Problems

[Spirit of 2000]

Ok so we have the obvious one of huge possession stats creating little or certainly not enough due to the slow ponderous, predictable and largely negative nature of that passing. Maybe as a bi-product of this there's nowhere near enough movement off the ball. Certainly as a bi-product though is that our front 3 are not receiving the ball in space, all three especially the wingers are suited to a quicker more incisive style of play. Of those front 3 are Knockaert & Cavaleiro really team players or talented but slightly greedy individual players. Arter is (as shown again at the weekend) ill disciplined and no matter how decent a player he is. Bobby Reid is NOT a central midfielder, he's a 10 or 2nd striker. He doesn't work as a CM and throws the balance of the side as TC doesn't end up playing his natural role, in fact as far as team balance is concerned I genuinely think I best midfield 3 would be Harrison Reed, Cairney & Stef Jo. As a consequence of a culmination of the above Mitrovic is very isolated. Steve Sessegnon needs to overlap rather than tuck in and give us yet another CM when we attack, on the opposite side Bryan in fact is one of our greatest threats going forward and his delivery & runs are not being used enough. Our defence still has an elementary mistake in it and of the CB's I'd say Ream is the better and if Hector is to displace either it would be the £15m quid Mawson who's looking bang average I'm afraid. So the tempo/speed, shape, team selection are all wrong and certain players are under-performing as individuals & the way we're playing doesn't suit the personnel we have, defensively iffy and the opposition are finding it incredibly easy to nullify our tactics & we've not found a way to change, tweak or adapt ... other than that it's cushty!

[Chutney]

I think the biggest issue currently is with our fullbacks, in the promotion season targett and fredericks operated almost as wingers, allowing our actual wingers to come inside and find space in and around Mitro. Our current fullbacks aren't capable of this.

Fast attacking full backs is crucial to our style of play.

[Spirit of 2000]

I think Bryan is very capable going forward and Steve Sessegnon rarely tries to ... he did at (I think Huddersfield) to decent effect.... his first game. Maybe the manager has discouraged it.

[Sting of the North]

Of course at least Bryan is capable of it, and I am pretty sure that Sess is as well.

[toshes mate]

I see a head coach caught in two minds at the moment and I certainly believe the flanks are nowhere near as potent a source of attacking force as they were under Jokanovic for example.  But Parker has a problem.  If he plays an essentially attacking formation with flank partnerships on attack (and, by inference, in defence) then he is (with one eye on outcomes) looking at offering opponents freebie counter attacks which, in the recent past, have not ended well.  He therefore looks to have the full backs being more selective about going forward.  At the moment it isn't resolved and to my mind Parker needs to experiment with flank partnerships because I don't think we are sorted on either side as it stands.  But there is another way of looking as this which earlier games did demonstrate and that was about movement, fluidity, and passing at pace when opponents come on to you.  Both WBA and Wednesday adopted much the same tactics against us and Parker seemingly hasn't responded to that.  Why is a very good question.

[The Rational Fan]

I think Bryan is very capable going forward and Steve Sessegnon rarely tries to ... he did at (I think Huddersfield) to decent effect.... his first game. Maybe the manager has discouraged it.

Christie and Bryan are fairly fast full-back, obviously Christie has other weaknesses, but if speed is all that matters he is faster than most.

[Sting of the North]

I think Bryan is very capable going forward and Steve Sessegnon rarely tries to ... he did at (I think Huddersfield) to decent effect.... his first game. Maybe the manager has discouraged it.

Christie and Bryan are fairly fast full-back, obviously Christie has other weaknesses, but if speed is all that matters he is faster than most.

The answer is of course that speed is not all that matters. Regardless, Bryan has clearly shown that he is capable going forward. I would even say that it is his strength, and he is more suited going forward than he is defending (although capable).

[filham]

The problem right now that has to be addressed is we are scoring more than a single goal a game, we have to be looking for 3 on Friday.
Yes we have to be more adventurous with overlapping full backs but of course making sure someone is covering for them so that we are not suckers for the quick counter.
Bryan can do a good job on the left and Parker has to be sure he selects the best of Odoi, Sess. or Christie at right back, he may be wise to change the right back at half time in order to give the opponents something different to defend against.

[Worcesterwhite]

Regarding our full backs overlapping it's not that they are not capable it's that they advised not too by the coaching staff as part of current tactics. I had the the fortunate situation of sitting infront of a current youth coach at Fulham who said it's part of SP's tactics for Steven sess to step into central midfield when in possession , apparently one full back is nominated to take this role while the other is free to advance further up field

[toshes mate]

I think Bryan is very capable going forward and Steve Sessegnon rarely tries to ... he did at (I think Huddersfield) to decent effect.... his first game. Maybe the manager has discouraged it.

Christie and Bryan are fairly fast full-back, obviously Christie has other weaknesses, but if speed is all that matters he is faster than most.

Sessegnon S is no slouch, getting forward to huge effect in his international appearances, and Bryan has good pace too.  The problem is ahead of them they have Knockaert and Cavaleiro who both have something to prove as individuals since they have been effectively discarded.  Knockaert does tackle back but doesn't always look to involve his partners on the flanks. Cavaleiro is not a great tackler back but does look to involve his team mates on the flanks.  I'd like to see some better interplay between the wide players including seeing Cavaleiro and Knockaert changing flanks just to show how versatile they are. I'd also stop the nonsense of Cavaleiro and Knockaert standing side by side at corners and sometimes free kicks.  Do it some of the time perhaps but not all the time.  No need for any side to be that predictable.

[The Rational Fan]

Regarding our full backs overlapping it's not that they are not capable it's that they advised not too by the coaching staff as part of current tactics. I had the the fortunate situation of sitting infront of a current youth coach at Fulham who said it's part of SP's tactics for Steven sess to step into central midfield when in possession , apparently one full back is nominated to take this role while the other is free to advance further up field

That's an odd formation, does it look like

      Calv     Mitro        Knockaert
Bryan   Cairney    Reid
               Reed      S.Sess
        Ream            Mawson
                 Betts

I would prefer to play S.Sess wider.

[MikeW]

I think Bryan is very capable going forward and Steve Sessegnon rarely tries to ... he did at (I think Huddersfield) to decent effect.... his first game. Maybe the manager has discouraged it.

Christie and Bryan are fairly fast full-back, obviously Christie has other weaknesses, but if speed is all that matters he is faster than most.

Sessegnon S is no slouch, getting forward to huge effect in his international appearances, and Bryan has good pace too.  The problem is ahead of them they have Knockaert and Cavaleiro who both have something to prove as individuals since they have been effectively discarded.  Knockaert does tackle back but doesn't always look to involve his partners on the flanks. Cavaleiro is not a great tackler back but does look to involve his team mates on the flanks.  I'd like to see some better interplay between the wide players including seeing Cavaleiro and Knockaert changing flanks just to show how versatile they are. I'd also stop the nonsense of Cavaleiro and Knockaert standing side by side at corners and sometimes free kicks.  Do it some of the time perhaps but not all the time.  No need for any side to be that predictable.

You've hit the nail square on the head Tosh.  We are totally predictable.  Can I also add negative?  I see no reason whatsoever why Sess and Bryan cannot use their skills and pace to get down the flanks to give us another dimension.  It looks like Scott is a very cautious coach which at this level (when you are looking to promotion) is not a good trait.

[filham]

Cav and Knock are playing well out wide and more like conventional wing men than we have seen for a long time. It is therefore a mystery why with this attitude we use three or four or more passes to get the ball to them. Surely with men out wide in space you get the ball to them with a quick single pass out of defence.

[Worcesterwhite]

Regarding our full backs overlapping it's not that they are not capable it's that they advised not too by the coaching staff as part of current tactics. I had the the fortunate situation of sitting infront of a current youth coach at Fulham who said it's part of SP's tactics for Steven sess to step into central midfield when in possession , apparently one full back is nominated to take this role while the other is free to advance further up field

That's an odd formation, does it look like

      Calv     Mitro        Knockaert
Bryan   Cairney    Reid
               Reed      S.Sess
        Ream            Mawson
                 Betts

I would prefer to play S.Sess wider.

Yes it does look odd and I until it was pointed out to me I hadn't really noticed, but more often than not when we had the ball and this did happen, supposedly H Reed and SS are the base of a midfield square with D Reid and Cairney at the top with Knock and Cav hugging each touchline and Mitro in the middle. My personal opinion it looks like we are trying to play like Man City without the personal to execute it

[davew]

Parker seems to have adopted a system of not losing (much), what we need and expect is something a lot better! It isn´t rocket science, if as most FFC supporters feel that we have a squad better than almost all the other teams in the league, we must be doing something wrong, well not us, the players and the coach!

[Sting of the North]

Parker seems to have adopted a system of not losing (much), what we need and expect is something a lot better! It isn´t rocket science, if as most FFC supporters feel that we have a squad better than almost all the other teams in the league, we must be doing something wrong, well not us, the players and the coach!

Or maybe we don't have a squad that is so much better than almost all other teams so that we can just walk the league, and therefore all results will not go in our favour. I also don't think it looks like Parker sets out to not lose, but I do think that his attempts of defending a lead has not looked very convincing so far. It does us no favours when we fall into the trap of tending to play more like our opponents such as the miserable kick and run tactic by Wednesday. We should continue to defend by keeping the ball, especially late in the games in my opinion.

[MJG]

For those trying to understand why Sess moves into midfield read this

https://5wfootball.com/2018/12/31/why-full-backs-are-crucial-to-pep-guardiolas-style-of-play/

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-full-backs-so-important-in-Pep-Guardiolas-team-especially-in-the-context-of-the-current-Manchester-City-team

[Dr Quinzel]

A minor change, but I wonder if it could help a lot - play the wingers on their natural sides instead of 'inverted' / 'inside out' or whicever phrase you wish.

I think it could result in balls in between keeper and defenders with their back turned, rather than facing onto crosses as they come in from an inverted players cross on their preferred foot. Quicker balls in give the defenders less time to set up and crowd the box.

Thoughts?

[Spirit of 2000]

A minor change, but I wonder if it could help a lot - play the wingers on their natural sides instead of 'inverted' / 'inside out' or whicever phrase you wish.

I think it could result in balls in between keeper and defenders with their back turned, rather than facing onto crosses as they come in from an inverted players cross on their preferred foot. Quicker balls in give the defenders less time to set up and crowd the box.

Thoughts?

Agree - the wingers tend to play wide, the only merit of playing on the wrong side if at least one was getting alongside Mitrovic  to leave him less isolated. This isn't happening and as a result of being inverted neither are getting cut backs or crosses for Mitro to run onto, so not only is he isolated but also starved of service.

[davew]

Parker seems to have adopted a system of not losing (much), what we need and expect is something a lot better! It isn´t rocket science, if as most FFC supporters feel that we have a squad better than almost all the other teams in the league, we must be doing something wrong, well not us, the players and the coach!

Or maybe we don't have a squad that is so much better than almost all other teams so that we can just walk the league, and therefore all results will not go in our favour. I also don't think it looks like Parker sets out to not lose, but I do think that his attempts of defending a lead has not looked very convincing so far. It does us no favours when we fall into the trap of tending to play more like our opponents such as the miserable kick and run tactic by Wednesday. We should continue to defend by keeping the ball, especially late in the games in my opinion.

Agree with you that we should keep the ball at the end of a match, the rest of the time try putting it into the net, something we have not been capable of much in 7 of our games. 8 goals in 7 games and 4 in 1 game, with our strike force, PATHETIC!!!