Apparently P@pe is a banned word on here!

I have always maintained that our "Plan B" is never going to be like Arsenal's Plan B where they just retreat to defend what they have. It is not the way we play and we are not alone in this.

The changes Ange makes are more subtle ad the introduction of Sarr did not really change how we played, it just added a bit more legs to the CM, particularly to help out down Bowen's side. We still utterly dominated WHU.

And if you consider our previous managers, then at 2-1, sitting back and defending what we have is exactly what Jose & Conte would have had us do. We'd become passive, becalmed, lose momentum and control.

I really do think its a fine line in this league between dominating a game and then losing control, and any sort of drop off in energy and commitment will see that control lost if the opposition maintain or increase theirs. It's exactly what BHA did to us. We didnt ship the first 2 goals because we were attack attack attack, they upped their game and we dropped our levels and then before you know it it 2-2 and we are back foot. It's what we did to WHU.

And the ironic thing is that we changed an attacker for a defensive minded CM and we scored for fun.

Overall i think this is still very much a learning experience for this group, including Ange, and we are a work in progress. BHA was a tough lesson, one which the players and the coach looked to have learned from.

But for me it's about small subtle changes to the team, not a Plan B which implies a different tactic altogether.

My thoughts are re read the good news thread 😂

and another thing..........

we saw Arsenal lose a man at the weekend and immediately go to their Plan B, B standing for Bus parking! It failed, as it did vs City, as it did vs BHA.

I am glad we at least try to go down fighting when we have lost a man (hasn't happened that often) and fans should accept that there is more than one way to skin a cat and retreating is not what we do.

We won in Europe the other week with 10 men for 80 minutes. Yes we conceded a few chances but we continued to create plenty and enough to win comfortably. We need to embrace how we play, enjoy it, rather than always looking for details to criticise

Much the same as Pep, and other top coaches, what was Mourinho and Conte's, bring on defenders, prefer the way we play thanks

It does not Matar

Pope

Obviously Ang learnt from the Brighton game, by bringing on Sarr , at half time… we were far too open. & West Ham we’re exploiting the space…

I’m tougher games, you would have to start Bissouma & Sarr.., at least Ang is learning from costly mistakes!!

comment by Conn & Duncan..Scottish Legends (U15636)
posted 18 minutes ago
Obviously Ang learnt from the Brighton game, by bringing on Sarr , at half time… we were far too open. & West Ham we’re exploiting the space…

I’m tougher games, you would have to start Bissouma & Sarr.., at least Ang is learning from costly mistakes!!
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Finally.

Shouldn’t take a season and a half though.

So many of us keep saying that it’s all about balance and I still do not think Ange quite has it down yet, but Saturday was a big step in the right direction.

You can see what he is trying to do and you can see that it will take time to get it perfect - so we will have a few Brighton second half’s still to go through I think until he nails it, but I thought that change on Saturday was a hugely positive sign - early sub at a point where the game was in the balance.

The only worry is Maddison - who just doesn’t complete 90 minutes anymore. I didn’t think he was bad on Saturday, he was still very creative but just couldn’t cover the pitch like the others.

comment by Automatic For The People (U21889)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
comment by Conn & Duncan..Scottish Legends (U15636)
posted 18 minutes ago
Obviously Ang learnt from the Brighton game, by bringing on Sarr , at half time… we were far too open. & West Ham we’re exploiting the space…

I’m tougher games, you would have to start Bissouma & Sarr.., at least Ang is learning from costly mistakes!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally.

Shouldn’t take a season and a half though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Season and a half? Counting never been your strong point!

But also, of course it takes time to adapt and evolve a team, to learn how it functions best in different circumstances, and esp. when Deki in CM/No.10 has been a new set up this season.

This whole last 14 months has been a learning process, taking us from Conteball to Angeball, making mistakes along the way and trying to learn from them and develop. What happened to us vs BHA was unique in Ange's time, and 1 game later he learned from it and was proactive in addressing the problem.

Every day's a school day!

comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 38 minutes ago
comment by Automatic For The People (U21889)
posted 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
comment by Conn & Duncan..Scottish Legends (U15636)
posted 18 minutes ago
Obviously Ang learnt from the Brighton game, by bringing on Sarr , at half time… we were far too open. & West Ham we’re exploiting the space…

I’m tougher games, you would have to start Bissouma & Sarr.., at least Ang is learning from costly mistakes!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally.

Shouldn’t take a season and a half though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Season and a half?Counting never been your strong point!

But also, of course it takes time to adapt and evolve a team, to learn how it functions best in different circumstances, and esp. when Deki in CM/No.10 has been a new set up this season.

This whole last 14 months has been a learning process, taking us from Conteball to Angeball, making mistakes along the way and trying to learn from them and develop. What happened to us vs BHA was unique in Ange's time, and 1 game later he learned from it and was proactive in addressing the problem.

Every day's a school day!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Always with the f*cking excuses Devon

So even when he does something good it's bad. Great.