Williams and James

[RedorDead BCFC]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Sometimes the opposition is poor because we are good, I.e. we make them look bad. They were in better form than us going into yesterday, played a full strength eleven…but we were too good for them yesterday.

That’s the way I look at it as well. When we are good enough to beat someone 5-0 some say it has to be because they were poor. But in fact it was us that made them look poor because they could not cope with us. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by RedorDead BCFC

[chinapig]

18 minutes ago, The Swan and Cemetery said:

Wonder if based on last few games NP might decide 5-2-3/5-2-1-2 is the way to go, rather than 4-3-3? 4-3-3 will need some significant personnel changes which maybe tricky, whereas in recent games we’ve started to look a lot more fluid with players interchanging more effectively. Suspect he’ll still try to go for 4-3-3, as probs easier to get Scott into a position where he can add most impact, but leaves problems at RB and LB to solve (assuming Klose retained) - Tanner a decent prospect, but need at least one more there, Dasilva not a LB and not sure NP would trust Pring, but again as a min would need one more. Probs need a GK to really push Bentley and a CB or two (if Kalas goes).
But back on topic, he must at least feel as if CM is looking as if it might be in decent shape as well as our forwards - always going to be a work in progress season, so getting a frontline firing and midfield looking decent, plus signs of progress in defence feels decent to me. That said, an important summer ahead, too many of yesterday’s starters not here and we’ll be, to some degree, starting again. 

Nigel actually said recently that people assume he prefers 4-3-3 but that he likes to have 2 up front with 1 behind them. So exactly what we have now.

He also talked about currently playing a back 3/5 out of necessity, which implies he might prefer a back 4 with the right players.

But he half dismissed the need for a defensive midfielder, saying what you need is a reliable defence.

Short version: I have no idea what he is going to do.

 

[Robbored]

Both James and Williams are class acts and it’s been really unfortunate that injuries have denied both the opportunity to play together and as already stated they were excellent yesterday. 

[Red-Robbo]

I think it helped that Hull had such a terrible midfield. Their Lenny Bennet lookalike #10 (Honeyman) was a headless chicken, while their #6 (Smallwood) was just a thug.

But you can only play who is in front of you, and James and Williams, like the entire squad, did an outstanding job at exposing their opponent's weakness.

We were ruthless, which is something you just love to see.  

[Davefevs]

14 minutes ago, chinapig said:

Nigel actually said recently that people assume he prefers 4-3-3 but that he likes to have 2 up front with 1 behind them. So exactly what we have now.

He also talked about currently playing a back 3/5 out of necessity, which implies he might prefer a back 4 with the right players.

But he half dismissed the need for a defensive midfielder, saying what you need is a reliable defence.

Short version: I have no idea what he is going to do.

 

My only thought is that 5212 is not that divorced from 4312 in simplistic terms…so depending on players, it’s not that big a transition???

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

My only thought is that 5212 is not that divorced from 4312 in simplistic terms…so depending on players, it’s not that big a transition???

I think that, if you’re playing, three at back will always be radically different from four at the back because of the importance it puts on the wingback position.  It makes the passing lines more diagonal, rather than sideways and forwards/backwards.  It’s a more fluid shape to my mind.  I’ve seen teams at grassroots level really struggle to transition from one to another.

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I think that, if you’re playing, three at back will always be radically different from four at the back because of the importance it puts on the wingback position.  It makes the passing lines more diagonal, rather than sideways and forwards/backwards.  It’s a more fluid shape to my mind.  I’ve seen teams at grassroots level really struggle to transition from one to another.

The only reason I say this is that Nige played a hybrid 5212/4312 with Williams as the “front sweeper”.  I’d normally agree with you, that back 4 systems versus back 3 & WBs is very different….but I saw something in those games that suggested to me this particular type is closer than normal.

[italian dave]

They certainly looked good together yesterday. But it was only a few weeks ago that Massengo and Scott looked even better together and made a very good Preston midfield look very average. The enigma of our midfield this season. 

[steviestevieneville]

On 01/05/2022 at 00:15, Bristol_Badger said:

Love how we play a relegation rival with nothing to play for and all of a sudden we’re all good 

We haven’t been involved or anywhere near relegation all season 

[Lanterne Rouge]

Just now, steviestevieneville said:

We haven’t been involved or anywhere near relegation all season 

Don`t you dare come on here with your so-called `facts`!