Bournemouth (H) 1 - 0 -- Post-Match Thread (5 Oct 24)

[Jazzy_Jeff]

Back 4 and Skipp superb.

 

Wilf looks better in deeper role.

 

I thought Ayew did well but would much rather bring him on to do this job than from the start. Mavididi had his moments but decision making let him down at times.

 

As much as I love Vardy I’d much rather use him as impact. Will get pelters for this but think the system will suit Daka and would like Cooper to give him a go after the international break (assuming he’s fully fit)

 

Edouard looked poor - so short of confidence.

 

Fatawu did well - needs to start.

 

BCDR and Soumare served  a purpose.

 

all in all, a wins a win and we were desperate for one. First half we looked ok but 2nd half was concerning - the set up could have really cost us. We need a 90 min performance, hopefully the break will give the management team time to reflect and work on game management 

[The Doctor]

2 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

. Still disagree on Ayew as selecting the pass to Facundo or Steph risked losing the ball and the game turning into ping pong, exciting but with little control, so the choice to slow it down and lower Bournemouths momentum did not feel a bad choice. Think Cooper prefers a modicum of control, so this type of thing was always likely.

 

Not going to lie, today reiterated quite how far we have fallen.

problem is it still turns in to ping pong, still into a game where we lack control. we win the free kick and then what? lift it forward to a team with barely two players worth a jot in the air, ceding possession in exactly the same places we would if Facundo and Mavididi were given the ball to run with. in reality, all it lowers is our own momentum, ending chances of catching them on the transition 

[Spudulike]

Doing mental gymnastics from the West Stand when Stockley Park were trying to draw the 'right' lines to allow the Bournemouth non-goal. Very surprised they couldn't manage it.

[SemperEadem]

People were rushing out on 85 minutes.

[Spudulike]

Thought that our defending corners has improved this season. Not sure if that's due to the new set piece coach or Okoli.

[PaulW]

5 hours ago, Tom12345 said:

Cooper really has a loser mentality. Home against Bournemouth. Trying to hold on to 1-0 for dear life the entire second half. Miles apart from Maresca in this regard.

Maresca was doing it in the Championship.  It's generally accepted that the gap in class is enormous. We were never going to storm the Prem.

 

[reynard]

1 hour ago, ClaphamFox said:

If the team keeps on grinding out results and stays out of the relegation zone, I doubt the board will give a **** about the players’ body language. It may be a grim watch, but if Cooper’s mandate is survival, he’s currently on track to deliver it. The board won’t do anything unless that changes. 

Not sure he is. I know what you are saying but is is early days and other sides at the bottom will pick up points. We're currently on track for 32/33 points which will be pretty tight and probably 2 or 3 points too few to stay up.

Next three games are crucial.  Lose at Southampton and Ipswich then i think we're nearly as good as down.  Our fixtures after these three games look pretty daunting. We need 6 points from the next three to be on track.

[Iran]

I understand a win is a win, but I want to see some attacking football and something with a little more pizzazz! I want something with a little more excitement and I don't believe Coops is delivering on that product at the moment, especially with the quality players we have in the squad!

 

It's a bit irritating having to work full time on the weekdays, then having to come watch this lackluster, dull, and boring performance on the weekends on my spare time... and I feel many are in the same boat as I am!

 

I'm sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but just getting the win is not good enough anymore and should be the bare minimum nowadays from the manager...

[Chrysalis]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

Doing mental gymnastics from the West Stand when Stockley Park were trying to draw the 'right' lines to allow the Bournemouth non-goal. Very surprised they couldn't manage it.

I have always thought when the offside team are constantly redrawing the lines, they are trying to get a specific outcome, clear and obvious should mean they dont need to do that.

[Nolucklcfc]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

Thought that our defending corners has improved this season. Not sure if that's due to the new set piece coach or Okoli.

Don’t know about that. Arsenal had many clear headers last week and Bournemouth had a free header today

[HoustonFox]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

Thought that our defending corners has improved this season. Not sure if that's due to the new set piece coach or Okoli.

We’re getting plenty of practice, we give away about 50/game! 

[StriderHiryu]

 

Great goal all round here. I am not Cooper's biggest fan, but this is an exciting template going forwards.

• Okoli and Faes allow for a higher line.
• Faes with what he does best, an aggressive challenge to win the ball back, but not that risky as Okoli is there in case he can't make it.
• Two players combine on the touchline for a 2v1 overload. This is the core attacking pattern from Cooper's system.
• 4 on 4 in the box (but I preferred the 5 we attacked with last season)
• Buonanotte with the audacity to attack the box and go for it.
• This entire move comes from sustaining an attack where the first wave of the attack broke down.

And this doesn't even talk about the killer finish from Facundo!

 

Why we backed off in the second half I don't know. This was class.

[Weller Wing]

6 hours ago, FoxesWalk said:

Almost like one is managing relegation favourites, and the other was managing the title favourites with arguably the strongest squad that league had ever seen. 

If you watched Bournemouth v Chelsea the other week, you'd have seen that, despite a weaker squad, Bournemouth were far better than Chelsea and were extremely unfortunate not to win, let alone not get a draw.

Man U have a great squad of players but they are totally dreadful atm and can be taken apart by a solid well organised side.

We are better than we are showing and it won't change until Cooper is removed 

[StriderHiryu]

 

^ Another great team move!

 

• Mads patient to bait the press and uses his CBs to get out keeping the ball
• Mavididi cool and calm under pressure.
• Okoli with a superb line-breaking pass to open up the game. High risk but high reward.
• Ndidi, Faes and JJ play good first time passes to keep the move flowing.
• Buonanotte with a good progressive carry and a superb pass to Vardy who should score!

Only one bad thing about this move and that was the finish!

 

This was reminscent of last season and was good football. Cooper is frustrating because we ARE capable of playing like this. But we aren't brave enough to try it more often. But credit where it's due, this was great to watch!

[Tom12345]

Some are defending this as a ‘win is a win’.

 

If Bournemouth had just a little more luck and had one of their shots that hit the bar or the post gone in, I wonder what they would have said. How would they analyze the same tactics and gameplan for the second half?

 

It is not even like that we completely shut down Bournemouth. We conceded quite a few good chances despite our defenders playing quite well. It was the fact that our tactics of just hoofing it up and defend meant that we were under pressure the entire second half, needing to defend wave after wave of attacks. That pressure meant that we conceded quite a few good chances. Were you happy with our tactics for the second half?

 

 

[Tom12345]

1 hour ago, Nolucklcfc said:

Don’t know about that. Arsenal had many clear headers last week and Bournemouth had a free header today

It could have very easily been 1-1 or 1-2 in the end. As luck would have it, it remained 1-0 and we have a few that are giving Cooper credit for the luck that we got. Sometimes we say we create our own luck, but not this time!

[Tom12345]

7 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

^ Another great team move!

 

• Mads patient to bait the press and uses his CBs to get out keeping the ball
• Mavididi cool and calm under pressure.
• Okoli with a superb line-breaking pass to open up the game. High risk but high reward.
• Ndidi, Faes and JJ play good first time passes to keep the move flowing.
• Buonanotte with a good progressive carry and a superb pass to Vardy who should score!

Only one bad thing about this move and that was the finish!

 

This was reminscent of last season and was good football. Cooper is frustrating because we ARE capable of playing like this. But we aren't brave enough to try it more often. But credit where it's due, this was great to watch!

Nice work putting this together.

 

This is exactly right.  We are capable of this, despite many here saying effectively that we are relegation favourites and have a “poor” squad. We just need to be brave enough and have more belief in ourselves rather than just trying to get rid of the ball and turn the ball over straight away. This has a lot to do with the way our team is set up too (which is on Cooper) and of course belief is set by the manager (which is also on Cooper).

 

I hope this result spurs the team (and Cooper) on to have more belief.

[StriderHiryu]

1 minute ago, Tom12345 said:

Nice work putting this together.

 

This is exactly right.  We are capable of this, despite many here saying effectively that we are relegation favourites and have a “poor” squad. We just need to be brave enough and have more belief in ourselves rather than just trying to get rid of the ball and turn the ball over straight away. This has a lot to do with the way our team is set up too (which is on Cooper) and of course belief is set by the manager (which is also on Cooper).

 

I hope this result spurs the team (and Cooper) on to have more belief.

Notice that all my clips come from the first half.

 

 

 

This is a preview for my second half analysis when the thread goes live sometime tomorrow:

 

[StriderHiryu]

Here's the story of the game:

 

 

We just compeltely sat off Bournemouth in second half, a Cooper trait. Iraola did switch things up in the 60th minute with attacking subs and a change of shape, but still the "Coward Cooper" moniker is getting used for a reason. That second half is rancid.

 

Why aren't we capable of having a complete 90 minute performance? Well I would say the manager is a very big reason why, because a shift in approach like this is not coming from the players without instructions to do so.

[coolhandfox]

3 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

People were rushing out on 85 minutes.

Madness....

[The boy Linacre]

Great to win, but such a disappointing game to watch.

 

Thought we were excellent first, good football, totally competitive with them possibly deserved 2-0 but went in deservedly ahead.

Came out totally passive, totally invited them on & got totally lucky, they deserved at least a point.

That was reinforced by his fear of bringing subs on earlier, and safe to say all the new purchases are crap.

Ayew ALWAYS goes backwards, he is no outlet at all and can’t stay on his feet, embarrassing.

Eduoard & DCR look terrible AND you know Cooper knows nothing about football if he is bringing on Soumare.

That is not a performance that will get us the 8-10 wins we must get to stay up.

We have to be more aggressive/inventive or we will go down.

Was ambivalent about Cooper signing, if he keeps us up brilliant but that guy is not taking us forward, not in his skillset!!

 

[volpeazzurro]

Cooper tried his best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again with his substitutions but couldn't quite manage it this week. Must be gutted. 

[mancunianfox]

Shame vardy didn't put us two up before half time. For most of the second we looked like a team terrified of throwing away a lead and didn't really try to push for a second. It was a nervy watch at the end and the players looked just as nervous as those in the stands. Hopefully the result gives them some more confidence.

[ozleicester]

Delusions of granduer... our best player so far this season is a loanee from Brighton... Brighton!

All those who sat their last night inwardly hoping for a Bournemouth goal or two now need to ask whats more important, a pretty manager and tiptap football or, points that keep us in the prem and enjoying backs to the wall underdog football.

[Deeg67]

I find it hilarious some fans haughtily complaining about a loanee from Brighton. Brighton have been the very model of how to compete as a smaller side in PL. We should be emulating them, not mocking them.

Edited 6 October 2024 by Deeg67