AFC Bournemouth (Away) Saturday September 24

[markjazzbassist]

Played 6 W4 D1 L1

 

Beat Palace that's win 5 out of 7 .

 

 

Shite today but let's keep the faith.

I'm with you man!

[Keith B]

Played 6 W4 D1 L1

 

Beat Palace that's win 5 out of 7 .

 

 

Shite today but let's keep the faith.

 

Yep. I certainly didn't expect to start this well.

[Cornish Steve]

I'd mention a couple of points.

 

1) At times like this, it's important to do the small things right, and we're not.

2) Koeman may have been over-confident in the last two games. He needs to plan games more carefully. What was the strategy today?

3) Let's just get back to basics and work hard. We let wins against lesser opposition go to our heads a bit.

4) I know many won't agree, but we really do miss the contribution of McCarthy. Why? Because he's boringly consistent, and that's what you need.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Utter dross

 

I think we started the game the way we finished the Norwich game, slight improvement second half but still nowhere near good enough

 

 

[Sibdane]

Pretty disappointed by this loss, but we can't win them all. I'm hoping the cup didn't play a part in this dross.

[nogs]

I think it is fair enough to be full of praise for the way we picked apart Sunderland and Boro with ease, but then criticise two very below par performances this week. Not overreaction, that's just being a football fan. We want to see our team play their best, last two games they haven't.

 

Koeman's remarks about attitude say it all, we have lost twice this week because, in our manager's view, some players haven't been up for it. Fans have every right to complain about that.

[Blue 250]

Koeman didn't come here on a few weeks contract, he knew we were poor last season and he wouldn't have expected us to change within a few weeks, he'd have been happy with our start as we have been, but as a seasoned pro, he would have been waiting for the first wobble.

He needs to see players first hand at reacting to defeat and criticism before he can really build what HE wants.There will be a few more wobbles yet, he's still getting to know the players.Sounds like he can already see some weak links.

[markjazzbassist]

Koeman didn't come here on a few weeks contract, he knew we were poor last season and he wouldn't have expected us to change within a few weeks, he'd have been happy with our start as we have been, but as a seasoned pro, he would have been waiting for the first wobble.

He needs to see players first hand at reacting to defeat and criticism before he can really build what HE wants.There will be a few more wobbles yet, he's still getting to know the players.Sounds like he can already see some weak links.

Yep he said as much in his post match interview. He needs to see how the players react so he can figure out how to motivate and manage them. Each player requires a different method and he is still learning about everyone.

 

Not to mention we have so much dead wood and so little depth. The next 2 Windows will be crucial.

[Gwlad]

I wonder why players didn't have the right attitude for the game and why tactics for the last two games were wrong. After all he brought his brother and fitness coach Kluitenberg with him so they have to stand up and be counted too.

[chalkpie]

Problem was that at halftime, both my lad and I said we didn't know where the next goal was going to come from, and we were correct. It just didn't feel right, and we never looked threatening or able to penetrate their defence. It truly had a Martinez era feel to it, minus about two more goals conceded, which I guess is the only positive I can take from this game. Friday is fairly massive match and can direct our season one way or the other.

[Matt]

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-goalkeeper-maarten-stekelenburg-reveals-11936648

[markjazzbassist]

Quite the change from "result wasn't what we wanted but we looked phenomenal, some beautiful end to end football"

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I honestly think the midweek fiasco against Norwich played a huge part in this result

We were woeful in the first half and didn't get much better in the second.

But that first 30 minutes set the tone for the game, the players were all over the place, they looked low on confidence and didn't seem to be at the races at all

 

Had we played a strong line up and got a convincing win in midweek then I think the players would have been up for this game from the word go

 

Instead a humiliating defeat in midweek seems to have set the seed of doubt in the minds of some of the players, particularly Barkley whose confidence is fragile at the best of times

 

 

[Btay]

We had 3 big chances to score for me, Ross should have scored his header, Lukaku was denied by a good save and Valencia needs to do better on his effort. Yes we weren't at our best but those 3 chances should have been taken and if so we are talking about a gritty win away from home.. Small margins football.

[Blue 250]

I honestly think the midweek fiasco against Norwich played a huge part in this result

We were woeful in the first half and didn't get much better in the second.

But that first 30 minutes set the tone for the game, the players were all over the place, they looked low on confidence and didn't seem to be at the races at all

 

Had we played a strong line up and got a convincing win in midweek then I think the players would have been up for this game from the word go

 

Instead a humiliating defeat in midweek seems to have set the seed of doubt in the minds of some of the players, particularly Barkley whose confidence is fragile at the best of times

 

 

 

Possibly the closest we've come to a reason for the result, but you would think Koeman would have Known how footballers tick, he's spent his whole working life as one and leading them.Can it really be that simple ?

 

A mixture of the above and Norwich and Bournemouth doing a job on us whilst at the same time some of our big names just havn't performed.

 

Their doesn't seem to be any easy games these days, if you underperform, you get beaten.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I think, perhaps, there was a level of naivety amongst the manager and players. Bournemouth are known to enjoy passing the ball around and playing a fairly open game.

 

They aren't known for their high press and work rate. Clearly they set up that way knowing that we are susceptible to a high press and they exploited that weakness.

 

It was foolish of us to go into this game thinking we could stroke the ball around and stroll to a 2-0 victory.

 

Now Palace will have been looking at this and how weak we are when it comes to teams who get about us, it's obvious that they will employ the same tactic. We now have to be preparing the team for that, we need to be much tighter at the back and that means a change of system for me.

 

 

I would disagree with that, Bournemouth are renowned for their work rate, no other team ran more than them last season

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/11888783/Just-one-Premier-League-team-has-run-further-than-Manchester-United-this-season.html

[johnh]

Last season, all our worst performances were against teams who press hard. We don't seem to know what to do under pressure, we like teams who back off and allow us to pass the ball around at a leisurely pace. There was one game, can't remember who we were playing' but whenever one of our defenders got possession there was someone in his face. I have never seen us play so many long balls and most were by the goalie as the only 'out' under pressure was a pass back to the goalie.

[nogs]

I think, perhaps, there was a level of naivety amongst the manager and players. Bournemouth are known to enjoy passing the ball around and playing a fairly open game.

 

They aren't known for their high press and work rate. Clearly they set up that way knowing that we are susceptible to a high press and they exploited that weakness.

 

It was foolish of us to go into this game thinking we could stroke the ball around and stroll to a 2-0 victory.

 

Now Palace will have been looking at this and how weak we are when it comes to teams who get about us, it's obvious that they will employ the same tactic. We now have to be preparing the team for that, we need to be much tighter at the back and that means a change of system for me.

We've got a big problem against the high press, our players want too long on the ball and the forwards don't take responsibility for doing it themselves. Hangover from Martinez probably, but some on seem to think we're suddenly playing high tempo pressing football. We're not, Norwich and Bournemouth beat us because they did play that way and neutralised how we try to play. We need to wise up or every team will come at us hard and unsettle us.

[pete0]

Go zonal and let them run themselves out, then strike on the counter. Arsenal have smashed us a couple of times when we've played a high tempo.