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Post by britpit on Feb 15, 2015 12:00:54 GMT
Hughes says we can't blame injuries. He said the players just didn't do their jobs. In particular he said that we did not stop the ball at source, which suggests we did not press hard enough, allowing the ball to be passed over heads allowing King to run on to.
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Feb 15, 2015 12:12:30 GMT
4-4-2
Thats 2 games in a row now we have tried it and conceded 8 goals. Whelan is so used to playing in the cage hes just not a box-to-box midfielder. It left no protection in front of the back 4. Plus the partnership of Crouch & Diouf just looks awful upfront.
Back to 4-2-3-1 please. Keep Whelan sitting and protecting that back 4.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Feb 15, 2015 12:25:04 GMT
Hughes says we can't blame injuries. He said the players just didn't do their jobs. Yeah I don't buy the injuries argument either. How many first team choices were absent yesterday - three? Bojan, replaced by Crouch who is our record signing and highest earner and who has scored in each of the last two games. Ryan, replaced by Wollscheid who the manager specifically went after in the January to cover such eventualities, it could even be argued that he is actually now one of the manager's first choices for centre back. And then Pieters, replaced by (albeit on the other side) Cameron - who I'll give you, isn't actually very good. But nether the less, we weren't playing at the Ethiad or the Emirates and the players we brought in should have been more than good enough to compete against Blackburn. Blaming injuries is a cop out for me.
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Post by premiershipteamfor10years on Feb 15, 2015 14:02:25 GMT
Terrible injury situation is the main reason. But in truth Hughes can't be expected to unearth quality players without reasonable backing from the board. In truth, Muniesa, Cameron and Wollschied are not the answer in defence and significant investment is required if we want to progress. It looks like Moses won't be staying so possibly two new wingers will also be required. Whelan has been poor in the last two games and Sidwell doesn't appear to be the answer. Ditto Diouf.
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andyr
Youth Player
Posts: 412
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Post by andyr on Feb 15, 2015 14:51:22 GMT
You can blame injuries but that was still a premier league team and they were awfull
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Post by baystokie on Feb 15, 2015 15:44:27 GMT
Why do we spend so much time apportioning BLAME? Is it a British thing? A modern thing based on 'if there's blame, there's a claim'?
If only we spent as much time and heart-searching on putting things right as we spend on navel-gazing and nit-picking over events that we can no longer change.
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Post by boskampsflaps on Feb 15, 2015 15:52:03 GMT
Tactics and the players on the pitch, nothing to do with injuries.
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Post by thedeadlyshart on Feb 15, 2015 16:19:35 GMT
Tactics and the players on the pitch, nothing to do with injuries. Weren't at least some of the players on the pitch there because of injuries? We were missing Shawcross, bojan, pieters, walters, Wilson, and Ireland because of injury. Two of those injuries, bojan and Ireland, meant us changing our formation for the last two games. Also, so many injuries meant virtually no squad rotation, only butland for Begovic, which meant that group was playing it's third game in a week. I think the injuries had something to do with the tactics and the player's selection, and their performance.
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Post by boskampsflaps on Feb 15, 2015 16:29:10 GMT
Tactics and the players on the pitch, nothing to do with injuries. Weren't at least some of the players on the pitch there because of injuries? We were missing Shawcross, bojan, pieters, walters, Wilson, and Ireland because of injury. Two of those injuries, bojan and Ireland, meant us changing our formation for the last two games. Also, so many injuries meant virtually no squad rotation, only butland for Begovic, which meant that group was playing it's third game in a week. I think the injuries had something to do with the tactics and the player's selection, and their performance. I understand where you're coming from but the players on the pitch are meant to be Prem players, and should be good enough to have won the game or at least not get a spanking (not helped by the red obvs).
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Post by thedeadlyshart on Feb 15, 2015 16:42:23 GMT
Weren't at least some of the players on the pitch there because of injuries? We were missing Shawcross, bojan, pieters, walters, Wilson, and Ireland because of injury. Two of those injuries, bojan and Ireland, meant us changing our formation for the last two games. Also, so many injuries meant virtually no squad rotation, only butland for Begovic, which meant that group was playing it's third game in a week. I think the injuries had something to do with the tactics and the player's selection, and their performance. I understand where you're coming from but the players on the pitch are meant to be Prem players, and should be good enough to have won the game or at least not get a spanking (not helped by the red obvs). very true, it would have been an embarrassing performance even if the likes of palacios and teixiera had been on the pitch.
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Post by mrcoke on Feb 15, 2015 17:31:18 GMT
It's really a pointless exercise to apportion blame; we lost to a team who played their hearts out and it's time to move on. But:
Who do I blame:
Not injuries. Yes we were playing a weakened side and player(s) playing out of position, but we still should have beaten them and did take the lead and had further chances to score in the first half.
Stoke had the chance to put the game out of reach of Blackburn but missed chances, particularly Diouf's. This is not the first time this season the team has demonstrated an inability to score; Stoke finishing it not good enough. Shooting is poor and the use of dead ball plays is generally lamentable. (I acknowledge the goal was after a corner.) So the initial blame lies in the forwards failure to take the chances.
The second area of blame is the terrible defensive teamwork. I see little point in blaming individuals, they know they let the club and the fans down. It is clear now the club has gone backwards when it comes to the ability to defend and MH needs to address this urgently of there could be more drubbings. The team had a clear warning when Blackburn missed a sitter, but they failed to respond to the warning signs.
Tactics? If there were any then I would blame poor execution rather the choosing the wrong tactics. I'm not convinced the team would have performed any better with different tactics.
Finally I would not get too upset about the debacle. There are people on here who have clearly thrown their rattle out of the pram. There are better teams blown out of the FA Cup this season, which I think is a symptom of the character of many of the top flight players who when the chips are down and they are up against someone who has some guts and fight (and not a little skill), they have not got the ability to rise to the demands put upon them.
We still have a team in the top 10 of the Prem and I'd rather that than be a lower league giant killer. We now have 5 matches against teams lower than us in the league and every opportunity to improve our position in the league. Securing the points that should be won will not be easier for the players if the fans are on their backs.
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