Lived the fairytale last year. And even now l kind of have to pinch myself how we churned out result after result in order to win the league one championship. Nobody can take that away, and those memories shouldn't be forgotten or mean any less even if relegation was to happen.
I must admit l get really frustrated by the fact there is either a consistent gloom or some werid external sunshine where everything is just fantastic.
What we are experiencing isn't a group of bottle jobs. Its simply a lack of dealing with things when we were at our best. When we were europhic we could only see one outlook after a win. I'm not actually talking about the fans. I'm talking about the management & those dealing with this group of players. And so this season came along & what do we actually do thats so different??
Well Schumacher recognised the 3-4-2-1 might not work in this league as much as last season. So he changed it to a 4-3-3. And what did we see. We saw a side mode capable of still scoring in this league but less capable of defending. Away from home, we just couldn't stop teams running through us.
Schumacher had no idea how to stop this. From games away to games at HP, the fact was yes we were scoring but teams were getting more volume of chances in better areas of pitch. Yet we cleverly masked ourselves by looking like a free scoring team by being clinical. Exactly, what we did last season. Nobody complained because although the performances were pointing to issues, just last season, we got the results that masked over our defiencies. Nobody asked why were we letting in basic goals. Or why we kept giving away possesion. It didn't matter. We kept getting results. However, those results were only sustainable if Argyle kept their best attacking players. It wouldn't of even mattered if Schumacher remained, because the defensive issues we see of a CB not jumping for a ball with a 6"5 CB, players running at our defence unprotected by its midfield & simple neglect of basic passing mechanics within a team unit would still be there now. January would of come & Azaz would of been sold. How on earth would we have found someone to replace him. Not only this but we were like a club with a massive leak, tapping it up game after game after game under Schumacher. He wasn't sorting out the away form because he couldn't make us soild enough. After 4 months of trying, it wasn't ever about player recruitment but actually player coaching. Who was making Argyle pass out the back at Elland Rd committing passing suicidal by playing out the back? It was him. And this was only a reflection of what he did the season before? Yet we were clinical enough to get ourselves back in games. Sometimes we couldn't hide it. Yet after a hammering we sweep it under the carpet.
When you watched Argyle pass the ball last season were you honestly that impressed with how they kept possesion? How they interchanged with team mates. The fluidity of the way they moved the ball? Or were you impressed by when an oppostion lost the ball the transition of that move on the counter attack? Both is good football. Yet one isn't a possesion based style. Hence why Schumacher obsession to change to a 4-3-3. It allowed for width & fluidity. The trouble was we defended as a team unit as we did last season and it was hopless.
Now we come to games like Stoke & Millwall. I hear bottle jobs. I shiver. They aren't getting beaten because of fear. More to do with bad coaching. And if it isn't bad coaching then why after 2 years do we see the same players within a defensive team unit make the same mistakes. Maybe some aren't good enough. Yet when you watched Millwall, today was there anything that was standing out apart from the fact they were organised & physical. And it's OK if you want to play football but you got to earn it first. Argyle go on their pitch & look to execute a game plan that's play it along the back & punt it upfield. If that's not to do with coaching & tactics then it simply means we have a terrible team. Quite frankly, l don't we aren't any worse than some of these bottom 8 squads. I expected us to lose games but we are losing games in a manner where the football lacks any conviction. These teams around us are just better organised & physically stronger.
This has only turned into a nightmare, as we never addressed the reality of our defencies. Nothing will change next week. The whole build up will sound great. The messages from the club will make you believe we have a great performance in us. Yet when we get out on the pitch, and Hull move us around & the gaps appear we will get exposed to our lack of tactics in knowing how to deal with this. Maybe we can put everyone behind the ball,. Score a scruffy goal. Or Norwich do us a massive favour. Its just masking over the cracks.
The reality is this club needs good a manager/coach who can organise & coach these players. We need a backroom staff to help develop these players. We need to keep Nance here as you need that coach that has the connection between the fanbase/team plus he is a very motivational person. However, its now being proved he needs help with other coaches around him that can stop these players bad habits.
I can't deny l am going to be gutted if we get relegated. However, if this club doesn't sit up & realise how they let things drift to the point we are now here then if we do go down, it will be for nothing. If we are to get relegated, actually use this season as a learning curve for us to get better.
I must admit l get really frustrated by the fact there is either a consistent gloom or some werid external sunshine where everything is just fantastic.
What we are experiencing isn't a group of bottle jobs. Its simply a lack of dealing with things when we were at our best. When we were europhic we could only see one outlook after a win. I'm not actually talking about the fans. I'm talking about the management & those dealing with this group of players. And so this season came along & what do we actually do thats so different??
Well Schumacher recognised the 3-4-2-1 might not work in this league as much as last season. So he changed it to a 4-3-3. And what did we see. We saw a side mode capable of still scoring in this league but less capable of defending. Away from home, we just couldn't stop teams running through us.
Schumacher had no idea how to stop this. From games away to games at HP, the fact was yes we were scoring but teams were getting more volume of chances in better areas of pitch. Yet we cleverly masked ourselves by looking like a free scoring team by being clinical. Exactly, what we did last season. Nobody complained because although the performances were pointing to issues, just last season, we got the results that masked over our defiencies. Nobody asked why were we letting in basic goals. Or why we kept giving away possesion. It didn't matter. We kept getting results. However, those results were only sustainable if Argyle kept their best attacking players. It wouldn't of even mattered if Schumacher remained, because the defensive issues we see of a CB not jumping for a ball with a 6"5 CB, players running at our defence unprotected by its midfield & simple neglect of basic passing mechanics within a team unit would still be there now. January would of come & Azaz would of been sold. How on earth would we have found someone to replace him. Not only this but we were like a club with a massive leak, tapping it up game after game after game under Schumacher. He wasn't sorting out the away form because he couldn't make us soild enough. After 4 months of trying, it wasn't ever about player recruitment but actually player coaching. Who was making Argyle pass out the back at Elland Rd committing passing suicidal by playing out the back? It was him. And this was only a reflection of what he did the season before? Yet we were clinical enough to get ourselves back in games. Sometimes we couldn't hide it. Yet after a hammering we sweep it under the carpet.
When you watched Argyle pass the ball last season were you honestly that impressed with how they kept possesion? How they interchanged with team mates. The fluidity of the way they moved the ball? Or were you impressed by when an oppostion lost the ball the transition of that move on the counter attack? Both is good football. Yet one isn't a possesion based style. Hence why Schumacher obsession to change to a 4-3-3. It allowed for width & fluidity. The trouble was we defended as a team unit as we did last season and it was hopless.
Now we come to games like Stoke & Millwall. I hear bottle jobs. I shiver. They aren't getting beaten because of fear. More to do with bad coaching. And if it isn't bad coaching then why after 2 years do we see the same players within a defensive team unit make the same mistakes. Maybe some aren't good enough. Yet when you watched Millwall, today was there anything that was standing out apart from the fact they were organised & physical. And it's OK if you want to play football but you got to earn it first. Argyle go on their pitch & look to execute a game plan that's play it along the back & punt it upfield. If that's not to do with coaching & tactics then it simply means we have a terrible team. Quite frankly, l don't we aren't any worse than some of these bottom 8 squads. I expected us to lose games but we are losing games in a manner where the football lacks any conviction. These teams around us are just better organised & physically stronger.
This has only turned into a nightmare, as we never addressed the reality of our defencies. Nothing will change next week. The whole build up will sound great. The messages from the club will make you believe we have a great performance in us. Yet when we get out on the pitch, and Hull move us around & the gaps appear we will get exposed to our lack of tactics in knowing how to deal with this. Maybe we can put everyone behind the ball,. Score a scruffy goal. Or Norwich do us a massive favour. Its just masking over the cracks.
The reality is this club needs good a manager/coach who can organise & coach these players. We need a backroom staff to help develop these players. We need to keep Nance here as you need that coach that has the connection between the fanbase/team plus he is a very motivational person. However, its now being proved he needs help with other coaches around him that can stop these players bad habits.
I can't deny l am going to be gutted if we get relegated. However, if this club doesn't sit up & realise how they let things drift to the point we are now here then if we do go down, it will be for nothing. If we are to get relegated, actually use this season as a learning curve for us to get better.
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