AvfcRigo82 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 People do need to calm down a touch, although it IS understandable after we just got battered by a scoreline I can't even bring myself to type. We all know deep down that this is an anomaly. I'm pretty confident it won't happen again quite like that this season. If we start getting our arses handed to us every game then I would start to worry. We just have to dust ourselves down and move on. It's so evident that we have a team of children. They were awful at the start of the Liverpool game and that could itself have been a battering. But they improved and gained in confidence then seemed to believe they could so anything. Against Chelsea we concede early, lose all confidence and fall apart. They are really vulnerable psychologically and they are bound to be until they mature and gain some experience. More than anything, this game highlights the need for some experience in the team and hopefully that can be sorted in January. But we really have to get behind the lads and move on. There is just no point dwelling on it and giving them a bashing (however much they might deserve it). I'm sure they're not feeling great about the result either Bang on post spoony. I agree with the fact that unless we get the upper hand early on we just seem to turn like sand in a sieve. The Man Utd, Citeh & Liverpool game is good examples of this. Yesterday from the minute we kicked off I just knew it was going to be a long day and when Torres scored in the first minute it was no suprise the flood gates opened but we didn't expect a Tsunami to hit us. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Oh well, you could bang and shout at your computer screen a little more then. Whatever you say or do has no baring on anything, thank god! Great response. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Yeah, fine - the 8-0 in isolation is something that can happen to anyone, but the difference between us and United/Arsenal is that our total thrashing is coupled with 8 losses from 18, a GD of -17, a goals conceded column of 32, and a division low, goals scored column of 15. It's becoming harder and harder to believe in this 'project'. I think PL is fortunate that the last man in the post was Alex Mcleish because a loss like Sunday/a season like this so far would never have been considered acceptable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Lambert has disappointed me so far. I really thought he would manage the team better than he has. He makes mistakes with tactics and with selection. I also think he's a bit stubborn about who should be in or out of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laivasse Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 What has shocked me most is how tactically naive Lambert seems. When he was appointed, we all dared to hope about all the things we might bring with him - positive possession footballing mentality, attacking philosophy, the desire to build a team from the ground up, an eye for talent, and so forth. He's brought all those things, which has been a cause for delight. What he doesn't seem to have brought is any kind of tactical sharpness. People will point to how he got everything right at Anfield, which he did, but we were massively assisted by the fact that Liverplop got everything wrong in the final third so we were given second and third chances which you can't count on in most prem games. Earlier in the season we started with this narrow diamond rubbish, using Delph and KEA as 2 players to perform the job of 1 player, which left us playing too deep and with no width. Now we've got this 5-3-2 stuff which still leaves us completely insubstantial in midfield, trying to play dynamic possession football but with a formation that's more suited to work on the break. He doesn't seem to have a clue what to do when we concede and if we're not in the lead after 55 minutes we may as well pack up and go home. He seems to be taking ages to figure out that cloggers like Bannan and Lichaj aren't good enough, just as their performances over the last 2 years have suggested, while he's sidelining more talented players whom we really need to come good for us. We can attack well, but we require Benteke to be on form or else we have no attack at all. So yeah he's brought a load of good things to the table but a pretty **** big piece of the managerial puzzle seems to be missing right now, and that 0-8 drubbing is evidence of it. That's the kind of scoreline a League 2 side might occasionally expect against Chelsea, not a prem side, no matter how inexperienced we are. Ultimate responsibility is on the manager and I honestly don't know what to think of this guy at the moment. Building for the future shouldn't necessarily start with the building site getting nuked from orbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 first one we've ever had Southampton putting 6 past us? City putting 5? 1/6 Of our league games have been huge losses, so in my eyes not such a freak result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daweii Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 You only have to look at our results to see we have had an up and down season. I mean there have been times where it has started to look up and funnily enough most of these times have come after great League Cup results, but we are a young side and often I think our young players have a good run of results and believe they are World beaters. We will improve but it is going to be slow progress. Yes we have been battered a few times this season but we have also battered a few teams ourselves something that never happened last season. Don't lose faith now guys, this is our worst defeat ever yes and our worst since the 7-1 loss at Chelsea 4 years ago but that was 4 years ago showing this doesn't happen all that often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 (edited) There are many factors that could have resulted in yesterday's result and many have been mentioned. We know we are "work in progress" and the lads are brittle in confidence, it seems an early goal for or against can make a big difference to the result right now. some fans have mooted the Cup semi final as a barometer of progress, can't be ingored granted.... but my measure of progress is when i can see a tangible difference in their ability to keep and control the ball. That is when I will know we have turned the corner. The goals at Liverpool bailed us out of what happened at Chelsea. The difference was we closed Liverpool down and pressed them. then caught them on the break.We stood off Chelsea. I fear unless we get extremely lucky we need to spend a few bob on Midfield. Edited December 24, 2012 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Lambert has disappointed me so far. I really thought he would manage the team better than he has. He makes mistakes with tactics and with selection. I also think he's a bit stubborn about who should be in or out of the team. tactically he is a bit clueless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 some fans have mooted the Cup semi final as a barometer of progress, 'some fans have mooted the Cup semi final as a barometer of progress'. This is not a barometer of progress at all. I would remind everyone that Bradford City (from League 2 which is 3 divisions below us) are also at exactly the same stage of the League Cup as we are so are we to compare ourselves as being at the same level as Bradford City? Footballing progress is only measured in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I dont think he is clueless, just stubborn in his insistence to try and win every single game. The pluses of that are we can get a scalp or two, the negatives are we can get bloody trashed to high hell. He reminds me a bit of Wenger in his stubborness to be honest. Frustrating and delightful in equal measure. The good news is yesterday in the post match interview he took responsibility for the defeat, which he should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 What has shocked me most is how tactically naive Lambert seems. When he was appointed, we all dared to hope about all the things we might bring with him - positive possession footballing mentality, attacking philosophy, the desire to build a team from the ground up, an eye for talent, and so forth. He's brought all those things, which has been a cause for delight. What he doesn't seem to have brought is any kind of tactical sharpness. People will point to how he got everything right at Anfield, which he did, but we were massively assisted by the fact that Liverplop got everything wrong in the final third so we were given second and third chances which you can't count on in most prem games. Earlier in the season we started with this narrow diamond rubbish, using Delph and KEA as 2 players to perform the job of 1 player, which left us playing too deep and with no width. Now we've got this 5-3-2 stuff which still leaves us completely insubstantial in midfield, trying to play dynamic possession football but with a formation that's more suited to work on the break. He doesn't seem to have a clue what to do when we concede and if we're not in the lead after 55 minutes we may as well pack up and go home. He seems to be taking ages to figure out that cloggers like Bannan and Lichaj aren't good enough, just as their performances over the last 2 years have suggested, while he's sidelining more talented players whom we really need to come good for us. We can attack well, but we require Benteke to be on form or else we have no attack at all. So yeah he's brought a load of good things to the table but a pretty **** big piece of the managerial puzzle seems to be missing right now, and that 0-8 drubbing is evidence of it. That's the kind of scoreline a League 2 side might occasionally expect against Chelsea, not a prem side, no matter how inexperienced we are. Ultimate responsibility is on the manager and I honestly don't know what to think of this guy at the moment. Building for the future shouldn't necessarily start with the building site getting nuked from orbit. Totally agree with you. In addition, when building a team you build from the back. After half a season letting in 8 goals is evidence that Lambert is not very good at building from the back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KjParton Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I think people need to listen to the wise words of our Gaffer: "You analyse it. But you can't overanalyse it otherwise it will drag you right down. You get to a point where you have to let it go." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Learn from our mistakes and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Footballing progress is only measured in the league. But only if we're doing poorly in the league and well in the cups of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 tactically he is a bit clueless Tactically he was brilliant against Liverpool. Chelsea had a good day and we had a bad one. Chelsea's team cost around two hundred million pounds. Who was Lambert supposed to bring on? Personally I think leaving players you want replaced on the pitch during a thumping eight days before the transfer window is quite a brilliant tactic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I would hope the relationship between owner and manager and the long term plan was strong enough so that Lambert wouldn't have to do what you're implying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I would hope the relationship between owner and manager and the long term plan was strong enough so that Lambert wouldn't have to do what you're implying. Maybe it isn't as sinister as it sounds. Maybe Lambert wanted to prove things to himself as much as to RL. If so, he got a pretty emphatic answer to a few questions he might have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingsombrero Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 I rather get battered every now and again if it means winning a few along the way. If we had drawn both of the last two there would be no hysteria and we would be a point worse off. That's what killed us last season and the fact that the are going to be wins as well as losses on the board is why I still think lower mid-table by the end of the season. The important thing is how the team reacts against Spurs and we are lucky to have that game so soon after the Chelsea result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daweii Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Tactically he was brilliant against Liverpool. Chelsea had a good day and we had a bad one. Chelsea's team cost around two hundred million pounds. Who was Lambert supposed to bring on? Personally I think leaving players you want replaced on the pitch during a thumping eight days before the transfer window is quite a brilliant tactic. Exactly. I think one of the stats I heard during the game was that Torres cost more than our entire fielded 11 and that Torres and Hazard cost more than our entire 25 man squad. We are getting what we paid for and while some players like Benteke, Westwood and Lowton could go on to be some of the best in the World, right now they aren't. Putting 9 of the youngest Premier League players (Guzan and Holman aren't young) up against one of the best teams in the World wasn't going to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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