Wasted opportunity for at least 4 points in the last 2 games Are we maybe not that good a team and in a false position and just been a bit lucky to be where we are right now I wouldn’t say we’ve been exactly brilliant the last 8 or 9 games really if we’re honest maybe except against reading who were just damn poor anyway I’m just in mind set we’re definitely not going down and we’re not going up as we’d be a very poor team to be promoted from the championship right now The other teams are starting their own battles for our top 6 spot now and I just can’t see how we are going to keep it We didn’t strengthen enough in January,we look flat footed and tired already,the goals have dried up and getting beaten by lower teams easily at the moment,not being sceptical just being realistic looking at it on an other side we are still 4th with a game in hand and could of been in a even far better position if we had beaten barnsley and millwall,but we didnt and last couple of performances especially last nights were shocking,but all teams have a bad run,look at west brom they have slipped out of the promotion race at the moment and were flying bournemouth had a rough patch,blackburn are stuttering a bit now and not that far ahead of us its hard to be optimistic though as millwall were the far better side last night,more energy and urgency on the ball and deserved to win
Last Edit: Feb 16, 2022 8:47:17 GMT by singlespeed
The Hull match is huge now. We are only 5 clear of 7th. The crowd will be nervous. Player confidence has taken a hit.
The team will also have to change and there's lots to mull over on top of the lack of goals:
Dickie is now suspended for the next 2 games after picking up his 10th League yellow.
Wallace's injury will no doubt see McCallum back in the action sooner.
Chair has come back and we've not won in 4. We were unbeaten without him. So question marks there too.
Johansen doesn't look right. He's not charging about like we know he can.
Willock didn't appear to be over his knock. Definitely not 100%.
The thing that remains the biggest drawback for me is how slow the manager is to react when we need a change of plan or tactics. We saw last season that Warburton was reluctant to move from his 4-2-3-1 system despite it not working. The opposition knew exactly how he would set up and had no trouble countering his tactics.
Only when he was on the verge of getting sacked did he change to a wing back system that we had been imploring him to try for many matches. IMO we have a similer situation now. The opposition know that we want to play a deriviitive of 3-5-1-1 (3-5-2) because we have played that system in 26 games so far this season and that it's about stopping Chair and Willock because our strikers are blunt.
Millwall like Barnsley were allowing us plenty of possession knowing we lacked any creative spark because they had Chair and Willock double marked their space and effectiveness was restricted. At this stage I was hoping to see Warburton make a change and shake things up. Maybe take off Dykes and go with another attacking midfielder like Hendrick or Amos to try and drag the big Millwall central defenders further forward and create some space for Willock or Chair. Even when we were 2-0 down after 64 minutes there was nothing from Warburton despite our Plan A not working. Unfortunately, there was nothing until the 76th minute when he changed Amos for Johansen and Charlie for the disappointing Albert.
Warburton would undoubtedly say that by sticking with Plan A he has managed to get results in the majority of matches and I couldn't disagree but when you are two goals behind and struggling it would have been worth trying something different.
They say that players in a winning team are never tired and want to play every game but last night Wallace, Barbet, Albert and Johansen looked totally knackered whilst Charlie has been lethargic and struggled to get through games all season. Maybe the 30 somethings are now hitting the wall and our lack of any in depth cover in these key positions will be our achiellies heel as we enter the final third of the season.
The good news is that we remain 4th and I hope that in reality we are just going through a bad patch that every team will have over such a hard season.
Post by northwesthoop on Feb 16, 2022 11:12:53 GMT
Maybe we need to try 4-3-3?
This system relies heavily on the full backs and with Wallace now injured, Adomah looking like he was running in deep snow last night, Odubajo looking like he's never played the game in his life at times and Dickie suspended maybe we need to move away from that to a flat back 4?
It also means teams have to think again when facing us. At the moment we've become 'found out' somewhat and it does feel we need a bit of a reset so the malaise doesn't set it.
This system relies heavily on the full backs and with Wallace now injured, Adomah looking like he was running in deep snow last night, Odubajo looking like he's never played the game in his life at times and Dickie suspended maybe we need to move away from that to a flat back 4?
It also means teams have to think again when facing us. At the moment we've become 'found out' somewhat and it does feel we need a bit of a reset so the malaise doesn't set it.
4-3-3 works for me although I'd be happy to just have a change of system that we can implement when Plan A isn't working and we need to make the opposition have to change their tactics.
Like you I can accept losing provided we have made every effort to try and get something from the game. We now have 2 winnable home games that will hopefully be the springboard to us going on a decent run of results.
Good points from both of you... What I would say is that the problem lies with the players that get the ball to Chair and Willock.
Those 2 may be a little off the pace compared to where they were previously but I think they and Dykes still have plenty of energy.
The problems centre around Johansen, Wallace, Barbet and Dickie (and don't get me started on Odebajo)
Those 4 do seem to have hit a wall, seem leaden footed and can't do the basics.
Dickie being suspended for 2 games is a good thing in my opinion
I hope Macallum comes in quick and either Albert finds some energy or MW has a word with Odebajo.
And I've no idea what's going on with Johansen but he doesn't look right and his role is so important that if he can't perform he needs to be replaced with Amos or Dozzell.
All this we now have two winnable games coming up we just lost 2 winnable games barnsley won twice all season and millwall werent exactly on top form either recently warburton screwed up the team selection and tactics on both games and should of freshened things up a bit ball and dozzell should of featured yesterday,against a young millwall team it was the type of game that would of suited them we were so predictable at times and played into millwall and barnsley hands lets hope a few player changes and being at home might help in the next couple of games,i wouldnt hold my breath based on last nights game
Last Edit: Feb 16, 2022 14:30:32 GMT by singlespeed
Good points from both of you... What I would say is that the problem lies with the players that get the ball to Chair and Willock. Those 2 may be a little off the pace compared to where they were previously but I think they and Dykes still have plenty of energy.
The problems centre around Johansen, Wallace, Barbet and Dickie (and don't get me started on Odebajo). Those 4 do seem to have hit a wall, seem leaden footed and can't do the basics. Dickie being suspended for 2 games is a good thing in my opinion. I hope Macallum comes in quick and either Albert finds some energy or MW has a word with Odebajo.
And I've no idea what's going on with Johansen but he doesn't look right and his role is so important that if he can't perform he needs to be replaced with Amos or Dozzell.
And yes... Hull is now huge... Losing unthinkable
I wonder how much of an impact it had on the team and Warburton when Wallace went off with his groin injury? As well as using up a substitution, it seemed to lead the team to become even more skittish for some reason...
I have to agree that stoatey & northwesthoop have made good points, as do you above jimjams! I would suggest our problems are a combination of your points: a lack of energy and teams being set up to counter our predicted style of play. The former requires a quality squad in depth, which I would offer we do not have, and the latter requires a reboot. Mark Warburton set up this squad, choosing the players and the style of play, and you all must agree the way we play best suits us. Moving away from that style of play risks diminishing our effectiveness, but may well be still required if we are to keep opponents guessing for at least half of a match. Given the lack of success from the strikers, I still believe we would be far better dropping all the strikers and replacing each with an attacking midfielder [so 4-3-4 or 3-4-3 with wing-backs]. I believe Amos would be more effective that Gray or Austin, and he would be expected to play all the 90 minutes - as well as not use up a potentially valuable substitution!
Further to my comments above, here are the WLS player ratings:
David Marshall: 6 Made a fine full-length save to keep out Jed Wallace’s first-time volley in the first half but his kicking was not the most convincing at times. Could do little for both goals as he was left exposed by his defence.
Albert Adomah: 5 Struggled defensively, with Scott Malone getting the better of him on more than one occasion – including the assist Millwall’s opener. Made no impression going forward.
Rob Dickie: 5 Not at his best like the rest of his teammates defensively – and was left flat-footed by an exquisite back-heel from the excellent Jed Wallace that led to Millwall’s second goal.
Jimmy Dunne: 6 Probably the pick of the Rangers’ defence, but should have scored in the first half when the ball dropped to him from a corner and he shot tamely at Millwall keeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
Yoann Barbet: 5 A second successive under-par display. Struggled against the pacy Mason Bennett, gave the ball away far too frequently – including one hospital pass on the stroke of half-time that led to Dickie picking up a 10th booking of the season that will see him miss the next two games. Had a header cleared off the line late in the game.
Lee Wallace: 6 Limped off with what appeared to be knee problem after just 20 minutes.
Stefan Johansen: 5 Played far too deep and Rangers struggled because of it as they were overrun in midfield, with the Norwegian often picking the ball up from just in front of the back three in a vain effort to set the tone. Withdrawn 15 minutes from time.
Sam Field: 6 Worked hard but found himself often over-run in midfield far too often. Did break up some Millwall attacks and used the ball well when he found himself in possession.
Ilias Chair: 6 Tried hard to get things going but a pass from Chris Willock that he misread led to a breakaway for Millwall’s second goal. Kept plugging away but nothing came off for the Moroccan, who made some decent runs with the ball in the first half.
Chris Willock: 6 His return to fitness gave Rangers a boost but despite his best efforts to try and get something going it wasn’t his day but he had little support from a struggling Lyndon Dykes.
Lyndon Dykes: 4 Again failed to win much in the air or hold the ball up and was easily bullied by Millwall skipper Shaun Hutchinson in what was a very poor display from the striker, who offered little to no threat in attack. Such was his lack of potency in the area, late in the game he was tasked with taking long throws as Rangers tried desperately to rally.
Moses Odubajo: 5 Came on for Wallace early in the first half but didn’t really offer much going forward and lost the ball to Jed Wallace, who delivered a fine cross-field pass that created Millwall’s opener.
Charlie Austin: 6 Came on for the final 15 minutes and had a shot comfortably saved by Bialkowski.
What I like about Millwall as a club They have a habit of getting average young players Like Jed Wallace and Mason Bennett and turning them into good solid championship players They’ve had some great players go there and they don’t spend big,Neil Harris had that policy while he was there mainly from Scottish and lower league and Gary rowett obviously still does the same