Rousseau

Just now, Big Jaws said:

A couple of those were from corners yes but not all of them. I don't think we even look remotely like scoring mate.

No, we've done nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

We've been so poor I considered switching over to the Man Utd game for entertainment. 

Man Utd. For entertainment. 

What is happening!?

Just now, Big Jaws said:

They've had three or four shots on target that McGregor has had to look lively to deal with and a couple of others that were more hopeful than anything. Other than Morelos shooting from anywhere near the box we've tried to walk the ball into the net yet again and got nowhere with a 10 man defence to beat.

Yes, they were from corners were they not, albeit not directly?

I don't think they've done much, but we've really done absolutely nothing, so it's easy to make them look better. 

1 minute ago, Big Jaws said:

More of the same from Rangers today. From my perspective St Mirren have been the better team.

Yes, but it's only because they're 'snappy', and up for it. They've not actually done anything, outwith a corner or two.

Which is why it's so frustrating; we've been really, really poor.  

1 minute ago, trublusince1982 said:

Manager doesn't have a clue. Playing Kent and Grezda on a day like this is just nonsense. He has done nothing about any of our faults. Same crap game after game. 

 

Why is Lafferty not even on the bench?

Who is he supposed to play "on the day like this"?

Lafferty is injured. 

This is brutal stuff. We don't have a scooby.

Their 'keeper may as well not be there. 

Just now, BlackSocksRedTops said:

He looks more interested in falling and moaning

No he doesn't.

Half-time...

2 minutes ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Morelos looks disinterested. Our wide players just don't get it into the game. It's a worry

Morelos is doing absolute fine; he's the only one causing them problems.

1 minute ago, buster. said:

Couldn't call it a 'great opportunity'.

Yes, more of a half-chance, but he should be connecting properly and giving them something to worry about.

The movement in the final third is poor. We build up from the back quite well, then it seems to stall when it gets to midfield. We can't find Arfield, Ejaria, Kent or Grezda in space; it's always with their back to goal, which inevitably means it goes backwards.  

We're also always looking for a safe pass, so when there is a wee bit of movement we're reluctant to find them. 

I wondered why the Scottish media had stopped giving us updates...

12 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Have we ever even won the league not playing primarily 4-4-2?

The 4-4-2 is a relatively recent adoption; It first appears in the 80's or just earlier, I'd say -- don't quote me on that, though; it's been a while since I read Wilson's book and I don't have it to hand. (And that's a proper 4-4-2, not a 4-2-4 that the Hungarian's favoured in the 50's.) It certainly became most popular in the 90's.

We've probably won more leagues not using a 4-4-2. 

9 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Well if you're going to mock, I could say it's hilarious that you dismiss playing 4-4-2 against Scottish sides when we won 9 in a row playing 4-4-2, and most (if not all) our titles since.

 

It's easy to mark if you're rubbish. There's nothing inherently wrong with it at all, you're sacrificing a little bit of possession in exchange for giving yourself two strikers instead of one to play one-twos with and help get your midfield forward with the ball. The way things have been recently, sacrificing a bit of possession would be no bad thing.

 

I'm not saying a formation change is the silver bullet for one minute, but I did point out that we've created almost nothing when we meet some resistance time after time using the status quo and formation changes were options. However if we're not drilled in it (which we don't seem to be) we'll struggle. And swapping to it for brief period certainly won't give it a chance.

I'm not mocking, per se. We all do it. I just felt recently that our suggestions were actually implemented by the manager, with no difference whatsoever. I thought it was amusing.

Sure, you can beat anyone with a 4-4-2 if you have vastly better quality. To be fair, I'm not sure it was always two out-and-out wingers on either side all the time, was it? Didn't Walter like one to tuck in? It's almost 4-3-3...  

That's probably the main point: we don't have the quality to chop and change all the time.

I think a 4-4-2 just plays into their hands -- unless it's with a positional game like Atletico (SImeone is a 'disciple' of Bielsa, a la Guardiola, Pochettino etc, just a lot more pragmatic).

If we take a step back for a moment and look at it in context: A draw against Kilmarnock is not the end of the world. They're a very good side; well coached, well drilled and near impossible to break down on a good day.

As for title ambitions, I don't think that was ever a realistic target this season; never was. I want 2nd place, preferably by a comfortable margin. We're still well in the hunt for that. 

The concerning thing for me is that, for a good few games we've been really poor; unable to create chances and, crucially, to take them. It may partly be down to the opposition -- tough, deep defensive blocks -- but there's no doubt we've looked almost clueless at times. 

I think it's hilarious that after results like this we all seem to know, without doubt, what we need to improve. It's always a formation change. The latest was a change to a 4-2-3-1 and/or play 2 up top. Well, we changed to a 4-2-3-1 and it was still poor; and when Lafferty came on we went 2 up top, and it was still poor -- the latter was almost worse! (4-4-2 doesn't suit us playing Scottish sides: it's too easy to man-mark. 2 up top could be a good option, but it'd need to go down the 3-at-the-back route.)

I thought we were/are on to a good thing with the 4-3-3; it just needs tweaking, better/more coaching. I don't think we should be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. 

It is desperately disappointing, though. 

It must be so frustrating for Gerrard: to see players struggle to do things that he would do so easily.

I'm not even sure Morelos changes that. There's something not quite clicking with the final ball. 

One positive: I'm mightily relieved McInnes is not our manager. Brutal football. It's embarrassing that it gets so many plaudits. 

What a f*cking joke.

SADIQ!!

Only one man can save us:

Excellent news!

I'm disappointed with that draw, which is a positive really, considering where we've been and who we played last night.

I was really frustrated at the 2nd half, though: there was a spell when we kept giving it away; it was poor and sloppy.

We had enough to win it; two points dropped, certainly.

Milan have been poor for a while. Even with a complete financial overhaul last season they went nowhere. 

Betis are a superb footballing side, so I was expecting them to beat Milan.

I think the Europa League's main selling point was that, yes there may be a lot of teams, but they're all about the same level, making quite a competitive competition. 

Arsenal's 3rd (?) goal was a thing of beauty.