Complete lack of leadership and wrong approach

[FulhamStu]

We have no leader, especially at the back.  Hector is ok when playing against inferior players but v the best he is off the pace, too nice and quiet, not aggressive enough etc etc.  The same could be said of our entire back 4 or 5 and frankly the whole team.  As Roy Keen correctly said, we are just too soft.

We don't need a young high quality footballing central defender, we need someone with grit, someone to clench their fist, lead shout and boss things.

I thought Cairney looked good tonight but he typifies what the problem is and should absolutely not be captain, but I suspect Parker is too nice to make the tough decision and make that decision.

Finally, it is frankly cruel to play Odoi at this level, he is not up to it.  Critisise Ream all you like but tonight, together with Hector, Odoi was totally outclassed and made to look stupid by the odious Greslish who has continued to improve and looks a great player, well he looked great against our lot.

2 centre halves, one an experienced nasty type who could captain this lot or we are completely stuffed, we have all been saying it since Wembley.

[SP]

I agree.

Frustrating but so predictable.

[Bryanthebroom]

Cairney's great on the ball and at dictating the pace of the game but he

Cant close down
Can't tackle
Cant track midfield runners

He shouldnt be playing as the deep lying midfielder in a two.

Especially when we have centre backs who cant do those things either.

[valdeingruo]

The only player that comes to mind when it comes to grit and vocalizing is McDonald and he doesnt seem to be fancied.

[HobGoblin]

We've been saying since 2018 the same things.

Cairney is a powderfluff player. Should never have been made captain. Never seen him grab a game by barking any orders.

[brightster]

Bryanthebroom, you forgot no one can head the ball either, Hector and Tom turn their back when going for headers!

[FulhamStu]

Cairney's great on the ball and at dictating the pace of the game but he

Cant close down
Can't tackle
Cant track midfield runners

He shouldnt be playing as the deep lying midfielder in a two.

Especially when we have centre backs who cant do those things either.

The team selection today was again, so poor.  Cairney and Frank are good footballers but you have to have someone who can put a foot in next too or behind them.  Franks generally good on the ball but like Cairney he is not the best at tracking back either, well not aggressively with pace.

[FulhamStu]

Bryanthebroom, you forgot no one can head the ball either, Hector and Tom turn their back when going for headers!

Totally correct, Mitro is the only players out there who can attack and win high balls, the opposition know this and double up on him, pushing and pulling but Mitro is called for the foul every time.

[roberto w6]

We have no leader, especially at the back.  Hector is ok when playing against inferior players but v the best he is off the pace, too nice and quiet, not aggressive enough etc etc.  The same could be said of our entire back 4 or 5 and frankly the whole team.  As Roy Keen correctly said, we are just too soft.

We don't need a young high quality footballing central defender, we need someone with grit, someone to clench their fist, lead shout and boss things.

I thought Cairney looked good tonight but he typifies what the problem is and should absolutely not be captain, but I suspect Parker is too nice to make the tough decision and make that decision.

Finally, it is frankly cruel to play Odoi at this level, he is not up to it.  Critisise Ream all you like but tonight, together with Hector, Odoi was totally outclassed and made to look stupid by the odious Greslish who has continued to improve and looks a great player, well he looked great against our lot.

2 centre halves, one an experienced nasty type who could captain this lot or we are completely stuffed, we have all been saying it since Wembley.

:plus one: Hit the nail on the head Stu

[Deeping_white]

Think the biggest nail in the coffin of any of our CB's was the third goal. We need one big ugly brute who's got the voice of an air raid siren to give our team an utter rollicking and get them into position for defending set plays. We've got a bunch of pansies that go into hiding and look scared of their own shadow. The defending and organisation was that poor that I genuinely think most of us on this board could've scored against us today. No problem with going 3-5-2 as you can have two flashy CB's as part of the three, but we need a clogger no nonsense defender in the middle telling everyone where to go.

Also a big issue is playing TC and Frank as the only CM's. We need someone with bite in there sorting them out, it's like when we played Seri and Anguissa and wondered why we were so soft, both are box to box or a #10 in the same vein as TC and Frank, and not a traditional get in someone's face and win the ball back. Drop any wingers out of the match day squad as they're all fairly ineffective and  play 3 proper CM's, one of which is a fighter along with a fast striker with Mitro and we might start to see a tolerable performance. Today showed we've got god awful CB's but also tactical naivety, as well as the persisting problem that our defenders spend the first 10 minutes of every single half getting out of bed and conceding really basic goals

[HV71]

Dawson may not look liKe the answer- but might be exactly what we need