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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

we're experiencing the same problems at home as we did under Redknapp - teams which sit behind the ball and try to claim a draw we find hard to break down. losing two key creative players in the summer has probably made it that little bit harder, imv.

obviously it's something which needs to be addressed (and has been for several seasons now) - second half of the season could see teams less likely to sit behind the ball as they need to chase the points and a Sneijder-esque signing will provide vital creativity in the final 3rd


and KD - Im honestly not so sure about this pressing thing, i notice it a hell of a lot more away than i do at home, maybe im not paying enough attention (what with being tinkled most the time at the lane :p )
 
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we're experiencing the same problems at home as we did under Redknapp - teams which sit behind the ball and try to claim a draw we find hard to break down. losing two key creative players in the summer has probably made it that little bit harder, imv.

obviously it's something which needs to be addressed (and has been for several seasons now) - second half ofthe season could see teams less likely to sit behind the ball as they need to chase the points and a Sneijder-esque signing will provide vital creativity in the final 3rd

No i don't think it's the same problem...in fact it's a totally different problem imo.

Under Arry we lost those point mainly because of utter brick finishing and the opposition goalkeeper having MOTM performances (i remember the hull gk and wolves gk having motm games and i'm pretty sure there was more than that). We created chances galore and continuously missed some absolute sitters.

This season we're not creating any clear chances and the opposition GK is not having much to do at all (at the Lane). Norwich, WBA, Stoke and Wigan didn't get smash and grab results where we battered them throughout and they robbed us for the point/points. All deserved something from the game and all simply tactically outsmarted us. It's not the same as previous seasons at all. Its' the same end result (we're dropping points) but the problem is totally different.
 
Well if where we are is a C then what is an A? Top of the league? We're one point worse off compared to last season's fixtures and a win today means we're 1 point better off, I doubt you've graded last season's results as a C and if you have then I don't really know what you're expecting from this club.

Home - D
Away - B

Hence - C

What am I expecting from the club? A bit melodramatic huh... I would have expected us to beat those four teams or actually let me rephrase that - got more points than we did against those teams.

I actually think there are two grades for results which I have mentioned above.
 
No i don't think it's the same problem...in fact it's a totally different problem imo.

Under Arry we lost those point mainly because of utter brick finishing and the opposition goalkeeper having MOTM performances (i remember the hull gk and wolves gk having motm games and i'm pretty sure there was more than that). We created chances galore and continuously missed some absolute sitters.

This season we're not creating any clear chances and the opposition GK is not having much to do at all (at the Lane). Norwich, WBA, Stoke and Wigan didn't get smash and grab results where we battered them throughout and they robbed us for the point/points. All deserved something from the game and all simply tactically outsmarted us. It's not the same as previous seasons at all. Its' the same end result (we're dropping points) but the problem is totally different.

Yeah but people are just gonna bring back the argument of losing Modric and VDV. What I dont get is - if people are saying that Dembele is Modric's replacement then you cant bring back the argument about losing Modric.

Last season we were on that bricky run but we actually kept on creating SO many chances - we never really ran out of ideas.
 
Luck? it's not luck when the opposition have done more than enough to win at least a point.

anyway to answer your rather weird question...yes it would have been an "A" if all those things happened..but they didn't? i mean what are you getting at lol.

You mentioned that you would give A- to A for result had we not lost those points (due to stupid last minutes goals or non occurance of pure lucky event).

Ever thought how your perception of a manager's result could be changed rather drastically by three inches (enough for Sigurdsson scoring two goals) that are completely out of his control, is a bit funny?

Though I don't really agree with some of SUIYHA's views, but I think he is at least consistent in this regard, judge a manager by what he has done.

The way I see it, AVB has a tendency to make some defensive subs (sometimes we still won, QPR, Manure etc, sometimes we lost), but if he didn't make such subs and we still let in those late goals, someone here would still blasted him.
 
No i don't think it's the same problem...in fact it's a totally different problem imo.

Under Arry we lost those point mainly because of utter brick finishing and the opposition goalkeeper having MOTM performances (i remember the hull gk and wolves gk having motm games and i'm pretty sure there was more than that). We created chances galore and continuously missed some absolute sitters.

This season we're not creating any clear chances and the opposition GK is not having much to do at all (at the Lane). Norwich, WBA, Stoke and Wigan didn't get smash and grab results where we battered them throughout and they robbed us for the point/points. All deserved something from the game and all simply tactically outsmarted us. It's not the same as previous seasons at all. Its' the same end result (we're dropping points) but the problem is totally different.


I do think AVB spends more time in making sure game start with damage limitation as opposed to all-out pedal to the metal. And I agree that when it comes to home games, he could've done with a little less caution at times for sure. But I also think that in fairness, some of the games you've mentioned saw some excellent defensive blocks which prevented at the very least a keeper having to earn his corn (Stoke leaps to mind in this regard)...anyway, I agree, a little more bravery at home sometimes would be appreciated, but overall I think we are really starting to see what the man is working towards.
 
Yeah but people are just gonna bring back the argument of losing Modric and VDV. What I dont get is - if people are saying that Dembele is Modric's replacement then you cant bring back the argument about losing Modric.

Last season we were on that bricky run but we actually kept on creating SO many chances - we never really ran out of ideas.

So...for me anyway...Dembele is not Modric's replacement. He is a different type of player. So as a team, we have a highly skilled player and we are learning another way of building...
 
Yeah but people are just gonna bring back the argument of losing Modric and VDV. What I dont get is - if people are saying that Dembele is Modric's replacement then you cant bring back the argument about losing Modric.

Last season we were on that bricky run but we actually kept on creating SO many chances - we never really ran out of ideas.

Well that's a different argument tbh.

My post in reply to a post saying the fashion of our lost points this season is the same as it was before which it isn't imo.
 
Home - D
Away - B

Hence - C

What am I expecting from the club? A bit melodramatic huh... I would have expected us to beat those four teams or actually let me rephrase that - got more points than we did against those teams.

I actually think there are two grades for results which I have mentioned above.

Yes but I want last season's grades.
 
bit of a rose tinted look at things if you ask me KD - plenty of games under Redknapp where we didn't create anything of note against these sort of sides, as well as plenty where we resorted to long range efforts/shots out of frustration - it wasn't all chance after chance where we just couldn't get that bit of luck

DHSF - Demebele is Modrics replacement in that he now has his place in the team/was signed after we sold him. he doesn't replicate or provide what Modric did and is probably a level below him in terms of ability. so our team is missing something from last season - as we are with VdV, Dempsey in theory is his replacement but isn't a patch on him. (although Dempsey is probably closer to VdV in style than Dembele with Modric)
 
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I do think AVB spends more time in making sure game start with damage limitation as opposed to all-out pedal to the metal. And I agree that when it comes to home games, he could've done with a little less caution at times for sure. But I also think that in fairness, some of the games you've mentioned saw some excellent defensive blocks which prevented at the very least a keeper having to earn his corn (Stoke leaps to mind in this regard)...anyway, I agree, a little more bravery at home sometimes would be appreciated, but overall I think we are really starting to see what the man is working towards.

If/ when we string at least 2 home performances together when we showcase something far more then we currently have then i'll agree with you. Away from home he's got his tactics and decisions absolutely spot on (today is another example where he drops 2 cb's that have just kept a clean sheet in favour for a new cb partnership that worked a charm). Also starting Naughton was a excellent decision too.
 
bit of a rose tinted look at things if you ask me KD - plenty of games under Redknapp where we didn't create anything of note against these sort of sides, as well as plenty where we resorted to long range efforts/shots out of frustration.

DHSF - Demebele is Modrics replacement in that he now has his place in the team/was signed after we sold him. he doesn't replicate or provide what Modric did and is probably a level below him in terms of ability. so our team is missing something from last season - as we are with VdV, Dempsey in theory is his replacement but isn't a patch on him. (although Dempsey is probably closer to VdV in style than Dembele with Modric)

How can you say it's rose tinted when i've backed it up with examples?

you mean to tell me you don't remember the time where we'd be constantly moaning that some jabroni goalie would be motm against us having been a nobody the week before? you don't remember the running joke on this forum about what brick GK from a brick team would be motm against us next?

of course there might have been a few games where it was down to us not creating but for the most part we dropped points vs brick teams because of their keeper and utter turd water finisihing. That's not rose tinted...that's what happened.
 
bit of a rose tinted look at things if you ask me KD - plenty of games under Redknapp where we didn't create anything of note against these sort of sides, as well as plenty where we resorted to long range efforts/shots out of frustration - it wasn't all chance after chance where we just couldn't get that bit of luck

DHSF - Demebele is Modrics replacement in that he now has his place in the team/was signed after we sold him. he doesn't replicate or provide what Modric did and is probably a level below him in terms of ability. so our team is missing something from last season - as we are with VdV, Dempsey in theory is his replacement but isn't a patch on him. (although Dempsey is probably closer to VdV in style than Dembele with Modric)

I agree but question - Say we got Modric tomorrow how would you put him in the team? Wher would you play him? Or replace Dembele? or 433?
 
Ill put this in here even though its about today's match rather than the topic, so that the idiots who accuse anyone of fairly assessing our below expectations start of being "anti AVB" can see the positive posts I do (which will soon be forgotten).

But today was perfect for an away game, I've not complained at all about our away performances anyway, but today we controlled it for large periods knowing they will eventually try and come out to play as they are at home - and that's when we can hit them with pace and score a few.

However, our system will work well occasionally, have we found a sustainable way of playing that will see us create chances every week? I hope so but not everyone will be as brick as villa.
 
I agree but question - Say we got Modric tomorrow how would you put him in the team? Wher would you play him? Or replace Dembele? or 433?

not sure of the relevance but i'll play along

probably go 433 with Modric Sandro Dembele - Bale Lennon Adebayor

i think Mouthino is AVB's clear choice to truly replace Modric in the side but that will bring about a change in formation
 
You mentioned that you would give A- to A for result had we not lost those points (due to stupid last minutes goals or non occurance of pure lucky event).

Ever thought how your perception of a manager's result could be changed rather drastically by three inches (enough for Sigurdsson scoring two goals) that are completely out of his control, is a bit funny?

Though I don't really agree with some of SUIYHA's views, but I think he is at least consistent in this regard, judge a manager by what he has done.

The way I see it, AVB has a tendency to make some defensive subs (sometimes we still won, QPR, Manure etc, sometimes we lost), but if he didn't make such subs and we still let in those late goals, someone here would still blasted him.

I still don't get what you're getting at.

We're giving ratings based on RESULTS and i've explained why i gave him a C+ and what i would have given him an A for. Of course our perception on a managers results are changed by his ....results? i don't get what you're trying to say.
 
not sure of the relevance but i'll play along

probably go 433 with Modric Sandro Dembele - Bale Lennon Adebayor

i think Mouthino is AVB's clear choice to truly replace Modric in the side but that will bring about a change in formation

It was tangential - its what I do dude.

I only asked because we are obviously still on the lookout for a midfielder but just not sure where they would be playing in the existing formation unless you drop Dembele alternatively 433.
 
How can you say it's rose tinted when i've backed it up with examples?

you mean to tell me you don't remember the time where we'd be constantly moaning that some jabroni goalie would be motm against us having been a nobody the week before? you don't remember the running joke on this forum about what brick GK from a brick team would be motm against us next?

of course there might have been a few games where it was down to us not creating but for the most part we dropped points vs brick teams because of their keeper and utter turd water finisihing. That's not rose tinted...that's what happened.

i disagree

we're looking at a far bigger selection of games under Redknapp than with AVB so there will naturally be more results/performances that either of us could cherry pick to suit our argument.
 
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