My 9 gut reactions

[Matt10]

1. What did Kamara bring to the table? He didn't follow anyone wide enough, a simple 1-2 pass defeated him. He was wild as can be. Laughable dive.

2. Dennis Odoi's lack of getting stuck in cost us on the 2nd goal, and then his lack of focus on the 3rd. I'm a fan of Odoi's, but goodness he's been directly to blame for a lot of the goals we've conceded.

3. Dropping Sess back killed our momentum. He was the most confident on the ball in advanced areas, and was looking to get deep into their box multiple times. LeMarchand was not getting beat down his side at all because Kamara's lack of defensive prowess was leaving Fosu-Mensah to deal with deep runs all match. Why couldn't this have just been a sub of Cairney for Kamara, and Sess takes Kamara's place? Again, this is another example of changing the back 4, and it cost us.

4. The jury is still out on Rico. He looked confident but also let in some weak ones. Under his legs while he's still standing tells me he wasn't as aggressive as he could have been, and then not even moving a muscle on Wilson's goal near post. I know there's no backing to go against Rico because it's his first match, so the mantra of "Not Betts" is what will make most happy. I'm still on the fence, but was hoping for more in those situations. The save he had on Francis was sublime though.

5. Changing formations, again, when we're only 1-0 down. The 4-2-3-1 was working well, for the most part, and we were starting to get some penetration, primarily via Sess. Instead, we make a sub, and we change formations to a 3-4-3 attacking, 4-5-1 defensively. It was shambles. It was shambles because you don't complicate a formation when you're losing 1-0, and when you're also a team who lets in the most goals in the league. This overdoing of fluid formations like a video game is hurting us dearly. Play the 4-2-3-1, or AT LEAST drop to 4-3-2-1 in defense. Seriously, a 4-5-1 would've been better.

6. Seri was solid in making simple passes again. He tried his dink and dunk passes, but they didn't work, again. He just does not take any chances whatsoever. This may be good for sexy football, but we are well past that. Anyone else notice how much more we hoofed the ball in the first half? It was ugly, but it was working. Seri defensively is too small and gets pushed off the ball easily. His indecision to control the ball or to hoof it out under pressure was the reason Bournemouth scored the 2nd goal, followed by Odoi's half-hearted challenge on Wilson.

7. I really do not care, but Cyrus Christie should have been in there for Kamara. If you're going to have another right footed player, who needs to drop back with pace, and actually has premier league defending experience, then yes, that's who I would have gone with. It's not that I do not like Kamara, but I did not agree with him making it into the 2nd half. Daniels had all day to cross, and that should have been a warning.

8. I like Slav, always have. I think he's getting to the point where his pride is overloading his judgement. These elaborate systems to play football are great in theory, but the squad he has is not gelling and they're simply not executing. He needs to lower his pride and either go back to the very basics of PRESSURE THE MAN ON THE BALL or hire a defensive coach. I'd be happy to see a gegenpress style for the rest of the season. We do not absorb pressure, we invite it, and for a team that is allowing 30 goals in the net, that makes ZERO sense. At least with a gegenpress mentality you have the sense that every player will be stuck in, and it will lead to much less of this timid play from the off.

9. K-Mac had a fantastic match before he was sent off. It's a real shame because he was as solid as ever. Showed a good foot on the ball and covered Seri's positioning in the deepest of areas.

[Moltobueno]

PRESSURE THE MAN ON THE BALL or hire a defensive coach.

agree

9. K-Mac had a fantastic match before he was sent off. It's a real shame because he was as solid as ever. Showed a good foot on the ball and covered Seri's positioning in the deepest of areas.

he can be solid but he is one of the slowest - opponent (brooks) can run around him two circles and still get away from him with the ball...

[Statto]

1 Kamara, 2 Odoi, 3 Sessegnon - agree, altohugh Kamara still did more than Schurrle

4 Rico, 6 Seri, 7 Christie, 9 KMac... disagree.
Rico and Seri are 2 of our best players
Kmac on the other hand isn't good enough for this league and Christie isn't even good enough for the top half of league below. In chambers, fosu-mensah and christie we have a big collection of utterly sh1te right-backs unfortunately

[@jolslover]

1. What did Kamara bring to the table? He didn't follow anyone wide enough, a simple 1-2 pass defeated him. He was wild as can be. Laughable dive.

2. Dennis Odoi's lack of getting stuck in cost us on the 2nd goal, and then his lack of focus on the 3rd. I'm a fan of Odoi's, but goodness he's been directly to blame for a lot of the goals we've conceded.

3. Dropping Sess back killed our momentum. He was the most confident on the ball in advanced areas, and was looking to get deep into their box multiple times. LeMarchand was not getting beat down his side at all because Kamara's lack of defensive prowess was leaving Fosu-Mensah to deal with deep runs all match. Why couldn't this have just been a sub of Cairney for Kamara, and Sess takes Kamara's place? Again, this is another example of changing the back 4, and it cost us.

4. The jury is still out on Rico. He looked confident but also let in some weak ones. Under his legs while he's still standing tells me he wasn't as aggressive as he could have been, and then not even moving a muscle on Wilson's goal near post. I know there's no backing to go against Rico because it's his first match, so the mantra of "Not Betts" is what will make most happy. I'm still on the fence, but was hoping for more in those situations. The save he had on Francis was sublime though.

5. Changing formations, again, when we're only 1-0 down. The 4-2-3-1 was working well, for the most part, and we were starting to get some penetration, primarily via Sess. Instead, we make a sub, and we change formations to a 3-4-3 attacking, 4-5-1 defensively. It was shambles. It was shambles because you don't complicate a formation when you're losing 1-0, and when you're also a team who lets in the most goals in the league. This overdoing of fluid formations like a video game is hurting us dearly. Play the 4-2-3-1, or AT LEAST drop to 4-3-2-1 in defense. Seriously, a 4-5-1 would've been better.

6. Seri was solid in making simple passes again. He tried his dink and dunk passes, but they didn't work, again. He just does not take any chances whatsoever. This may be good for sexy football, but we are well past that. Anyone else notice how much more we hoofed the ball in the first half? It was ugly, but it was working. Seri defensively is too small and gets pushed off the ball easily. His indecision to control the ball or to hoof it out under pressure was the reason Bournemouth scored the 2nd goal, followed by Odoi's half-hearted challenge on Wilson.

7. I really do not care, but Cyrus Christie should have been in there for Kamara. If you're going to have another right footed player, who needs to drop back with pace, and actually has premier league defending experience, then yes, that's who I would have gone with. It's not that I do not like Kamara, but I did not agree with him making it into the 2nd half. Daniels had all day to cross, and that should have been a warning.

8. I like Slav, always have. I think he's getting to the point where his pride is overloading his judgement. These elaborate systems to play football are great in theory, but the squad he has is not gelling and they're simply not executing. He needs to lower his pride and either go back to the very basics of PRESSURE THE MAN ON THE BALL or hire a defensive coach. I'd be happy to see a gegenpress style for the rest of the season. We do not absorb pressure, we invite it, and for a team that is allowing 30 goals in the net, that makes ZERO sense. At least with a gegenpress mentality you have the sense that every player will be stuck in, and it will lead to much less of this timid play from the off.

9. K-Mac had a fantastic match before he was sent off. It's a real shame because he was as solid as ever. Showed a good foot on the ball and covered Seri's positioning in the deepest of areas.

1- Agree. He has potential but no footballing brain. No idea why he started over Vietto
2- If you had told me Odoi would be our starting CB at the start of the season with the players we brought in I would have laughed. Now after seeing all our CBs do just as bad (Mawson) or worse (Chambers) than him I am not sure what to think.
3- To be fair I thought our best spell in the match was between there 2nd and when Cairney came on. We looked totally dominant for that 15 minutes and was the only time in the game we looked so.
4- I thought he had a good debut, Distribution / command of area much better than Betts. What impressed me was how quick he was with his distribution, he never held onto the ball like Betts does. When he got the ball in play he was immediately focused on launching a counter attack
5- I don't think being flexible with formations is necessarily a bad thing, allows us to change shape if things aren't going our way
6- You can criticise Seri all you want, and I agree. He hasn't lived up to his first few games. But he is DEFINITELY in the 2 best CM's we have. He will improve once Cairney and Anguissa are around him. IMO.
7- Why Cyrus Christie? Vietto should have been in there for Kamara. No idea why he was picked over Vietto.
8- Sadly I reckon Slavisa will go if we lose to Huddersfield. While I say sadly I think it is partly deserved if we fail to get any points from these 3 games.
9- Disagree. He had a good second half (up untill the red) where he looked good basically playing as a 3rd CB. When played as a DM first half he failed to impact the game and lacked creativity. Honestly don't think he is prem level.

[the nutflush]

How Kamara wasn't subbed at half time I will never know.  He served us up 90 minutes of pure 10 day old garbage.  I would have subbed him off for falling over three times in the first half when he could have kept his feet.  Two of them blatant dives.  I would rather play a man short than play with a serial diver.  The word embarrassment doesn't begin to describe it.

How Joka could put up with having a player like that on the pitch baffles me.  I think it might be time for a change of leadership.

[Matt10]

PRESSURE THE MAN ON THE BALL or hire a defensive coach.

agree

9. K-Mac had a fantastic match before he was sent off. It's a real shame because he was as solid as ever. Showed a good foot on the ball and covered Seri's positioning in the deepest of areas.

he can be solid but he is one of the slowest - opponent (brooks) can run around him two circles and still get away from him with the ball...

To be fair, everyone was getting run around by Brooks. He was exceptional.

[Matt10]

1 Kamara, 2 Odoi, 3 Sessegnon - agree, altohugh Kamara still did more than Schurrle

4 Rico, 6 Seri, 7 Christie, 9 KMac... disagree.
Rico and Seri are 2 of our best players
Kmac on the other hand isn't good enough for this league and Christie isn't even good enough for the top half of league below. In chambers, fosu-mensah and christie we have a big collection of utterly sh1te right-backs unfortunately

Watched the match again. Kmac does fine in his role. His role is to support Seri and drop back in defense. He gets up the pitch, and keeps the ball moving. He does not need to be creative. Never was in the championship either.

I disagree on Christie, because a lot of judgement is skewed here because of how the perception was against Arsenal. That is a collective misunderstanding and Christie informed everyone that he just listened to the manager, so he was supposed to stay as far up the pitch, which is why I said he should've started versus Kamara.

Overall, I'm done with the narrative "not prem quality", sorry. I think it's borderline cliche now. It's all down to perception, and is the ultimate cop-out. I'd gladly take the guys who had the best chemistry of not being prem quality last year put in place this year.

[Lighthouse]

Have to agree about tinkering again during the game with the formation. It just seems to confuse players as if they haven't trained for it all week. EVERY time this season he has tried to change formations during a game we just collapse.

When they sat back and let us have the ball we were good at doing nothing with it. Only one or two meaningful efforts all game.

[Matt10]

1. What did Kamara bring to the table? He didn't follow anyone wide enough, a simple 1-2 pass defeated him. He was wild as can be. Laughable dive.

2. Dennis Odoi's lack of getting stuck in cost us on the 2nd goal, and then his lack of focus on the 3rd. I'm a fan of Odoi's, but goodness he's been directly to blame for a lot of the goals we've conceded.

3. Dropping Sess back killed our momentum. He was the most confident on the ball in advanced areas, and was looking to get deep into their box multiple times. LeMarchand was not getting beat down his side at all because Kamara's lack of defensive prowess was leaving Fosu-Mensah to deal with deep runs all match. Why couldn't this have just been a sub of Cairney for Kamara, and Sess takes Kamara's place? Again, this is another example of changing the back 4, and it cost us.

4. The jury is still out on Rico. He looked confident but also let in some weak ones. Under his legs while he's still standing tells me he wasn't as aggressive as he could have been, and then not even moving a muscle on Wilson's goal near post. I know there's no backing to go against Rico because it's his first match, so the mantra of "Not Betts" is what will make most happy. I'm still on the fence, but was hoping for more in those situations. The save he had on Francis was sublime though.

5. Changing formations, again, when we're only 1-0 down. The 4-2-3-1 was working well, for the most part, and we were starting to get some penetration, primarily via Sess. Instead, we make a sub, and we change formations to a 3-4-3 attacking, 4-5-1 defensively. It was shambles. It was shambles because you don't complicate a formation when you're losing 1-0, and when you're also a team who lets in the most goals in the league. This overdoing of fluid formations like a video game is hurting us dearly. Play the 4-2-3-1, or AT LEAST drop to 4-3-2-1 in defense. Seriously, a 4-5-1 would've been better.

6. Seri was solid in making simple passes again. He tried his dink and dunk passes, but they didn't work, again. He just does not take any chances whatsoever. This may be good for sexy football, but we are well past that. Anyone else notice how much more we hoofed the ball in the first half? It was ugly, but it was working. Seri defensively is too small and gets pushed off the ball easily. His indecision to control the ball or to hoof it out under pressure was the reason Bournemouth scored the 2nd goal, followed by Odoi's half-hearted challenge on Wilson.

7. I really do not care, but Cyrus Christie should have been in there for Kamara. If you're going to have another right footed player, who needs to drop back with pace, and actually has premier league defending experience, then yes, that's who I would have gone with. It's not that I do not like Kamara, but I did not agree with him making it into the 2nd half. Daniels had all day to cross, and that should have been a warning.

8. I like Slav, always have. I think he's getting to the point where his pride is overloading his judgement. These elaborate systems to play football are great in theory, but the squad he has is not gelling and they're simply not executing. He needs to lower his pride and either go back to the very basics of PRESSURE THE MAN ON THE BALL or hire a defensive coach. I'd be happy to see a gegenpress style for the rest of the season. We do not absorb pressure, we invite it, and for a team that is allowing 30 goals in the net, that makes ZERO sense. At least with a gegenpress mentality you have the sense that every player will be stuck in, and it will lead to much less of this timid play from the off.

9. K-Mac had a fantastic match before he was sent off. It's a real shame because he was as solid as ever. Showed a good foot on the ball and covered Seri's positioning in the deepest of areas.

1- Agree. He has potential but no footballing brain. No idea why he started over Vietto
2- If you had told me Odoi would be our starting CB at the start of the season with the players we brought in I would have laughed. Now after seeing all our CBs do just as bad (Mawson) or worse (Chambers) than him I am not sure what to think.
3- To be fair I thought our best spell in the match was between there 2nd and when Cairney came on. We looked totally dominant for that 15 minutes and was the only time in the game we looked so.
4- I thought he had a good debut, Distribution / command of area much better than Betts. What impressed me was how quick he was with his distribution, he never held onto the ball like Betts does. When he got the ball in play he was immediately focused on launching a counter attack
5- I don't think being flexible with formations is necessarily a bad thing, allows us to change shape if things aren't going our way
6- You can criticise Seri all you want, and I agree. He hasn't lived up to his first few games. But he is DEFINITELY in the 2 best CM's we have. He will improve once Cairney and Anguissa are around him. IMO.
7- Why Cyrus Christie? Vietto should have been in there for Kamara. No idea why he was picked over Vietto.
8- Sadly I reckon Slavisa will go if we lose to Huddersfield. While I say sadly I think it is partly deserved if we fail to get any points from these 3 games.
9- Disagree. He had a good second half (up untill the red) where he looked good basically playing as a 3rd CB. When played as a DM first half he failed to impact the game and lacked creativity. Honestly don't think he is prem level.

2. I just feel Odoi has too many moments in which he loses his head. He's a liability, but that comes with the territory of our best performing CB. Sad state of affairs.

3. Agreed on Cairney, it did look different. However, Bournemouth started to drop into as hell and stopped pressuring as high. Regardless, I loved how he played.

5. It's not necessarily about the flexible formations, it's that we've already seen multiple times this season how changing these complex formations and concepts mid-match have created a downfall. Against Arsenal, we were down 2-1, and decided to revert back to a 4-3-3. Yes we were being exposed, but we tried to plug up holes and more popped up. At least if we were exposed one just one side of the pitch, it would've been manageable. Like Kamara leaving Fosu-Mensah out to dry multiple times because AK doesn't know how to follow a runner, or put pressure on Daniels crossing because he's so far tucked in.

7. I just feel Christie defensive aptitude is higher, and that was what we needed in case we were caught out. He also has experience playing on the wing (as a wingback), and in the midfield. He and Fosu-Mensah would be a really interesting sight to see. Two speedy players, that are good on the ball, and can send a cross or take a shot; not to mention allowing eachother to cover when one advances and drop back, etc. I just think it would have been a better choice. For Vietto, I would have been okay with that as well. I really want to see him on the pitch, and would have been totally fine if it was the choice. I don't think he can cover as much ground as Christie would have, but at least he'd be more mobile (and less volatile) than Kamara.

9. I don't think Kmac's job is to impact the game. Zambo played roughly 15 minutes and impacted the game by giving up the ball twice. KMac did his job. He was there for support and he kept possession where needed. In our pass heavy attack, there needs to be someone who makes those simple passes to keep the flow.

[Matt10]

Have to agree about tinkering again during the game with the formation. It just seems to confuse players as if they haven't trained for it all week. EVERY time this season he has tried to change formations during a game we just collapse.

When they sat back and let us have the ball we were good at doing nothing with it. Only one or two meaningful efforts all game.

That's where I'm at too. I'd really wonder how they work on something all week, then the plans change. Or are they expecting a change in formation regardless? We never actually make a Like-for-like sub. Everytime we've made a sub, it's been a change to the formation to compensate.

This is why I'm saying it's complicated. Sticking to the basics of see the ball, and go try to get it, or hoof it up the pitch to get rid of it so we're not caught. Instead, our priority is to maintain possession, and when we did that, we ended giving the ball up anyways. The difference between the two is the ball is either farther away or closer - which would be the better option? Exactly.

[Rodshig]

My conclusion;

although we spent over 100 mil, our squad is not good enough for the premier league. 

All our defenders are out of depth at this level.  Ream/ odoi has been found out too many times over the past few games.  Lack pace and positioning sense thus we are getting rip apart every week.  Mawson is our only hope, need to find some form quickly

Attacking wise we are terrible as well. We rarely attack with purpose/ pace/ threat.Not getting ball out wide quick enough. Crossing the ball into the box.  R sess is finding it hard at this level. Schurrle can't do it on its own at this level. Mitro is starting to sulk.

Kamara is crap.

To get any points with this squad think we have to play more like cardiff. Anti football. Ultra defensive scrapping for points.

[Bassey the warrior]

My conclusion;

although we spent over 100 mil, our squad is not good enough for the premier league. 

All our defenders are out of depth at this level.  Ream/ odoi has been found out too many times over the past few games.  Lack pace and positioning sense thus we are getting rip apart every week.  Mawson is our only hope, need to find some form quickly

Attacking wise we are terrible as well. We rarely attack with purpose/ pace/ threat.Not getting ball out wide quick enough. Crossing the ball into the box.  R sess is finding it hard at this level. Schurrle can't do it on its own at this level. Mitro is starting to sulk.

Kamara is crap.

To get any points with this squad think we have to play more like cardiff. Anti football. Ultra defensive scrapping for points.

No. We can't play like Cardiff as we don't have the players - i.e. tall and good in the air. We should be looking to play like Bournemouth.

[the nutflush]

I have watched Schurrle get caught numerous times this season losing the ball after not making a pass when he should have. Why does he keep holding onto the ball? There was a through ball that should have gone to Sess and instead he hung onto it and then bottled it. Does he not have any trust in his team mates? Yet another thing to be concerned about.

[Bassey the warrior]

Have to agree about tinkering again during the game with the formation. It just seems to confuse players as if they haven't trained for it all week. EVERY time this season he has tried to change formations during a game we just collapse.

When they sat back and let us have the ball we were good at doing nothing with it. Only one or two meaningful efforts all game.

That's where I'm at too. I'd really wonder how they work on something all week, then the plans change. Or are they expecting a change in formation regardless? We never actually make a Like-for-like sub. Everytime we've made a sub, it's been a change to the formation to compensate.

This is why I'm saying it's complicated. Sticking to the basics of see the ball, and go try to get it, or hoof it up the pitch to get rid of it so we're not caught. Instead, our priority is to maintain possession, and when we did that, we ended giving the ball up anyways. The difference between the two is the ball is either farther away or closer - which would be the better option? Exactly.

The number one thing to focus on to improve attacking and defending is player movement off the ball. We kept losing possession because there were no passing options and we didn't win it back quickly because players weren't in good defensive positions. Just look at what Bournemouth did: they kept the ball and won it quickly because everyone knew where to move to.

[Bluebird 8]

My conclusion;

although we spent over 100 mil, our squad is not good enough for the premier league. 

All our defenders are out of depth at this level.  Ream/ odoi has been found out too many times over the past few games.  Lack pace and positioning sense thus we are getting rip apart every week.  Mawson is our only hope, need to find some form quickly

Attacking wise we are terrible as well. We rarely attack with purpose/ pace/ threat.Not getting ball out wide quick enough. Crossing the ball into the box.  R sess is finding it hard at this level. Schurrle can't do it on its own at this level. Mitro is starting to sulk.

Kamara is crap.

To get any points with this squad think we have to play more like cardiff. Anti football. Ultra defensive scrapping for points.

Cardiff are as you say ultra defensive good job we were not in a ultra attacking mode when we played you as we only managed to put four past you  :yay: :005:

[filham]

A lot for a new coach to work on then.

[Matt10]

I honestly think it's not as bad as it seems. We were only 1 goal down. Like I've said, the momentum was with us, we were piling on the attack. Sess found his feet and started to penetrate their defense. The issue was Kamara remained on his heels, and what good counterattacking we did, he hurt. Two occasions stick out in the space of 10 minutes.

First, a really nice attack by us. Seri holds it up, and passes off to Kmac, who distributes to Fosu-Mensah, back to KMac, then back to Fosu-Mensah, as Sess runs in between the lines, and picks it up, fakes out a man and then again. His cross is perfect, low and hard. Escapes a couple of defenders, and Kamara is there, but he's flat-footed. He literally stops all movement on the backpost, and by then the ball is gone.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/297776082[/vimeo]

The second occasion, 3-minutes later, Seri near our own 18 yard box, passes back to Ream, who passes to LeMarchand. LeMarchand sends a beautiful drilled pass down the sidelines for Kamara to chase. Kamara does well and pressures Begovic. What does he do after we regain possesion via Odoi? Kamara slows down, in an offside position, and is still jogging as Odoi has dribbled it in an advanced spot. Odoi sees Kamara, but he's offsides.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/297775468[/vimeo]

Sorry. I don't buy that we need new this, new that, Slav is who needs to STOP changing things so early. LeMarchand was one of the best players in the squad. We sacrificed him, and his intelligent play. Cairney is badly needed, yes, but the wrong sub was made. It should have been Cairney for Kamara, straight swap. We were in a 4-2-3-1, and if we really needed the attack, we could have gone to a 4-3-2-1 easily. Instead, our coach wants 3-4-3, with very wide 3, so we can dominate their side of the pitch. We did that, but we didn't dominate the play. We let them bunker in, and our counter attacks became null and void. Our strength was the counters before the change, and all that was lost when a creative player like LeMarchand was out of the fray.

We are consistently overcomplicating things. Not just the coach, but us here on the forums as well. We're saying scapegoat here, scapegoat there, but the reality is the decisions made during the match are what is hurting us this season. Kamara was forced into the lineup and thus played out of position. Slav and his team of groupthinks should have seen this early on, but for some reason he stuck with him in that position. Maybe it's a morale booster for Kamara to have start, maybe not. Regardless, everyone on the team is in contention to be scapegoat of the week. The unnecessary change of formation to try to get full momentum made it incredibly easy for Bournemouth to park the bus, and unleash counterattacks, which is exactly what they did, what Arsenal did, what Everton did, and what Cardiff did.

We want to keep saying we have no attack, no defense and no good players - that's a load of rubbish. We have an overcomplicated system that is being forced down the players throats, and then when it's proven that they are not the right squad for that system, they are then forced to try another MID-GAME, just to see what happens, or they are dropped for the next match. I'm all for being a coach who has a set system in place, one that will follow him wherever he goes, but now is the time to let go of that. These are not the players for the system Slav wants to incorporate. We need to accept this, and so does he. The more he tries to force it, the more players will get frustrated, start pointing fingers, start with the animosity in the dressing room because results are poor, and it will filter itself into message boards like these. He needs to put trust into what he has set out, and stick to it. Make like-for-like subs and make very little change to the defensive backline in losing scenarios.

[Fulham1959]

What on earth is 'gegenpress' ?

[IKnowNothing]

What on earth is 'gegenpress' ?

See Juergen Klopp. Look it up its easier than trying to explain it.

[Asotosyios]

Sorry. I don't buy that we need new this, new that, Slav is who needs to STOP changing things so early. LeMarchand was one of the best players in the squad. We sacrificed him, and his intelligent play. Cairney is badly needed, yes, but the wrong sub was made. It should have been Cairney for Kamara, straight swap. We were in a 4-2-3-1, and if we really needed the attack, we could have gone to a 4-3-2-1 easily. Instead, our coach wants 3-4-3, with very wide 3, so we can dominate their side of the pitch. We did that, but we didn't dominate the play. We let them bunker in, and our counter attacks became null and void. Our strength was the counters before the change, and all that was lost when a creative player like LeMarchand was out of the fray.

We are consistently overcomplicating things. Not just the coach, but us here on the forums as well. We're saying scapegoat here, scapegoat there, but the reality is the decisions made during the match are what is hurting us this season. Kamara was forced into the lineup and thus played out of position. Slav and his team of groupthinks should have seen this early on, but for some reason he stuck with him in that position. Maybe it's a morale booster for Kamara to have start, maybe not. Regardless, everyone on the team is in contention to be scapegoat of the week. The unnecessary change of formation to try to get full momentum made it incredibly easy for Bournemouth to park the bus, and unleash counterattacks, which is exactly what they did, what Arsenal did, what Everton did, and what Cardiff did.

We want to keep saying we have no attack, no defense and no good players - that's a load of rubbish. We have an overcomplicated system that is being forced down the players throats, and then when it's proven that they are not the right squad for that system, they are then forced to try another MID-GAME, just to see what happens, or they are dropped for the next match. I'm all for being a coach who has a set system in place, one that will follow him wherever he goes, but now is the time to let go of that. These are not the players for the system Slav wants to incorporate. We need to accept this, and so does he. The more he tries to force it, the more players will get frustrated, start pointing fingers, start with the animosity in the dressing room because results are poor, and it will filter itself into message boards like these. He needs to put trust into what he has set out, and stick to it. Make like-for-like subs and make very little change to the defensive backline in losing scenarios.

Thank you for this.

The constant change of tactics is what has annoyed and frustrated me mostly this year. I want to think that the loss of Cairney played a big role in all these "experiments" and his return will see us go back to the 4-3-3 of the last two seasons. People will start talking about Plan A and B and C and D again, but there are not a lot of teams that can play in a lot different ways. This needs time, time and more time when you have so many new players.