Hunt out.

[Hound]

Marriott is keeping us afloat at the moment - the two wide players Kyerewaa and Lane have been absolutely shocking and if we had suitable replacements should be dropped. Kelvin E has made some contribution as had Ritchie - but its those starters combined with a both weak and uncreative midfield exacerbated by Wing's tactical position that is causing us pain.

A lot of people wanted to switch from 4-3-3 and inverted wingers although DK/Marriot/Lane were just starting to combine better together and get the press right.

Hunt then switched to 4-2-3-1 (presumably to shoehorn Doyle into the team), swapped Dk and Lane over and they've both been absolute shite since. But I totally agree Kelvin E and Ritchie both look more suited to the new system.

I also think defensively things were getting a lot better with Williams. Never mind O'Connor, Williams can't come back soon enough for me.

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

Campbell was pretty poor tbh. Definitely wouldn’t have been the answer for me. Had some awful games

Kelvin also did nothing wrong on Saturday - didn’t lose the ball and kept possession, 100% pass completion I think, won a couple of headers, defended a couple of corners well.

The fact that he didn’t have a great deal of impact is we played everything down the right and barely used him at all. Can’t blame him for it - he can’t go chasing the ball. When we did go left Jacob seemed to have taken up some left winger position half the time as well

[leon]

A lot of people wanted to switch from 4-3-3 and inverted wingers although DK/Marriot/Lane were just starting to combine better together and get the press right.

Hunt then switched to 4-2-3-1 (presumably to shoehorn Doyle into the team), swapped Dk and Lane over and they've both been absolute shite since. But I totally agree Kelvin E and Ritchie both look more suited to the new system.

I also think defensively things were getting a lot better with Williams. Never mind O'Connor, Williams can't come back soon enough for me.

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

Campbell was pretty poor tbh. Definitely wouldn’t have been the answer for me. Had some awful games

Kelvin also did nothing wrong on Saturday - didn’t lose the ball and kept possession, 100% pass completion I think, won a couple of headers, defended a couple of corners well.

The fact that he didn’t have a great deal of impact is we played everything down the right and barely used him at all. Can’t blame him for it - he can’t go chasing the ball. When we did go left Jacob seemed to have taken up some left winger position half the time as well

yeah - he put in a defensive shift and looked to protect his full back. Something Campbell routinely failed to do whether by decision or instruction I don't know.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Aside: I’m not entirely sure where the high regard for Kelvin really comes from. I’m not sure where or how we play him to get anything consistent out of him. His name might be on the team sheet but I have difficulty remembering anything he does.

[URZZZZ]

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

Campbell was pretty poor tbh. Definitely wouldn’t have been the answer for me. Had some awful games

Kelvin also did nothing wrong on Saturday - didn’t lose the ball and kept possession, 100% pass completion I think, won a couple of headers, defended a couple of corners well.

The fact that he didn’t have a great deal of impact is we played everything down the right and barely used him at all. Can’t blame him for it - he can’t go chasing the ball. When we did go left Jacob seemed to have taken up some left winger position half the time as well

yeah - he put in a defensive shift and looked to protect his full back. Something Campbell routinely failed to do whether by decision or instruction I don't know.

I think pretty poor is harsh. 21 year old in his first proper season at a competitive level and made a decent ish contribution

Sure - he had flaws such as the above and had some poor games but I think somewhat this was a reflection on our limited squad depth. Akande (constantly unfit and now in L2), Bodin (benchwarmer in L2) and Camara (OK but not a game changer) as our backup options meant no matter how poorly Campbell was playing, there was no one to really swap him out for. Think he’d have been viewed differently if he was more of a rotation option, as he’s being used at Stevenage!

Know it’s something we’ve discussed a few times before but our wide options are very much something we haven’t conquered for a while now, not least since Stam’s first season. Makes a huge difference having effective wide players

[Snowflake Royal]

Marriott is keeping us afloat at the moment - the two wide players Kyerewaa and Lane have been absolutely shocking and if we had suitable replacements should be dropped. Kelvin E has made some contribution as had Ritchie - but its those starters combined with a both weak and uncreative midfield exacerbated by Wing's tactical position that is causing us pain.

A lot of people wanted to switch from 4-3-3 and inverted wingers although DK/Marriot/Lane were just starting to combine better together and get the press right.

Hunt then switched to 4-2-3-1 (presumably to shoehorn Doyle into the team), swapped Dk and Lane over and they've both been absolute shite since. But I totally agree Kelvin E and Ritchie both look more suited to the new system.

I also think defensively things were getting a lot better with Williams. Never mind O'Connor, Williams can't come back soon enough for me.

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

KelvinE is the most likely to create something, but also is the most likely to go missing for long stretches.

I wonder whether he might do better behind Marriott linking with him, or perhaps Kyerewaa in there running around like a mad thing.

We're close, but we haven't quite found the right combination yet.

[Hound]

Campbell was pretty poor tbh. Definitely wouldn’t have been the answer for me. Had some awful games

Kelvin also did nothing wrong on Saturday - didn’t lose the ball and kept possession, 100% pass completion I think, won a couple of headers, defended a couple of corners well.

The fact that he didn’t have a great deal of impact is we played everything down the right and barely used him at all. Can’t blame him for it - he can’t go chasing the ball. When we did go left Jacob seemed to have taken up some left winger position half the time as well

yeah - he put in a defensive shift and looked to protect his full back. Something Campbell routinely failed to do whether by decision or instruction I don't know.

I think pretty poor is harsh. 21 year old in his first proper season at a competitive level and made a decent ish contribution

Sure - he had flaws such as the above and had some poor games but I think somewhat this was a reflection on our limited squad depth. Akande (constantly unfit and now in L2), Bodin (benchwarmer in L2) and Camara (OK but not a game changer) as our backup options meant no matter how poorly Campbell was playing, there was no one to really swap him out for. Think he’d have been viewed differently if he was more of a rotation option, as he’s being used at Stevenage!

Know it’s something we’ve discussed a few times before but our wide options are very much something we haven’t conquered for a while now, not least since Stam’s first season. Makes a huge difference having effective wide players

Agreed wide players have been an issue. Meite was good on the right until his injury tbf.

Ritchie should have the nous to do a job on the right. For me it’d be Kelvin on the left but I don’t disagree with some of the criticism of him - he needs to stay fit and consistent - but we’ve seen what he is capable of at times. Or swap them over. Lane has done it at this level before as well, it’s suprising he has been so ineffective so far

Camara, Garcia and Kyeweera should all be able to contribute as well

If we still can’t get it right this year I don’t think it’s because the players don’t have the ability

[leon]

A lot of people wanted to switch from 4-3-3 and inverted wingers although DK/Marriot/Lane were just starting to combine better together and get the press right.

Hunt then switched to 4-2-3-1 (presumably to shoehorn Doyle into the team), swapped Dk and Lane over and they've both been absolute shite since. But I totally agree Kelvin E and Ritchie both look more suited to the new system.

I also think defensively things were getting a lot better with Williams. Never mind O'Connor, Williams can't come back soon enough for me.

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

KelvinE is the most likely to create something, but also is the most likely to go missing for long stretches.

I wonder whether he might do better behind Marriott linking with him, or perhaps Kyerewaa in there running around like a mad thing.

We're close, but we haven't quite found the right combination yet.

I agree with the second part of the last sentence not necessarily the first

[South Coast Royal]

Kelvin did very little on Saturday and was disappointing in the cup last Tuesday - just don’t see a consistent player in there worth persevering with

Know he split opinion a fair amount but would quite like to have seen Campbell back in the summer - doing OK at Stevenage and thought he was our most effective wide player last season (low bar admittedly!)

KelvinE is the most likely to create something, but also is the most likely to go missing for long stretches.

I wonder whether he might do better behind Marriott linking with him, or perhaps Kyerewaa in there running around like a mad thing.

We're close, but we haven't quite found the right combination yet.

I agree with the second part of the last sentence not necessarily the first

+1
I don't see signs of us getting there (yet) -it all feels very disjointed and poorly managed.

[linkenholtroyal]

I agree with some of the comments on here. But I think there is an element of square peg round holes as some of the issue. We have got rid of through no fault of our own ball playing centre backs who are comfortable on the ball and replaced them with old school defenders who can’t play the ball ( with the exception of Williams who can play the odd pass from the back)
With this the formation or jobs need to change within the team. Rather than before when attacks would be started from the back the midfielders need to drop deeper to pick the ball up and drive forward or the age old lump up forward but this does not work well with one central forward.

We either need to play the CDM role but as a playmaker with the defence doing the defence. So a wing or Savage there to thread balls forward. The ACM with the 2 behind dropping back to bring balls forward to drive play forward.
Or I believe I have said it before 4-4-2 with the forwards holding the balls up from long balls for the others to drive forward and link up play. (We do lack striking options for this).

With this form of drive forward will bring more opportunities we have the 4th lowest corners per game in the league and funny enough all the teams with less are below us.

So long and short we are not the same team as last year, so stop trying to play like it, look at the players you have and adapt to a new way of being. You signed them so find a formation and tactics that suit.

Rant over