Bazly

The FFP rules were designed to maintain the status quo where rich clubs could never be financially challenged in 10 years, 50 years or 100 years. Under FFP the top teams today will be the top teams forever. Everton cheating by being the 12th largest positive net spending club on transfers in the EPL over the last 5 years (1/3rd of Manures net spend) is just a case of they aren't meant to invest in their playing staff. They aren't meant to have any chance of challenging the status quo. We shouldn't be looking at financial compensation. Our downfall last season was playing the worst goalkeeper in the league for most of the season that cost at least shots on target flying past the keeper 6 goals than if we had a good keeper in place. Its Maddison looking terrified taking that penalty kick against Everton that he fluffed. It was having a disinterested manager who alienated lots of the players in place for months too long. It was nothing to do with Everton spending the amount they did on players which was less than Wolves spent over a 5 year period. Our demise was entirely self inflicted and we need to suck it up.

The other option is a striker who is really good in the air and physical. That would be your striker that scores a lot of headed goals from crosses or corners. The kind of player who wins headers against defenders in any position on the field (our current strikers won't even contest a high ball sent up field). The kind of player that can secure and hold up the ball ready to feed the pace players from midfield. Today, our strike force is pretty isolated, cannot outpace opponents, cannot muscle out opponents to gain a high ball and cannot score plenty of goals from headers. Actually, they just cannot score with our from the back play style. So, I'd see a number nine who can win the high ball in any position on the park and score plenty of headers in a season as a massive leap forward in our game plan and play.

It's very true, a good defence is key to providing a platform to go on to win a game. The one position that has been a clear and obvious upgrade over last season is the goalkeeper when we shipped a lot of goals, largely due to Ward's inability to get in the way of shots (goal bound shots were actually twice as likely to go past Ward into the net than they were with the top goalkeepers in the league). I did provide the relative EPL keeper shot stop data for one thread last year. Ward was demonstrably the worst keeper in the league and by some way which makes me wonder why Brenda persisted with him for so long. The side scored 51 goals last season due mainly to contributions from Maddison and Barnes with the attackers in the team being largely absent. 51 goals would normally be more than enough to stay up in the middle to lower middle of the table. So, yes, you can huff and puff as much as you want seeking to create goals but a strong defence is essential, if the team cannot score goals then it becomes your only hope.

The figures I put out there show that every team, without exception, scores fewer goals per game in the EPL that they achieved as winners of the Championship and the average is almost half the number of goals per game. You don't win games by defending but I'd expect newly promoted teams have a double squeeze of scoring fewer goals whilst shipping more goals. Someone else can go work the goals shipped average. I happen to think this current side and setup would struggle to achieve much above 38 goals in an EPL season without working out a new way to get from tippy tappy at the back to the back of the net 70 yards ahead past 11 opponents which means looking at ending the season somewhere in the bottom 5.

There has been many comments for a while that our attack is bordering on non existent, its been three years in the making. The bulk of goals have come from midfield for a while now with Vardy being largely a passenger for his last 60 games. The only team on current scoring form in the Championship that has a chance of doing a Fulham in the EPL next season is Ipswich. No other team has enough goals in them to thrive, it'll be survival at best. I looked back over the last 10 years since we last won the Championship and the 9 winning teams next years performance in the EPL (Norwich have done it twice). The average goals scored by the Championship winning team is 1.81 per game which falls to an average of only 1.08 goals for those teams per game in their following EPL season. Our present team wouldn't get much past the middle of the park against most EPL sides with the slow passy passy interplay, its not hard to see why newly promoted teams struggle to score first season in the EPL. Our current goals average is 1.81, it was 1.80 in 2013/14. The 2015 season, the great escape season was only just survived because there were goal scorers in the side (Ulloa and Vardy) and there was attacking pace. This present team lacks dedicated goal scorers and pace. I'd expect if this team goes up, it'll be a good bet to come straight back down without some radical changes in the way we form and execute attacks. Championship winners and following year EPL goal average Burnley 1.89 goal average - 0.75 EPL Fulham 2.30 - 1.44 EPL Norwich 1.63 - 0.60 EPL Leeds 1.67 - 1.63 EPL Norwich 2.02 - 0.68 EPL Wolves 1.78 - 1.30EPL Newcastle 1.84 - 1.02 EPL Burnley 1.56 - 1.02 EPL Bournemouth 2.15 - 1.18 EPL Leicester 1.80 - 1.21 EPL

What the entire central midfield, including KDH, lacks is pace going forward. Its either pass or turn and side or back pass. There is no driving out of midfield that the likes of Tielemans, Mahrez, Maddision and even Kante of the past could do. This is why I quite like it when Ricardo moves to midfield, he is good on the ball and can drive forward at pace. Without a forward thinking and moving midfielder then we have little chance of ever getting Vardy into a game and he will be doing well to finish on 8 goals this season when he should be popping at least 15 and ideally 20+ in this division. Our current midfield, including KDH, would be a goal desert in the EPL.

With Vardy absent and Natcho heading to the centre circle to collect the ball its no surprise we found scoring impossible. Our midfield is too ponderous. Every time we had played pitty patty around there were at least 9 white shirts in the way of their goal. Sometimes hoof ball is the best ball, if only to add a bit of variety. This side is too easy to read, it'd never get near goal in the Premiership. I recon we'd struggle to get 30 goals in a season in the EPL without some faster and direct attacking options out of defence or through the midfield.

We play pretty well from 60 yards out.

Massive cheering for every corner, how many corners have we scored from in the last 3 seasons? Answers on one hand please.

Toooooooooooo slow in the build up, no point waiting till there are 8 white shirts in the way.

Looks more like a 0-2 that and 1-1

Trying to walk past 11 oppos isn't working too well.

That Italian guy, the one on loan from Chelsea, I haven't bothered learning his name yet because he is crap. Rated almost 6 on the forum for todays shitty passing and never hitting the goal once despite it being there gaping, in front of him, three times. Seems better suited to rugby the way the shots and headers were heading over the bar. I only gave him a 4. I was thinking 3 but decided that would be harsh so went generous.

This is so poor its positively funny.

Justin turning his back, are these guys worried about their faces. KDH did the skip away the other day. They need some face up ball hit at them training.

Anyone struggling to watch the game PM me. Open till 15:25

My mother probably would have buried that header.

Big Wilf would have buried that header.

Its a different league. As we will likely be quickly reminded of next season.

Apart, maybe, from when he did his don't hurt me skip out the way for their goal.

I thought I'd enjoy winning games again, which I do but not as much as I thought I would. The tippy tappy around the back line has me having kittens and bouts of severe stomach cramp with the raised anxiety levels. I don't think the current side is an improvement over the one that failed miserably last year other than we do have a proper keeper which is a massive upgrade. You see many sides run away with the Championship but then go on to struggle in the EPL, we did that ourselves in 2014/15 after going over 100pts in the Championship. I have a gut feeling that we are a few players short of a stable Premier league return.

I wouldn't bother.

Came across this Huth podcast, only 4k views - it's deserves lots more. Humorous and informative its a good hours entertainment.

He seems to walk OK unaided so hopefully just a twinge.

Faes hasn't put a foot wrong all game.