[Albion] De Zerbi got it badly wrong today

[HastingsSeagull]

I love the football we play, but do we have a plan B? When we were 3-0 down we seemed to double down on the 2-4-4 formation being over-run in midfield by their 5 and having no full backs. Yes the personnel were better but I worry everyone will figure out how to play us for next season if we’re not careful and don’t have ways to mix it up. That said the personnel next season could be even more exciting if some of the reported deals like Joao, Milner etc. finalise alongside Ferguson being fit.

 

[OzMike]

Should field the strongest side from the start and then make subs when the result is going our way.
Or just when fresh 2nd half legs are needed.

 

[OzMike]

We have players who have faced a Dyche style team before, surely they could have had a chat with RDZ and suggested a more suitable approach.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I love the football we play, but do we have a plan B? When we were 3-0 down we seemed to double down on the 2-4-4 formation being over-run in midfield by their 5 and having no full backs. Yes the personnel were better but I worry everyone will figure out how to play us for next season if we’re not careful and don’t have ways to mix it up. That said the personnel next season could be even more exciting if some of the reported deals like Joao, Milner etc. finalise alongside Ferguson being fit.

Joao Pedro was on the pitch at half time, being introduced to the fans, and Ferguson came on as a sub.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Yes, he got it wrong but people are under estimating and belittling Dyche and Everton. What are they supposed to do ? Just turn up and play patsy ? They won the tactical battle and played well. They compressed play into the middle of the pitch and we had no answer. Their players also made less mistakes than ours and were pacy going forwards.

 

[BBassic]

We were lethargic from the very first kick of the ball. You could see their first goal coming from 10 seconds in, only took them another 30. No excuse for fans leaving so early though. If you can enjoy the wins you have to take the losses. That's football. At least for true supporters anyway. We'll bounce back.

All hail the true supporters!

Hark, ye wretched deserters! Gather and kneel! Come, bask in the glow of the pure and cleanse thyself of pollution!

 

[Seasider78]

When the team came out didn’t have any complaints about the side picked with only Solly on the bench the one surprising selection but given how he left the pitch probably the right one. I imagine RDZ only planned to use him if he absolutely had to.

My view on last night is across the squad we were not sharp enough against an Everton team fighting for their lives and there were too many sloppy passes and players hiding in the game. Everton caught us cold and before we woke up the game was over.

I agree with RDZ post match comments we were still patting ourselves on the back for the last 2 results and forgot we needed to reset with the right mentality for this game. Fair play to Everton they completely bullied us across the pitch and deserved the win.

Serves as a wake up call to the players about the levels needed in the remaining games just hope we can find that spark that gets us over the line now.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I think he’s trying to manage resources with two games a week every week. Probably thought that Undav and Bounanotte would be better used today than against Arsenal and on paper that seems logical. He’s also not played a Dyche team before.

It was a poor team selection in hindsight but we got away with similar v Wolves.

Not RDZ’s fault how bad MacAllister, Dunk & Mitoma were though

Enciso and Gilmour have looked so good - neither has played too many games. Not sure the logic can apply to them.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

All hail the true supporters!

Hark, ye wretched deserters! Gather and kneel! Come, bask in the glow of the pure and cleanse thyself of pollution!

Yes, there’s nothing like a Super Fan post to cheer everyone up, after a drubbing on a wet Bank Holiday Monday.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Enciso and Gilmour have looked so good - neither has played too many games. Not sure the logic can apply to them.

The Gilmour one surprised me most. Would’ve given us numbers in midfield.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Surely he knew that a Dyche team would not play any kind of press let alone a high one. That Everton would pack the defence with 7ft players so a lofted ball was a waste of time. Would break with speed and accuracy so don’t commit too many players forward and would use the dark arts to good advantage. Surely he knew all of that. So why did he play a weak starting eleven - I don’t care what anyone says, Undav is a championship player at best - no March ( who made a big difference when he came on) ditto Fergy and Gilmore. I love Roberto but his game play today was naive to say the least.

Yeah, i can’t argue with any of that, but he’s still learning, and as long as he does learn then I’m ok with the odd heavy defeat. We play an attacking adventurist style, that leaves us open occasionally, i much prefer this to Potterball all season.

UTA

 

[Mo Gosfield]

We have lived by the sword and had a pretty good run. No one has really got at us. Yesterday, we died by the sword. Death by a thousand cuts. Outthought by a battle hardened PL veteran, who has an excellent record against us.
Has it been coming? Yes, probably. Does it make it any less shocking ? No. Is it damaging? Well, the next two games will tell us that. Zero points from these three fixtures and we may be waving goodbye to any European place. We had an advantage over Villa and Tottenham but games in hand are only valuable if you pick up points.
A backlog of fixtures, injuries, the fallout from an emotionally draining semi final and the wrong team picked v Forest, are all taking their toll. I am worried it may all come to a last day shootout at Villa, where we have a terrible record.
Will 8th place and around 60 points constitute a good season? Absolutely. Will no European football hasten the departure of at least one of our top players? Definitely. Will we continue to improve next season? My honest opinion is that I don't expect us to finish top eight again but to stay clear of trouble. The longer we stay in the PL, the more we strengthen v the Championship and delay the inevitable change in dynamic, which sees us become a Leicester or Southampton.

 

[chickens]

Surely he knew that a Dyche team would not play any kind of press let alone a high one. That Everton would pack the defence with 7ft players so a lofted ball was a waste of time. Would break with speed and accuracy so don’t commit too many players forward and would use the dark arts to good advantage. Surely he knew all of that. So why did he play a weak starting eleven - I don’t care what anyone says, Undav is a championship player at best - no March ( who made a big difference when he came on) ditto Fergy and Gilmore. I love Roberto but his game play today was naive to say the least.

Glad you’ve got it out of your system, but honestly it’s obvious why March didn’t start, Undav has played well for us recently when given opportunities, Ferguson’s returning from injury and Gilmour hasn’t been preferred to Ali Mac/Caicedo all season.

It isn’t RDZs fault that our passing was off yesterday, which is what gave Everton their chances. A bad day at the office, and RDZ did make significant changes to try and improve us, but sometimes, when we have an off day, we’re going to get a tonking. Just a bad day all round.

 

[Krafty]

I got to give credit to Everton for yesterday.
They knew what would occur, Brighton have 78% possession and 23 shots, so Dyche would get his players behind the ball and strike on the counter.
Felt like that early goal was a sucker-punch, it was totally unexpected and made the players desperate in getting an equaliser, which left us exposed.
We did have our own problems, certainly, but we will go again. Whilst our opponents can rightly enjoy every moment of Monday's performance, they were amazing.

 

[Seagull58]

Surely he knew that a Dyche team would not play any kind of press let alone a high one. That Everton would pack the defence with 7ft players so a lofted ball was a waste of time. Would break with speed and accuracy so don’t commit too many players forward and would use the dark arts to good advantage. Surely he knew all of that. So why did he play a weak starting eleven - I don’t care what anyone says, Undav is a championship player at best - no March ( who made a big difference when he came on) ditto Fergy and Gilmore. I love Roberto but his game play today was naive to say the least.

I amnot familiar with Gilmore. Is he a secret signing by Houghton?

 

[Seagull58]

It’s his first season in the PL and against Dyche.
Yes he got it wrong but made changes at half time so we improved.
It’s football, it happens when relegation teams are fighting and referees are useless.

Hooper was OK imo.

 

[amexer]

Only in hindsight did he pick wrong team. Nobody was on field that had not done ok before.
Plain simple a defence that has been good all season was terrible and gifted goals in first half

 

[dwayne]

Only in hindsight did he pick wrong team. Nobody was on field that had not done ok before.
Plain simple a defence that has been good all season was terrible and gifted goals in first half

Not sure if I agree. We got lucky Vs wolves with the line up.

You can't start undav and buonatte at the same time, neither would start for any other team in the league, except for maybe Southampton.

 

[theboybilly]

We were lethargic from the very first kick of the ball. You could see their first goal coming from 10 seconds in, only took them another 30. No excuse for fans leaving so early though. If you can enjoy the wins you have to take the losses. That's football. At least for true supporters anyway. We'll bounce back.

4-0 down, kids up for school or indeed an early start for work. We weren't coming back from that. Why add to the misery? I will stay to the end but then I don't have the hassle of getting out of the Bridge car park or trying to get an unreliable train. Sometimes you just have to be pragmatic - all those folk could just as easily have stayed at home and watched it from the comfort of their sitting room

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Totally agree that De Zerbi ball was never going to work against a Dyche team, especially one in the relegation zone. Needed something different today but the changes at HT were too little too late.

I agree that the changes were certainly too late. But too little? Nah. That second half eleven gave a very decent account of themselves. On another day they'd have clawed back much of that deficit, maybe even salvaged something out if the game. But yesterday the woodwork, and Pigford, saw Everton safely home with the points