Bill 13,717 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 I think you can judge our midfield formula by the freedom Scott Brown had to perform pantomime while strolling through the game without breaking sweat. I felt it wasn't the players who were selected, so much as completely the wrong tactical approach from our manager. Hopefully he learns quickly. Can you imagine Walter Smith sending that formation out at Aberdeen? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,743 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) As I said before, if our "wing play" doesn`t live up to what we require, i.e. pressing or providing an outlet, as well as having a shot on (sic!) target as often as they can, we have but Morelos up front against 2 or 3 defenders. Yesterday, it was large spells of reacting to Aberdeen and chasing them, rather than the other way round. Bassey was a bit jittery and had too many stray passes out of defence, Kamara and Sands (whom I won`t blame for much, as he`s not used to the Scottish game*) were tightening up the DM, but the whole front line simply did not click. And when this happens, as has been said, you do wonder why changes weren`t made earlier. The presence of Sakala, Morelos and Itten up top alone would have made Aberdeen be more cautious ... as well as providing us with better people to aim at. If anything, Itten is a target man and can hold up a ball. Hagi was marked and fell out of the game ... and we probably only had Bacuna as a straight replacement - and someone who can play the unexpect cool pass. With 5 subs available, we should have changed more people earlier ... and earlier. * I don`t really get picking Sands ahead of Lundstram, and away at Aberdeen at that. He`s a solid player and knows the Scottish game ... and may even be able to put the smile of Brown`s face with a solid tackle. Changing him in for Wright was baffling, not least when Hagi and Kent were the more obvious choices, given their performance levels. Edited January 19, 2022 by der Berliner 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascender 352 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Last night wasn't a disaster, I'm kind of grateful we escaped with a point in the end and the display reminded me of some of the ones earlier in the season where our limitations were really exposed. We're not good enough to go 1-0 up and control the game like we did last year. Last season was unique in so many ways, but SG was asleep at the wheel this year and we're going to have to try and just deal with that this season as there's only so much we can do in a January window. I don't know if he'd had enough during the close season, or if he was banking on CL qualification to get players in, but he was unable to sort out the basic issues which plagued our start to the season, many of which seemed to be the exact issues we had in his first couple of years in charge. As a result, we've still got a squad which needs trimmed. We still need to add 1 or 2 "starting XI" players. We still have a few players who seem likely to retire at the end of this season or who go from one injury to the next. Clancy was fucking dreadful and he's like that all the time. He's a crap referee and like many of his colleagues, are simply not good enough to be refereeing this level. Unfortunately, things will never change because one of the issues we have in this country is that it becomes a Rangers v Celtic "thing". And then becomes an Old Firm v rest of Scottish football "thing". We have loads of things wrong with football in this country but the clubs and supporters are so divided and driven by agendas, that we can't see the wood for the trees. So we're stuck with it. Brown is an absolute clown. He just does what he's always done, which for the most part seems to wind up our fans more than our players who just have no time for his nonsense and can see him for what he is. The really annoying thing is that refs fall for his schtick and he does seem to go unpunished for a lot. Is that because he's clever about when he does things? Will VAR make a difference? But we're four points ahead at the top, so that's a big positive, especially given the start to the season we've had. I still think we are the best XI in the country by some way on our day, but I still think we look a bit shaky at the back and we clearly need someone in to run the midfield and dictate the tempo when Aribo is out. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMAA 3,658 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, 26th of foot said: We need one of the three above in the team. I think it is only fair to point out that we have had very similar performances with all three in the team in the past. There have been a few, but a 2-1 loss at Tynecastle against a woeful, bottom of the league Hearts side with Sibbick and Irving in centre mid comes to mind. We had a midfield three of Kamara, Davis and Jack and a forward three of Aribo, Kent and Morelos in that game. We finished the game with only 50% possession and only 2 shots on target. We also had 11 men for the whole game and conceded two proper, open-play goals and not just a gift of a penalty. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 6,082 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 2 minutes ago, DMAA said: I think it is only fair to point out that we have had very similar performances with all three in the team in the past. There have been a few, but a 2-1 loss at Tynecastle against a woeful, bottom of the league Hearts side with Sibbick and Irving in centre mid comes to mind. We had a midfield three of Kamara, Davis and Jack and a forward three of Aribo, Kent and Morelos in that game. We finished the game with only 50% possession and only 2 shots on target. We also had 11 men for the whole game and conceded two proper, open-play goals and not just a gift of a penalty. DMAA, I would not advocate all three in the team, the midfield must be a balance of ballers and runners. However, one of those three is necessary if we hope to involve the front three in the game on a consistent basis. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo79 15,292 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Aberdeen having more possession and twice as many shots at goal is quite depressing, particularly as they're a mid-table side. I'm hoping GvB isn't happy with that at all. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMAA 3,658 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 12 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said: Aberdeen having more possession and twice as many shots at goal is quite depressing, particularly as they're a mid-table side. I'm hoping GvB isn't happy with that at all. If it helps, the expected points table has them headed for 3rd 😀 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sutton_blows_goats 5,327 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 19 minutes ago, DMAA said: If it helps, the expected points table has them headed for 3rd 😀 Does it not have us in second? One i seen did. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMAA 3,658 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 22 minutes ago, Sutton_blows_goats said: Does it not have us in second? One i seen did. Marginally I think yeh. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacK1950 2,376 Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 It was a really poor display but not helped by the Sheep getting fouls every time a Rangers player breathed on them and getting away with many yellow/red card offences. Would also be interesting if it could be worked out how long Brown kept in Clancy's face. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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