Luke, thanks for your analytical feedback. I have been arguing for sometime that we have missed those two players and that they both had a big influence on the team and the players around them. The influence on players as I think a particular important aspect as you highlight with Lee Colwill.
When I have raised these points, others have argued with me Forfana Was not that good, but I don’t think that’s accurate and I think you highlight his skill set and the why the two CHs are good balance for each other.
I like you, love Lavia and I’m still convinced he’ll end up being a top quality signing. Everyone forgets how young he is and he mounted games he played in a very short period as such a young age has affected him.
I have little doubt that the club are working hard to resolve these issues and that they will come back and add to our quality and their fitness will improve. Both are on track to be fit and available during March and let’s keep our fingers crossed that they stay fit for the rest of the season.
A really good article but I am sure we could all guess that if we lost particularly Lavia we would be in trouble with Caicedo having to do too much because Fernandez is a one trick pony. I know its hindsight but it should have been Declan Rice (cheaper than Fernandez) in midfield first. With our best centre half out, out best defensive midfielder out and our only (sort of) striker out it doesn't take a genius to realise our squad building has been bad beyond belief because we expect these highly paid people to know what they are doing. You would almost think they were trying to ruin the club bit by bit.
As supporters we continually harp on about needless player swops to help other clubs out in the ffp stakes and also the recruitment or lack of of a few elite players in the right positions to build the team by completing it regardless of the wage structure.
Or buying kids when thye claim not to have the money to buy the elite player so how about the following.
Dont buy injury prone players who no matter how good they are, are likely to be available for only 1 in 3 matches during the season in a good season, and above all dont overpay for them if you do feel the need to buy them ib the first place.
I see it more of a systematic symptom of style of play as well, that goes for injuries to Wes. The players are unreliable as injuries occur even though we may laugh look at Spuds defensive injuries.
Da dam Pep model inverted wingbacks tic tac blah blah, its over it does not work unless you have a specific pool of players that are so very good, Walker the sprinter for cover like no other...
You end up with a repeating failure, I will call it the Marescans fool opening, ( chess has so many good names for moves why not football..!)
Full back moves to midfield when ball is forward and in possession
Ball is lost to opposition, oppo knights move forward to right side attaching open space, full back is in fact so far out of position and CB will either have to cover, full back runs mostly outside.
Results are the same each time, Kings goal is threatened or taken to mate
I thank you 4, 3, 3 for me, attack and counter and no way so many midgets in midfield.
spot on worst build i have even seen. Data in football is part of the process not all of the process and also it depends what the goal is, midtable comfortable ching ching show me the money or actually winning something ...
If your lucky you build a squad to compete and win, that should be every game every training session etc etc... F=ing ipad homework does not replace hitting a ball at a goal or over a wall practising free kicks 200 + times a day Zola Frank
Morning Luke, I know you scout so here goes bit of history, old player I know I got an invite to training ground, saw this kid his kid, what do you think he said, don't see much i said but is so intense in training wants to learn I bet you kick him up the arse i said, nope i just encourage and he saw what i did and i say if you want it you have to show it and do more than the rest or you will get hammered, yep if we had data he would of failed i guess. Coach Frank Snr, kid Lamps Jnr .. rest is history
Personally, I dont like the idea of Trev in midfield, or Veiga for that fact. both fine with the game in front of them, neither have the press resistance or ability to receive on the back foot to play there in todays game, in my view.
Reece as expected can play anywhere and be an 8/10, unsurprisingly thats what you get when you have an elite footballer, something the SDs are seemingly allergic to.
Terrific article. It's disappointing that two key players are so unreliable. Hopefully the club will address this in summer, as opposed to another pointless signing on the wing
Our form has fallen off a cliff since we stopped playing European football, and mostly stopped playing twice a week. There is a correlation between points won and number of games per week. Therefore, there is also a correlation between points won and the amount of time EnzoM spends coaching (assumed).
So one could argue that the more time spent being coached the coach's philosophy, the more points we drop.
FWIW, I do not think the Enzo should be sacked. IMO, the issues lie with pisspoor squad building and inevitable injuries.
Luke, thanks for your analytical feedback. I have been arguing for sometime that we have missed those two players and that they both had a big influence on the team and the players around them. The influence on players as I think a particular important aspect as you highlight with Lee Colwill.
When I have raised these points, others have argued with me Forfana Was not that good, but I don’t think that’s accurate and I think you highlight his skill set and the why the two CHs are good balance for each other.
I like you, love Lavia and I’m still convinced he’ll end up being a top quality signing. Everyone forgets how young he is and he mounted games he played in a very short period as such a young age has affected him.
I have little doubt that the club are working hard to resolve these issues and that they will come back and add to our quality and their fitness will improve. Both are on track to be fit and available during March and let’s keep our fingers crossed that they stay fit for the rest of the season.
A really good article but I am sure we could all guess that if we lost particularly Lavia we would be in trouble with Caicedo having to do too much because Fernandez is a one trick pony. I know its hindsight but it should have been Declan Rice (cheaper than Fernandez) in midfield first. With our best centre half out, out best defensive midfielder out and our only (sort of) striker out it doesn't take a genius to realise our squad building has been bad beyond belief because we expect these highly paid people to know what they are doing. You would almost think they were trying to ruin the club bit by bit.
Adam Clery was talking about this same topic on FourFourTwo yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLhrsD2kZlU
I think this needs to be said.
As supporters we continually harp on about needless player swops to help other clubs out in the ffp stakes and also the recruitment or lack of of a few elite players in the right positions to build the team by completing it regardless of the wage structure.
Or buying kids when thye claim not to have the money to buy the elite player so how about the following.
Dont buy injury prone players who no matter how good they are, are likely to be available for only 1 in 3 matches during the season in a good season, and above all dont overpay for them if you do feel the need to buy them ib the first place.
Hi Luke
I see it more of a systematic symptom of style of play as well, that goes for injuries to Wes. The players are unreliable as injuries occur even though we may laugh look at Spuds defensive injuries.
Da dam Pep model inverted wingbacks tic tac blah blah, its over it does not work unless you have a specific pool of players that are so very good, Walker the sprinter for cover like no other...
You end up with a repeating failure, I will call it the Marescans fool opening, ( chess has so many good names for moves why not football..!)
Full back moves to midfield when ball is forward and in possession
Ball is lost to opposition, oppo knights move forward to right side attaching open space, full back is in fact so far out of position and CB will either have to cover, full back runs mostly outside.
Results are the same each time, Kings goal is threatened or taken to mate
I thank you 4, 3, 3 for me, attack and counter and no way so many midgets in midfield.
Good article, Luke.
It just highlights how poor our squad building has been.
No direct replacement for Lavia, no one even close to his profile.
Maresca didn't trust Viega. He also won't play Reece or Trevor, who can both play DM there either, because he cannot think outside of his plan A.
Forfana is the one irreplaceable CB we've got.
We signed a pile of shit including, Badasheille, Desasi & Tosin. Who are way off Forfanas level.
We had to anticipate Forfana, Lavia, James all being injured again, to avoid this mess.
It's like Groundhog Day again from last season.
This won't end until they return after the International break.
Then let's hope when they return, we can finish the season strongly.
spot on worst build i have even seen. Data in football is part of the process not all of the process and also it depends what the goal is, midtable comfortable ching ching show me the money or actually winning something ...
If your lucky you build a squad to compete and win, that should be every game every training session etc etc... F=ing ipad homework does not replace hitting a ball at a goal or over a wall practising free kicks 200 + times a day Zola Frank
Morning Luke, I know you scout so here goes bit of history, old player I know I got an invite to training ground, saw this kid his kid, what do you think he said, don't see much i said but is so intense in training wants to learn I bet you kick him up the arse i said, nope i just encourage and he saw what i did and i say if you want it you have to show it and do more than the rest or you will get hammered, yep if we had data he would of failed i guess. Coach Frank Snr, kid Lamps Jnr .. rest is history
Personally, I dont like the idea of Trev in midfield, or Veiga for that fact. both fine with the game in front of them, neither have the press resistance or ability to receive on the back foot to play there in todays game, in my view.
Reece as expected can play anywhere and be an 8/10, unsurprisingly thats what you get when you have an elite footballer, something the SDs are seemingly allergic to.
Agree with the rest mate!
Terrific article. It's disappointing that two key players are so unreliable. Hopefully the club will address this in summer, as opposed to another pointless signing on the wing
~ playing devil's advocate ~
Our form has fallen off a cliff since we stopped playing European football, and mostly stopped playing twice a week. There is a correlation between points won and number of games per week. Therefore, there is also a correlation between points won and the amount of time EnzoM spends coaching (assumed).
So one could argue that the more time spent being coached the coach's philosophy, the more points we drop.
FWIW, I do not think the Enzo should be sacked. IMO, the issues lie with pisspoor squad building and inevitable injuries.
Could be completely true, I think we were better when we were playing off the cuff rather than knowing Maresca ball better.
I was just raising certain points that had crossed my mind