Chelmofox

Because we are full to the brim of midfielders right now?. Enzo wanted this guy, and although he wasn't top tier we could do with him right now.

I think we beat Sunderland and Draw to Hull. Neither will park the bus, which gives us a different game. Then we can reset over the international break and win 5 in a row. Hopefully by then we will only need one more win to do it.

Makes me wonder if either the number of appearances is being managed or Doyle is still struggling a little bit following injury.

Well, of course! But my point is it's still all to play for.

Is there a 'ignore posts about Leeds' button?

Its the best strategy against us. I dont understand why any manager or fan would want to play us any other way right now. Give us some space and we are lethal. Park the bus, stifle the wingers and we shit the bed.

As much as it pains me to say it, Nelson had a hand in the 2 goals. He played the defender onside for the first and slipped at a terrible moment for the 2nd. That's not to detract from his ability and the rest of the game he had, but now is the time for some experience. Coady and Faes for me, and JJ needs a rest so Doyle as well as i don't think Sunderland will come at us. I just don't think we can play Akgun and KDH together, so surely the trump card is to slot Nacho in there? Hermansen Hamza Coady Faes Doyle KDH Winks Nacho Fatawu Vardy Mavididi

We haven't 'fooked' it. We are in the process of 'fooking it'. We can 'unfook' it by getting some form back and putting the 3 games behind us, and other teams might go through their own wobbles and start thinking they have 'fooked' it as well. Only our fans could be in a position where we are 5 points and a big goal difference ahead of 3rd and think we have 'fooked' it. Any other clubs fanbase would try to pull their team over the line.

Middlesbrough changed their system for our game though. Not watched them since, but my mate who lives in a sh1thole up north says they have reverted back to Carricks favoured system (more possession oriented ).

This should get all the rep points today.

When this happens its time for our 8 and 10 to take charge and become more of the creative outlet. Unfortunately, we don't have a fit quality number 8 right now and if you can keep KDH on his right foot (helped if you decide to play him on the right as well) then you stand a chance that he doesn't create anything up to much.

Me too, but most fans can't asses wingers performances properly. Played very well against Leeds (should have bagged at least one - but he wasn't the only one) and puts a massive defensive shift in when needed. Arguably taking him off against Leeds was the catalyst for them to get back into the game. Worked hard Saturday but nothing came off. Is a worry when his head drops but i don't think he ever stopped trying.

I took this one from a vlog (its the best one i could get at the point the ball was hit). You can't do a VAR critique because the angles are all messed up, but in a land without VAR you can't begrudge the lino not giving it offside. Nelson is to deep.

Why cannot it be opposition tactics? Mav was good (but not clinical) against Leeds but was poor in 2 games (QPR and Borough) where both executed a game plan that flooded midfield and nullified the wing thread (and were exceptionally clinical). Fatawu was better against Bournemouth as he had more space. We are getting ahead of ourselves with PL again, but if we make it most teams wont setup like QPR and Middlesbrough.

Be nice to get a 1 goal lead

Most wingers are except for the elite. Although he didn't score, Mavididi was much better against Leeds and created some very good chances as we were given more space. When teams play deep against us the plan is to nullify and double up on the wingers as this is where the creativity comes from. When this happens, we need more out of the midfield players and that just didn't happen yesterday. This is why when Ndidi is playing well we start creating different problems as their defence dont have the resources to double up on the wingers.

This! We've lost 3 on the spin, which is horrible. Southampton lost 3 in 4 games, but everyone still sees them as a threat. I still find it inconceivable that Leeds and Ipswich don't lose points in the run in. It's going to be tight but we can still do this and there is everything to play for. Time to pull together!

I'm a little dumbfounded why Doyle wasn't playing or even subbed on in the 2nd half. Doyle's isn't as good defensively, but that wasn't our biggest issue after we went 2-0 down.

I'm no StriderHiryu, but I came home yesterday after watching QPR complete the ultimate low block game yesterday. They offered nothing in the 1st half until their goal, which was their first significant attack in our box. 2nd half was no different and they scored one of their only chances from that free kick (Nelson slipping massively helped there). I believe Mads made no saves yesterday - which is absolutely insane. For me, Middlesbrough provided the blueprint for how to beat us. Setup defensively and flood the midfield and wing areas. Nullify winks, double up on Mavididi and Fatawu as much as possible. Once you have everyone back and we are cycle possession around the box, the gamble is that our 8 and 10's don't have the quality to create much through the middle and the wingers don't have the space to cut in effectively - we will likely try and force something that ultimately doesn't pay off. KDH is an engine but isn't a brilliant technical player, and so we don't have that cutting quality to break anyone down. Winks doesn't really come forward much and when the box is congested, we don't get the best out of Vardy / Daka. For the opposition, if we positionally switch off (aka Nelson / Hamza in the 1st half yesterday), you have to take your chance. Many teams simply haven't been that clinical, but QPR and Borough were. QPR came to our game confident after some decent results which obviously helped them. If you are a team struggling then its very difficult to pull this off. We don't have the quality to break down a team doing the low block really confidently.

This is what i am clinging on to. 3 loses is horrible, but as i see it: Middlesbrough played the game / tactics of their season and managed to cling on. The most obvious part of this was them going on to lose their next 2 games. Leeds were largely outplayed by us, and a stupid offside call and brain farts meant we didn't extent the lead. Fair play to them for the last 10 mins. QPR gave the best example of sh1thousery ive seen all season. 2 frikin shots on target and a tonne of parking the bus and gamesmanship that didn't get penalised. Middlesbrough deserve their victory and fair play to Leeds for taking advantage of our bad luck, but the QPR one hurts. Difference between QPR and many who have come before is they took the 2 chances they had. How likely is it that the next team like QPR who come to the KP are 100% lethal in front of goal. Although we have some significant issues (such as no fit no 8 and a leaky defence) I think playing away to a team who aren't going to park the bus will likely help. All depends on how Sunderland setup and if they go super defensive if they are capable of doing what QPR or Borough did.

Thing is, he's going to be rusty when he comes back and a very much doubt he will be able to get through 90 mins. When i look at his games before this latest injury i see that the most mins he played in the last 3 games was 70 mins and his last goal contribution was 13th December. Fingers crossed he comes back primed and super fit, but we might need to be a little more realistic than that.

Lighten up - i was joking. It was funny timing.

This is a really tough one. No time to get major drills in training, all the 8's are injured, only 1 player who can play the inverted role left and he's played a tonne of football the last week or so, a defence that's become leaky and strikers that have forgotten how to score. Akgun and KDH together hasn't worked as well, so Enzo needs to find a solution there. KDH is horrible playing on the right of the pitch and we need him where he is strongest. Your line up is most likely the one but i don't like KDH and Akgun together. Could Nacho be squeezed into one of those positions? I very much doubt it unless he has done drills for it in training. Really interesting to see how this is dealt with, because our biggest issue is creativity through the middle in the final 3rd.

Yet the collection of old boys around us turn up late and leave early (both halves), tap your shoulder if you stand up for a bit, more than happily say they've been 'coming for years so what do you know', never sing and spend most of the games moaning. But saying that there are some old boys in front of us who are brilliant fun. Lets just not blame everything on one demographic.

This is the best footage i have found for the first goal (taken from Mayan vlog). I can't get any other footage to stop the moment the ball is hit. Its tighter than i remember at the game for sure, and we are always screaming for VAR to give those to the striker. Nelsons positioning is all wrong which is a shame as overall he had a decent game.