Not really a fan of breaking posts up, but seems the most coherent way to respond this time.
Yeah that is the foundation of my point - that I think it is an especially difficult time. I know that on the face of it things look far from awful, but personally I always think that the mood and mindset of a squad is a delicate and powerful thing, and that seeds of negativity (the likes of which I mentioned in my previous post) can quickly spread and snowball into something huge that totally transforms performance of the entire squad (for good or bad). I know it's a totally different set of circumstances, but as an example of the general principle I think of Leicester's performances pre-, during- and post-Ranieri.
I think this is really where we disagree, ultimately.
Ive no doubt there is a degree of balancing act to managing a group of players, and keeping everything ticking along.
BUT - it always comes back to leadership.
I think in any group situation, if someone is in charge, sets the tone, has the vision - things work.
If the leadership doesnt, things disintegrate.
And I also liken it to parenting. Kids are fudging animals if you let them behave that way, but can be an absolute dream when they understand their boundaries and limitations (leadership).
That snowballing effect you speak of, IMO, comes back to Poch. There may be mitigating circumstance, but ultimately its his job to deal with it.
Leicester pre/post Ranieri - again a lesson in leadership, IMO. Though maybe not showing the example to me that it is to you!
I do agree that Poch probably isn't responding to this difficult time as well as he could. Though ultimately it's hard to say, as none of us know exactly what is going on in the heads of all the players. But at the very least we know Eriksen, Rose, Aurier, and Toby don't really want to be here. So does he banish them all to the reserves for an entire year? Do we really have the squad to withstand that, and is that not going to cause ongoing issues given that they are mates with all of the other players and will still be in touch with them? In terms of Wanyama, perhaps he's one of the players who is still most committed to the cause? And in any case, in my personal opinion he isn't a much worse option than Skipp (or even Dier depending on his form).
He banishes those not on board.
For example, while I personally find Rose to be completely over rated - I dont doubt his commitment to playing for us. While he is here I have no issue with him being used.
Eriksen? His performances suggest quite the opposite.
Wanyama specifically is worse than Skipp and Dier, IMO, considerably so. "Peak" Wanyama? Not at all. Current Wanyama? Im not even sure he is at a Premier League level right now. Shouldnt be in the squad based solely on merit, let alone his desire to leave (or not, as the case may be).
Even with injuries, and issues, Poch could have a much better team and level of performance out of the current bunch, IMO. And THAT is really the crux of my issue right now.
I guess I personally think that the circumstances are more challenging than other people do, and that the solutions are less easy than other people do. But I accept that none of us know exactly what's going on in the players' and manager's heads, and that it's therefore difficult to be sure about anything.
Of course, we can only speculate. Though performances do really paint a picture, dont they?
(I do agree that I'd like to see less tactical chopping and changing from Poch. But then it's always easy to criticise with no counterfactual to disprove us - after all we played 4-2-3-1 against Saudi Sportswashing Machine and were crap. And personally I think that psychological issues have a much bigger negative impact on teams than tactical issues, but that a lot of people focus on the latter because they're more tangible. I think it was a very similar sort of story when we suddenly fell apart in 11/12 after Redknapp didn't get the England job.)
I disagree in that I think tactical issues are more impactful. They are the building blocks of the team, the foundation, and if that foundation is built on sand then no amount of good vibes and happy energy will change that.
Ironically this was exactly my issue with Redknapp at the time, the lack of underlying tactical basis was the thing holding us back IMO. And when heads dropped, as you say, performances went south and fast.
Truth is, its neither one nor the other, but a balance of both tactical set up and mentality, of course. Though I think the tactical set up is the thing that sets you up for success. The mentality is built upon faith in that set up...
