It'll take time to gel

[Guest spk]

aye, after rafa came in it took the existing first team over 12 months to really get the hang of the zonal marking. hardly surprising thataurelio and gonzalez havent quite got it yet. i've no idea about the borders of these zones or how they overlap but theres an arguament that hyypia might have blame in that goal too

[Magic8Ball]

its not just gelling it was also about saving players for the CL Qual game which is worth 10m !

[hideNseek]

Way too many pessimists on here

 

Whatever. And I'm not a pessimist. Saying it was 2 points dropped is not being a pessimist it's stating what I think happened. Either way go f*** yourself.

[Ombudsam]

too much tinkering wont help.

needed a strong start to the campaign and im still pissed off with rafa for blowing what should have been 3 points yesterday. we can start to rest our key players when the confidence is up and the team is in a rhythm

 

don't want another cheyrou situation where they don't acclimatise though

[Earl Hafler]

aye, after rafa came in it took the existing first team over 12 months to really get the hang of the zonal marking. hardly surprising thataurelio and gonzalez havent quite got it yet. i've no idea about the borders of these zones or how they overlap but theres an arguament that hyypia might have blame in that goal too

 

The problem with zonal marking is that a target man like Hulse can steal in at the back post because he's in an area being marked by a fullback. Dangermen like that should be man marked.

 

Both zonal and man marking have their faults. It just depends on the team and we showed for much of last season that it suited us.

[JohnnyH]

One point won.

 

What? against a newly promoted team? I thought we were going for the title, not trying to avoid relegation? Lets see if United or Chelsea go there with the idea of 1 point been a good result.

[Armin_Tamzarian]

Lets see if United or Chelsea go there with the idea of 1 point been a good result.

 

Are you suggesting that we didn't try to win it? We didn't keep the momentum up after the equaliser but we looked for the winner right up to the whistle.

[Mike]

Do you not think that people were possibly underestimating Sheffield?

 

selecting the correct personnel for the game would have meant us claiming 3 points though ronnie, regardless of who seff utd could put out.

i just dont understand the logic of playing zenden and momo in our first vital away game or playing an aging striker who has been injured and as far as i know played only 1 preseason game 3 days earlier at lincoln.

[Knox_Harrington]

Rafa played the way he chose because we were playing a niggly physical team on a very narrow pitch. Crouch would not have had the right sort of service, Kuyt wasn't available. Not alot of point playing two wingers when there wasn't the space for them to exploit the wings. Wasn't any point on playing a 5 man midfield with one up front. The other selection choices were his decision but were put into disarray because of injuries.

 

Why not wait to see how the other teams perform there before starting to panic? Sheffield Utd will average 2pts+ in their home fixtures this season and I'd rather Rafa got into the CL group stage than win our first league game.

 

One point won.

There's no way Sheff U will get 38 points at home this season. I think they'll stay up, I wouldn't be surprised if they got ten wins but they won't win ten and draw eight out of nineteen.

 

Two points dropped, whenever in the season it is, and both manager and players have to take responsibilities. Crouch can hold it up whether or not we have wide men whipping balls in. We had no one to hold it up.

 

EDIT: Went for a pint after the game with a Sheff U supporter who said he was made up with one point and expected Liverpool, Spurs, Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal to spank them home and away this season. "We need to do well from the bottom half but anything home or away against the top six is a bonus."

Edited August 21, 2006 by Knox_Harrington

[Ronnie Whelan]

selecting the correct personnel for the game would have meant us claiming 3 points though ronnie, regardless of who seff utd could put out.

i just dont understand the logic of playing zenden and momo in our first vital away game or playing an aging striker who has been injured and as far as i know played only 1 preseason game 3 days earlier at lincoln.

 

 

I appreciate your argument, but the picking of a team for every match is one of the reasons Rafa has assembled the squad he has assembled. Teams really do not know what to expect and neither do the supporters. Sure, every once in a while we will have a scenario like saturdays, but i honestly think they will be few and far between. Also, saturday was down to a poor performance too, even Momo was not up to his best. The side we put out was capable of beating that SUFC side, we just did not perform as we expected.

[jimmylibel]

Are you suggesting that we didn't try to win it? We didn't keep the momentum up after the equaliser but we looked for the winner right up to the whistle.

 

Disagree. Think we went very conservative as soon as we equalised. The 3 points were there for the taking but I don't think we got another shot in after our goal.

[Cobs]

Disagree. Think we went very conservative as soon as we equalised. The 3 points were there for the taking but I don't think we got another shot in after our goal.

yep.

 

dunno if we managed another shot but we definitely dropped the tempo - very annoying.

[IgPig]

We shouldn't be drawing with Sheff Wed, and I do agree with those who say the team wasn't quite right ( I would had played Crouch, and I wouldn't have played Zenden) however its 1 game and provided we don't make a habit of it it'll not be a problem.

[redpool]

Random thoughts to this thread.

 

Last season's opener Chelsea went to Wigan and were held scoreless for ninety minutes. They scored in extra time to win the game.

 

That brings at least two different thoughts:

 

A Championship team finds a way to win this type of game against a lesser opponent.

 

Tough to open against a newly promoted team away from home because they have not faced any adversity to this point and don't realize they shouldn't win. Hence they give great effort!

 

 

Looking at Rafa's team selection and saying it cost us the game is way off the mark. If you read the starting line-ups of the two teams and had to bet money on one team, which would it have been? Liverpool had Gerrard, Bellamy, Carragher, Sami, Momo, Riise, and Reina in goal. The other five starters are Premiership quality players. It was the lack of effort and not the team selection.

Watching the intensity of the Community Shield game, and understanding we are playing a game for 10 million pound on Tuesday, Rafa tweaked the line-up to utilize his whole squad. That is what everyone has praised, "Our great depth at all positions." Now with the injuries to Jaime and Jon Arne, we will find out how good the depth of this squad is over the next months!

[IgPig]

We really shouldn't be playing them.......

 

We wouldn't have beaten them on Saturday either.