Thomas Frank - Head Coach

[Bedfordspurs]

If the stories about Frank not wanting our players to shoot from outside the box because it’s low xG returns are true, then the fact we keep conceding these types of goals is quite funny.

I need to find humour in these types of ironies in order to cope

Teams maybe know we don’t practice them so assume, correctly it seem, we don’t know how to defend them

 

[billyiddo]

Sure, but bringing the term ‘mathematically safe’ into the discussion was a device to distract from the original terms of the debate, which were whether or not we were ever in serious danger of getting relegated. And we were not ever in serious danger of getting relegated. If we were, we would have made different selection decisions.

I don't think pointing out the correct date on which we were actually safe from relegation is all that questionable when it was being stated that we were "factually safe" as far back as January. It was simply providing the correct information and no comment was made regarding how 'close' we actually were.

 

[carl]

So we were "mathematically" safe in January because we somehow knew at the time how the rest of the results would go for all teams below us?

Ive heard it all now.

 

[parj]

Balanced football works if you have the players. Poch did, Harry did. No one else has.

But every manager in between didn't want balance. It was either more defensive or not attacking. That's not the managers fault, that's the hiring committees fault for not sticking to a philosophy, and hiring a manager that fits it

 

[parj]

Someone has made the effort to put together all the long range strikes that have gone whistling in against Spurs this season.

Maybe, just maybe, we need to bite into challenges and make sure nobody has a free shot from 23 yards? (*cough Palhinha*)

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What a depressing watch... But some cracking goals. However, this highlights one thing to me... Wtf is the midfield job? Is to press and close these opportunities, it is it create a wall in the defence at all times?

We seem to be happy to lose the midfield battle, such makes me wonder why don't we just play defensive 4-2-4 formation. At least we can play long ball then

 

[parj]

So we were "mathematically" safe in January because we somehow knew at the time how the rest of the results would go for all teams below us?

Ive heard it all now.

This is one of the arguments that really tinkled me off last season. It doesn't matter if people thought we were safe or not, the standard of the performances was so far below unacceptable. We cannot accept that ever again. We don't sacrifice the league in the hope of winning a cup. At a minimum we should have enough players to handle 2 tournaments

 

[tommysvr]

This is one of the arguments that really tinkled me off last season. It doesn't matter if people thought we were safe or not, the standard of the performances was so far below unacceptable. We cannot accept that ever again. We don't sacrifice the league in the hope of winning a cup. At a minimum we should have enough players to handle 2 tournaments

That’s exactly the problem. We didn’t.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I don't think pointing out the correct date on which we were actually safe from relegation is all that questionable when it was being stated that we were "factually safe" as far back as January. It was simply providing the correct information and no comment was made regarding how 'close' we actually were.

Ok, you are factually correct on the mathematically safe point. But in terms of actually being safe, and ever actually being in danger of relegation, that point was much earlier. And the reason that matters is because that’s what guided the decision making to try and end the season with something. Not when we were mathematically safe, but when we could be sure we weren’t going down.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

The simple fact is that we are way too predictable in our pattern of play. Get the ball out wide preferably to Kudos and then a cross comes in. The better organised sides have worked us out and we become very easy to defend against. Note on Sunday, Forest had two, sometimes three players out wide to cover Kudos. Now, you would think that would open up gaps elsewhere, but if it did, we were not able to take advantage of them. I doubt Frank will get us any better than maybe 8th to 11th place and I have no confidence that even with better players he will be able to improve results.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

That’s exactly the problem. We didn’t.

I feel like people have just chosen to forget what December to February was actually like last season. We had a whole team out, crucially we had a whole defence out. And while we have a fair few injuries this time too, Frank has still been able to rotate.

In that particular period last season, we couldn’t rotate. We had the same players going week after week, then going down, and then having to bring players who had only just returned back to nominal fitness into the starting 11 because there was no one else. We played players like Sarr who were actually just unfit to play in certain games, because there was no one else. Kulusevski’s Players Tribune article talks about this, and makes clear what the players went through and sacrificed to get us through that period. They knew what it was, and that’s why they all stuck together. I’m sure there were instances of player condition and them being taped up and sent out onto the field that we don’t even know about.

We simply did not throw the league. And were it not for a ludicrous crisis unlike for any club I’ve ever seen, we would have had enough players to rotate. The fact we ended the season with a trophy in spite of that is miraculous.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

So we were "mathematically" safe in January because we somehow knew at the time how the rest of the results would go for all teams below us?

Ive heard it all now.

It’s really not that hard to comprehend. You can judge how many points the teams below us are likely to get, you can judge how many points we were likely to get, and then you can test how well the judgement played at the end of the season.

We were never in danger of going down.

 

[billyiddo]

Ok, you are factually correct on the mathematically safe point. But in terms of actually being safe, and ever actually being in danger of relegation, that point was much earlier. And the reason that matters is because that’s what guided the decision making to try and end the season with something. Not when we were mathematically safe, but when we could be sure we weren’t going down.

Yeah cool - I made no comment on that, just stated a fact.

 

[Mrs Vert]

If we get top 6 it would be a miracle. As crap as Pool are. I bet they are gonna have a field day. Along with Palace

 

[Lemonade Money]

If the stories about Frank not wanting our players to shoot from outside the box because it’s low xG returns are true, then the fact we keep conceding these types of goals is quite funny.

I need to find humour in these types of ironies in order to cope

No system wed to percentages is ever going to be all conquering, as opponents will just detect and set up against those percentages.
In football you need to disguise everything.
Also, who doesn't love a long range goal, so we're being deprived of that joy too ffs.

 

[Mrs Vert]

Surley we have shattered all the worst records we can break over 2 seasons? Knowing us, we can break some more before season is out

 

[El Dante]

If we get top 6 it would be a miracle. As crap as Pool are. I bet they are gonna have a field day. Along with Palace

Wirtz must be rubbing his hands together as we are the team that keep giving gifts out and Christmas is just around the corner.

 

[braineclipse]

Surley we have shattered all the worst records we can break over 2 seasons? Knowing us, we can break some more before season is out

Things can always get worse.

 

[SteveAWOL]

If we get top 6 it would be a miracle. As crap as Pool are. I bet they are gonna have a field day. Along with Palace

We’ve been a bottom 6 club over the past 82 PL games stretching back 26 months, so it should come as no surprise that a couple of opportunistic signings haven’t suddenly transformed us into CL challengers.

 

[carl]

It’s really not that hard to comprehend. You can judge how many points the teams below us are likely to get, you can judge how many points we were likely to get, and then you can test how well the judgement played at the end of the season.

We were never in danger of going down.

I never said we were in danger of going down. I was simply stating a fact that we were not mathematically safe in January.

 

[braineclipse]

I'll just point out that it is, still, a personnel issue.

Playing Djed on the left because Udogie is injured for the majority of the time, limits us down that flank. It's a personnel issue because we lack a genuinely good left-footed player to swap in for Udogie there. You can see Frank's desperation here given he threw on the aged Ben Davies to try and change things - I have no doubt it's because he's at least left footed and this can offer some width down that flank.

Vicario playing out from the back does not work - it didn't work for Ange, won't work for Frank, but it's the basis of modern tactical approaches and so we are forced to rely on Vic for that regardless. And get regularly punished for it as it's clear his technique and (particularly) decision-making, are not up to the mark.

We play Xavi in the middle even when he's having one of his anonymous games because no one else can conduct play that far forward, with Maddison and Kulusevski out. And in the middle, no one can really conduct play from deep amidst the group of midfielders we have.

If VdV goes down again, we will see further tactical issues because we have no left-footed player to replace him, nor one as speedy as he is. Both of those will impact our buildup and height of our line.

So, ultimately, we're paying for some very, very poor squad management that took place over years - none of this is the work of one man, one window, but a club approach that has seen a haphazard squad assembled over nearly half a decade.

It will take a long time to fix, and until then we'll keep seeing inconsistency. And this will be the case regardless of the manager you appoint, because they all have systems they want to play, and all of them will mean being let down by certain parts of this Frankenstein squad assembled across multiple managers and eras.

Give Frank time, money and patience. Nothing else will work, imo. I say this as someone who wasn't too convinced by our choice of Frank to begin with - but having chosen him, you have to give him time.

There's a limit to how many times we can show up and be clearly second best in a game we shouldn't be and keep giving a manager time. I'm not saying we're at that limit, I don't know where that limit is either. But there is a limit.

We do have weaknesses in the squad for sure. And squad planning going back imo to the last couple of years of Pochettino has left a lot to be desired. But are those weaknesses enough to explain why we've been second best in so many games this season?

I agree there were question marks about his appointment. I'm not saying he should be sacked. But if the solution is time, money and patience it's up to Frank to show that he deserves that.