Are we too predictable?

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

im not gunna jump on the bandwagon and say its been a waste of a season, start calling for svens head or blame bruma and van aanholt for our defeat yesterday, however i do feel that we are too easy to play against away from home.

weale is a goal keeper playing with no confidence who was stupidly dropped after finally finding his form again, in my opinion his positioning is all wrong and is leaving far too much of the goal exposed hence all 3 of readings goals.

naughton and van aanholt are too attacking and i dont think playing them both has enough balance because were easily caught on the break.

our center back pairing is always too far apart and easily cut open, any sort of pace causes us danger. yesterday there was no organisation or any commitment. the reading defence threw their bodies on the line atleast 3 times to prevent us scoring were as we gifted them 3 easy goals.

on its day our midfield can be one of the best in the division however it lacks pace and strength, very rarely do we see somebody take on a man and drive at defences, were always to slow and patient giving defences time to get back in position.

our wingers in vassell and kamara have bags of pace and i cant understand why they dont use it, vassell never gambles and makes a run in behind he always stands looking disinterested until the ball is at his feet, again there both afraid to have a go and take on their marker, forcing a pass back inside.

yakubu can be class at times but can also be a donkey, i do feel sorry for him at times because he has no support, we tend to play the long ball giving him an impossible task against two center halfs.

when howard comes on we just play long ball which again is too predictable

gallagher is about the only player who can be unpredictable, he cuts in and shoots, goes down the line and plays in a cross but for some reason was sitting on the subs bench yesterday

just woundering if anyone else thinks especially away from home were too predictable and too easy to break down?

[Kitchandro]

Agree with most of what you say, especially about no one being able to take on a man and getting caught on the break.

We can afford attacking full backs if we have a good holding midfielder. We haven't got one. We need to adress that in the summer. We can't afford defenders not being good enough though, and Van Aanholt and Bruma aren't, and questions have to be asked of Bamba as well after today.

King is our furthest forward midfield player. If he's not going to take players on (hopefully he will add that to his game in the future) we need wingers who can do it instead.

Gallagher is a good player and should be starting but he can't take a man on. Vassell can beat a load of players once in a game but never more than that, and even then there's no end product. Most of the time he is anonymous out wide, and either opts to play the simple ball, or tries to dribble and runs into trouble. He's not a winger. Yakubu's not a winger either and the majority of the time is just lazy. Kamara is not a winger. Dyer is effective on a good day but can be a headless chicken who can't kick it.

We haven't got a real winger who can take a man on and get a cross in. We haven't got someone who can make something out of nothing every other game. Players like Adel taarabt and Scott Sinclair can do that in this league - those are the kind of players we need.

It's not enough to be static and play at a slow tempo. We can't expect to break teams down doing that, especially if we haven't got a player who can make something out of nothing, and especially if we don't put the majority of our chances away. That's another thing, our strikers haven't been clinical enough all season.

The only way Sven can sort these things out is by getting new players in in the summer.

[funkyrobot]

Yes we are too predictable and play too narrow.

[Larry_LCFC]

Then we have Dyer, one of the most hardworking, creative players sat on the bench. You know the one who runs his heart out, terrorises defenders and now and again scores some great goals.

[Fox92]

Then we have Dyer, one of the most hardworking, creative players sat on the bench. You know the one who runs his heart out, terrorises defenders and now and again scores some great goals.

When he wants to do that.

I don't think he is the answer though because, if you study him, he comes inside far to much, often leaving the full back with no option.

He doesn't give us more than what Vassell or Kamara does.

[chesterfox]

Good post Ross.....I am soo disappointed after yesterday..we were painfully predictable and as has been shown in the past SGE is incapable of changing plan. You need sthg different some grit in this division and it pains me to think that Hull now have a better chance of making the play offs. Sven is very good at getting the players to play pure football but sometimes u need guile and determination and directness. Im sure others have said it but why oh why stick with Bruma he is a liability - do you think that as part of the agreement they have to play him a certain number of games??

I dunno - i cant see us making it this year - am so disappointed thinking that he had got a winning team but he has to take a certain amount of responsibility for his constant chopping and changing

[MattyFromLE]

I think previous posters have been spot on. Moves are far too slow, too narrow. We can't take a man on, so therefor lack the ability to get into space, we also can't find the killer pass in the final 3rd, all the opposition have to do is wait until we're all out of position, intercept, and run up the other end - brilliantly demonstrated when you throw Jimmy Kebe of all people the ****ing ball in the final 3rd of the oppositions half.

[ithuriel]

We are predictable and that makes us easy to beat by good teams and able to be shutdown by struggling teams, if they do their homework.

Still remember O'niell saying when he came here that McGhees team had become predictable and that he would have to be able to play different formations etc.,

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

I think we have been found out by other teams, like people have previously said on other forums and threads, since the second half of the Derby game.

Teams know that we are very attacking, and just have to wait for the right moment to counter attack. Reading showed this yesterday.

Teams also know we have two full backs who arent the best defensively, certainly in the case of PVA. It leaves us often with just two central defenders and Oakley to clear the lines, but none of them have the legs or the speed.

Yakubu is being heavily marked, and teams know he isnt the sort of player to look for space and bring others into space because of it. It leaves us trying to get the ball to him but ending up defending because of it.

There are several things to work on but we are definitely too predictable, as results in the last month or so show.

[Webbo]

A little bit predictable and a lot too slow.This patient build up is okay if you have players constantly on the move, trying to find space. We don't. It was noticable on Tuesday nights amount of times Wellens stood 25/30 yards out with the ball looking for someone to pass to.The time it took to decide where to pass gave their defence time to get in place.

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

Good post Ross.....I am soo disappointed after yesterday..we were painfully predictable and as has been shown in the past SGE is incapable of changing plan. You need sthg different some grit in this division and it pains me to think that Hull now have a better chance of making the play offs. Sven is very good at getting the players to play pure football but sometimes u need guile and determination and directness. Im sure others have said it but why oh why stick with Bruma he is a liability - do you think that as part of the agreement they have to play him a certain number of games??

I dunno - i cant see us making it this year - am so disappointed thinking that he had got a winning team but he has to take a certain amount of responsibility for his constant chopping and changing

i agree with the SGE is incapable of changing plan, last season when we were loosing at half time you knew that pearson would get the side going and they would come out a completely different side.

when you look at games this season, swansea away, bristol away, ipswich away, millwall away, reading away where we were all loosing at half time, never have we came out and looked good enough to turn it around.

i do sometimes question svens substitutions when he does try and change the game, not sure if you agree

[FoxesFan123]

Play Berner at left back

Should have signed a centre mid in jan, everyone was calling out for this, it was obvious, but no, we must sign our 18th centre back on loan

Vassel through the middle is much much more effective

[cairnsy]

Then we have Dyer, one of the most hardworking, creative players sat on the bench. You know the one who runs his heart out, terrorises defenders and now and again scores some great goals.

No thanks:

Runs inside all the time

Doesn't run plays like you should if u have come on with fresh legs 20 mins to go

His dribbling is poor

His crossing is poor

His finishing is dyer

[Stadt]

Ricardo isn't .

[Trav Le Bleu]

A little bit predictable and a lot too slow.This patient build up is okay if you have players constantly on the move, trying to find space. We don't. It was noticable on Tuesday nights amount of times Wellens stood 25/30 yards out with the ball looking for someone to pass to.The time it took to decide where to pass gave their defence time to get in place.

Absolutely and it annoys the tits off me! I was never a good footballer, but I was always on the move, always in space (often cos the opposite team didn't consider me a threat ) but the simple truth was that when I did get the ball we advanced and I was able to play a simple pass which I was at least capable of. If you can find space and make runs then you don't have to have great skills... if you can do it and have great skill then you'll be difficult to beat.

[Dames]

I feel that the formation we are playing is good. Its just some of the players we have in it are not.

We have a tendency to push up extremely high and it leaves us exposed to the counter. Teams have figured out that if they sit deep and break quickly we don't seem to transition fast enough from attack to defence leaving us exposed at the back. This isn't helped by the fact Oakley is playing the holding role, he's not been bad lately but he's no holding midfielder. The success we had on that good run at the turn of the year was helped by the fact that Abe was playing quite well in that role helping break up attacks before they materialised into anything, now he's out of form/not getting picked we are looking weaker than ever when broken against. Also the fact Wellens and King are virtual passengers when it comes to defending doesn't help either.

For the formation to work we need to play slightly deeper and be a little more patient with the play, some of the stuff we play is good but sometimes Wellens or Gally will try a Hollywood ball when theres no need and were on the back foot again being broken against. Teams have figured this out and they just sit back and wait until this happens.

If Svens to persist with this formation he needs to get full backs that are willing to defend as much as attack, center backs that don't sit there pleading offside and actually defend. And a creative player that with a quick one two or a quick turn of pace that will unlock a team, someone like Taarabt.

So in short, yes we have become predictable.

[Haydos]

Then we have Dyer, one of the most hardworking, creative players sat on the bench. You know the one who runs his heart out, terrorises defenders and now and again scores some great goals.

Dyer is awful 90% of the time. Capable once in a while but Gally + Kamara + Vassell get the nod any day of the week.

[Haydos]

You've mentioned the balance of the full backs which I think is an excellent point. I've been thinking about it the past few weeks and yesterday it was clear. We were caught on the break too many times with just Bamba and Bruma sitting back. Abe is not a holding midfielder, he's a harrier and he lacks pace and positional awareness.

I think having Berner and Naughton in the side would benefit us so much more as Berner brings a more defensive role to the position and also an experienced head playing alongside an inevitably young LCB.

[Les-TA-Jon]

You've mentioned the balance of the full backs which I think is an excellent point. I've been thinking about it the past few weeks and yesterday it was clear. We were caught on the break too many times with just Bamba and Bruma sitting back. Abe is not a holding midfielder, he's a harrier and he lacks pace and positional awareness.

I think having Berner and Naughton in the side would benefit us so much more as Berner brings a more defensive role to the position and also an experienced head playing alongside an inevitably young LCB.

Berner has no legs now. Even a less attacking full back like Berner still needs pace. Completely out of his depth against Norwich when he was needed to come into the side. Not the future - Squad player at best from now on.