[Albion] Is the equation as simple as, no striker in before the end of the transfer window = Down

[One Teddy Maybank]

Our lack of battling qualities over 90 mins is more of a concern to me than getting new players in, is this squad up for getting properly and nastily stuck in, as this will be necessary in a few games.

It started last season vs Bournemouth at home and has continued, I don’t know if it’s a lack of motivation, mental toughness or what, but we lack leadership.

It certainly doesn’t help not having Duffy on the pitch in this type of situation. He really is a leader by example.


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[vagabond]

It started last season vs Bournemouth at home and has continued, I don’t know if it’s a lack of motivation, mental toughness or what, but we lack leadership.

It certainly doesn’t help not having Duffy on the pitch in this type of situation. He really is a leader by example.


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It’s the same kind of second half collapse as we saw in the latter part of Hughton’s reign.

It does seem like confidence to me. As soon as the opposition equalise against us our heads drop and we end up hanging on.

Hopefully something GP working on.

 

[Don Tmatter]

Thank **** for that.

I thought I was living in some sort of twilight zone whenever Albion fans make any mention of any of our players having pace of any kind.

As you allude to - Izquierdo is the only (attacking) player on our books who possesses anything like Premier League quality pace.

And the concern is, will he still have the pace when he finally returns?

 

[tigertim68]

Warren Aspinall’s being saying the same. “We need to try something different upfront”.

It’s the midfield that’s not creating , does not matter who is up front , we are too slow and ponderous in midfield , by the time we get the ball forward the opposing teams defence is waiting , which is why we are not scoring.
Also there is no power or dynamism in our midfield, In Stephens ,Propper , Mooy , Gros must be the slowest in the Premier league

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

It’s the midfield that’s not creating , does not matter who is up front , we are too slow and ponderous in midfield , by the time we get the ball forward the opposing teams defence is waiting , which is why we are not scoring.
Also there is no power or dynamism in our midfield, In Stephens ,Propper , Mooy , Gros must be the slowest in the Premier league

This can be compensated for by speed of thought and passing - examples being the first goal at home to Bournemouth and the winner against Everton. But too often our thinking is as ponderous as our movement.

 

[Weststander]

It started last season vs Bournemouth at home and has continued, I don’t know if it’s a lack of motivation, mental toughness or what, but we lack leadership.

It certainly doesn’t help not having Duffy on the pitch in this type of situation. He really is a leader by example.


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Bmuff were simply a far better team last season, we really were one paced (slow), predictable, an awful RB at defending, with plenty of defensive mistakes in the locker. Even Burnley and Cardiif at the Amex gave us lessons in football.

 

[Icy Gull]

Paco Alacer to Newcastle or Spurs rumoured on loan. Hopefully he’ll go to Spurs

Dortmund and Spain striker. I wonder if we were ever interested

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

It’s the midfield that’s not creating , does not matter who is up front , we are too slow and ponderous in midfield , by the time we get the ball forward the opposing teams defence is waiting , which is why we are not scoring.
Also there is no power or dynamism in our midfield, In Stephens ,Propper , Mooy , Gros must be the slowest in the Premier league

I don’t agree.
Time and time again vs Bournemouth we were in a position to deliver, but on occasions not even Maupay was in the area. We need a more meaningful presence up front, and we need to deliver the ball.

That’s what made Potters decision to bring on Connolly before Murray even more mystifying.


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[One Teddy Maybank]

Bmuff were simply a far better team last season, we really were one paced (slow), predictable, an awful RB at defending, with plenty of defensive mistakes in the locker. Even Burnley and Cardiif at the Amex gave us lessons in football.

Yes but at 3, we laid down, that must have been noticeable from the boardroom.

That is a distinct lack of leadership nothing else.

Don’t agree re Burnley we battered them. Wasn’t it 20+ shots?

The players body language at Bournemouth last week when that first goal went in was a concern, they were beaten at that point.





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[Weststander]

Yes but at 3, we laid down, that must have been noticeable from the boardroom.

That is a distinct lack of leadership nothing else.

Don’t agree re Burnley we battered them. Wasn’t it 20+ shots?

The players body language at Bournemouth last week when that first goal went in was a concern, they were beaten at that point.



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Burnley were 2-0 up, that will give a PL win 95% of matches, our defending was shocking.

And yes, I do remember the Tarkowski handball no pen.

We haven't even mentioned Stains, Redmond destroyed Montoya (who doesn't?) on repeat. The BBC described it as too little, too late, as we peppered them with a few late shots.

We almost went down imho due to a combination of a crap, slow squad, and CH in the last 4 months had clearly run out of ideas.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Burnley were 2-0 up, that will give a PL win 95% of matches, our defending was shocking.

And yes, I do remember the Tarkowski handball no pen.

We haven't even mentioned Stains, Redmond destroyed Montoya (who doesn't?) on repeat. The BBC described it as too little, too late, as we peppered them with a few late shots.

We almost went down imho due to a combination of a crap, slow squad, and CH in the last 4 months had clearly run out of ideas.

Yes but we weren't as bad as you'd made out vs Burnley. In fact didn't the penalty come at 0-1, and they went straight up the other end?

We were poor in those last months no doubt, and whilst not disagreeing about the quality of the squad, I'm really not sure if we now have a better team or not. Mooy and Alzate are welcome additions no doubt, but at times it looks like we are trying to shoehorn them into the starting line-up, rather than build the team around them.

Whilst comfortably more possession, the same shortcomings exist offensively, and defensively we look weaker (not trying to provoke debate it's just how I feel, Webster is not as good a defender as Duffy).

Coupled with Murray looking finished since November 2018, Maupay beginning to struggle playing on his own, Potter has a really difficult task, as we need to rethink our approach, and as per the initial discussion this is made much harder without leaders and physically weaker players. All IMO of course......

 

[Weststander]

Yes but we weren't as bad as you'd made out vs Burnley. In fact didn't the penalty come at 0-1, and they went straight up the other end?

We were poor in those last months no doubt, and whilst not disagreeing about the quality of the squad, I'm really not sure if we now have a better team or not. Mooy and Alzate are welcome additions no doubt, but at times it looks like we are trying to shoehorn them into the starting line-up, rather than build the team around them.

Whilst comfortably more possession, the same shortcomings exist offensively, and defensively we look weaker (not trying to provoke debate it's just how I feel, Webster is not as good a defender as Duffy).

Coupled with Murray looking finished since November 2018, Maupay beginning to struggle playing on his own, Potter has a really difficult task, as we need to rethink our approach, and as per the initial discussion this is made much harder without leaders and physically weaker players. All IMO of course......

I think Maupay (over Andone & Locadia), Alzate and Mooy are clear improvements over 20818/19.

Other than that, we’ve still not dealt with the RB issue, as well as continuing to lack pace and a replacement for Muzza.

 

[Icy Gull]

Yes but we weren't as bad as you'd made out vs Burnley. In fact didn't the penalty come at 0-1, and they went straight up the other end?

We were poor in those last months no doubt, and whilst not disagreeing about the quality of the squad, I'm really not sure if we now have a better team or not. Mooy and Alzate are welcome additions no doubt, but at times it looks like we are trying to shoehorn them into the starting line-up, rather than build the team around them.

Whilst comfortably more possession, the same shortcomings exist offensively, and defensively we look weaker (not trying to provoke debate it's just how I feel, Webster is not as good a defender as Duffy).

Coupled with Murray looking finished since November 2018, Maupay beginning to struggle playing on his own, Potter has a really difficult task, as we need to rethink our approach, and as per the initial discussion this is made much harder without leaders and physically weaker players. All IMO of course......

Whatever you think of Montoya, he is a better RB than Alzate. Sad to say Potter has fallen into the age old manager’s failing of having favourites. I confess it disappoints me and I think that we have suffered because of it. It is an absolute travesty to me that he hasn’t played Duffy more recently. We are a weak team when pressed and we need characters and hard men. Stephens and Duffy are must plays imo in our current predicament, especially against other strugglers. Montoya should be playing instead of Alzate at RB too.

Surprisingly TB hasn’t contacted me to help out in these difficult times, his and your loss

 

[Farehamseagull]

Whatever you think of Montoya, he is a better RB than Alzate. Sad to say Potter has fallen into the age old manager’s failing of having favourites. I confess it disappoints me and I think that we have suffered because of it. It is an absolute travesty to me that he hasn’t played Duffy more recently. We are a weak team when pressed and we need characters and hard men. Stephens and Duffy are must plays imo in our current predicament. Montoya should be playing instead of Alzate at RB too.

Surprisingly TB hasn’t contacted me to help out in these difficult times, his and your loss

What makes you so sure Stephens and Duffy should play every game when they were regulars throughout that dreadful run last year and Stephens has played so poorly lately?

I would say the opposite, the less Stephens plays the better. I also don’t think Duffy would improve us either, the main problem is a lack of protection for the defence from the midfield in front of them and then an inability to create and take clear cut chances at the moment.

 

[Icy Gull]

What makes you so sure Stephens and Duffy should play every game when they were regulars throughout that dreadful run last year and Stephens has played so poorly lately?

I would say the opposite, the less Stephens plays the better.

It’s a tough one. I am loving this season but we need to mix it up more and not getting beat is now really important. Stephens has been one of our better players in the last two game, but that is just my opinion. We need to compete for 90 mins and sadly, in the last two games we haven’t. I don’t think we have had any luck or bounces of the ball and it seems to have dented our confidence, When you are struggling you have to go back to basics, and that means you need big hearts, not dropping heads, again just imo.

 

[Weststander]

Whatever you think of Montoya, he is a better RB than Alzate. Sad to say Potter has fallen into the age old manager’s failing of having favourites. I confess it disappoints me and I think that we have suffered because of it. It is an absolute travesty to me that he hasn’t played Duffy more recently. We are a weak team when pressed and we need characters and hard men. Stephens and Duffy are must plays imo in our current predicament, especially against other strugglers. Montoya should be playing instead of Alzate at RB too.

Surprisingly TB hasn’t contacted me to help out in these difficult times, his and your loss

I think Potter gave Montoya a fair crack of the whip, he’s started plenty of games. The problem is that Montoya is so very often exposed as not a very good defender when up against someone decent with pace. A long list of LW’ers have destroyed him over the last 12 months. In the end even loyal CH dropped him and it seems GP has followed suit. They both can’t be wrong, especially where they started MM so much.

Alzate’s a stop gap, a waste of his talent. I wish the club would buy a quality RB with pace.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Whatever you think of Montoya, he is a better RB than Alzate. Sad to say Potter has fallen into the age old manager’s failing of having favourites. I confess it disappoints me and I think that we have suffered because of it. It is an absolute travesty to me that he hasn’t played Duffy more recently. We are a weak team when pressed and we need characters and hard men. Stephens and Duffy are must plays imo in our current predicament, especially against other strugglers. Montoya should be playing instead of Alzate at RB too.

Surprisingly TB hasn’t contacted me to help out in these difficult times, his and your loss

[emoji2][emoji106]
I still see Alzate as a midfielder hence the shoehorn comment, Montoya is steady, he’ll never be a Bruno, but there are poorer players.


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[One Teddy Maybank]

What makes you so sure Stephens and Duffy should play every game when they were regulars throughout that dreadful run last year and Stephens has played so poorly lately?

I would say the opposite, the less Stephens plays the better. I also don’t think Duffy would improve us either, the main problem is a lack of protection for the defence from the midfield in front of them and then an inability to create and take clear cut chances at the moment.

Duffy would improve us immensely.
Leadership, organisation, defensively as well. We’d lose something in terms of coming out with the ball, but in all honesty Webster’s looked a little shaky in that respect as well.

Stephens offers experience and he actually played well vs Villa. Whether he’s the answer longer term could be debated, but he’s been one of our better players in the last three years.


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[One Teddy Maybank]

I think Maupay (over Andone & Locadia), Alzate and Mooy are clear improvements over 20818/19.

Other than that, we’ve still not dealt with the RB issue, as well as continuing to lack pace and a replacement for Muzza.

Have to say (unpopular opinion), but think I’m on the fence re Maupay.

His movement isn’t as good as a lot of NSCers seem to think, often reactive rather than proactive. Another one where next year he may fly and benefit from a year at this level.

I don’t doubt he’s better than Locadia and Andone though....


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[Weststander]

Have to say (unpopular opinion), but think I’m on the fence re Maupay.

His movement isn’t as good as a lot of NSCers seem to think, often reactive rather than proactive. Another one where next year he may fly and benefit from a year at this level.

I don’t doubt he’s better than Locadia and Andone though....


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Maupay’s done pretty well, considering that he’s often lumbered with an increasingly wide gap (Hughtonesque) between him, and the other 9 outfield players. Or partnered with Connolly who’s not been able to repeat his earlier breakthrough heroics.

But definitely off form, he looked angry against Villa, with rubbish high balls played up, playing against CB’s 6” taller than him.