The THFC Facts of Life

[Jurgen the German]

Poch is clearly the best manager we have had in the PL era, hands down. No one comes close to him.

I just don't like it when the likes of Lemonade Money, Nayezgani etc shout people down for daring to not be as uber positive after every game as they are. Then again, it goes on at every club. I still see Arsenal fans on social media shouting down people who dare to be critical of Wenger after nearly 15 years of not challenging for the title.

I'm fully aware of our financial constraints and in a lot of way we have done remarkably well. The fact is we have bought extremely well and have a team that SHOULD be winning trophies so it simply doesn't wash with me to use the money argument every time we lose a crunch game against a top 6 team. Liverpool are on the brink of a CL final with similar resources to us. Ourselves and Liverpool are at roughly the same level on the pitch so there's no reason why that couldn't have been us beating Roma at home 5-2.

I said it after the United game, there must be a reason why Mourinho tends to win the majority of the crunch games whereas we seem to fall just that little bit short. What that reason is I don't know.

 

[SpurMeUp]

I said it after the United game, there must be a reason why Mourinho tends to win the majority of the crunch games whereas we seem to fall just that little bit short. What that reason is I don't know.

Its not complex. Its simply having a strong defensive foundation. We used to have it, we don't currently. Juve had it, United have sacrificed entertainment to get it.

So many changes to our back line this season, only Jan and Hugo remain first team players from our frugal defense. Our high line, which we could drop back to defend deep at times, may also play a part.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Its not complex. Its simply having a strong defensive foundation. We used to have it, we don't currently. Juve had it, United have sacrificed entertainment to get it.

So many changes to our back line this season, only Jan and Hugo remain first team players from our frugal defense. Our high line, which we could drop back to defend deep at times, may also play a part.

We had a strong defensive lineup against Chelsea last season for example (Son aside) and conceded 4 goals against a weakened team.

 

[SpurMeUp]

We had a strong defensive lineup against Chelsea last season for example (Son aside) and conceded 4 goals against a weakened team.

Yet we conceded only 26 goals in the PL last season with 17 clean sheets.

This season we've conceded 31 so far. Our defense is not an issue against the likes of Watford. 31 goals conceded is still excellent. We tend to be able to keep all but the best sides at bay and outscore them. Its when we play Juve, United, even wham. We took the lead in all 3 cup games, and needed to block out the game. Have a different formation and tactic - a Mourinho tactic - where we sit deep with organised tight lines and pick teams off on the counter.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Yet we conceded only 26 goals in the PL last season with 17 clean sheets.

This season we've conceded 31 so far. It's not an issue against the likes of Watford. We tend to be able to keep all but the best sides at bay and outscore them. Its when we play Juve, United, even wham. We took the lead in all 3 cup games, and needed to block out the game. Have a different formation and tactic - a Mourinho tactic - where we sit deep with organised tight lines and pick teams off on the counter.

I'm not doubting our defensive record overall. I'm saying I don't think it's a coincidence that we tend to lose a lot of the big games against the best teams, almost as if a lot of our players freeze on the big stage. Individually and collectively. Some more older, experienced players who are street wise would help.

 

[SpurMeUp]

I'm not doubting our defensive record overall. I'm saying I don't think it's a coincidence that we tend to lose a lot of the big games against the best teams, almost as if a lot of our players freeze on the big stage. Individually and collectively. Some more older, experienced players who are street wise would help.

Yet we were winning in all 3 cups. But didn't see out the game.

No doubt Wembley has had an effect. We're not as good as last season imo. But we did do better in the CL never the less, and the Juve defeat was the toughest one for me. Played so well, deserved to go through and would have given anyone in the CL a game and who knows could have had a pop at it.

There is a logic in playing a high line - you keep the ball away from your goal, press and recover the ball in a much more dangerous part of the pitch. Our defensive record shows how effective it is. But what happens sometimes in cup games is we half drop off. Its neither one or the other and we leave too much space with the midfield and attack pressing and the defense retreating - its inevitable in cup games when the opposition throw caution to the wind. But it leaves too much space in front of defense. Getting into a tight defensive formation when we're winning as the team tires has to be something Poch develops.

 

[Lemonade Money]

 

[Mikey10]

Poch is clearly the best manager we have had in the PL era, hands down. No one comes close to him.

I just don't like it when the likes of Lemonade Money, Nayezgani etc shout people down for daring to not be as uber positive after every game as they are. Then again, it goes on at every club. I still see Arsenal fans on social media shouting down people who dare to be critical of Wenger after nearly 15 years of not challenging for the title.

I'm fully aware of our financial constraints and in a lot of way we have done remarkably well. The fact is we have bought extremely well and have a team that SHOULD be winning trophies so it simply doesn't wash with me to use the money argument every time we lose a crunch game against a top 6 team. Liverpool are on the brink of a CL final with similar resources to us. Ourselves and Liverpool are at roughly the same level on the pitch so there's no reason why that couldn't have been us beating Roma at home 5-2.

I said it after the United game, there must be a reason why Mourinho tends to win the majority of the crunch games whereas we seem to fall just that little bit short. What that reason is I don't know.

Good post.

 

[glasgowspur]

Poch is clearly the best manager we have had in the PL era, hands down. No one comes close to him.

I just don't like it when the likes of Lemonade Money, Nayezgani etc shout people down for daring to not be as uber positive after every game as they are. Then again, it goes on at every club. I still see Arsenal fans on social media shouting down people who dare to be critical of Wenger after nearly 15 years of not challenging for the title.

I'm fully aware of our financial constraints and in a lot of way we have done remarkably well. The fact is we have bought extremely well and have a team that SHOULD be winning trophies so it simply doesn't wash with me to use the money argument every time we lose a crunch game against a top 6 team. Liverpool are on the brink of a CL final with similar resources to us. Ourselves and Liverpool are at roughly the same level on the pitch so there's no reason why that couldn't have been us beating Roma at home 5-2.

I said it after the United game, there must be a reason why Mourinho tends to win the majority of the crunch games whereas we seem to fall just that little bit short. What that reason is I don't know.

Only yesterday there was mention of poch bad transfers, we all see things a bit different.
Makes for a healthy debate I suppose