I think it was a lot to do with playing James, Sunjic and James. The last two were a bit more forward of Bielik and it meant we were not so ‘low block’. Meant we played more in their territory and our forward players, wingers and Stansfield were less isolated. He’s clearly told Dembele he has to get back and fill the space in front of his full back when the ball is turned over against us as well.
I think we have been underachieving with our players under Rooney, tonight was much better (but to some degree maybe they suited us in a funny way, Leicester will put us under far more pressure).
Plus no mistakes and better concentration tonight.
I think it was a lot to do with playing James, Sunjic and James. The last two were a bit more forward of Bielik and it meant we were not so ‘low block’. Meant we played more in their territory and our forward players, wingers and Stansfield were less isolated. He’s clearly told Dembele he has to get back and fill the space in front of his full back when the ball is turned over against us as well.
I think we have been underachieving with our players under Rooney, tonight was much better (but to some degree maybe they suited us in a funny way, Leicester will put us under far more pressure).
Plus no mistakes and better concentration tonight.
"I think it was a lot to do with playing James, Sunjic and James."
wow if we've mastered cloning let's dig some of Jude's hair out of the shower plugs
I think it was a lot to do with playing James, Sunjic and James. The last two were a bit more forward of Bielik and it meant we were not so ‘low block’. Meant we played more in their territory and our forward players, wingers and Stansfield were less isolated. He’s clearly told Dembele he has to get back and fill the space in front of his full back when the ball is turned over against us as well.
I think we have been underachieving with our players under Rooney, tonight was much better (but to some degree maybe they suited us in a funny way, Leicester will put us under far more pressure).
Plus no mistakes and better concentration tonight.
Probably just as many mistakes - but we weren't playing a completely stupid formation where there was no-one to mop up those mistakes
Yep, got a solid 6 in behind the ball which means you can shuffle across and cover the mistake, if / when it happens.
But the 4 in attack gave us good numbers going forwards as the full backs / sunjic could also join in.
Bielik sat a bit more knowing Sunjic has the energy and desire to get back into position.
In general its worked more often than not this season.
Get the confidence back in the team then evolve it.
By mistakes and concentration, I mean defenders not tracking runners, failing to make tackles, that sort of thing. That’s nothing to do per se, with formation. We can talk tactics all we like, and of course it matters, but players have to be ‘on it’. It’s not even excusing Rooney as it’s the job of the manager to make sure players are ‘on it’ as much as possible, and in my view they haven’t been at times, especially defensively. I mean, we have some of our best defenders out but that tonight was night and day. We just didn’t allow the space behind, and tracked runners. Far too much casual play recently.
Sunjic has to, has to, HAS TO start against Leicester. I love the mad bastard. It’s like playing with 12 players on the pitch sometimes, he’s fecking everywhere.
I think Roberts deserves some credit too, adding some extra organisation at the back. Aiwu has had some good and bad but I think RB suits him because he plays with a bit of flair that scares me at CB… however some of his recovery challenges were class today. Great to see the passion back with defenders celebrating tackles etc. just need to tighten up that final pass and we could start to turn things around
Very, very pleased tonight. I thought that it was a thoroughly deserved victory. I didn't have a single moment of anxiety in the second half. I didn't want to say that though because you know...
Well done Rooney and the players.
We wasted a lot of good opportunities when we had openings and played a really poor final ball. Still, we were in a position to that at least tonight.
AdzI think Roberts deserves some credit too, adding some extra organisation at the back. Aiwu has had some good and bad but I think RB suits him because he plays with a bit of flair that scares me at CB… however some of his recovery challenges were class today. Great to see the passion back with defenders celebrating tackles etc. just need to tighten up that final pass and we could start to turn things around
Yes he does deserve credit. He gets a lot of stick but he's nowhere near as bad as some people make out. He was very good again tonight.
mjd2505Hagley BlueYes well done indeed. It wasn’t a total reset though - you could tell that they’re trying to keep possession whenever possible.
100% - that tonight is the healthy balance between what we have been doing under Rooney and what we did under Eustace. More defensively compact and less risk taken, but also didn't launch the ball aimlessly, tried to play with the ball and through the lines, and arguably should've won by more than we did.
Hybrid style, i like it.
JE's strong compact defence with some midfield protection and WRs more forward minded ambition.
Quite amusing really if it works but hopefully WR has stumbled on something. Onwards and upwards! ( although the next fixture could have been better)
Really pleased with the result, well deserved by the team and WR!
Cardiff were awful tonight and we took advantage, great goal by Bacuna and clean sheet couldn’t have been more needed!
Nose of BlueThe formation change was key though. A definite 2 sitting in front of the defence. How many times did Cardiff cut through the middle of us like others have when the protection wasn't there.
Just because you play the same formation in a 4-2-3-1 doesn't mean you can't play it differently on a more front footed approach.
The players still know their roles just a bit higher up.
I think this is exactly what happened. Same formation but a very solid, if unspectacular midfield 3.
Cardiff weren't great but I don't think they were worse than some of the teams we've lost to recently. We made them look worse than they were by winning the midfield battle and stopping them from playing.
PetebaldwinCardiff weren't great but I don't think they were worse than some of the teams we've lost to recently. We made them look worse than they were by winning the midfield battle and stopping them from playing.
Exactly! Sometimes teams look better or worse depending on the opposition. Today, we didn’t let them settle. We made them look worse, which is a lovely change.