Do We Need To Consider Not Playing The Best Teams

[Trav Le Bleu]

It's something I'm worried about and I'm wondering how many of you have also noticed this trend.

 

Basically, when we play the top teams (by which I mean teams with the best players, usually in teams costing far more than ours), we don't seem to win so much. In fact, you could say we struggle.

 

And here's why. 

 

Often, they defend really well, which is a problem we don't get with lesser teams, which means we have to try really, really hard, and that is DIFFICULT. So this means we don't score as many goals against teams with world-class defenders. Clearly this needs to be ADDRESSED, possibly by buying better forwards than their defenders.

 

Also the best teams insist on being HIGHLY TRAINED. Perhaps we should train more? MESSI is brilliant because he trains so much; take note Mahrez!

 

It's also concerning how the top teams amazing forwards can only often score incredible, unstoppable goals against us. The question is, how do we stop these unstoppable shots? Again, we could buy defenders who are better than their forwards, but if we buy better forwards as I SUGGESTED earlier, maybe we won't have so much money, so perhaps this can be achieved by more training, or possibly better training? Of course, having a good goalkeeper helps and whilst Kasper is a very good keeper, if we had a very, very, really GOOD keeper, that would help.

 

The midfield I have noticed, when we're playing better teams, aren't as good as the players of the other team. I'm not sure how to overcome this... clearly we will be running low on money and can't train any more than them (after all, the other team's players are really very, very, good, so probably train as hard as is actually possible) so perhaps we should forget midfield and just kick the ball REALLY LONG from the defenders to the forwards. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we should try a 5-0-5 formation to best utilise this.

 

I've not forgotten the subs bench either. When we play the top teams, they have amazing subs which they can bring on to change the game. The obvious answer to this is to have subs that are better than the players who start the game! That will show them!!! Just think how motivated our players will be, knowing that at any second they could be subbed by a superior player?!?!?!??!

 

If we do the above and, of course, change the management (probably getting a manager who has won the Champions League several times) then we might stop losing against the top, bestest teams.

 

I'm not so worried about when we play teams on a par with us, or lesser teams, often we beat these teams, but losing to the best is unthinkable! Action is required, in fact, will be required, yesterday!

 

If we can't beat the top 4 or 5 teams, clearly we will be relegated. Perhaps we just shouldn't play them at all.

 

Sorry, but it had to be said.

 

 

 

With apologies to the seemingly small minority of level-headed FT posters.

 

 

 

[MrsJohnMurphy]

Have you been playing football manager?

Sent from my Lenovo A1010a20 using Tapatalk

[murphy]

4 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

It's something I'm worried about and I'm wondering how many of you have also noticed this trend.

 

Basically, when we play the top teams (by which I mean teams with the best players, usually in teams costing far more than ours), we don't seem to win so much. In fact, you could say we struggle.

 

And here's why. 

 

Often, they defend really well, which is a problem we don't get with lesser teams, which means we have to try really, really hard, and that is DIFFICULT. So this means we don't score as many goals against teams with world-class defenders. Clearly this needs to be ADDRESSED, possibly by buying better forwards than their defenders.

 

Also the best teams insist on being HIGHLY TRAINED. Perhaps we should train more? MESSI is brilliant because he trains so much; take note Mahrez!

 

It's also concerning how the top teams amazing forwards can only often score incredible, unstoppable goals against us. The question is, how do we stop these unstoppable shots? Again, we could buy defenders who are better than their forwards, but if we buy better forwards as I SUGGESTED earlier, maybe we won't have so much money, so perhaps this can be achieved by more training, or possibly better training? Of course, having a good goalkeeper helps and whilst Kasper is a very good keeper, if we had a very, very, really GOOD keeper, that would help.

 

The midfield I have noticed, when we're playing better teams, aren't as good as the players of the other team. I'm not sure how to overcome this... clearly we will be running low on money and can't train any more than them (after all, the other team's players are really very, very, good, so probably train as hard as is actually possible) so perhaps we should forget midfield and just kick the ball REALLY LONG from the defenders to the forwards. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we should try a 5-0-5 formation to best utilise this.

 

I've not forgotten the subs bench either. When we play the top teams, they have amazing subs which they can bring on to change the game. The obvious answer to this is to have subs that are better than the players who start the game! That will show them!!! Just think how motivated our players will be, knowing that at any second they could be subbed by a superior player?!?!?!??!

 

If we do the above and, of course, change the management (probably getting a manager who has won the Champions League several times) then we might stop losing against the top, bestest teams.

 

I'm not so worried about when we play teams on a par with us, or lesser teams, often we beat these teams, but losing to the best is unthinkable! Action is required, in fact, will be required, yesterday!

 

If we can't beat the top 4 or 5 teams, clearly we will be relegated. Perhaps we just shouldn't play them at all.

 

Sorry, but it had to be said.

 

 

 

With apologies to the seemingly small minority of level-headed FT posters.

 

 

 

 

So in a nutshell, the best teams have better players than ours.

 

Who'da thought it?

[Brainy]

Is there some hidden message in an anagram of the words you have posted in bold?

[nnfox]

9 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Clearly this needs to be ADDRESSED, possibly by buying better forwards than their defenders.

 

 

 

This.  So simple.  Just buy better strikers than their defenders.  While we're at it we can buy better defenders than their strikers and then buy better midfielders than their midfielders.  If possible we should buy better subs than their subs too.

[UPinCarolina]

This is possibly flying over the head of so many posters right now.

[st albans fox]

I agree with trav ..........    so many will be sooooo confused

[red5]

Be a bit boring only playing 6 games a season.

[notnow john]

Apology accepted.

[urban.spaceman]

[DelBoy73]

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

 

[STUHILL]

My head hurts. 

[nnfox]

To be fair, I do believe that we turn up against the "top" teams with damage limitation mentality.  I'm regularly disappointed with our lack of anything other than a one dimensional attaking performance.  We have the attacking talent to cause ANY team in the league problems, but we seem to be content with trying to keep the goals against stat to below three, whilst living in hope that somehow we manage to get one.

 

If we have any serious ambition to finish in the top 7 or 8 then we simply have to take points from the top 6 teams, something that we simply aren't set up to do at the moment. 

[vanity]

<3

[Kitchandro]

This is a stupid thread with a misplaced attitude.

 

As I said, the fact these are big clubs is irrelevant to how we approach matches.

 

We are approaching games poorly, that is why we are playing badly (results aside) and will continue to underachieve.

 

Since this forum is full of excuse experts I'm yet to hear a good one for our pathetic attempt against promoted Huddersfield, who we should quite simply expect to be better than. Certainly if we're falling in line with your view on football.

 

Your simplistic view is actually a damaging attitude to have. You're refusing to look deeper and just writing games off. If our management and board are the same we're in serious long term trouble.

[Charl91]

5 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

This is a stupid thread with a misplaced attitude.

 

As I said, the fact these are big clubs is irrelevant to how we approach matches.

 

We are approaching games poorly, that is why we are playing badly (results aside) and will continue to underachieve.

 

Since this forum is full of excuse experts I'm yet to hear a good one for our pathetic attempt against promoted Huddersfield, who we should quite simply expect to be better than. Certainly if we're falling in line with your view on football.

 

Your simplistic view is actually a damaging attitude to have. You're refusing to look deeper and just writing games off. If our management and board are the same we're in serious long term trouble.

 

Have to agree.

 

By the logic of a lot of the forum, we may as well just give away 42 points a season, because we couldn't possibly expect to get anything from the top 7.

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, murphy said:

So in a nutshell, the best teams have better players than ours.

 

Who'da thought it?

EXACTLY!

 

When are we gotta going to sort this out? I'd like to see something happen before the end of the year, if at all possible.

[Kitchandro]

Just now, Trav Le Bleu said:

EXACTLY!

 

When are we gotta going to sort this out? I'd like to see something happen before the end of the year, if at all possible.

Is it ok if we just want to see some decent tactics to give us some sort of chance?

 

At least against the likes of Huddersfield, who I will assume you agree should clearly have trouble competing with our much better players.

 

 

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, UPinCarolina said:

This is possibly flying over the head of so many posters right now.

Yeah, but I'm sitting at home, stroking my chin, sipping whisky and quietly chortling to myself.

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, notnow john said:

Apology accepted.

You're welcome.

 

Whisky?

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, DelBoy73 said:

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

 

Hate to break this to you, but...

[Trav Le Bleu]

41 minutes ago, nnfox said:

To be fair, I do believe that we turn up against the "top" teams with damage limitation mentality.  I'm regularly disappointed with our lack of anything other than a one dimensional attaking performance.  We have the attacking talent to cause ANY team in the league problems, but we seem to be content with trying to keep the goals against stat to below three, whilst living in hope that somehow we manage to get one.

 

If we have any serious ambition to finish in the top 7 or 8 then we simply have to take points from the top 6 teams, something that we simply aren't set up to do at the moment. 

Agreed, but some of the threads I've read recently...

[Kitchandro]

Let's get something straight. We are rubbish at the moment. Rubbish. We are not performing well. There is no argument there.

 

If there's one thing our league win should have changed it's this defeatist attitude of 'we can't compete with the big teams'. It's nonsense. If people don't realise now that tactics, tempo and desire are more important than bank notes then they need to get in the real world.

 

All of ours have gone out the window over the last year. We've been sloppy and accepting of slipping down into lower-midtable medicority if not a relegation dogfight.

 

[Kitchandro]

3 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Agreed, but some of the threads I've read recently...

Which ones?

 

Our manager has been questioned, our players have been questioned, our Director of Football has been questioned and people have questioned whether we're in a relegation fight or not.

 

All of which have been totally reasonable considering our performances.

[Charl91]

Also, by the logic of "We shouldn't expect to gain points against the top teams", we therefore shouldn't expect to drop any points against the lower teams.