[Albion] Potterball

Hornblower · Feb 23, 2021

Works fine against clubs that attack but will never work against clubs that sit back and defend and that’s probably more than half the clubs in the PL. Burnley threw everything at us in the second half and our defence/GK were imperious because they knew what they had to do. When Dunk, White and BDB are required to shore up the attack we lose our shape at the back and will always be susceptible to the counter. GP desperately needs a plan B for clubs that want to sit back and absorb our altogether too slow and ponderous attack.

Withdean11 · Feb 23, 2021

It's almost like we are too good for our own good isn't it? Teams that come to attack us (Leeds, Spurs, Liverpool) get out played. So lesser teams sit everyone behind the ball knowing we struggle to break them down. It explains our home form too, where more teams will sit deep and play for a point. A striker with better movement/finishing, is again the answer. Had we went 1-0 up last night I think we would've been fine.

Hornblower · Feb 23, 2021

I agree with most of what you say but I remain unconvinced that a better striker would solve this particular problem. When the opposition defends well there simply isn’t the gaps and opportunities to exploit, and our attacks tend to be to slow and cautious. A few weeks back, just after the introduction of Sanchez, we started mixing things up and playing a longer ball rather than playing out from the back all the time. This for me is the secret to more goals, the problem is that when teams sit back they invite you to play out from the back and there’s the rub. If we had played a few more direct balls into the final third last night I think we would have won the game.

Birdie Boy · Feb 23, 2021

Get a striker in and Potterball will be awesome.
He could try Tau who does a lot of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
He could try Connolly who does lots of running off the ball but he did on the bench.
He could try Zeqiri who does lots of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
Instead he tries AJ who has not played for weeks/months.

If he has no confidence in the first 3, then why didn't we get someone else in? They must be sitting on the bench thinking, how the hell can AJ who is not a goalscorer /striker get in the pitch when we need a goal and we all site here. I know they say team morale is really good but this won't help it, surely?

JBizzle · Feb 23, 2021

Birdie Boy said:
Get a striker in and Potterball will be awesome.
He could try Tau who does a lot of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
He could try Connolly who does lots of running off the ball but he did on the bench.
He could try Zeqiri who does lots of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
Instead he tries AJ who has not played for weeks/months.

If he has no confidence in the first 3, then why didn't we get someone else in? They must be sitting on the bench thinking, how the hell can AJ who is not a goalscorer /striker get in the pitch when we need a goal and we all site here. I know they say team morale is really good but this won't help it, surely?

Because he's not in charge of signings and money is tight due to the pandemic impact on clubs' finances.

Agree on the first point though. A striker who scores is the only thing missing from us being top 10.

twickers · Feb 23, 2021

Hornblower said:
Works fine against clubs that attack but will never work against clubs that sit back and defend and that’s probably more than half the clubs in the PL. Burnley threw everything at us in the second half and our defence/GK were imperious because they knew what they had to do. When Dunk, White and BDB are required to shore up the attack we lose our shape at the back and will always be susceptible to the counter. GP desperately needs a plan B for clubs that want to sit back and absorb our altogether too slow and ponderous attack.

Sitting back is a tactic most teams use at some point and it causes most attacking teams problems. The ones who unlock that do so on their good day e.g.when Liverpool were on fire with pace. We've put players at the back to eek our draws against the big teams so there is no one immune from it.

I don't think we do anything fundamentally wrong, but the difference that is glaringly obvious is taking our chances. We are unlucky that our front players arn't doing it, but if you look closer it's no surprise...Lallana scored 1 in 2019 season then you have to go back to the 2016 season to see him score again. Wellbeck a handful of seasons ago was on fire, but he's not scored more than a handful since. Maupay had the one magnificant season in the Championship and has had little time to relax and learn the ropes in the PL. Trossard you have to go back to 2018 to see him putting more than a handful in the net. Painfully you have to go back to 2016 to see Benteke looking anything like a goal scorer. It ain't easy.

CliveWalkerWingWizard · Feb 23, 2021

We need someone with physicality up front, if the box is packed we are trying to play intricate passes or crossing to short arses. We need someone who can get a head on the ball and give a different option. I am not saying just get in a lump, someone with speed, strength and a bit of height.

twickers · Feb 23, 2021

CliveWalkerWingWizard said:
We need someone with physicality up front, if the box is packed we are trying to play intricate passes or crossing to short arses. We need someone who can get a head on the ball and give a different option. I am not saying just get in a lump, someone with speed, strength and a bit of height.

Veltman!

Birdie Boy · Feb 23, 2021

JBizzle said:
Because he's not in charge of signings and money is tight due to the pandemic impact on clubs' finances.

Agree on the first point though. A striker who scores is the only thing missing from us being top 10.

Are you saying that Potter didn't want Zeqiri when he signed him? And he doesn't want or trust Connolly and Tau to play them?

Of course Potter has a say in the signings, any manager worth their salt would not have it any other way.

zefarelly · Feb 23, 2021

Potter has chosen the snazziest trick in the book, he's sticking to it, and torn out all the other pages.

naive at best.

Muzzy · Feb 23, 2021

We WOULD have won last night with Glenda playing. That much I am sure of!

A1X · Feb 23, 2021

Last night it was obvious how much better we were when we switched from the standard Potterball tactics (3 x CBs, wing backs) to a flat back four and two up top. I would hope that becomes the blueprint for playing teams which will sit back rather than trying to do it "one size fits all".

neilbard · Feb 23, 2021

Muzzy said:
We WOULD have won last night with Glenda playing. That much I am sure of!

In her heyday yes!

studio150 · Feb 23, 2021

Birdie Boy said:
Get a striker in and Potterball will be awesome.
He could try Tau who does a lot of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
He could try Connolly who does lots of running off the ball but he did on the bench.
He could try Zeqiri who does lots of running off the ball but he sits on the bench.
Instead he tries AJ who has not played for weeks/months.

If he has no confidence in the first 3, then why didn't we get someone else in? They must be sitting on the bench thinking, how the hell can AJ who is not a goalscorer /striker get in the pitch when we need a goal and we all site here. I know they say team morale is really good but this won't help it, surely?

To provide more width, and provide crosses into the box for the two strikers we had on the pitch.

JBizzle · Feb 23, 2021

Birdie Boy said:
Are you saying that Potter didn't want Zeqiri when he signed him? And he doesn't want or trust Connolly and Tau to play them?

Of course Potter has a say in the signings, any manager worth their salt would not have it any other way.

Oh of course, he has an input but he doesn't identify them

drew · Feb 23, 2021

studio150 said:
To provide more width, and provide crosses into the box for the two strikers we had on the pitch.

That might have been the plan but AJ hardly has a track record of any success at that in his time with us. Tau or Connolly or even Zequiri would have been better.

drew · Feb 23, 2021

JBizzle said:
Oh of course, he has an input but he doesn't identify them

Do you think any EPL manager goes out identifying potential signing?

dazzer6666 · Feb 23, 2021

Would also work fine if our players could put away more than 1 of 20-odd chances Potterball created. :shrug:

PHCgull · Feb 23, 2021

Potterball works just fine.

You cannot odds for the chances we missed last night. Welbeck unmarked on the edge of the box. Lallana leaning back and spraying it 10 yards over the bar when all he had to do was set. These are our experienced pros, not our greenhorns...

Poor finishing. And poor decision making with the final pass.

JBizzle · Feb 23, 2021

drew said:
Do you think any EPL manager goes out identifying potential signing?

No I don't, that's my point. Those blaming Potter for not signing a striker seem to think it's because he hasn't done his job. We have a very expensive and wide ranging recruitment team that do that. It's Potter's job to get a tune out of those we have got in though.

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