A tale of two teams?

T

TangerineBear

Well-known member
I couldn't watch the game today, but the general feedback is that people were clearly watching two different games.

One opinion is that we more than competed with a solid championship side and there were plenty of encouraging signs that a good season lies ahead once the players are all fully bedded in.

The other opinion is that we were pretty bad with the whole team not looking like they could play together (even graysonesqe at times) as someone mentioned.

Appreciating that everyone has their views, but I'm confused how there can be such stark contrast?
 
TangerineBear said:
I couldn't watch the game today, but the general feedback is that people were clearly watching two different games.

One opinion is that we more than competed with a solid championship side and there were plenty of encouraging signs that a good season lies ahead once the players are all fully bedded in.

The other opinion is that we were pretty bad with the whole team not looking like they could play together (even graysonesqe at times) as someone mentioned.

Appreciating that everyone has their views, but I'm confused how there can be such stark contrast?
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Optimists and pessimists.
 
It's a simple case of the glass half full posters and the half empty ones.
It's always the same on here.
The truth is there were some good and some not so good aspects to todays game.
I'd prefer to think we are building towards something alot better than we've been used to.
 
Couple of Simple questions from me are we better prepared at this stage of the pre season than last and are we playing in a better more attractive way with better players . Nobody can see into the future but im optimistic . I’m also unsure how anyone could have the second view quoted above from today’s match
 
We are by no means the finished article, but today we had the ball on the floor and played some decent stuff. Lacked the final killer ball which is the only reason why we didn't win. Defence made mistakes, which is no surprise and obviously needs improvement. I dont know how anyone can say it was like Grayson last year. We had a clear formation and clear tactics that were positive. Some people are focusing only on the negatives and some only the positives. For me, there was more positive than negative however there is alot of room for improvement.
 
I've always noticed this. I'll see a player head and tackle all game and think 'he played well' then you come on here and it's 'yes, but he lost his man at the near post and though it was far post corner, had it been a near post corner, it would have been a goal. Sack the board'

If that's the best we play all year, we're not going up but if any team has their best performance on opening day in the league cup, then that's pretty worrying for them imo

It was a decent foundation and one that showed plenty of potential imo. Yes, potential for mistakes but also potential for really good stuff.
 
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TangerineBear said:
I couldn't watch the game today, but the general feedback is that people were clearly watching two different games.

One opinion is that we more than competed with a solid championship side and there were plenty of encouraging signs that a good season lies ahead once the players are all fully bedded in.

The other opinion is that we were pretty bad with the whole team not looking like they could play together (even graysonesqe at times) as someone mentioned.

Appreciating that everyone has their views, but I'm confused how there can be such stark contrast?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't say I'm the most knowledgeable poster, but for what it's worth, these were my observations (summarised):
  • Our quick passing was impressive and created space against a sluggish Stoke side
  • Our pacy wingers were very good, but the final ball could have been better
  • A cause for concern is the defence - lost a bit of their shape in the 2nd half (esp after Nottingham took a knock)
  • Nottingham and Ekpiteta were sometimes a bit slow & allowed their forwards to get goal side on a couple of occasions (otherwise I thought they had a good game)
  • Of course the team haven't gelled yet, but far more positives than negatives in my view
  • When Steven Fletcher came on as sub, the quality showed after he played a couple of through balls which created clear chances (until then, Stoke had relied on long balls)
I think we need to manage our expectations a little. As stated above, we're not the finished article by any means, but I certainly liked what I saw today. I think we'll be in the play off mix, especially if we play that well - I hope that helps ?
 
Dave62 said:
Wouldn't say I'm the most knowledgeable poster, but for what it's worth, these were my observations (summarised):
  • Our quick passing was impressive and created space against a sluggish Stoke side
  • Our pacy wingers were very good, but the final ball could have been better
  • A cause for concern is the defence - lost a bit of their shape in the 2nd half (esp after Nottingham took a knock)
  • Nottingham and Ekpiteta were sometimes a bit slow & allowed their forwards to get goal side on a couple of occasions (otherwise I thought they had a good game)
  • Of course the team haven't gelled yet, but far more positives than negatives in my view
  • When Steven Fletcher came on as sub, the quality showed after he played a couple of through balls which created clear chances (until then, Stoke had relied on long balls)
I think we need to manage our expectations a little. As stated above, we're not the finished article by any means, but I certainly liked what I saw today. I think we'll be in the play off mix, especially if we play that well - I hope that helps ?
Click to expand...
It does thank you.
 
Anyone who has watched that and thinks it was even remotely Graysonesque either suffers from some sort of memory problem or is blind.

It wasn’t perfect but why would it be? We’re a League 1 side in our first competitive game of the season, add to that the fact that we’ve not played properly in months and it’s pretty much a newly assembled team.

To my eyes we were the better side playing against a team from the league above. If we can improve on that, and with our coaches I’m confident we will, I think we’ll fair well against teams at our level and I think we’ll be in for an exciting season.
 
We desperately need a 20 Goals a season man....
Critchley deserved simply doesn’t fancy Madine....
Yates runs forever but never has a shot on goal
 
Some good performances yesterday and it is evident the way NC wants the team to play. It’s work in progress and we know and NC knows where strengthening is required. Looking forward to the start of the new season based on what I’ve seen so far.
 
I am far from being a happy clapper, but I think we have reason to be optimistic about this team, but we need to work on our final ball and decision making in the final 3rd. Yates to me looks a bit lightweight up, so we need an agile physical presence up top, which could be Nuttall if he sorts his head out, or a loan. Our midfield looked decent and I think Anderson, Robson and Virtue will stop us being bullied this season.
 
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