I didn’t expect much, given the starting XI, but Ken’s “tactics” manage to underperform my lowest expectations.
The real mess is in midfield. Without Coffey this squad can NOT play a single pivot. The forwards? Of course that’s what you get when you put D’Aquila wide and Sinc at CF. Even Spaanstra couldn’t make anything out of that. But t…
I didn’t expect much, given the starting XI, but Ken’s “tactics” manage to underperform my lowest expectations.
The real mess is in midfield. Without Coffey this squad can NOT play a single pivot. The forwards? Of course that’s what you get when you put D’Aquila wide and Sinc at CF. Even Spaanstra couldn’t make anything out of that. But the tale of the Cup was that taking the interim shackles off had liberated Ken’s inner tactical genius. Yet he went with a squad that was perfectly incapable of succeeding in his same-old 4-3-3.
Credit to ‘Brunn (tho brutally outworked on the Stevens goal) for not giving up…but the defense as a unit? Waayyyy too much ballwatching, failure to close attackers down, and missing marks. Hogan played Arnold into the starting spot, between turning the ball over and that soft second goal.
Well…that’s what this squad and coach are. To me the big question is; what will the owners do about that? We won’t know until the offseason, tho, and we’re going to enjoy a whole lot of mediocrity between now and then. Let’s hope for a bright spot here and there to lighten the slog.
When your quality players look "lost", and out of sinc (no pun intended) that is bad coaching in my book. No one seems to know where to be or where anyone else is going to be. Why that is acceptable for newbies, Hina, Fleming and Liv should be meshing this long into the season. Honestly.
Agree. What I see is a midfield lacking roles. Everyone is trying to do a bit of everything and end up getting in each other’s way while leaving other areas open. That’s entirely on the coach.
I’m hardly confident in Arnold’s skillset but very confident that the FO wouldn’t have signed her unless they wanted her to start given the ridiculous swarm of keepers already here.
Had Hogan played a blinder she might have made the case for staying with her. She didn’t, so I think that’s all it’ll take.
Both but she’s prone to mistakes the only thing that she’s right off the bat better in is her long distance passing. Distribution is better and what all other gks lack but not sure her shot stopping is better tbh
One thing I've noticed in the short time I've seen her play is that she bobbles the ball a lot more than you'd expect a good GK to do...like she looks like she has butter fingers. Is this just small sample size on my part, or something that is more a problem? Not having good hands is something independent of a bad defense and something that I think could be brutally punished in this league, even more so than in the WSL.
I thought the play improved once they removed Sinclair and D’Aquila from the forward slot, but the. It became about quality and Lavelle/Ryan just took the game over. I can’t tell tactically whether he’s inept or is it more the composition of the IX he’s choosing or some combination of both,
It didn't. Look at the xG plot. The Thorns had nothing going forward with Sinc (shocked? Yeah, me too...) and nothing going forward after she and D'Aquila came off.
Which, given what you'd suspect re: the relative skillsets of the forwards, screams "coaching fail" to me. It's both; his "tactics" don't work against a moderately-clever opposing gaffer AND they don't work with his roster as he's using it.
I didn’t expect much, given the starting XI, but Ken’s “tactics” manage to underperform my lowest expectations.
The real mess is in midfield. Without Coffey this squad can NOT play a single pivot. The forwards? Of course that’s what you get when you put D’Aquila wide and Sinc at CF. Even Spaanstra couldn’t make anything out of that. But the tale of the Cup was that taking the interim shackles off had liberated Ken’s inner tactical genius. Yet he went with a squad that was perfectly incapable of succeeding in his same-old 4-3-3.
Credit to ‘Brunn (tho brutally outworked on the Stevens goal) for not giving up…but the defense as a unit? Waayyyy too much ballwatching, failure to close attackers down, and missing marks. Hogan played Arnold into the starting spot, between turning the ball over and that soft second goal.
Well…that’s what this squad and coach are. To me the big question is; what will the owners do about that? We won’t know until the offseason, tho, and we’re going to enjoy a whole lot of mediocrity between now and then. Let’s hope for a bright spot here and there to lighten the slog.
Yeah, lotsa problems here. Major needs include:
Better tactical coach
Better roster construction
Better cohesion among the pieces
When your quality players look "lost", and out of sinc (no pun intended) that is bad coaching in my book. No one seems to know where to be or where anyone else is going to be. Why that is acceptable for newbies, Hina, Fleming and Liv should be meshing this long into the season. Honestly.
Agree. What I see is a midfield lacking roles. Everyone is trying to do a bit of everything and end up getting in each other’s way while leaving other areas open. That’s entirely on the coach.
Esp when it's the entire team! When you make Hina look bad...it's you.
I watch West Ham I wouldn’t be that confident about Macca tbh . She was easily one of the bottom tiered gks in the wsl
Karina might be acquiring what she thinks may turn out to be undervalued assets. If they work out, great. If not, move them on.
This year she acquired Muller, Payne, Obaze, Fleming, Dias, Alvarado, Turner, Spaanstra, and Arnold. Am I forgetting anybody?
Can't say Karina hasn't been busy.
Muller has been a hit.
Payne is useful against certain opponents.
Obaze has looked good when played; unfortunately she's not geting played.
I like what we saw from Turner and Spaanstra yesterday.
She's already moved on from Alvarado and Dias.
Jury's still out on whether Fleming is a good fit here within the overall midfield mix.
I’m hardly confident in Arnold’s skillset but very confident that the FO wouldn’t have signed her unless they wanted her to start given the ridiculous swarm of keepers already here.
Had Hogan played a blinder she might have made the case for staying with her. She didn’t, so I think that’s all it’ll take.
Was that her defense or was that her own mistakes? She was bad in the Olympics, but I don't think her defense helped much.
Both but she’s prone to mistakes the only thing that she’s right off the bat better in is her long distance passing. Distribution is better and what all other gks lack but not sure her shot stopping is better tbh
One thing I've noticed in the short time I've seen her play is that she bobbles the ball a lot more than you'd expect a good GK to do...like she looks like she has butter fingers. Is this just small sample size on my part, or something that is more a problem? Not having good hands is something independent of a bad defense and something that I think could be brutally punished in this league, even more so than in the WSL.
I thought the play improved once they removed Sinclair and D’Aquila from the forward slot, but the. It became about quality and Lavelle/Ryan just took the game over. I can’t tell tactically whether he’s inept or is it more the composition of the IX he’s choosing or some combination of both,
It didn't. Look at the xG plot. The Thorns had nothing going forward with Sinc (shocked? Yeah, me too...) and nothing going forward after she and D'Aquila came off.
Which, given what you'd suspect re: the relative skillsets of the forwards, screams "coaching fail" to me. It's both; his "tactics" don't work against a moderately-clever opposing gaffer AND they don't work with his roster as he's using it.
Yeah he's def shifted the formation a bit and I'm not sure it suits the players we have (esp on defense.)