Southampton vs Leicester (A) - October 19th

[foxfan92]

17 minutes ago, J. James said:

Bravo, l truly admire your honesty here, we finish 6th? 4th?

 

Go on to win European trophy?

 

Nope, l believe you that NOTHING would be enough, you and a large percentage of other "Cooper outs" who dont have your honesty.

 

I never wanted him either but he's here now and l want him to succeed because l want my team to succeed.

 

 

Couldn't agree more. I'd love Cooper to prove us all wrong and go on and succeed in the long term, helping guide us towards a team competing with best again, fighting for a European place, and comfortably finishing top half of the table most seasons, which seemed to be the direction we were heading in not too long ago .... (I'm not suggesting this season - I'm talking long term direction).

 

I'm someone who normally defends the manager, and argues we should get behind him and the team.

 

I think the difference between the normal first few months of a new manager coming in and this season is just the way we seem so negative right from the start.

 

Think about Rodgers when he first arrived, and the victories we enjoyed (including funnily enough given our opposition today - the famous 9-0 drubbing of Southampton).

 

I struggle to think of a manager who's come and not brought some optimism with their first few games. (Not including interim managers).

 

 Pearson won manager of the month in August the first time he took over (yes we had just gone down to the 3rd tier, but he started our recovery on the front foot). Eriksson drew his first game but won the second, Ranieri ... well we know how well his first season went, my old late friend Shakespear had an amazing first few games, we went on a fantastic run initially, Puel started brightly.... we can even go further back and managers who ultimately didn't work out like Peter Taylor still started fantastic. He too won manager of the month when he first started, taking us to top of the Premier league and even managing England for a game ... the less said of what followed the better.

 

The only exception is Paulo Sousa, who was gone by this time when he was in charge.

 

My point is the negative way Cooper sets us up has meant we've struggled to get the good start we historically get from new managers (at least in the last roughtly 20 years or so).

 

We've not warned to him because we seem to be ignoring everything Enzo had us doing well last year, the more exciting players are getting no game time, and the replacements are uninsiping and not seemingly justifying their place in the team.

 

And yet Cooper has stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea of trying what worked before.

 

Yes,  it's a harder league than last season, but it's almost like to escape Enzo's shadow, Cooper is just going to stubbornly, (yes I keep using this adjective but I think it fits him well), persist with a team that's struggling to create chances, because some of our more attack minded players aren't getting game time, in order to stamp his mark on our team, even if its detrimental to our progression in the short and long term.

 

I worry today's lineup will see us playing a team Cooper will argue is more balanced, but in reality stunts our attacks, and is anything but.

 

We need to allow ourselves to take the handbrake off, it'll ease up the pressure we have to endure for long periods if we're able to attack more. Free Ricardo - play Fofana and Mavididi in the same starting 11, and go for it.

 

It's not too late to change people's mind - if Cooper has truly reflected on the start during the international break, and re-evalued his own philosophy to find one that better suits the players we have in our team, to play to our own strengths, but the ever growing pessimist in me fears he's too stubborn to do that.

[Nalis]

5 minutes ago, Elsie Effcee said:

I just want to see some goals, any goals from anywhere, preferably from us    A good lively, fruitful game would cheer me up no end today! 

Watch us lose 4-3 

[J. James]

22 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

No nothing will get me on board, I just wish the club were more adventurous instead of looking at the bottom of a barrel so to speak. We could gone and got a manager from Europe who would love to manage in the Premier League. None of this we'd be fighting no one would come here, look where Villa wrre when appointing Emery. If we'd of brought in an ambitious manager from Europe who'd of kept us up their stock would of risen with potential of a bigger club in England. Cause let's be honest unless we end up getting the money Man City has we'll always be a stepping stone unfortunately. For what it's worth I would of loved us to appoint Corberan from West Brom.

My choice too, and like you l blame our frankly useless directors and owner.

 

But it's not Coopers fault and if he keeps us up it will be all the greater an achievement with the donkeys running the club.

[coolhandfox]

11 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Cooper's style of play should suit us today. We absolutely hammered them last season due to the players and Enzo seizing the opportunities to massively expose them with a high press and playing direct and counter attacking football. It was so so easy.

 

Whilst it's possible for us to not get the same today, it'll be a huge red flag as this is the perfect team for us to get our first away win of the season and only Cooper's 3rd ever away PL win 😂😂😂😂

 

Go on Hoops

Probably two of the best performances under Enzo, that gave me faith that Enzo could do well with us in the PL.

 

But Cooper's teams are much more passive.

[sharpylcfc]

Just now, J. James said:

My choice too, and like you l blame our frankly useless directors and owner.

 

But it's not Coopers fault and if he keeps us up it will be all the greater an achievement with the donkeys running the club.

The frustrating part is knowing his release clause was about 4 million and we supposedly couldn't afford it but then spend about 15 million on one player who has the potential but doesn't get a sniff under Cooper.

[The Doctor]

12 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

The frustrating part is knowing his release clause was about 4 million and we supposedly couldn't afford it but then spend about 15 million on one player who has the potential but doesn't get a sniff under Cooper.

Abdul was an obligation to buy. If you want to talk about spending money well in excess of Coberan, well then Ayew and even to an extent De-Cordova Reid (free agent means decent singing on bonus) are right there.

[Richmondfox]

9 minutes ago, foxfan92 said:

Couldn't agree more. I'd love Cooper to prove us all wrong and go on and succeed in the long term, helping guide us towards a team competing with best again, fighting for a European place, and comfortably finishing top half of the table most seasons, which seemed to be the direction we were heading in not too long ago .... (I'm not suggesting this season - I'm talking long term direction).

 

I'm someone who normally defends the manager, and argues we should get behind him and the team.

 

I think the difference between the normal first few months of a new manager coming in and this season is just the way we seem so negative right from the start.

 

Think about Rodgers when he first arrived, and the victories we enjoyed (including funnily enough given our opposition today - the famous 9-0 drubbing of Southampton).

 

I struggle to think of a manager who's come and not brought some optimism with their first few games. (Not including interim managers).

 

 Pearson won manager of the month in August the first time he took over (yes we had just gone down to the 3rd tier, but he started our recovery on the front foot). Eriksson drew his first game but won the second, Ranieri ... well we know how well his first season went, my old late friend Shakespear had an amazing first few games, we went on a fantastic run initially, Puel started brightly.... we can even go further back and managers who ultimately didn't work out like Peter Taylor still started fantastic. He too won manager of the month when he first started, taking us to top of the Premier league and even managing England for a game ... the less said of what followed the better.

 

The only exception is Paulo Sousa, who was gone by this time when he was in charge.

 

My point is the negative way Cooper sets us up has meant we've struggled to get the good start we historically get from new managers (at least in the last roughtly 20 years or so).

 

We've not warned to him because we seem to be ignoring everything Enzo had us doing well last year, the more exciting players are getting no game time, and the replacements are uninsiping and not seemingly justifying their place in the team.

 

And yet Cooper has stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea of trying what worked before.

 

Yes,  it's a harder league than last season, but it's almost like to escape Enzo's shadow, Cooper is just going to stubbornly, (yes I keep using this adjective but I think it fits him well), persist with a team that's struggling to create chances, because some of our more attack minded players aren't getting game time, in order to stamp his mark on our team, even if its detrimental to our progression in the short and long term.

 

I worry today's lineup will see us playing a team Cooper will argue is more balanced, but in reality stunts our attacks, and is anything but.

 

We need to allow ourselves to take the handbrake off, it'll ease up the pressure we have to endure for long periods if we're able to attack more. Free Ricardo - play Fofana and Mavididi in the same starting 11, and go for it.

 

It's not too late to change people's mind - if Cooper has truly reflected on the start during the international break, and re-evalued his own philosophy to find one that better suits the players we have in our team, to play to our own strengths, but the ever growing pessimist in me fears he's too stubborn to do that.

I’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t actually stubborn.  Cooper is working to the best of his footballing ability and tactical knowledge. He just isn’t very good at his job.

 

Playing Ayew against an aging out of position Ashley Young and not trying to take him on let alone overload that area sums up  Cooper as a tactician. He has stalled Riccy’s career and stunted Fatawu’s growth and experience which will depreciate him as an asset if we go down, which I believe we will. 

[The Doctor]

Just now, Richmondfox said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t actually stubborn.  Cooper is working to the best of his footballing ability and tactical knowledge. He just isn’t very good at his job.

 

Playing Ayew against an aging out of position Ashley Young and not trying to take him on let alone overload that area sums up  Cooper as a tactician. He has stalled Riccy’s career and stunted Fatawu’s growth and experience which will depreciate him as an asset if we go down, which I believe we will. 

Honestly that should be a sackable offence in and of itself, it was the most obvious weakness any team will ever have and he actively avoided pressuring it.

[Richmondfox]

1 minute ago, The Doctor said:

Honestly that should be a sackable offence in and of itself, it was the most obvious weakness any team will ever have and he actively avoided pressuring it.

Coopers tactic is you can’t get hit on the counter attack if you don’t attack. 😂

[sharpylcfc]

4 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Abdul was an obligation to buy. If you want to talk about spending money well in excess of Coberan, well then Ayew and even to an extent De-Cordova Reid (free agent means decent singing on bonus) are right there.

Sorry should of made it clear which player I was on about, I'm on about El Khannouss. Apologies it was 20 million not 15.

[foxfan92]

15 minutes ago, Richmondfox said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t actually stubborn.  Cooper is working to the best of his footballing ability and tactical knowledge. He just isn’t very good at his job.

 

Playing Ayew against an aging out of position Ashley Young and not trying to take him on let alone overload that area sums up  Cooper as a tactician. He has stalled Riccy’s career and stunted Fatawu’s growth and experience which will depreciate him as an asset if we go down, which I believe we will. 

Whichever it is he needs to evolve as a manager and learn to adapt his thinking or kindly step aside so someone more able takes over please.

[jayfox26]

Little lad is currently watching a film with a fox in it. Sister posted a video of a fox in her back garden this morning. 

 

It's written in the stars...

 

2-0 to Southampton 

[Denzel the fox]

29 minutes ago, Richmondfox said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t actually stubborn.  Cooper is working to the best of his footballing ability and tactical knowledge. He just isn’t very good at his job.

 

Playing Ayew against an aging out of position Ashley Young and not trying to take him on let alone overload that area sums up  Cooper as a tactician. He has stalled Riccy’s career and stunted Fatawu’s growth and experience which will depreciate him as an asset if we go down, which I believe we will. 

Don’t forget we had garner a midfielder as the other full back too and it took us 65 mins to attack him, with him being booked within 10 mins of this…..obvious weaknesses in that Everton team which we stood off from 

[Lionator]

59 minutes ago, foxfan92 said:

Couldn't agree more. I'd love Cooper to prove us all wrong and go on and succeed in the long term, helping guide us towards a team competing with best again, fighting for a European place, and comfortably finishing top half of the table most seasons, which seemed to be the direction we were heading in not too long ago .... (I'm not suggesting this season - I'm talking long term direction).

 

I'm someone who normally defends the manager, and argues we should get behind him and the team.

 

I think the difference between the normal first few months of a new manager coming in and this season is just the way we seem so negative right from the start.

 

Think about Rodgers when he first arrived, and the victories we enjoyed (including funnily enough given our opposition today - the famous 9-0 drubbing of Southampton).

 

I struggle to think of a manager who's come and not brought some optimism with their first few games. (Not including interim managers).

 

 Pearson won manager of the month in August the first time he took over (yes we had just gone down to the 3rd tier, but he started our recovery on the front foot). Eriksson drew his first game but won the second, Ranieri ... well we know how well his first season went, my old late friend Shakespear had an amazing first few games, we went on a fantastic run initially, Puel started brightly.... we can even go further back and managers who ultimately didn't work out like Peter Taylor still started fantastic. He too won manager of the month when he first started, taking us to top of the Premier league and even managing England for a game ... the less said of what followed the better.

 

The only exception is Paulo Sousa, who was gone by this time when he was in charge.

 

My point is the negative way Cooper sets us up has meant we've struggled to get the good start we historically get from new managers (at least in the last roughtly 20 years or so).

 

We've not warned to him because we seem to be ignoring everything Enzo had us doing well last year, the more exciting players are getting no game time, and the replacements are uninsiping and not seemingly justifying their place in the team.

 

And yet Cooper has stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea of trying what worked before.

 

Yes,  it's a harder league than last season, but it's almost like to escape Enzo's shadow, Cooper is just going to stubbornly, (yes I keep using this adjective but I think it fits him well), persist with a team that's struggling to create chances, because some of our more attack minded players aren't getting game time, in order to stamp his mark on our team, even if its detrimental to our progression in the short and long term.

 

I worry today's lineup will see us playing a team Cooper will argue is more balanced, but in reality stunts our attacks, and is anything but.

 

We need to allow ourselves to take the handbrake off, it'll ease up the pressure we have to endure for long periods if we're able to attack more. Free Ricardo - play Fofana and Mavididi in the same starting 11, and go for it.

 

It's not too late to change people's mind - if Cooper has truly reflected on the start during the international break, and re-evalued his own philosophy to find one that better suits the players we have in our team, to play to our own strengths, but the ever growing pessimist in me fears he's too stubborn to do that.

He’s not stubborn, he’s anxious. Or at least anxiety drives stubbornness. And it works for him, the plan is working as far as he will see. We’ve scored in every game, we’ve been ‘in’ every game even against a free scoring Arsenal side. Why would he change much?

[murphy]

1 hour ago, J. James said:

So a loss would give us 28 points and you'd have zero confidence in Cooper.

 

However a win would give us ( on the same basis) 42/43 points..

 

That would see us around 15th

 

So l assume by your logic that in this case you would have confidence in Cooper?

 

I think l can guess the answer.

Let me put it to you this way.  I am old enough to remember Peter Taylor and after eight games and despite some really horrible signings we were somehow top of the league.  We know what happened next.

 

The point I am making is that you cannot trust the table at this point in the season.  To put it in childlike logic as above is ridiculous.  If you want to look at numbers look at the underlying numbers, the stats and they will tell the story that our current league position is very likely unsustainable, as does the evidence of our own eyes.

 

 

 

[J. James]

46 minutes ago, foxfan92 said:

Couldn't agree more. I'd love Cooper to prove us all wrong and go on and succeed in the long term, helping guide us towards a team competing with best again, fighting for a European place, and comfortably finishing top half of the table most seasons, which seemed to be the direction we were heading in not too long ago .... (I'm not suggesting this season - I'm talking long term direction).

 

I'm someone who normally defends the manager, and argues we should get behind him and the team.

 

I think the difference between the normal first few months of a new manager coming in and this season is just the way we seem so negative right from the start.

 

Think about Rodgers when he first arrived, and the victories we enjoyed (including funnily enough given our opposition today - the famous 9-0 drubbing of Southampton).

 

I struggle to think of a manager who's come and not brought some optimism with their first few games. (Not including interim managers).

 

 Pearson won manager of the month in August the first time he took over (yes we had just gone down to the 3rd tier, but he started our recovery on the front foot). Eriksson drew his first game but won the second, Ranieri ... well we know how well his first season went, my old late friend Shakespear had an amazing first few games, we went on a fantastic run initially, Puel started brightly.... we can even go further back and managers who ultimately didn't work out like Peter Taylor still started fantastic. He too won manager of the month when he first started, taking us to top of the Premier league and even managing England for a game ... the less said of what followed the better.

 

The only exception is Paulo Sousa, who was gone by this time when he was in charge.

 

My point is the negative way Cooper sets us up has meant we've struggled to get the good start we historically get from new managers (at least in the last roughtly 20 years or so).

 

We've not warned to him because we seem to be ignoring everything Enzo had us doing well last year, the more exciting players are getting no game time, and the replacements are uninsiping and not seemingly justifying their place in the team.

 

And yet Cooper has stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea of trying what worked before.

 

Yes,  it's a harder league than last season, but it's almost like to escape Enzo's shadow, Cooper is just going to stubbornly, (yes I keep using this adjective but I think it fits him well), persist with a team that's struggling to create chances, because some of our more attack minded players aren't getting game time, in order to stamp his mark on our team, even if its detrimental to our progression in the short and long term.

 

I worry today's lineup will see us playing a team Cooper will argue is more balanced, but in reality stunts our attacks, and is anything but.

 

We need to allow ourselves to take the handbrake off, it'll ease up the pressure we have to endure for long periods if we're able to attack more. Free Ricardo - play Fofana and Mavididi in the same starting 11, and go for it.

 

It's not too late to change people's mind - if Cooper has truly reflected on the start during the international break, and re-evalued his own philosophy to find one that better suits the players we have in our team, to play to our own strengths, but the ever growing pessimist in me fears he's too stubborn to do that.

Good post.

 

I think that there is a vast difference between this season and virtually every other one.

 

The Premier leagues latest attempts to ensure that the greedy six win everything, our swift and alarming decline due to the mismanagement in multiple if not every department, the likelihood of a points deduction and the seeming lack of ambition from those who chose Maresca's successor are all factors in defining this season as pretty unique.

 

Add to this our promotion and the single target of 17th or better and comparisons to other seasons and other managers begin to look impossible.

 

I really dont like our style or the quality of the entertainment atm, but if the ship is sinking, I'm getting on the lifeboat that made it out here but has the 2nd mate at the helm, not waiting for the one which may or may not have the star captain behind the wheel!

 

IOW, he's done ok up to now, so I'll give him time, which is l believe the right thing to do.

 

Ps. I feel l should start every post with "l WANTED CORBERAN!"

[inckley fox]

1 hour ago, foxfan92 said:

Couldn't agree more. I'd love Cooper to prove us all wrong and go on and succeed in the long term, helping guide us towards a team competing with best again, fighting for a European place, and comfortably finishing top half of the table most seasons, which seemed to be the direction we were heading in not too long ago .... (I'm not suggesting this season - I'm talking long term direction).

 

I'm someone who normally defends the manager, and argues we should get behind him and the team.

 

I think the difference between the normal first few months of a new manager coming in and this season is just the way we seem so negative right from the start.

 

Think about Rodgers when he first arrived, and the victories we enjoyed (including funnily enough given our opposition today - the famous 9-0 drubbing of Southampton).

 

I struggle to think of a manager who's come and not brought some optimism with their first few games. (Not including interim managers).

 

 Pearson won manager of the month in August the first time he took over (yes we had just gone down to the 3rd tier, but he started our recovery on the front foot). Eriksson drew his first game but won the second, Ranieri ... well we know how well his first season went, my old late friend Shakespear had an amazing first few games, we went on a fantastic run initially, Puel started brightly.... we can even go further back and managers who ultimately didn't work out like Peter Taylor still started fantastic. He too won manager of the month when he first started, taking us to top of the Premier league and even managing England for a game ... the less said of what followed the better.

 

The only exception is Paulo Sousa, who was gone by this time when he was in charge.

 

My point is the negative way Cooper sets us up has meant we've struggled to get the good start we historically get from new managers (at least in the last roughtly 20 years or so).

 

We've not warned to him because we seem to be ignoring everything Enzo had us doing well last year, the more exciting players are getting no game time, and the replacements are uninsiping and not seemingly justifying their place in the team.

 

And yet Cooper has stubbornly refused to even entertain the idea of trying what worked before.

 

Yes,  it's a harder league than last season, but it's almost like to escape Enzo's shadow, Cooper is just going to stubbornly, (yes I keep using this adjective but I think it fits him well), persist with a team that's struggling to create chances, because some of our more attack minded players aren't getting game time, in order to stamp his mark on our team, even if its detrimental to our progression in the short and long term.

 

I worry today's lineup will see us playing a team Cooper will argue is more balanced, but in reality stunts our attacks, and is anything but.

 

We need to allow ourselves to take the handbrake off, it'll ease up the pressure we have to endure for long periods if we're able to attack more. Free Ricardo - play Fofana and Mavididi in the same starting 11, and go for it.

 

It's not too late to change people's mind - if Cooper has truly reflected on the start during the international break, and re-evalued his own philosophy to find one that better suits the players we have in our team, to play to our own strengths, but the ever growing pessimist in me fears he's too stubborn to do that.

I'm also pretty worried about today, and partly because it's always a bumpy road when survival is the main objective - and I suspect a poor result today against a desperate Southampton won't be treated as a mere bump in the road, but instead prompt mass hysteria!

 

Just to pick you up on a couple of points. As plenty have said, there have been underwhelming starts by good managers in living memory. I wasn't around when Wallace turned up, but 17th in the second tier after relegation was obviously a lacklustre start. I was around for O'Neill though, and his first three to four months were fairly awful. I also remember the early optimism around Pearson's second reign quickly evaporating, and a great deal of negativity surrounding the first eight months back at the club.

 

Equally, the fact that some of those managers you mention - like Taylor - ended up being so poor for the club is a reminder that early results aren't always indicative, one way or the other.

 

And finally, in many of your examples we were established at this level beforehand. Some people might need to get used to the realistic outcomes when you're newly promoted. The idea that we were setting the bar too low in Rodgers' final season makes sense, but on this occasion I think the club are just being realistic. Survival would represent success.

 

But I do have plenty of doubts myself, and above all go along with your notion that it can be turned around - but that some things might need to change.

 

Edit - I also think the fact that Enzo's tactics didn't work so well post-Xmas at a lower level would explain why we're going about this in a different way now in the PL. Not only are Southampton are the warning for the idealists, but also us in those final months under Maresca.

Edited 19 October 2024 by inckley fox

[foxfan92]

22 minutes ago, Lionator said:

He’s not stubborn, he’s anxious. Or at least anxiety drives stubbornness. And it works for him, the plan is working as far as he will see. We’ve scored in every game, we’ve been ‘in’ every game even against a free scoring Arsenal side. Why would he change much?

I'd argue we've been lucky and still losing, which is surely not a situation you'd like to be in. We're fortunate Mads hasn't only made the step up to the Premier league but has been exceptional, arguably our best player this season and keeping the scorelines respectable. 

 

Imagine if we'd played as we have this season but with Ward between the posts instead...

 

Villa have shown what a team coming back up with a good keeper can do if managed correctly.

 

What's the point of "being in a game" if we ultimately keep losing or only scraping draws anyway? 

 

At best we've managed a passable 45 mins in each game but each match we seen a woeful 45 mins of negativity too.

 

We've played 7 games, and not once said that was a good 90 minutes, how long do we continue to put up with inconsistent performances throughout the game?

 

If we can play well or competitively for 45 mins of a game why can't we sustain that?

 

And why are we seeing continously negative tactics against opposition we should be beating, like Everton who'd been woeful and had such injury problems when we faced them...?

 

If he thinks this is working I suggest he goes back and thinks again.

[J. James]

1 hour ago, sharpylcfc said:

The frustrating part is knowing his release clause was about 4 million and we supposedly couldn't afford it but then spend about 15 million on one player who has the potential but doesn't get a sniff under Cooper.

Ahh, but l dont believe this stuff about "we couldn't afford the £4m" for precisely that reason, they are faint hearted and saw him as a risk (as if Cooper or anyone else isn't).

 

I see Cooper as the fall guy here, for me it's him and the players on the "fighting the fire" side, and the owner and directors on the "fanning the flames" side

[Paninistickers]

Just waiting for that sinking heart feeling of seeing Ayew ahead of Fatawu. 

 

Our three best players last season on the bench (possibly one not even on that) 

 

The worst keeper in the world a pulled muscle away from playing at the highest level

 

And BDCR limbering up for the obligatory 10 mins trot around watching the game

[Nalis]

10 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

Just waiting for that sinking heart feeling of seeing Ayew ahead of Fatawu. 

 

Our three best players last season on the bench (possibly one not even on that) 

 

The worst keeper in the world a pulled muscle away from playing at the highest level

 

And BDCR limbering up for the obligatory 10 mins trot around watching the game

Keeper is by far the biggest difference in quality between the first choice and the alternatives. Our most important player this season for that reason.

Edited 19 October 2024 by Nalis

[ronnup]

Itll be Ayew for Abdul and Ndidi in the 10, with Skips and Winks

[Filbert Fireworks]

The doom and gloom here. 

We're going to win 2-0. 

Southampton are woeful. 

 

[Nalis]

6 minutes ago, ronnup said:

Itll be Ayew for Abdul and Ndidi in the 10, with Skips and Winks

Not even Cooper would drop Buonanotte, would he?

Edited 19 October 2024 by Nalis

[volpeazzurro]

1 hour ago, Richmondfox said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that he isn’t actually stubborn.  Cooper is working to the best of his footballing ability and tactical knowledge. He just isn’t very good at his job.

 

Playing Ayew against an aging out of position Ashley Young and not trying to take him on let alone overload that area sums up  Cooper as a tactician. He has stalled Riccy’s career and stunted Fatawu’s growth and experience which will depreciate him as an asset if we go down, which I believe we will. 

Spot on!

Cooper's alleged idea of 'defending from the front' with Ndidi and Ayew is extremely flawed. The fact is we're statistically top of the Premier League for shots against and bottom for shots for! The fact we've got 6 points has been more about luck than managerial judgement and tactics.

 

One reason it isn't working is that playing that way offers no threat whatsoever and the opposition, contrary to Cooper's reasoning, have an easy time defensively and concentrate on merely attacking us! Let's be honest, some of the scorelines have flattered us and had it not been for some poor finishing we could have shipped 6 goals easily on a couple of occasions. 

 

By playing Mavididi, Vardy Buonanotte and Fatawu from the start would surely have more effect on both extremes of those stats quoted. Neither Buonanotte or Fatawu are shy at completing their defensive duties and certainly offer far more in the final third than Ndidi and Ayew. 

 

Lose against Southampton due to a defensive 'must not lose' approach deserves Cooper to be thrown out on his ear ... but I doubt it would happen. 

Edited 19 October 2024 by volpeazzurro