Van Ewick Injury (15 Viewers)

[fernandopartridge]

He looks like he plays best with balls over the top/through balls to chase and with Eccles and Kelly he's got no chance of getting those to be fair. Without Sheaf as well you just need Ayari in a deeper position to set those up.

We need to just progress the ball through midfield quickly and that needs players willing to move and receive it, Allen has this in bundles as has O'Hare, it doesn't have any dependency on long passing

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[Great_Expectations]

Christ that’s shit isn’t it

bottom 6 stuff

Is it?

It has Ayari and Saka both starting so giving us more attacking impetus that an off form Palmer and sideways CM pairing. Downside is Kelly over Eccles, but with no replacement RWB it is what it is.

While still relatively unknown quantities, Saka and Ayari are not bottom 6 club players. Big caveat being; MR just needs to find a way to utilise them.

 

[shmmeee]

Though TBF that assumes progression is immediate

We've had one bad result really, so perhaps just need to calm down

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Ive been worried about the quality of the “big” signings since the start. They just don’t look like they have the level of quality needed for that money. And yes players settle but at that fee you expect a certain level of technical ability.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I've said it before and ill say it again, WE ARE F**KING CURSED.

No, we aren't. When this sort of shit happens season in season out then it's likely because we're managing the workloads wrong.

We consistently have small squads so the chances of players having to play lots of minutes increases.
We have a manager reluctant to make subs so those players play even more minutes.
Then a player gets injured because of it and just makes it worse.

These things alone logically make your players more prone to injury. And that's without knowing anything at all about training, but MR does seem to be one to want significant workrate.

 

[Sick Boy]

Wake up and smell the coffee. Mid table would always have been good this year. That was the case even before the injuries. We are in the same position as the League 2 season in terms of the development cycle just from a much higher starting point and where it is a lot more competitive. Lots of new players who need to be integrated

Buying players is always a lottery. Alex Fergusson bought Nick Powell and Phil Jones after all. Robins has had a fair few howlers but generally been ahead of the game.

apropos the twitter poll as to whether Robins should be sacked - I assume the 5% who do want to get rid of him either have severe mental health problems or are fans of other clubs who would be glad to have him

Even if we were relegated I'd stick with Robins

If we get relegated he’d 100% deserve to be and be sacked.

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

He looks like he plays best with balls over the top/through balls to chase and with Eccles and Kelly he's got no chance of getting those to be fair. Without Sheaf as well you just need Ayari in a deeper position to set those up.

Completely agree, as bad as Wright and Simms have looked I still believe that our main issue is our lacklustre midfield. There’s absolutely no urgency and no vision, they’re never looking for the killer through ball or the ball over the top. Simms has made some decent runs tbf and I’m sure Wright will be able to beat most strikers to a through ball but for some reason Kelly and Eccles hardly ever try it. There’s only so many times you make a run before you realise no one is spotting you and then you think what’s the point.

Clearly this is not based on evidence but I’m convinced that if we played more through balls and long balls then we’d see Wright and Simms become more effective. Our midfield is worse than our attack in my opinion.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

We need to just progress the ball through midfield quickly and that needs players willing to move and receive it, Allen has this in bundles as has O'Hare, it doesn't have any dependency on long passing

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We were just spoiled by Hamer being able to instinctively make those passes from within his own half. One word to describe most of the players on Tuesday was static, just like half arsed 5 a side players do.

Completely agree, as bad as Wright and Simms have looked I still believe our main issues is down to the lacklustre midfield. There’s absolutely no urgency and no vision, they’re never looking for the killer through ball or the ball over the top. Simms has made decent runs and I’m sure Wright will be able to beat most strikers to a through ball but Kelly and Eccles hardly ever try it. There’s only so many times you make a run before you realise no one is spotting you and then you think what’s the point. Clearly this is not based on evidence but I’m convinced that if we played more through balls and long balls then we’d see Wright and Simms become more effective. Our midfield is worse than our attack in my opinion.

Against Lesta and Wimbledon we were doing that frequently and causing quite a few problems. Well, one player was and then he pissed off to drink gravy.

 

[shmmeee]

Really hope we’ve got a couple of CM signings lined up for Jan

 

[shmmeee]

We were just spoiled by Hamer being able to instinctively make those passes from within his own half. One word to describe most of the players on Tuesday was static, just like half arsed 5 a side players do.

Against Lesta and Wimbledon we were doing that frequently and causing quite a few problems. Well, one player was and then he pissed off to drink gravy.

Its the combination of lack of energy, lack of vision, and lack of technical ability to pull of that which they do see. Just incredibly limited. I like Eccles but he really is the latest in a long line of non-descript CMs churned out by our academy a la Ben Stevenson and Conor Thomas.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

It’s the combination of lack of energy, lack of vision, and lack of technical ability to pull off that which they do see. Just incredibly limited. I like Eccles but he really is the latest in a long line of non-descript CMs churned out by our academy a la Ben Stevenson and Conor Thomas.

It’s frustrating too that there was a pretty useful RWB going for free who’s gone to QPR, and an equally useful CM in Sam Clucas who’s gone to Rotherham.

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

It’s the combination of lack of energy, lack of vision, and lack of technical ability to pull off that which they do see. Just incredibly limited. I like Eccles but he really is the latest in a long line of non-descript CMs churned out by our academy a la Ben Stevenson and Conor Thomas.

Lack of vision in general is a big problem with the team and probably also the management tbf, I wouldn’t swap Robins for any other championship manager but I do get frustrated he doesn’t mix things up when it’s going tits up. For instance there’s absolutely no reason why Lati can’t play CDM alongside Dasilva say, yes it sounds totally ridiculous (and I’m sure many people will say it is totally ridiculous) but it’s only because we’ve been “told” that’s what Dasilva and Lati are, they’re just players, they’re not been assigned the positions of LWB and CB at birth. They’re both quick and defensively sound yet have the ability to move forward well, they could easily play CDM/CM with a bit of coaching. Anything that involves getting Eccles and Kelly out of the starting line up is a good thing in my eyes, they’re more of a waste of space than Wright and Simms to me, yes Eccles and Kelly haven’t looked bad like Wright and Simms have but that’s because they’re never expected to score like Wright and Simms are. I feel like Eccles and Kelly (and even Palmer) have underperformed just as much as Wright and Simms have so far.

 

[Hincha]

If Hamer was still here nobody would be complaining about Wright because he would have had somebody giving him a decent service.

We're playing 7 defensive players with the two DMs but everyone is expecting the strikers to play amazing in a system/team selection that clearly majorly lacks creativity.

 

[robbiekeane]

Lack of vision in general is a big problem with the team and probably also the management tbf, I wouldn’t swap Robins for any other championship manager but I do get frustrated he doesn’t mix things up when it’s going tits up. For instance there’s absolutely no reason why Lati can’t play CDM alongside Dasilva say, yes it sounds totally ridiculous (and I’m sure many people will say it is totally ridiculous) but it’s only because we’ve been “told” that’s what Dasilva and Lati are, they’re just players, they’re not been assigned the positions of LWB and CB at birth. They’re both quick and defensively sound yet have the ability to move forward well, they could easily play CDM/CM with a bit of coaching.

What the fuck did I just read

 

[covcity4life]

So do we know how long he's out for or what?

And where are all the posters who kept rubbishing my posts saying we needed to buy a back up rwb in the summer?

 

[covcity4life]

If Hamer was still here nobody would be complaining about Wright because he would have had somebody giving him a decent service.

We're playing 7 defensive players with the two DMs but everyone is expecting the strikers to play amazing in a system/team selection that clearly majorly lacks creativity.

Yup. If hamer was here I don't think striker goal would be an issue

We just need to figure it out tactically.

 

[higgs]

Norton Cuffey should have been recruited in the summer so we had proper options at rwb said it at the time

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[Deleted member 5849]

This season was always likely to be a step back from last. Even if Vik and Hamer stayed it would have been n unlikely they'd have dragged us up like last season to the same effect. A new group will always need to bed in and get used to the division... and the group isn't finished yet anyway.

What we do have us a squad that's ours, so any development of the players this season either results in incoming cash, or a better season next time out.

 

[shmmeee]

The thing for me is why on earth are we still playing 7 defensive players after spending so much on the defence? Can the back three still not be trusted to defend?

 

[Gint11]

Well for a start we should have another specialist right back to cover MVE

and we should have a signed another midfielder to cover sheaf and Gus

we did neither, and it’s fucked us over

if I can see it how mark robins couldn’t astounds me

Or maybe he did see but couldn’t get deals over the line?

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

What the fuck did I just read

I’m guessing you’re one of those that would have kept Gareth Bale as a left-back his whole career then?
Each to their own but I’d prefer to get the best out of our team rather than be playing slow-poke Kelly and sideways-passing Eccles every week. Absolutely no idea if it would work but maybe Robins could try something in training. We’re slowly starting to get up shit creek, we’ve got to think outside the box rather than play the same old predictable shit each week.

 

[clint van damme]

I’m guessing you’re one of those that would have kept Gareth Bale as a left-back his whole career then?
Each to their own but I’d prefer to get the best out of our team rather than be playing slow-poke Kelly and sideways-passing Eccles every week. Absolutely no idea if it would work but maybe Robins could try something in training. We’re slowly starting to get up shit creek, we’ve got to think outside the box rather than play the same old predictable shit each week.

We need to get a midfielder who can get us on the front foot and one of our new strikers firing.
We can replace one defensive midfielder with another, and in an ideal world Kelly wouldn't be starting, but essentially our issues will be the same.

Hopefully with Ayari improving, Allen back and O'Hares return imminent that will happen.

 

[steve cooper]

Lack of vision in general is a big problem with the team and probably also the management tbf, I wouldn’t swap Robins for any other championship manager but I do get frustrated he doesn’t mix things up when it’s going tits up. For instance there’s absolutely no reason why Lati can’t play CDM alongside Dasilva say, yes it sounds totally ridiculous (and I’m sure many people will say it is totally ridiculous) but it’s only because we’ve been “told” that’s what Dasilva and Lati are, they’re just players, they’re not been assigned the positions of LWB and CB at birth. They’re both quick and defensively sound yet have the ability to move forward well, they could easily play CDM/CM with a bit of coaching. Anything that involves getting Eccles and Kelly out of the starting line up is a good thing in my eyes, they’re more of a waste of space than Wright and Simms to me, yes Eccles and Kelly haven’t looked bad like Wright and Simms have but that’s because they’re never expected to score like Wright and Simms are. I feel like Eccles and Kelly (and even Palmer) have underperformed just as much as Wright and Simms have so far.

Not sure that would work, but as you say, not been tried. One thing that does irritate me though is what I see as MR's sometimes over cautiousness. There is no better example in my eyes than Hamer playing deep for most of his career with us when clearly he was capable of a good goal ratio from a more advanced role. Possibly as many as 15 a season, as proved at the end of last season when, due to injuries MR had no option but to play him further forward. Gus is now scoring goals in the premier league for a very poor team.

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

We need to get a midfielder who can get us on the front foot and one of our new strikers firing.
We can replace one defensive midfielder with another, and in an ideal world Kelly wouldn't be starting, but essentially our issues will be the same.

Hopefully with Ayari improving, Allen back and O'Hares return imminent that will happen.

Yeah fair enough, I just feel that we could do with a whole new approach to our style of play because for me (again I’ll say I’m obviously no expert) it just doesn’t seem to work with the players we’ve got. I don’t necessarily think moving players positions around, like Lati or Dasilva, is the answer but I’ve seen nothing from Eccles or Kelly (admittedly only played a couple of games) so far this season that suggests they’re even thinking about looking for a incisive through ball, let alone have the ability to do it. Perhaps they do but I haven’t seen it yet and there’s only so much longer we can go on playing like this.

As bad as Simms and Wright have been so far, I feel like we’re not playing to their strengths, we’re never giving them a long/through ball to chase and be one on one with the keeper. They’re not technically brilliant or tricky players, they’re just quick and strong and we should be crafting scoring opportunities that suit that style of play, rather than asking them to dribble round multiple defenders all the time.

Definitely agree that Ayari should be playing much more though, I think he could maybe work well alongside another defensive CM. I know Robins has ruled it out but really think Lati could do a good job there, just a shame we’re stuck with Eccles and Kelly for the foreseeable.

 

[clint van damme]

Yeah fair enough, I just feel that we could do with a whole new approach to our style of play because for me (again I’ll say I’m obviously no expert) it just doesn’t seem to work with the players we’ve got. I don’t necessarily think moving players positions around, like Lati or Dasilva, is the answer but I’ve seen nothing from Eccles or Kelly (admittedly only played a couple of games) so far this season that suggests they’re even thinking about looking for a incisive through ball, let alone have the ability to do it. Perhaps they do but I haven’t seen it yet and there’s only so much longer we can go on playing like this.

As bad as Simms and Wright have been so far, I feel like we’re not playing to their strengths, we’re never giving them a long/through ball to chase and be one on one with the keeper. They’re not technically brilliant or tricky players, they’re just quick and strong and we should be crafting scoring opportunities that suit that style of play, rather than asking them to dribble round multiple defenders all the time.

Definitely agree that Ayari should be playing much more though, I think he could maybe work well alongside another defensive CM. I know Robins has ruled it out but really think Lati could do a good job there, just a shame we’re stuck with Eccles and Kelly for the foreseeable.

We're not going to get that sort of ball from Eccles or Kelly. It's just not in their perspective lockers unfortunately.
I think we'll see Lati in there despite what Robins said because I think injuries and fatigue will necessitate it but I wouldn't hold your breath hoping he's got some inner Patrick Viera that he can channel.

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

We're not going to get that sort of ball from Eccles or Kelly. It's just not in their perspective lockers unfortunately.
I think we'll see Lati in there despite what Robins said because I think injuries and fatigue will necessitate it but I wouldn't hold your breath hoping he's got some inner Patrick Viera that he can channel.

Yeah I agree completely, I don’t for a second think Lati will be the second-coming in the defensive midfield position but I do think it’ll be an upgrade on Eccles or Kelly.
Basically I’d much rather see Lati and Ayari play in midfield than Kelly and Eccles.

 

[fernandopartridge]

I’m guessing you’re one of those that would have kept Gareth Bale as a left-back his whole career then?
Each to their own but I’d prefer to get the best out of our team rather than be playing slow-poke Kelly and sideways-passing Eccles every week. Absolutely no idea if it would work but maybe Robins could try something in training. We’re slowly starting to get up shit creek, we’ve got to think outside the box rather than play the same old predictable shit each week.

Are you related to slow poke

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[BlueSkiesForever]

Are you related to slow poke

So you think our current midfield situation is absolutely fine then? I’m baffled at how many people are just willing to lay down and accept our fate like there’s nothing we can do about it, like we have no other options available to play midfield. Just because a player is “assigned” the position of LB or CB or RW etc etc doesn’t mean that’s the position they will HAVE to play for the rest of their career. If the team needs help in certain areas then players can be moved to provide that help, to blindly soldier on playing Kelly and Eccles in CM when they’re not consistently up to a decent standard is either brave or stupid.

 

[fernandopartridge]

So you think our current midfield situation is absolutely fine? I’m baffled at how many people are just willing to lay down and accept our fate like there’s nothing we can do about it, like we have no other options available to play midfield. Just because a player is “assigned” the position of LB or CB or RW etc etc doesn’t mean that’s the position they will HAVE to play for the rest of their career. If the team needs help in certain areas then plays can be moved to provide that help, to blindly soldier on playing Kelly and Eccles in CM when they’re not consistently up to that level is either brave or stupid.

Yeah I know now to solve a midfield problem, try playing a left back there

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[Grendel]

So do we know how long he's out for or what?

And where are all the posters who kept rubbishing my posts saying we needed to buy a back up rwb in the summer?

We clearly signed Sakatomo for that role

 

[covcity4life]

We clearly signed Sakatomo for that role

Not sure robins trusts him there.

I would like to see him start a few games but not sure he will.

 

[Grendel]

Not sure robins trusts him there.

I would like to see him start a few games but not sure he will.

He doesn’t trust him but he clearly signed him mainly as cover in that position

 

[covcity4life]

He doesn’t trust him but he clearly signed him mainly as cover in that position

Should have done more research then. I dunno I think he got him in as utility player.

He shown lots of promise tho. Maybe with game time his defensive play will impress robins enough

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

Yeah I know now to solve a midfield problem, try playing a left back there

Firstly I’m not saying Dasilva is the only option, I’m just saying we should be thinking of other options to play CM, and secondly at least one of us is trying to come up with ideas to help us get out of the current situation we’re in, it’s dead easy to sit there and say we should just play Kelly and Eccles until Sheaf is back. Can’t wait to see Kelly’s burst of pace and Eccles’ pinpoint long-range passing for the next 2-3 months…

 

[Deleted member 5849]

I suppose DaSilva could play defensive midfield while we move Eccles out to cover wingback...

 

[BlueSkiesForever]

I suppose DaSilva could play defensive midfield while we move Eccles out to cover wingback...

Yeah I actually think Eccles did a better job at RWB than he has done at CM so far, or we could maybe bring Bidwell in CM, strong defensively minded, aggressive, runs a lot. They’re all just players with attributes, not contractors that are legally only allowed to play one position all year.
Basically there’s just so many other better options than Kelly and/or Eccles in midfield.