Where do we go from here...

[ChicagoLion]

In reply to Smithy.

If the current run extends into December we will be slugging it out with Norwich.
I do not believe these owners will let it get that bad.

[RichardBatchelor]

We play our best system which is 433, with 3 midfielders with legs. That means no 10, but duel 8s giving Dougie the chance to screen from higher up and it means you have to kill your darlings. It's Ings or Watkins through the middle, not both.

For me, I think our beat team is probably;

Martinez

Targett
Mings
Konsa
Cash

McGinn
Dougie
Sanson

Bailey
Ings
Buendia

How about we play that against West Ham and see how we fare.

This is all hysteria, 9 matches into the season fgs.
Dean Smith will prevail.

[Toronto Villa]

The reputation Dean Smith had when he arrived, and that we have seen at times with us is that he goes at teams and always plays to win. Importantly that he's not afraid. We've been playing so much on the back foot recently. Against Arsenal we barely touched the ball in the first 15 minutes. I just want us to go for it again. We have super attacking talent. Use them. If we lose trying to win, and when we are winning making smart tactical adjustments to protect the lead or build on it, nobody will complain. Right now we start games defending deep and it only gets worse. We aren't getting shots on goal and we are giving the ball away constantly putting pressure on defenders that end up making mistakes.

[brontebilly]

I certainly agree that we need a manager who changes things when we're playing shit, but where are they? Pep, Klopp, Bielsa definitely aren't 'tactically flexible'.

I've seen Bielsa take an underperforming player off after 30 minutes, something Smith would never, ever do. As for Klopp etc, perhaps they don't need to be that flexible if they're winning 60-70% of matches using their favoured tactics.

Bielsa took off their holding midfielder against us wasn't it? Grealish drew a yellow card from him very early on, I don't even think he lasted 30mins.

Klopp has taken Keita alone off early multiple occasions, including against Athletico at half time after scoring last week. He took off the same guy v Real the season before after about 20 mins when they were getting destroyed in midfield, in a manner if I recall correctly was similar to us v Arsenal. Hasn't held it against him though, still gives him chances.

[Sexual Ealing]

Easy then. Go and get one of them.

[ChicagoLion]

It is obvious now that the summer was an absolute shit show and has completely derailed the Club.
The Grealish saga and how it was handled was unfortunate but the decisions that have been taken since then have got us to where we are today, instead of looking forward to a push towards Europe we look more likely to be scrapping it out in the bottom 6.
Replacing Grealish with Bailey Ings and Buendia.
Acquiring Young and Tuanzabe
Letting Heaton go.
3 senior coaches leaving
The failure to bring in a DCM
So without a proper pre season we have attempted to cope with a huge change in coaching, tactics , formation and players.
It’s no wonder we are in a mess.

I think it is too easy to level all of the blame at Smith although he is hugely culpable for in trying and failing to shoehorn Ings and Tuanzabe into a new formation.

The question I have is, will be sacking Smith alone be enough to get us back on track?

Or should we be questioning the direction being taken by Lang and Purslow if we want to satisfy the question of this thread?

[OzVilla]

Welcome to the 2020/21 relegation battle. We shouldn’t be any near this but I’m afraid, right now we most certainly are.

We don’t know our best team or our best formation, our Captain just been dropped, we’ve conceded goals for fun, players are openly showing frustration at management, we are in an absolute mess.

I’m afraid that Wolves result will define this season as a before/after moment.

[SoccerHQ]

Did we have more points after 11 games in 19/20? I get the feeling we did so that would be pretty sobering and worrying stat.

[Aldridge Villa]

You’re a year behind Oz but I’ll take it 😂

[BC Villain]

Under Ellis we acted small time. So then we were taken over, and looked like we might do it differently, until it became too expensive not to act small time. So then we were sold again, and it looked like being small time might be optimistic.

So then, we were bought by two people who have unimaginable levels of wealth. And I refuse to believe that after all of the above, we won't take decisions which allow us to break out of that "it'll do for now" mindset. Smith won't see out the season, and I doubt he'll see out the year.

I still think he'll see out the season, unless it looks like a top 10 finish is entirely beyond us.  If we're hovering in the 12th-8th places then he'll finish the season and the owners will decide next summer whether or not the progress has been sufficient.  I suspect it would not be - they will want another demonstrable year-on-year improvement, I'd imagine.  Right now, this season after 9 games, we are clearly behind where we want to be - but a season isn't played over 9 games.  And in each full season, he's improved us compared to the last.  Losing three on the bounce doesn't make him any more deserving of the sack than winning three in a row guarantees his job for another year.

Would I swap him to Thomas Tuchel? In a heartbeat, and I say that as someone who really likes Dean - but the reality is that Tuchel-level managers are few and far between, and we're probably not quite ready as a club to attract a Tier 1 manager yet (though maybe the owners would be willing to throw around the sort of money required to get one?)

Either way, I'd be surprised if he got the boot before the end of the season unless the current poor run extends into December.

Changing manager is dependent on getting the replacement correct.  Newcastle fans were all whipping their dicks out at the thought of sacking Steve Bruce, but it's looking like they've binned him without having an idea of who they're going to bring in.

Its without doubt the biggest test of NSWE and Purslow's tenure.  Sacking Smith and mucking up the job of replacing him will screw up the progress they've made.

[OzVilla]

Did we have more points after 11 games in 19/20? I get the feeling we did so that would be pretty sobering and worrying stat.

We had 1 point more at this stage in 19/20.

[adrenachrome]

It is obvious now that the summer was an absolute shit show and has completely derailed the Club.
The Grealish saga and how it was handled was unfortunate but the decisions that have been taken since then have got us to where we are today, instead of looking forward to a push towards Europe we look more likely to be scrapping it out in the bottom 6.
Replacing Grealish with Bailey Ings and Buendia.
Acquiring Young and Tuanzabe
Letting Heaton go.
3 senior coaches leaving
The failure to bring in a DCM
So without a proper pre season we have attempted to cope with a huge change in coaching, tactics , formation and players.
It’s no wonder we are in a mess.

I think it is too easy to level all of the blame at Smith although he is hugely culpable for in trying and failing to shoehorn Ings and Tuanzabe into a new formation.

The question I have is, will be sacking Smith alone be enough to get us back on track?

Or should we be questioning the direction being taken by Lang and Purslow if we want to satisfy the question of this thread?

The Grealish situation was massive. If you have your major player possibly leaving very late in the transfer window, then all planning is up the spout. Both he and Kane had some form of agreement to let them leave. Spurs kept hold of Kane,  and they don't look up to much, either. 

[OzVilla]

Thing is I don’t think the Grealish leaving decision was late. Looking back, I think it was made far earlier in the Summer break as was reported at the time from Citeh insiders.

It’s just that we (and I was guilty of this) didn’t want to believe it. We just haven’t transitioned into the post Joe era very well on or off the pitch.

[Ads]

Grealish is an excuse.

[passport1]

Yes a nice lazy one to trot out