| I love Marti……….. 17:22 - Mar 9 with 7327 views | Snipper |
………… but I think he got the subs completely wrong today.
He’s allowed a bad day. After all, we’d be screwed without him.
Onto next Saturday. |  | | |  |
| I love Marti……….. on 22:45 - Mar 9 with 1740 views | joe90 |
| I love Marti……….. on 20:13 - Mar 9 by nix |
I agree with all of this.
Colback looks neat because he never plays a penetrating ball, he always seems to play sideways or backwards. When you're trying to beat the high press you need to play quickly around the other team. Colback doesn't work with this. We rarely broke through their lines.
I would have taken him off and not Field and pushed Field up a bit, like he played on Wednesday.
Chair just looked too tired today. He ran an awful lot in the previous two games. Maybe should have started with Hodge.
However, Marti so often gets things right, so I'm being picky here. The real issue is we were robbed on Wednesday and totally deserved to get six points from nine instead of only four. It also puts more pressure on us again with yet another must win match. |
I think that’s a good observation about Colback and his passing preference. Can’t say it’s something that I’ve noticed, but now you mention it, I think you are right. But I will counter that point, what I have notice about him is that he will often make himself available for pass and on a number of occasions that’s a forward pass. I think he links play well and shows for the ball at time when others don’t. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 22:52 - Mar 9 with 1707 views | joe90 |
I would have waited another 10mins before making the subs and would have brought Armstrong on for Dykes.
Given our form I think a lacklustre performance was on the cards. Boro deserve some credit, they were good today.
The one thing that stuck in my mind was second half was a moment when Willock was dribbling the ball around the edge of the box and Andersen was screaming for the ball. I like that Andersen looks for that extra pass when he has the ball and find incredibly frustrating that Willock (and Chair) often don’t. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 06:33 - Mar 10 with 1553 views | nix |
| I love Marti……….. on 22:45 - Mar 9 by joe90 |
I think that’s a good observation about Colback and his passing preference. Can’t say it’s something that I’ve noticed, but now you mention it, I think you are right. But I will counter that point, what I have notice about him is that he will often make himself available for pass and on a number of occasions that’s a forward pass. I think he links play well and shows for the ball at time when others don’t. |
He does make himself available, which is positive, and I don't think it's always a problem against all teams, I just mean yesterday when we were being crowded out in midfield we needed someone who would move it forward and get it through their lines.
The reason I noticed it was I saw he has 90% passing accuracy (compared to Chair or Andersen's for instance which are around 80%), which I thought at first was a great thing but then I thought if it's that high is it just because he doesn't take any risks and always plays the (too) safe ball? The issue with that is that eventually he passes to someone else who loses the ball instead because they've been so crowded out. Or because we become very static in midfield like yesterday. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 07:31 - Mar 10 with 1494 views | Spaceman_P |
| I love Marti……….. on 20:12 - Mar 9 by Ned_Kennedys |
Very harsh blaming Critchley for this season.
And we were certainly not ‘really good’ in the first half: both teams were pretty average but unfortunately only one team pushed on in the second half. |
I blame Critchley mostly because he created such a stink heading into the summer. The blokes personality and lack of charisma likely just destroyed any fight this team had. As we know a few of them are very sensitive or lazy types, so having that bloke as a figure just killed the game for many of the lads.
GA, we all love as a player, but we're suffering because of him his style of football, I still can't get over the Haka thing, made us all look like right cunnies, I was expecting paint ball to follow to be honest.
But psychologically there are probably 4 people to blame if we get relegated. Beale, Critchley, Les, and regrettably Ainsworth.
I think right now, Marti and Xavi have instilled a great feeling into the team, they actually are a team now. Although yesterday did pee me off. As both Chair and Willock went into greedy mood trying to be saviours.I just hope our team spirit and desire to win keeps us up.
I actually feel it'd be very unfair on the team, the current management etc if we did get relegated. Purely due to the fact we are playing in moment very high calibre football. 1st half yesterday was decent. Wednesday with WBA was amazing (should of won though). |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 07:33 - Mar 10 with 1491 views | QPROslo |
For whatever reason nothing much worked for Chair and another terrible pass at the back early on could have gifted them a goal. I thought Andersen and Willock were providing our best attacking play 1st half, but it rarely happened in their penalty area. But how Willock has such a low rating on here amazes me, thought him, Andersen, Dunne and JCS were our best players. Begovic probably should have stopped the 2nd. Didn't understand why Armstrong wasn't used until so late, by the time he did come on Boro had a 2 goal lead and weren't leaving any space at the back for him to sprint into. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:05 - Mar 10 with 1425 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| I love Marti……….. on 07:33 - Mar 10 by QPROslo |
For whatever reason nothing much worked for Chair and another terrible pass at the back early on could have gifted them a goal. I thought Andersen and Willock were providing our best attacking play 1st half, but it rarely happened in their penalty area. But how Willock has such a low rating on here amazes me, thought him, Andersen, Dunne and JCS were our best players. Begovic probably should have stopped the 2nd. Didn't understand why Armstrong wasn't used until so late, by the time he did come on Boro had a 2 goal lead and weren't leaving any space at the back for him to sprint into. |
Willock has a very low rating because he had a very poor game, especially second half. Really needed him to step up, especially when Chair went off, but he was hardly involved in any attacking play. Very frustrating player. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:16 - Mar 10 with 1404 views | QPROslo |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:05 - Mar 10 by Ned_Kennedys |
Willock has a very low rating because he had a very poor game, especially second half. Really needed him to step up, especially when Chair went off, but he was hardly involved in any attacking play. Very frustrating player. |
Saw him do some great work out wide 1st half, had our best effort on goal, defended well and kept going 2nd half more central when Chair and Andersen went off. Our best holder of the ball at his feet. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:21 - Mar 10 with 1399 views | Antti_Heinola |
| I love Marti……….. on 19:51 - Mar 9 by Northolt_Rs |
I think Cifuentes got schooled by Carrick today. Boro tactics worked perfectly for them and we had no answer. Very, very poor all round especially after that great performance against West Brom midweek. Utterly depressing :( |
He wasn’t ‘schooled’ - it was a pretty even game. They had two shots and scored. Boro deserved to win, but tactically there was v little in it. |  |
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| I love Marti……….. on 08:57 - Mar 10 with 1348 views | BklynRanger |
| I love Marti……….. on 06:33 - Mar 10 by nix |
He does make himself available, which is positive, and I don't think it's always a problem against all teams, I just mean yesterday when we were being crowded out in midfield we needed someone who would move it forward and get it through their lines.
The reason I noticed it was I saw he has 90% passing accuracy (compared to Chair or Andersen's for instance which are around 80%), which I thought at first was a great thing but then I thought if it's that high is it just because he doesn't take any risks and always plays the (too) safe ball? The issue with that is that eventually he passes to someone else who loses the ball instead because they've been so crowded out. Or because we become very static in midfield like yesterday. |
I actually thought Colback had shown himself to be quite good at getting the ball on the half turn and either carrying or playing it forward. Do agree he didn't have the same joy yesterday but I put that down to the imposed lay-off and the Borough midfield doing a decent job - Howson always seems solid.
There is a clear pattern of play though, where it goes out and back, that explains quite a few of those passes. Thankfully that's started to look a bit quicker and slicker of late. e.g. there were a few minutes in the second half between Hayden coming on and them scoring, where Borough had had the ball for ages, couldn't get it off them, then Hayden comes on and it seemed to either create, or coincide with, a change - we then had it for a good 5 mins. Thought it was a balanced game at that point but we just needed to keep it tight and take one of our few chances, neither of which we ended up doing.
Subs-wise, the only one I couldn't agree with was the timing of the Armstrong one at 0-2 down. Getting another forward on fair enough, but the opposition were now sitting in - the time to try to stretch them a bit, introduce his freshness, and find a gap would have been straight after their first, or maybe on the hour mark when Frey was running out of gas. Don't think any of this lost of us the game though. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 09:09 - Mar 10 with 1326 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
Personally, I think the game again highlighted the lack of squad depth.
There was a lack of energy (crowd included), and I'm not sure what Marti could have done differently. I don't buy into the argument of if he had started a certain player, or made subs at different times.
It was game 3 in a week yet again, and only a larger squad, with better squad players can help fix it.
Don't forget, this isn't Martis squad. Chins up everyone. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 09:21 - Mar 10 with 1290 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 09:09 - Mar 10 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Personally, I think the game again highlighted the lack of squad depth.
There was a lack of energy (crowd included), and I'm not sure what Marti could have done differently. I don't buy into the argument of if he had started a certain player, or made subs at different times.
It was game 3 in a week yet again, and only a larger squad, with better squad players can help fix it.
Don't forget, this isn't Martis squad. Chins up everyone. |
Bristol City + Leicester away showed our best Starting XI,
Ultimately 1st Goal was crucial but can someone explain how (after Wednesday) anyone, with or without the data + stats, would start Frey over Dykes or Armstrong.
Was out on his feet after half hour and not being harsh but can may be recall won one header + held ball up once?
I'm always a never take Chair off but he was tired + flat yesterday but Field can run up + down all day and maybe with hindsight that was the wrong call.
Game of fine margins and we didn't have any luck yesterday. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:07 - Mar 10 with 1225 views | Northernr |
As ever it’s amusing to compare this thread with the replies to the team news on the match thread (pages 3 and 4) where the only negative comment about the selection from anybody at all is Brian saying he didn’t like Hayden not starting. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:21 - Mar 10 with 1177 views | PunteR |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:07 - Mar 10 by Northernr |
As ever it’s amusing to compare this thread with the replies to the team news on the match thread (pages 3 and 4) where the only negative comment about the selection from anybody at all is Brian saying he didn’t like Hayden not starting. |
Yeh i was gonna say the same thing that Brian called it with the return of Colback. |  |
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| I love Marti……….. on 12:21 - Mar 10 with 1177 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:07 - Mar 10 by Northernr |
As ever it’s amusing to compare this thread with the replies to the team news on the match thread (pages 3 and 4) where the only negative comment about the selection from anybody at all is Brian saying he didn’t like Hayden not starting. |
Agree with Brian on that call, but most people are travelling to the game at this time so tend not to post.
Not sure anyone would argue injury aside Frey starting was a high risk call after Wednesday's exertions. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:26 - Mar 10 with 1164 views | golborne |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:16 - Mar 10 by QPROslo |
Saw him do some great work out wide 1st half, had our best effort on goal, defended well and kept going 2nd half more central when Chair and Andersen went off. Our best holder of the ball at his feet. |
Don’t waste your breath, he’s an undeservedly marked card for some, while people talk of field being a man to break lines with his passing
O’lordy | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:27 - Mar 10 with 1163 views | mart_Goblin |
Reading through this thread you’d think we’d beaten 6-0 and hadn’t won for 3 months.
Knee jerk nonsense written in the comfort of hindsight.
The one thing every body forgets to think about when criticising substitutions is that the coaching staff have the important data to hand and can see when players have entered that red zone when injuries are much more likely to occur. Why do you think (touch wood) we have a fully fit squad right now? Helped of course by the fitness ‘guru’ bought in by GA but MC reacts to the data.
It did t need data to know that Chair was shot in that second half and Field too. He just wasn’t getting about the pitch like he did Wednesday. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:58 - Mar 10 with 1135 views | NorthantsHoop |
| I love Marti……….. on 08:05 - Mar 10 by Ned_Kennedys |
Willock has a very low rating because he had a very poor game, especially second half. Really needed him to step up, especially when Chair went off, but he was hardly involved in any attacking play. Very frustrating player. |
I thought Willock had a poor game yesterday especially in the 2nd half just didn't step up when we needed him to. I noticed one chance where Willock totally ignored a simple pass to Andersen in the box where he was calling for it to strike, Willock ignored simple pass and the attack fizzled out. |  | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:05 - Mar 10 with 1109 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 12:27 - Mar 10 by mart_Goblin |
Reading through this thread you’d think we’d beaten 6-0 and hadn’t won for 3 months.
Knee jerk nonsense written in the comfort of hindsight.
The one thing every body forgets to think about when criticising substitutions is that the coaching staff have the important data to hand and can see when players have entered that red zone when injuries are much more likely to occur. Why do you think (touch wood) we have a fully fit squad right now? Helped of course by the fitness ‘guru’ bought in by GA but MC reacts to the data.
It did t need data to know that Chair was shot in that second half and Field too. He just wasn’t getting about the pitch like he did Wednesday. |
Not being sarcastic as this is what I just don't get,
After Wednesdays exertions fairly obvious to all Frey was running on empty,
So why did he start game (fathomable maybe) but why after what we all could see why did he start the 2nd Half (completely unfathomable)
You either follow the data completely and rotate properly or you start your best XI,
I'm not sure which camp Marti's in on this one. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:16 - Mar 10 with 1093 views | gazza1 |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:05 - Mar 10 by ParkRoyalR |
Not being sarcastic as this is what I just don't get,
After Wednesdays exertions fairly obvious to all Frey was running on empty,
So why did he start game (fathomable maybe) but why after what we all could see why did he start the 2nd Half (completely unfathomable)
You either follow the data completely and rotate properly or you start your best XI,
I'm not sure which camp Marti's in on this one. |
Look at MC's options - that tells the story. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:17 - Mar 10 with 1087 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:16 - Mar 10 by gazza1 |
Look at MC's options - that tells the story. |
The same options that started the Leicester + Bristol City games and played so well? | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:30 - Mar 10 with 1042 views | gazza1 |
No not really, I perhaps would have given Armstrong a chance......but he thought, & I concur with his thoughts, that Frey was the best option. Neither striker that were used as subs done anything more or less than Frey. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:37 - Mar 10 with 1028 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:30 - Mar 10 by gazza1 |
No not really, I perhaps would have given Armstrong a chance......but he thought, & I concur with his thoughts, that Frey was the best option. Neither striker that were used as subs done anything more or less than Frey. |
Thats b'cos they got 10 men behind the ball after going 1 up and gave us no space,
We had lots of space and crosses in the first half hour and didn't score when we should have.
We had a winning starting XI and team at Bristol City + Leicester City and we changed it for no obvious reason other than rotation, if so, how did Frey start yesterday when was obviously so fatigued. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:47 - Mar 10 with 998 views | QPROslo |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:37 - Mar 10 by ParkRoyalR |
Thats b'cos they got 10 men behind the ball after going 1 up and gave us no space,
We had lots of space and crosses in the first half hour and didn't score when we should have.
We had a winning starting XI and team at Bristol City + Leicester City and we changed it for no obvious reason other than rotation, if so, how did Frey start yesterday when was obviously so fatigued. |
You do love to repeat yourself. I agree Frey wasn't great but for all our good play around the penalty area 1st half we didn't create too much in there, and nowt for Frey. Frey did put a lovely pass through for Chair who had the opportunity to lob it over a back pedalling Seny. If he had done that as he probably should Mikki would have an assist. I don't think Dykes or Armstrong managed that. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:58 - Mar 10 with 958 views | ParkRoyalR |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:47 - Mar 10 by QPROslo |
You do love to repeat yourself. I agree Frey wasn't great but for all our good play around the penalty area 1st half we didn't create too much in there, and nowt for Frey. Frey did put a lovely pass through for Chair who had the opportunity to lob it over a back pedalling Seny. If he had done that as he probably should Mikki would have an assist. I don't think Dykes or Armstrong managed that. |
Missing the point Oslo, the point / question being is Marti rotating based on data or picking Starting XI based on form, results etc.
Up to yesterday I thought was rotating based on data, freshness of players etc but starting an obviously fatigued Frey says otherwise.
Other one I don't get is lack of an outfield Captain, especially without a vocal sweeper / keeper,
Big picture is positive as was shown how well we played v Bristol City, Leicester City and WBA. | | | |
| I love Marti……….. on 15:18 - Mar 10 with 846 views | mart_Goblin |
| I love Marti……….. on 13:58 - Mar 10 by ParkRoyalR |
Missing the point Oslo, the point / question being is Marti rotating based on data or picking Starting XI based on form, results etc.
Up to yesterday I thought was rotating based on data, freshness of players etc but starting an obviously fatigued Frey says otherwise.
Other one I don't get is lack of an outfield Captain, especially without a vocal sweeper / keeper,
Big picture is positive as was shown how well we played v Bristol City, Leicester City and WBA. |
As I posted in the Begovic thread, I think the captaincy is part of his contract demands to which GA and others would have sold their mothers just to get Begovic through the door.
It explains why Cifuentes hasn’t changed it. His hands are tied.
You make some valid points but assumptions that Frey was running on empty before the game and MC would have ignored it is quite insulting to a coach who has turned this team around and clearly uses the data completely to protect the players from injury.
Frey did not play well but didn’t look like he was shattered …he’s just slow anyway 🤣.
Frey is different to the other 2 and that I think he is a ‘goalscorer’. Now I know he didn’t really look like it yesterday but I think that’s what MC is banking on . That the others will create chances for someone with an instinct.
My criticism of Frey is that he wants to get involved in the build up Too much . Just get yourself in the box . At the moment he is not in there enough when the creative players look up to deliver a cross . | | | |
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