Just a thought, what if NJ had fielded a full strength side. And say one of the seniors, TC or Lloyd got a bad knock and was out for a period of time. Would we been chirping up about loosing a main 1st teamer in a competition we where very unlikely to win anyway.
That can happen in the league as well, injuries are part of the game so I don't get your point here. If Lloyd was to get injured in the first minute against QPR and out for 6 months, what difference would it make vs getting injured in the 85th minute at Cambridge in the Cup.
This with knobs on.
As with pedantic post about playing the youngsters in the league because we're not winning the Championship, you cant pick & choose what competition you might pick up an injury so as to protect players.
Yea but you can limit it by not playing them in games that are “crucial”.
I wish we could all decide which days not to go into work in case we were to get ill. I accept being a professional footballer is different to a regular office job, such as mine, but I'm sure you get the point I'm making.
No it's Burnley as the balls are picked alphabetically, not on the last draw. Shame it wasn't Cardiff at home, we could all cry about much we wanted to abuse Scotty Parker for those of us that just can't move on
Just a thought, what if NJ had fielded a full strength side. And say one of the seniors, TC or Lloyd got a bad knock and was out for a period of time. Would we been chirping up about loosing a main 1st teamer in a competition we where very unlikely to win anyway.
We are unlikely to win the League. Perhaps we should play the youngsters on Saturday then 🙄
That argument doesn't work because you don't get relegated by being knocked out the cup
True but I don't believe that you're more likely to get relegated by staying in the cup either.
I don't necessarily believe that players get more tired or can get an injury from playing a match than doing two days training instead either.
I hate this modern 'distrust' and disregard for cup competitions. What's the point of competing at all if you purposely don't try to do your best?
Besides, if you get a Premier League team, you get to test yourself against better opposition which arguably then improves you to make you a better player for subsequent league matches.
Having played a bit a game is much more intense and tiring fhan a controlled couple of days of training. Training is tailored to the upcoming game (QPR) and players knocks and injuries are taken in to consideration as to what they do.
a game is a free for all with rogue elements like oppo players with a point to prove and a bobbly away pitch
When clubs like Charlton send basically a reserve team ,including many kids,the opposing manager does not need a team talk,something along the lines,"they are taking the piss out of you by playing their reserves and kids and thinking they are going to beat you".Players wound up,and there you go. The 4 senior players we played were poor,none showed what was needed to cause Jones any selection worries.Kelman,tbh concerns me,yes early days,but he does not get into positions where he can score,people saying he gets no service,but he has got to put the effort in to find a bit of space. Two goals scored from cut backs,that is atrocious at any level,neither of the scorers were really challenged,Mitchell seemed to stop chasing the man for the first goal.Mitchell lost his duel for the second goal,but surely he was entitled to bodies round him waiting for the possible mishap. Think this game should be analysed in detail by Jones ,errors pointed out and then consigned to the dust bin and hope lessons are learnt.
AMB, Gillesphey, JRC, Anderson, Knibbs, Kelman and Olaofe are all senior players. That's 7, we started 4 youth team players (and one of them was great!)
Last night's inept performance re-inforced a few things for me.
First ... under Jones, whenever we have underperformed, it is generally attributable to the lack of hold-up play by our forwards. None of our forwards naturally play with their back to the goal. Godden can do it to some extent, but he is not sufficiently big or physical to do it well. Leaburn has the physique, but not the mentality. I find that quite curious as his Dad was very good at holding the ball up, whereas Miles prefers the pointless flick on.
Both Kelman and Olaofe prefer to run on to the ball. Again, they are not forward target men.
The consequence of this is that our midfielders and defenders are reluctant to play the ball forward. They know that it will not stick ... and it's effectively equivalent to giving the ball to the opposition. This problem characterised the first half of last season ... until Jones 'decided' to play Small wide on the right. Our targets then became the wingers/wing backs and the balls forward were usually hit diagonally. This method served us well and earned Jones some praise.
I assume that same approach was intended last night. But, when it clearly wasn't working, Jones had nowhere to go. No lumbering Aneke to bring on. No woeful Ahadme. So we had to persist with a fruitless plan. Personnel changes were made, but nothing improved.
This re-inforced for me a concerning trait that Jones exhibits. He is single-minded. Inflexible unless circumstances force change. Great when it all works well, but we will see repeats of last night unless Jones can learn from his mistakes.
Second ... our Academy receives great praise ... and rightfully so. But the output players, however talented, generally suffer from lack of physicality. We produce good footballers, but generally they are lightweight. Boys rather than powerful athletes. Look back over the years at those who have made it to the very top. Gomez, Konsa, Lookman and some others. All good footballers, but potentially out-muscled when they come up against more athletic opponents. This becomes more significant in the lower Leagues, of course. And, if you saw Cambridge's second goal last night ... well, enough said.
So, how to fix it?
We need a big, strong hold-up forward. Maybe Danny Hylton needs to earn his corn and get on Miles' case ... although I suspect that ship has sailed. It isn't Ahadme. It isn't Mbick.
And the Academy needs to modify its Target Product Profile (a little bit of business-speak here for those who enjoy such things). Keep going with the technical side. That's fine. But let's improve the physicality. Let's develop some athletes who are good footballers ... think Roy Keane and Patrick Viera ... not Albie Morgan or Aaron Henry.
Brilliant post. Lack of physicality haunts us. Could add Dempsey and Vennings from 2020/21. Maybe other clubs suffer this too and to an extent it must be a natural part of a development curve, but the TPP as you say, could be modified accordingly.
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a game is a free for all with rogue elements like oppo players with a point to prove and a bobbly away pitch