We need to get back to doing what we did last season well

Scotty_boy90

Scotty_boy90

Well-Known Member
I think we have tried to 'tweak' our system and its just not working.

Tav hardly gets down the line any more, he very rarely overlaps or gets into the box or poses a goal threat like he did last season. This is not a criticism of tav as I think this is the system we are trying to play.

The same goes with Alfredo, instead of letting him run into channels and get round defenders we seem to always be looking for him to hold the ball in and play flicks into runners. Him dropping deep means he isn't in the box as often to be a goal threat.

I also think we miss the Arfield of last seasons energy in the middle of the park. He would have a bit of aggression and his late runs from midfield always gave us an attacking threat.

Finally I prefer aribo in the front three. His close control and skill find gaps and turns defenders inside out. I think he is much better as a 10 rather than an 8 or 6 as he started then ended up playing tonight.

I'd honestly get back to playing as close to what worked really well for us last season when we played our best stuff. Back to a high press and high full backs with morelos between the posts or running the channels against the last defender.

For the weekend I'd go with...

McGregor
Tav Goldson Balogun barisic
Arfield Davis Kamara
Aribo Morelos Roofe

Kent can come back in for Roofe and Jack can come back in for Arfield if they are fit. Lundstram can play for Davis occasionally if required. May be a little harsh on Hagi but he can be an option from the bench.

Thoughts?
 
I agree with large parts of this.

If Hagi & Aribo both start I’d have them the other way round from where they’re currently playing. Hagi often drifts wide and through no fault of his own his lack of pace is exposed. Aribo was effective at RW last season and Hagi’s talents are more central.

Badly needing an injection of pace, too. Front 3 has to contain one of Sakala/Wright.

We’re a bit “samey” at the minute. And so, so slow.
 
Agree with most of the points made mate although not sure if I’d go with Arfield at the moment. He probably needs to play his way into a bit of form before he starts. Last season for example I think he came off the bench against Dundee United at home scored a goal and looked a threat, then went on a good run of form into the new year.
 
I think this is broadly right. Without very attacking fullbacks we aren’t creative enough. It exposes the central defenders, but they are shambolic with the current system anyway.

I can’t say that I’m keen on Sakala or Wright playing, but we are so slow and disjointed in the forward positions that anything would be an improvement.

We’re reaping what we sowed in the summer. Complacency all over the club is costing us dearly.
 
Totally agree with what's been said. I'm not sure Arfield is the answer but I think we are missing the energy he brought to the team last season. I'd honestly give him a go just now though as I can't see where else the spark comes from just now.

Jack could take back over that role is he gets back to fitness. We do miss Kents pace just now but don't know if I would start Wright or sakala as neither have really impressed me.

We need to get back to the things we did well. I think we have tried to be too clever and tweak the system so teams can't 'work us out' but it's not working this season.
 
Tims are pumping teams with 2 attacking mids in their midfield we shouldn’t need two holding mids for every single game.

Roofe and Morelos aren’t working well together that needs changed and tav needs to be benched.
 
Scotty_boy90 said:
I think we have tried to 'tweak' our system and its just not working.

Tav hardly gets down the line any more, he very rarely overlaps or gets into the box or poses a goal threat like he did last season. This is not a criticism of tav as I think this is the system we are trying to play.

The same goes with Alfredo, instead of letting him run into channels and get round defenders we seem to always be looking for him to hold the ball in and play flicks into runners. Him dropping deep means he isn't in the box as often to be a goal threat.

I also think we miss the Arfield of last seasons energy in the middle of the park. He would have a bit of aggression and his late runs from midfield always gave us an attacking threat.

Finally I prefer aribo in the front three. His close control and skill find gaps and turns defenders inside out. I think he is much better as a 10 rather than an 8 or 6 as he started then ended up playing tonight.

I'd honestly get back to playing as close to what worked really well for us last season when we played our best stuff. Back to a high press and high full backs with morelos between the posts or running the channels against the last defender.

For the weekend I'd go with...

McGregor
Tav Goldson Balogun barisic
Arfield Davis Kamara
Aribo Morelos Roofe

Kent can come back in for Roofe and Jack can come back in for Arfield if they are fit. Lundstram can play for Davis occasionally if required. May be a little harsh on Hagi but he can be an option from the bench.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
That was the team that worked so effectively for us this time last year. Agree 100% with your observations.
 
OP exactly right that we need to get playing with intensity similar to last season.

I feel much of that problem is playing Hagi and Aribo together in midfield.
Both too slow, often games pass them by. That's not to say they don't offer anything, but they each strike me as "horses for courses" type of players more than regular first picks.

We need players prepared to run with the ball, commit the opposition, better movement and players prepared to run in behind rather than the everyone wanting to drop deep and come to the ball.

But most of all press teams high in their final third, forcing them into mistakes around their penalty area which is more likely to yield goal scoring chances.
 
McGregor
Patterson Goldson Balogun Barasic
Kamara
Aribo Hagi

Sakala Morelos Roofe/Wright

I’d like to see something along these lines we don’t need 2 sitting mids and Kamara or Davis @ Aribo should be able to cope with midfield battles in Scotland. Leaving another space for another attacking mid be it hagi, Arfield or Bacuna

Pace is desperately needed up top I don’t know if Sakala or Wright have what it takes but something needs to change and the quicker Kent gets back the better
 
Last season is gone and we are not getting it back with this group of players. We were successful because we moved the ball fast and forward.

we were successful from when Gerrard arrived because we had pace in the team in wide areas. No matter the personnel we had a system, it may have been Candeias, Windass, Jones, Middleton, Ojo, Barker, Kent, Murphy even Lafferty not necessarily the best players at the club but they could carry the ball up the park at pace and gave the team shape.

We now have a front three of Hagi, Roofe, Morelos, even neither of who have any pace or are suited to being out wide.

Our midfielders Kamara, Aribo and even Davis now, first thoughts are to turn back, regardless of where they are on the pitch, it’s take a touch turn back assess where we are, this gives the opposition time to get set.

Aribo can’t just beat a man once, he invariably gives his opponent another bite of the ball. How often does he go by a man and have a shot or pass to create an early opening ?

Arfield is the only midfielder we have whose numbers in terms of goals is good enough, the only midfielder we have with the ability to break the lines and go by the forwards. Sadly his legs are going and is no where match fit this season due to lack of minutes.

The blueprint we had to win the league was ripped up and replaced with an unfit and unorganised mess.

Our preseason preperations were a complete shambles and our recruitment shambolic.
 
Tav is a Warburton Tav just now
Borna is back to his poor beginning at the club
Goldson is a bomb scare
Bacuna is no better than Zungu
Hagi has no pace
Midfield can't and won't shoot
Arfield is done
Wright is not good enough
Fashion is a headless chicken


There are too many issues with this team, to begin to clear them up.
 
Angrybluebear said:
Last season is gone and we are not getting it back with this group of players. We were successful because we moved the ball fast and forward.

we were successful from when Gerrard arrived because we had pace in the team in wide areas. No matter the personnel we had a system, it may have been Candeias, Windass, Jones, Middleton, Ojo, Barker, Kent, Murphy even Lafferty not necessarily the best players at the club but they could carry the ball up the park at pace and gave the team shape.

We now have a front three of Hagi, Roofe, Morelos, even neither of who have any pace or are suited to being out wide.

Our midfielders Kamara, Aribo and even Davis now, first thoughts are to turn back, regardless of where they are on the pitch, it’s take a touch turn back assess where we are, this gives the opposition time to get set.

Aribo can’t just beat a man once, he invariably gives his opponent another bite of the ball. How often does he go by a man and have a shot or pass to create an early opening ?

Arfield is the only midfielder we have whose numbers in terms of goals is good enough, the only midfielder we have with the ability to break the lines and go by the forwards. Sadly his legs are going and is no where match fit this season due to lack of minutes.

The blueprint we had to win the league was ripped up and replaced with an unfit and unorganised mess.

Our preseason preperations were a complete shambles and our recruitment shambolic.
Click to expand...

Agree with a lot of what you say here but I am hoping if we get back to something similar to what we did last year maybe it will spur the players into life.
 
TheMish said:
Tav is literally always down the wing in wide areas playing triangle of play to try and take teams out of shape
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Disagree in the sense that he's much less advanced than he has been in previous seasons. Last season he was popping up in the box regularly to get on the end of crosses, how many times has he done that this year? He is also not overlapping Arbio the way he has overlapped the midfielder in previous seasons.

As I said in the OP this isn't a criticism of him as I am sure it's tactical for whatever reason.
 
Scotty_boy90 said:
Disagree in the sense that he's much less advanced than he has been in previous seasons. Last season he was popping up in the box regularly to get on the end of crosses, how many times has he done that this year? He is also not overlapping Arbio the way he has overlapped the midfielder in previous seasons.

As I said in the OP this isn't a criticism of him as I am sure it's tactical for whatever reason.
Click to expand...
I was in GF1 and first half he couldn’t have been any more in front of me.

He was getting in the box to work off the back post/attack the near post if needed, the ball just wasn’t coming though.
 
A lot of our success last season came from us pressing the opposition very high up the pitch and forcing errors.

We very rarely do that this season. We seem to stand off the opposition.
 
There’s clearly been a change in approach, why you would do that with generally the same personnel I’ll never know?

The passes are for the sake of it and there’s no quality link up from midfield to forwards, the midfield is pretty much unchanged from last season so there’s no excuses.

I get he didn’t strengthen in the summer but that’s is own doing, dropping helander after his CL level performance in the first leg against Malmö baffles me to this day.

On the lack of pace, Sakala and Wright both have it and would certainly stretch teams.
 
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