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Thomas Frank - Head Coach

tommysvr said:
We bought Richarlison and Solanke, big money, proven Premier League signings. They haven't been what we need, but I'm not sure what more you'd expect?
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I swear this thing of just taking a player’s form and using that as the definitive description of his level, is so frustrating.

United was a laughing stock like a month ago. Their signings were a laughing stock. Now all of a sudden it’s proven signings that we haven’t done. Even though we have. It’s just ours are injured.
 
SissokoWasGood (BoL) said:
I swear this thing of just taking a player’s form and using that as the definitive description of his level, is so frustrating.

United was a laughing stock like a month ago. Their signings were a laughing stock. Now all of a sudden it’s proven signings that we haven’t done. Even though we have. It’s just ours are injured.
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It's just using today's data to judge yesterday's decisions. It would be similar if we went and got Thiago from Brentford now. It would be a hugely exciting signing based on what he's done this season, but who knows how it would end up?
 
tommysvr said:
It's just using today's data to judge yesterday's decisions. It would be similar if we went and got Thiago from Brentford now. It would be a hugely exciting signing based on what he's done this season, but who knows how it would end up?
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Agreed.

I feel the same about this Carrick discussion now. He’s got some good results for sure. They won today with two incredible low xG chances and rare giveaway from a tough Arsenal defence. They have some confidence and they got the breaks. I’m not gutted we didn’t bring Carrick in based on this. Equally they beat a City team that has been trying to find a Guardiolian response to the death of the positional game, and he took over a United team that was actually doing ok in a very tight league.
 
SissokoWasGood (BoL) said:
Agreed.

I feel the same about this Carrick discussion now. He’s got some good results for sure. They won today with two incredible low xG chances and rare giveaway from a tough Arsenal defence. They have some confidence and they got the breaks. I’m not gutted we didn’t bring Carrick in based on this. Equally they beat a City team that has been trying to find a Guardiolian response to the death of the positional game, and he took over a United team that was actually doing ok in a very tight league.
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I think Carrick will do well in the next few months and get the job full time. He’s actually a profile that I think suits us, that I think fans would get behind. But I agree with your point, I’m not going to make a judgement about how he would do at Spurs solely on how he does at Man Utd, especially in the interim period.
 
braineclipse said:
Not obsessed with Paratici at all. More that I have doubts about Lange doing that job on his own.

We need the people who should be in charge of these decisions in place first to make the decisions they need to make.

After that giving the head coach time becomes a thing we can or can't do. Until then we're swimming upstream in the dark in a somehow shark infested river (sharks don't usually live in rivers do they?)
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Well Bull sharks incidentally are known to have the ability in swimming in rivers. So now that you know this shark infested river will typically be the Amazon …. this Brazilian you talk about in your cryptic message is he any good?
 
tommysvr said:
I think Carrick will do well in the next few months and get the job full time. He’s actually a profile that I think suits us, that I think fans would get behind. But I agree with your point, I’m not going to make a judgement about how he would do at Spurs solely on how he does at Man Utd, especially in the interim period.
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He ditched us a player I’m sure if he did something half decent he would have been off to United again.
 
parj said:
It shouldn't be just the ACMs responsibility. It's a green space so nearest marked player to the space needs to go into it.
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If Xavi moves into that space then his opponent just goes with him. The best person to move into that space is actually Bissouma. It is a reasonably simple run that will see him in space, facing forward in a dangerous area and an easy, low risk, pass into him (via Oddobert) Then it would either have to be the player on Xavi or the right back who would have to come to close down Bissouma, leaving gaps for really dangerous passes from Bissouma into Xavi or Solanke running in behind Burn;ey’s LCB.

I think the pattern of play I describe above is a really, really basic one and would happen under any manager who isn’t completely safety first and more worried about us turning over the ball than us actually creating chances. It is patterns like this that show why we struggle to create chances and can only score from set pieces or crosses swung into the box. It’s pretty basic stuff that highlights how the players are being told to play with the handbrake on. The handbrake only comes off when we are losing.
 
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Jurgen the German said:
But he also scored the goal that got us back in it. So VDV and Romero’s contribution are neutral at worst. I completely give up with our totally useless forwards. The fact that the CB’s have to bail them out every fudging game is bordering on embarrassing. I agree they should do better defensively, but if they don’t play then who scores the goals for us?
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If you want your centre forward to score goals you have to actually create chances for him. We only create chances from corners or by slinging in hopeful crosses.
 
thfcsteff said:
Xavi is most certainly the man I expect to be making a move inside. In the image, it's almost as though he's hiding behind the defender. One thing no-one can level at Xavi is lack of effort, so I have to wonder why he's there and why he's not dropping into those pockets. My conclusion? Lack of coherent strategy? I'd love to think his instinct would kick in and he'd just go there anyway, however I suspect confidence all around is fragile.
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See above…. Xavi coming into that space doesn’t do much, it doesn’t give us an overload anywhere or put Burnley in danger, he would have to take a pass with his back to goal, with an opponent marking him tightly. Xavi is in the right place for the next pass after one of our central central midfielder (Bissouma in this instance) has got into that space and his player has to go to close Bissouma down. This really is coaching 101 (I think there are at least 1 or 2 others on here who have their coaching badges who would back this up). It’s pretty clear Frank doesn’t want to risk his CM getting forward into that space even though he is playing 3 at the back. ‘Safety first’. This is why we end up with so few through balls, as we don’t create the opportunities to play them.
 
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Finney Is Back said:
If Xavi moves into that space then his opponent just goes with him. The best person to move into that space is actually Bissouma. It is a reasonably simple run that will see him in space, facing forward in a dangerous area and an easy, low risk, pass into him. Then it would either have to be the player on Xavi or the right back who would have to come to close down Bissouma, leaving gaps for really dangerous passes from Bissouma into Xavi or Solanke running in behind Burn;ey’s LCB.

I think the pattern of play I describe above is a really, really basic one and would happen under any manager who isn’t completely safety first and more worried about us turning over the ball than us actually creating chances. It is patterns like this that show why we struggle to create chances and can only score from set pieces or crosses swung into the box. It’s pretty basic stuff that highlights how the players are being told to play with the handbrake on. The handbrake only comes off when we are losing.
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With three CBs I can see that. Equally, I can see a world where Xavi (by design or instinct) moves into that space, brings a marker with him and allows a square ball to Bissouma who would have a lot of space to move into or (if he chose) feed it out wide (I'd rather he went for a channel run personally). Or he takes that pass on the half-turn and attacks the space/channel in front of him, maybe creating a shooting opportunity or drawing a foul from the two Burnley defenders who would have to deal with him.

I think the wider issue is that no-one is going there. And that cannot be by accident sadly...
 
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Finney Is Back said:
See above Xavi coming into that space doesn’t do much, it doesn’t give us an overload anywhere or put Burnley in danger, he would have to take a pass with his back to goal, with an opponent marking him tightly. Xavi is in the right place for the next pass after one of our central central midfielder (Bissouma in this instance) has got into that space and his player has to go to close Bissouma down. This really is coaching 101 (I think there are at least 1 or 2 others on here who have their coaching badges who would back this up). It’s pretty clear Frank doesn’t want to risk his CM getting forward into that space even though he is playing 3 at the back. ‘Safety first’. This is why we end up with so few through balls, as we don’t create the opportunities to play them.
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Answered in a reply just above this. I can see both scenarios creating a lot more than no-one moving. The real coaching 101 is that time and time again, in those moments, we don't have anyone moving.

I think the biggest issue with Biss and not Xavi going at that moment is if possession is lost then Biss is out of position. This, of course, is why Frank is so risk averse that no-one looks to play or move much through the middle.

Again, for me, we can debate who should be moving into those pockets and what is or isn't coaching 101, the biggest issue is there is no-one moving because of this 'style' he insists upon inflicting.
 
billyiddo said:
I doubt he's being asked to position himself behind a defender on the opposite side of the pitch to the action - but if he is then obviously a tactical issue
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See my posts just now. I think Xavi’s position is fine, the problem is the negativity in wanting to keep a CM back, even when we’re playing with 3 CBs.
 
SpurMeUp said:
Love those 'supporters' who probably didn't watch the game and are so fast to get on and post down with Frank. Especially the Ange-lamenters who have undermined Frank from day one. They are a special kind of divisive non-supporter.

Terrible not to win, not becuase its a gimme, but because we deserved to win. Our attackers can't put it together in the final third. As usual a lot of passes and shots weren't good enough. And that is the simple issue. Odobert played well, Spence showed his passion and pace. None of them could keep their cool and make the right pass or coldly finish, and we relied on defenders again to score. And it is to be expected with an unsettled young side who aren't yet familiar and polished.

Frank should have made some earlier subs when it was 1-1 and we were dominating trying to win the game. The tide turned as players tired. And he didn't get fresh legs on quick enough imo. But otherwise, you have to say, Frank set us up well. Right out the blocks we were a threat. Unable to convert two great openings in the first couple of minutes. As we pushed to find goals and dominated we forgot that we need to defend and keep them out too. Had we, that was a walk in the park. A lot to refine for Frank, but if you watched the game, it was clear we were the better side.
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How about those of us who go to watch the games in person? Traipsing the length of the country to do so? Do we count as supporters?

Or is it only the few who are so blinded by their own strange loyalty to a manager who has the worst PL PPG record since Christian Gross, watching on TV that count as real supporters?
 
Robspur12 said:
So in the last 2 games we have lost points through shambolic defending. And worse still, this is happening when our supposed best defence is available (bar Udogie). I wonder if TF is, like Ange, overcommitting to attack to compensate for it's bluntness. If only we could pull other defences around like our was yesterday. Imho this is what TF needs to sort first. We will achieve nothing without that solid base.
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Really doesn’t look like it!
 
Mcfee said:
Not a disastrous performance but still needed a 90th minute goal to rescue a draw against relegation fodder, one of the worst 2 teams in the division. Yes I suppose we should celebrate that to be fair. Carry on Thomas, you’re doing a great job.
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Having lost at home to the 3rd worst team last weekend, lost 3-0 away to the 4th worst team a few weeks go and snatched a draw with an injury time equalizer against the absolute worst team earlier in the season.

I suspect all of the teams in the bottom third are marking their games against Spurs as the ones they should get 3 points in at the moment when looking through the fixture list and working out how they will get those 12 points or so that will keep them up.
 
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