defend badly.
Cummings 7 decent game
Pearce 8 rock and so calm. I like the way he's starting to bring the ball down and pass it.
Gorkss 5 hoof. He's just not the player he used to be and I can't wait for the return of Morrison.
Guthrie 5 too deep and playing too long, especially second half. Rarely showed for the ball near the centre circle. Too often he releases the ball and then doesn't look for the return by running forward into space.
Willams 6 drove forward more but nowhere near enough and also went missing.
Obita 6 started well, faded badly
McCleary 6 did very little and when he did work a crossing chance there were few options and just hopeful balls
HRK 5 did fook all, basically
Sharp 6 started well and faded badly

Pog 6 not much to work with, should have started
Drenthe 7 not fit but did more than all three other wingers combined
ALF 7 Scored.

Guthrie gave the ball away needlessly three times, once for the goal and I am pretty sure he committed the foul for the first goal too, also needlessly.

Personally I didn't like the Guthrie Williams combination
Guthrie seems to play much better alongside Baird - gives him more freedom and allows him to get further forward, where he can give the ball away with less impact!

[leon]

Utterly wrong.

You're advocating two flat banks of four. Exactly the sort of football that will get us relegated, nevermind playoffs. It's only a slow passing approach because every time our playmaker gets the ball, he looks at two static wingers, a midfield partner picking his nose, and two strikers waiting for a hoof upfield. Drenthe spent more time in 20 minutes playing in the channels and between attack and midfield, than the rest of the attacking 6 did in the whole game.

When Guthrie has options he always gets rid of it very quickly. If he has no-one to pass to, what do you expect him to do with it?

Never said anything about formation.

If you don't want players like a Guthrie moving into space between the lines, then you are talking about formation.

baffling comment. players are allowed to move around on a football pitch. I don't see Guthrie playing incisive short/medium balls. Just back to the keeper and hollywood cross field ones that allow the opposition to regroup and get behind the ball. I don't see him playing fast attacking triangles that gets the ball up the pitch and us into an attacking opportunity. Sorry, I just don't. Is that because all the other players are shit? No I don't buy that - and even if it was true then our own history shows that McGhee did just that with technically inferior players.

[Sanguine]

How difficult is it to see (clue: it's not) that often when Guthrie gets the ball, he has little in the way of options. Williams was useless on Saturday, at a minimum he should be an outlet for a Guthrie but he was rarely in position, and often static. Obita left his head in the changing rooms, and for all his running McCleary only ever seemed to get the ball by accident.

Guthrie's passing was sloppy at times, but it really doesn't take much to notice that one of our biggest problems yesterday was a totally static formation, with isn't something that enables a playmaker to, erm, make plays.

[Ian Royal]

Great away performance from an average side. Barely got out of their own half in the first 45 and scored with their first two genuine chances. Hit us on the break and played triangles around us second half.

I get the logic in dropping Pog for that shape, Sharp started ok, but I think the wrong striker went to the bench. Pog's link up play has been excellent recently. We played decent football lacking penetration until they scored. We got in down the wings better than against Charlton, but whenever we got a cross in it was too close to the keeper or to a defender. Partly this was down to just hitting the cross into the zone rather than looking for an individual and partly it was because we barely had more than two in the box. No one broke late to hit space in the 18 yard box.

Guthrie starts dropping too deep after 30 minutes and we rarely offer ourselves to the player on the ball. We almost never have a triangle on, we seem scared of the centre circle and there's not enough movement. Especially for throw ins, although they were far better than Charlton.

People may blame Guthrie for one of the goals for giving it away, but it was a terrible ball to him from Gorkss who I thought was playing people into trouble all game. And when he wasn't he was hoofing it.

WTF were McCleary and Williams doing swapping places midway through the second half!?

McCarthy 8 no chance with either goal
Gunter 7 overlapped well and didn't defend badly.
Cummings 7 decent game
Pearce 8 rock and so calm. I like the way he's starting to bring the ball down and pass it.
Gorkss 5 hoof. He's just not the player he used to be and I can't wait for the return of Morrison.
Guthrie 5 too deep and playing too long, especially second half. Rarely showed for the ball near the centre circle. Too often he releases the ball and then doesn't look for the return by running forward into space.
Willams 6 drove forward more but nowhere near enough and also went missing.
Obita 6 started well, faded badly
McCleary 6 did very little and when he did work a crossing chance there were few options and just hopeful balls
HRK 5 did fook all, basically
Sharp 6 started well and faded badly

Pog 6 not much to work with, should have started
Drenthe 7 not fit but did more than all three other wingers combined
ALF 7 Scored.

Guthrie gave the ball away needlessly three times, once for the goal and I am pretty sure he committed the foul for the first goal too, also needlessly.

Personally I didn't like the Guthrie Williams combination
Guthrie seems to play much better alongside Baird - gives him more freedom and allows him to get further forward, where he can give the ball away with less impact!

Gorkss should never have played the ball to Guthrie.

I'll happily admit to being biased about Gorkss because of previous atrocious performances. He's certainly much improved and no longer a calamity every game, just still far from the player he was.

[bcubed]

Not saying Gorkss isn't a libility - he is, albeit I agree less than he was a couple of weeks ago
But Guthrie made some critical mistakes when playing too deep and that was one of them

[Ian Royal]

Not saying Gorkss isn't a libility - he is, albeit I agree less than he was a couple of weeks ago
But Guthrie made some critical mistakes when playing too deep and that was one of them

Not saying Guthrie didn't make a mistake, just asking people not to focus on that solely and to recognise that whilst he should have done better, he's not the only one who's culpable.

[bcubed]

Not saying Gorkss isn't a libility - he is, albeit I agree less than he was a couple of weeks ago
But Guthrie made some critical mistakes when playing too deep and that was one of them

Not saying Guthrie didn't make a mistake, just asking people not to focus on that solely and to recognise that whilst he should have done better, he's not the only one who's culpable.

I think he has been excellent but on Saturday not at his best and maybe because he plays better with Baird when he can get further forward?

[leon]

How difficult is it to see (clue: it's not) that often when Guthrie gets the ball, he has little in the way of options. Williams was useless on Saturday, at a minimum he should be an outlet for a Guthrie but he was rarely in position, and often static. Obita left his head in the changing rooms, and for all his running McCleary only ever seemed to get the ball by accident.

Guthrie's passing was sloppy at times, but it really doesn't take much to notice that one of our biggest problems yesterday was a totally static formation, with isn't something that enables a playmaker to, erm, make plays.

Agreed if the players aren't finding space the manager should have been coaching that out of them.

However Guthrie plays too deep and rarely passes the ball forward - I'm talking triangles not necessarily killer through balls. And I don't see him taking the ball forward giving, going and getting back and playing the incisive ball.

But then you'd have spotted that, being the football expert apparently.

[Ian Royal]

Not sure of Baird, who I thought had not really delivered after a good start. I think he, and we, are most missing Bridge and a consistent starting 11 and shape. We keep chopping and changing so much that it's hard to build up any sort of understanding through the team. Williams is only just back from an injury and hasn't really had the chance to full settle into the first 11 yet. I think those two just need a bit of time together.

We seem to lack properly functioning partnerships all over the pitch. I think we could choose to play 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, or 4-3-3 quite comfortably, if only we settled on one, maybe two - one for harder games and one for easier games.

And we'd be playing significantly better if only Bridge was back fit and Drenthe was fully fit. I know Drenthe's not to everyone's tastes, but he's lightening quick and he's so chock full of arrogance that he'll always be on the front foot and looking to take people on. Which terrifies defences. He'll win us freekicks in dangerous positions and cause things to open up. He's also got great passing stats too, which would help us.

Karacan, Morrison and Baird are also significant loses.

We're still quite clearly in transition from a squad set up to play one way, but missing a couple of vital parts for it, and a squad set up to play a different way, but significantly off managing that. Adkins to me looks like a manager who isn't really sure how to deal with it and whether to push on or revert.

And part of that looks to me to be caused by some of the bigger names that are still on the wage bill but not really contributing much to the first team. And some of the more mediocre deadwood that's padding out the squad too. We can only get rid of players if someone will take them. Andthere's only so large a squad and wage bill we can sustain.

[Ian Royal]

How difficult is it to see (clue: it's not) that often when Guthrie gets the ball, he has little in the way of options. Williams was useless on Saturday, at a minimum he should be an outlet for a Guthrie but he was rarely in position, and often static. Obita left his head in the changing rooms, and for all his running McCleary only ever seemed to get the ball by accident.

Guthrie's passing was sloppy at times, but it really doesn't take much to notice that one of our biggest problems yesterday was a totally static formation, with isn't something that enables a playmaker to, erm, make plays.

Agreed if the players aren't finding space the manager should have been coaching that out of them.

However Guthrie plays too deep and rarely passes the ball forward - I'm talking triangles not necessarily killer through balls. And I don't see him taking the ball forward giving, going and getting back and playing the incisive ball.

But then you'd have spotted that, being the football expert apparently.

Not recently, given his form has dipped significantly. But that's pretty much exactly what he has been doing in our better showings, fleeting though they've been.

[Za Vas]

For me the problem arises when we have the ball with one of the centre backs and instead of letting them walk the ball forward and find a pass. Guthrie not only comes too deep, but by virtually demanding the ball off of Pearce/Gorkss, effectively taking both centre backs out of the game as well as meaning we only have one man in the centre of the park. I'm a fan of Guthrie (and Adkins FWIW) and it's obvious he wants to get on the ball and try to dictate the tempo, but that's never going to happen by running up to Pearce, shouting at him until he gets the ball and receiving it with his back to goal.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Best back from the game thread for ages. For me the telling thing is the missing players. We have five unfit players who would otherwise be in the team, you are watching the lesser squad players at the moment. And from comments they are just not up to it.
Oh and pog to palace in Jan. Probably on loan with view to permanent if they stay up.

[sandman]

Excuse after excuse yet again for Guthrie. He made the mistake for the second goal, him, no one else. Dorothy didn't come down from Oz and land on him, there wasn't a sudden gust of wind and it wasn't Gorkss fault either. Much like the man himself, when he stops to have a moan at those around him, his fans are great at blaming others but not quite so quick to look at where the fault really was and that is Danny Guthrie.

We've had some great midfielders at the club since I've been going like Osborn, Sidwell and Harper, players who the likes of Guthrie can only dream of being as good as for this club.

[wingnut]

Another dreadful home performance. Started well (again) but created very little (again) and given our inability to score when comfortably on top it was hardly a surprise when Bournemouth scored from a rare attack - given them by a pointless foul and booking by Guthrie. Then Guthrie with yet another loose "pass" gifts them another goal.
For me, Guthrie deserves far more stick on here for his recent poor performances - whether that's down to Baird not being available I'm not sure. Williams played far better on Tuesday but Guthrie was still toilet.
Not really sure what Adkins tactics are anymore - we appear to be neither fish nor flesh and not any good; not a passing side but not a direct, long ball side either. Instead, we're one-paced, too narrow and toothless.

[RoyalBlue]

Gorkss 5 - Grabban didn't really cause Gorkss any problems, but the guy is a lower leagues defender, looks shaky on the ball, and he is the architect of most of our punts upfield.
.

Staggered by these comments - were there two Gorkss on the field? - because we saw a very different one play. Leaving aside the diving header clearance that turned into a sublime pass out to McCleary on the right (probably not intended or absolutely brilliant if it was!) he produced a succession of perfectly weighted and placed passes during the game, particularly during the first half. At one point my son and I actually joked that he could become our creative midfielder.

[loyalroyaldaz]

The Midfield lacks any bite. Guthrie shouldnt be chasing the ball all over the park he should be playing around the centre circle. We need somebody in there to actually tackle, win the ball and then give it to Guthrie. Missing Jem alot right now i think, Williams is way to inconsistent and Akpan? Well dont get me started on him....