[Albion] Fabian Hurzeler: IN or OUT

[jackalbion]

We were so, so poor tactically yesterday though - several times the players had the ball and were looking for the pass and seeing nothing (and getting very obviously frustrated with each other),

It isn’t the first time this season though, I feel like this is becoming a weekly occurrence with this side. Devoid of ideas, despite still having some very very good attacking players.

 

[ROSM]

I guess let's look at it this way

What is the calibre of say, our centre backs at the moment. Probably mid table, arguably bottom half with a declining Dunk if I'm being harsh, but there are easily 8 teams with better partnerships than us.


What is the calibre of our wing backs available? Probably mid table. Frustrating to not have had Ferdi as hoped.

What is the calibre of our wingers? I'd say just above mid table but with Minteh in his first PL season a lot rests on Mitoma.

What is the calibre of our centre mid? One future superstar and then not sure. Maybe just above mid table on Baleba alone.

What is the calibre of our centre forwards? Just above mid table. Welbeck might achieve his first ever season of getting 10 goals. Yesterday we played a partnership where they both have above 15 (I think?)

Based on that, with this squad, anywhere around 8th to about 11th feels right to me.

In my opinion , a Dunk and JPVH partnership if played with the right tactics is still a top half pairing

Bart can be a top 6 keeper but isn't at the moment.

Our current centre mid of baleba and any one other from o'reilly, ayari etc should be top 8

Our current wingers should be top 6

Our current full backs are lower half based on what's available although pervis should be a top 8 but isn't at the moment

Our forwards on paper are a top 8 but one of them isn't performing to his best/isn't played in his best position

Put that together and given how others teams are performing we should be between 6th and 8th in my view if we make the most of what we have and look to minimise the pressure on full backs. Before injuries we have a side good enough for between 4th and 6th so across the season we should be top 6. That we aren't means the players and manager have underperformed so far.

That we hadn't replaced lallana and gross or bought a centre back who can play the FH way also means to a degree that Weir has underperformed too

That's not a case of being entitled but I've been round the block enough to not have blue and white specs either.

 

[peterward]

Why weren't the others instructed to defend as high as Dunk in that case? Your argument doesn't make sense if you think that Dunk was acting under instructions and the others weren't.

Did you watch MOTD?.

Its not my own observations, And i didnt suggest just Dunk was under instruction and others werent. I think they all were were, but it was poor tactically, left Dunk miles away from JPVH and their first goal simple 2 pass move to be clean through.

The commentators all highlighted it in their post match analysis of our game.

The back 3 were playing a high line with JPVH as a sole centre half and Dunk was miles in front of them, in their half, almost in a Baleba type CDM position......

 

[J2 DOG]

This season was always going to be a learning curve for a young manager new to this league. Bloom appointed him and must have known this therefore he will be giving him time! Let’s just hope the harsh lessons he has been given this season make him a lot wiser for the future.Naive tactics against ordinary teams is my biggest concern. These teams know how to get at us and score goals far too easily!

 

[Weststander]

He’s left with Dunk and Cashin to chose alongside JPVH. Dunk is struggling to get the absolute basics right at the moment….how do you adapt to this? Bring on Cashin?

And he did get the best out of Igor and especially Webster. Sadly both were injured in games.

Set up with a formation far deeper back. This has been explained in the past by ex players when reviewing how managers/teams adapted to get good results against teams with searing pace. Depriving them of space.

 

[peterward]

Set up with a formation far deeper back. This has been explained in the past by ex players when reviewing how managers/teams adapted to get good results against teams with searing pace. Depriving them of space.

Hurzeler OUT Weststander IN!

 

[Jasetheaceisback]

So not much relief for Hurzeler from this poll. He doesn't enjoy a connection with the fans and that is a problem. Veltman of course has been his biggest miss and I get that. It is the fact that very few of us have a clue about how he is trying to mitigate the injuries beyond chaos theory. WE all walk around with puzzled looks on our faces. Even those who defend him tend to start their sentences with "Whilst I have my doubts....". The sight last week of him glued to his bench, Hyppia like for the entire game is seared onto my eyes, brain and heart. Not the man for this project and needs to end fast...

 

[Jasetheaceisback]

There's nothing like the return of a certain G Potter next week to galvanize the home support and start to turn the form around.

But for now, it is what it is. Not good at all.

Edit: On reflection, I've moved from 'In' to 'Fence' today. I hope my direction of movement is proved very wrong, but there's little evidence of that for now.

Next weeks game is genuinely one for the ghouls...

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Meanwhile in france, de zerbi has marseilles only second to psg in a euro poisition having their best season in years. Facts are we had a world class manager and lost him

 

[Arkwright]

I don't think you can just blame the manager. The last three games we just haven't started well in the second half.
I'm sure the manager and coaching staff are saying the right thing's but once the player's cross the white line it's down to them.
Palace, Leicester and now Brentford we have let the opposition set the tempo for the second half.
Is that the manager or the player's.

 

[Arkwright]

Meanwhile in france, de zerbi has marseilles only second to psg in a euro poisition having their best season in years. Facts are we had a world class manager and lost him

If we had given £200 million to RDZ I think we would be in a better place then where we are now.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

There's a lot of very panicky people around today.

 

[jackalbion]

I don't think you can just blame the manager. The last three games we just haven't started well in the second half.
I'm sure the manager and coaching staff are saying the right thing's but once the player's cross the white line it's down to them.
Palace, Leicester and now Brentford we have let the opposition set the tempo for the second half.
Is that the manager or the player's.

I think it’s both, if the mistake is made once then that’s on the players. If it’s happening again and again and again, then it’s the managers instructions and inspirational skills:

 

[jimhigham]

Just voted “fence” to make it even more of a cliffhanger.

 

[Flounce]

This season was always going to be a learning curve for a young manager new to this league. Bloom appointed him and must have known this therefore he will be giving him time! Let’s just hope the harsh lessons he has been given this season make him a lot wiser for the future.Naive tactics against ordinary teams is my biggest concern. These teams know how to get at us and score goals far too easily!

Just how long does it take for a manager to see what most fans have seen for the last month or so? Is FH arrogant, inflexible or just plain naive or is he doing a great job for a rookie? We should not be playing the way we are in our current situation imo, it’s suicidal

I will defend FH not blaming players or injuries though.

 

[Pliny the Gull]

Set up with a formation far deeper back. This has been explained in the past by ex players when reviewing how managers/teams adapted to get good results against teams with searing pace. Depriving them of space.

Exactly. And gives our wingers and midfield more space.
This constant high press is suffocating.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Its all so very very strange that this poll even exists.

I went on the Bournemouth site and couldn't find an Iraola OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Bournemouth have 49 points, just the one more than us.,

I went on the Fulham site and couldn't find a Silva OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Fulham have 48 points, exactly the same as us.

I went on the Brentford site and couldn't find a Frank OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Brentford have 46 points, two less than us.

And yet all three of those managers are way more experienced, with multiple seasons honing their craft at the top level, building their team in the Premier League over multiple transfer windows.

Its not even as if we're having a worse season than last year, we're doing better in both league and domestic cups, and yet we're the club with 7 or 8 threads on the front page calling for our managers head after just 30 games in charge and a perfectly decent record.

Not sure what this says about the NSC fanbase. Maybe its a good thing that we're so demanding of instant success. But I can't help thinking it really isn't.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Meanwhile in france, de zerbi has marseilles only second to psg in a euro poisition having their best season in years. Facts are we had a world class manager and lost him

They finished 3rd 22/23, 2nd 21/22. They’ve only finished outside the top 5 once in the last 9 years.

 

[BadFish]

Its all so very very strange that this poll even exists.

I went on the Bournemouth site and couldn't find an Iraola OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Bournemouth have 49 points, just the one more than us.,

I went on the Fulham site and couldn't find a Silva OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Fulham have 48 points, exactly the same as us.

I went on the Brentford site and couldn't find a Frank OUT poll or any thread calling for his head. But Fulham have 46 points, two less than us.

And yet all three of those managers are way more experienced, with multiple seasons honing their craft at the top level, building their team in the Premier League over multiple transfer windows.

Its not even as if we're having a worst season than last year, we're doing better in both league and domestic cups, and yet we're the club with 7 or 8 threads on the front page calling for our managers head after just 30 games in charge and a perfectly decent record.

Not sure what this says about the NSC fanbase. Maybe its a good thing that we're so demanding of instant success. But I can't help thinking it really isn't.

Those calling for his head will tell you (over and over) that they can't see what he is trying to do and don't understand his tactics.

They will also tell you that injuries are not an issue for our team and they don't make any difference to his tactics or playing style.

Maybe the other fans can see what their managers are trying to do because their managers have been at the clubs longer and/or they have less injuries.

Part of the problem is that it doesn't take many fans calling for a manager's head to make us all look a bit silly.

I think it is also to do with the way we have gained our points this season, we have had long good periods followed by long bad ones. Sometimes it is hard to keep an eye on the bigger picture. Again, I would suggest that this is to do with our injuries, unfortunately I think we are in for a bad run in and our some of our fans are going to be a bit tetchy.

On thing that is lacking from our discussion is the notion that our manager should be given another transfer window or two to see how he goes.

 

[willalbion]

Well who else tells him to push up? If he’s doing his own thing then the manager may as well not be here.

He’d be dropped if he was acting against the managers instructions. I imagine Fab makes him the extra man in midfield & Pervis covers for him because he’s faster in recovery. But… it’s poor tactics.