Just lacking something

[Neil]

It's a results business and if we came away with a 2-1 win there would have been a lot of praise for the performance. But we didn't and creativity looks a problem again.
For me, too much goes through Cork. Don't get me wrong he looks like Tom Brady out there but he's doing too much. Brownhill has turned into David Platt (scores goals but you never see him) and Cullen is too safe.
There's no major threat through the middle and Jay plays well when dropping deep but lacks the pace to get in behind.Tella obviously a danger but mainly out wide.
Hopefully Twine is the missing link but I fear he's turned into Ronaldo in people's minds.
Credit to their defence though, I'm sure we'd have found a way through most teams tonight.

[Rowls]

Once Twine-aldo is fit I think we’ll be challenging for the Champuons League within 6 months.

[Rowls]

But to be serious, we certainly are missing a very small element of play.

As we saw in the last championship season with the difference between the first 23 games and the last 23 games, it’s not necessarily a personnel problem.

Sometimes a few breaks going our way could change things. Sometimes it’s a few central characters standing up to be counted…

We just need to find what that missing element is.

[RVclaret]

Bit of finesse in the final third against low blocks is needed.

Brownhill is superb at attacking spaces but there wasn’t any tonight.

Thought we would have seen Twine tonight so that’s a bit disappointing.

Zaroury looks a player though!

[blake's wand]

Think Brownhill/Cullen/Cork are all too similar. Neat and tidy but rarely break a line or commit a man. Excellent and keeping the ball and dictating play, but we're missing a 'Twine' at the moment

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Think Sheffield United will show the Division how to win at teams like Preston whose forward players are just about Conference League standard
Should be winning these games if we want automatic promotion

[warksclaret]

Lacked penetration second half. Thought Maatsen and Vourray made quite a difference when they came on

[4midable]

It will come
1 defeat in 9
1 defeat in like 30 odd in championship

[ElectroClaret]

Lacked penetration second half. Thought Maatsen and Vourray made quite a difference when they came on

And this lack of penetration means we're drawing too many games. Only Preston and West Brom have drawn more.

We've just got to kill sides off.

[CrosspoolClarets]

All we were lacking was the right sub at the right time. Not knocking VK, it happens.

Maatsen 15 minutes sooner we win. He got behind 3 or 4 times in his cameo. Did Vitinho do it once tonight? Again, it happens, but if it isn’t working, change it. They did, at half time changed the shape. We then needed one more body further forward but didn’t adjust. I quite liked the THB / Beyer bursting through, but we didn't do it enough.

[JohnDearyMe]

Big disappointment not to bring in a centre forward to provide more threat and to be a viable alternative or partner to Rodriguez

[dougcollins]

Big disappointment not to bring in a centre forward to provide more threat and to be a viable alternative or partner to Rodriguez

He wouldn't have seen much of the ball tonight.

[RVclaret]

Big disappointment not to bring in a centre forward to provide more threat and to be a viable alternative or partner to Rodriguez

Yes I thought we might have seen Dervisoglu for Brownhill / Cullen to go up there with Jay

[warksclaret]

Think Sheffield United will show the Division how to win at teams like Preston whose forward players are just about Conference League standard
Should be winning these games if we want automatic promotion

They seem to have that killer instinct to by hook or by crook, score the vital goal. Also manage leads well. Remind me of us when we won the Championship 7 years ago

[Spiral]

Yes I thought we might have seen Dervisoglu for Brownhill / Cullen to go up there with Jay

Who the f'k is Dervisoglu? We have a player called Dervisoglu?

[Winstonswhite]

All fur coat and no knickers!!

[jedi_master]

Who the f'k is Dervisoglu? We have a player called Dervisoglu?

[Spiral]

No word of a lie I had to google him. I can't be doing with another transfer window like that. Too many for me to remember!!!

[Jakubs Tash]

Yes I thought we might have seen Dervisoglu for Brownhill / Cullen to go up there with Jay

This was also my feeling tonight. Preston were pushed that deep in their own half and we were dominating possession that much that maybe an additional forward would have given their defenders more to think about and we would have a bit more presence in the box.

[tarkys_ears]

Running into a brick wall for 90 mins.

Never going wide, just pass pass pass pass back, run through middle, fail, retry...


Why did we not switch it up after an hour of doing that?

Oh and VK tries to play like barca or city yet he doesn't realise we don't have any skill in the team. They're being forced to making silly mistakes by playing how they're not good enough - a bit like under Dyche.

[Burnley1989]

Horrible team to play, I just worry we are too small and not physical enough for these sides in the championship. I’m dreading the Blackburn game.

I don’t think we were fully at the races tonight but I do think the way Preston set up to defend for a draw all game made it a very tough ask

[welsbyswife]

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but we had so much possession but no physical presence in the box. Of all the games where he has brought Barnes on I thought this was one where he could have made a difference in the last 15. But Preston were incredibly well organised and hard to break down.

[jedi_master]

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but we had so much possession but no physical presence in the box. Of all the games where he has brought Barnes on I thought this was one where he could have made a difference in the last 15. But Preston were incredibly well organised and hard to break down.

Yes, I thought the same r.e Barnes.

[Spijed]

Horrible team to play, I just worry we are too small and not physical enough for these sides in the championship. I’m dreading the Blackburn game.

I don’t think we were fully at the races tonight but I do think the way Preston set up to defend for a draw all game made it a very tough ask

Trouble is the vast majority of sides in the Championship are exactly the same. Tough to break down with little skill in their side.

Unfortunately we play these types of teams week in week out, so unless we figure out how to break sides down we'll struggle on a weekly basis.

[welsbyswife]

Will be interesting to see how Pearson sets them up on Saturday. Very similar I suspect although they might have a bit more going forward as well. No pushovers.

[Shaggy]

We just need to move the ball quicker.

In the last 10 mins when we upped the pace a bit and actually got the byline With a low fizzing cross we caused havoc in their back line. That’s what we need to do. All it takes is one of them moments to break for us and it will and we score.

Also game management could be better, when we take the lead that should be perfect for us as the opposition have to open up a bit. Tonight’s goal we conceded was very unlucky however.

[RVclaret]

Horrible team to play, I just worry we are too small and not physical enough for these sides in the championship. I’m dreading the Blackburn game.

I don’t think we were fully at the races tonight but I do think the way Preston set up to defend for a draw all game made it a very tough ask

2nd half PNE basically played a flat 5, 1 defensive midfielder in front of the cbs, another 2 midfielders ahead of him and then preceded to sit in the edge of their box. It’s the most defensive system/strategy I’ve ever seen played against us I think. It’s why whenever they tried to break it was almost impossible (bar the odd one or two) as they didn’t have anyone to hit.

I hate to sound like a broken record but it’s these type of teams where you need a bit of magic from somewhere (a long shot or set piece) and that’s what I’m hoping Twine will provide.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Lacking something in defence and attack.

[Burnley1989]

2nd half PNE basically played a flat 5, 1 defensive midfielder in front of the cbs, another 2 midfielders ahead of him and then preceded to sit in the edge of their box. It’s the most defensive system/strategy I’ve ever seen played against us I think. It’s why whenever they tried to break it was almost impossible (bar the odd one or two) as they didn’t have anyone to hit.

I hate to sound like a broken record but it’s these type of teams where you need a bit of magic from somewhere (a long shot or set piece) and that’s what I’m hoping Twine will provide.

Yeah, I agree, I’m hoping it will come

[Quickenthetempo]

We have no structure to how we will score. The players need to know their pass before they receive the ball, so it goes quicker.
Roberts coming inside too much, we need an overlap.

Nothing from the attacking midfielder Brownhill, needs to drop back as his passing capabilities don't come with through balls.

All training sessions need to be on attacks now. We have mastered passing it around the back.

[dougcollins]

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but we had so much possession but no physical presence in the box. Of all the games where he has brought Barnes on I thought this was one where he could have made a difference in the last 15. But Preston were incredibly well organised and hard to break down.

He would certainly have had plenty of Preston defenders to have fights with.

I doubt Barnes would have made any difference.

[bfcjg]

If we can practice shooting from 25-30 yards we will offer another threat, we need to stop looking for the perfect goal.

[Top Claret]

We looked like we were lacking a tall physical presence to get on the end of something, it also makes us a bit one dimensional due to our lack of height and numbers in the box.

We need to mix things up a little or we are going to struggle against most teams as they will just play men behind the ball as Preston did.

[beddie]

Barnes wouldn’t have made any difference imo, we weren’t getting the ball into a position where he could have been effective, Jay rarely had anything to work with, certainly nothing much in the air within the 6yd box.

[Jakubs Tash]

If we can practice shooting from 25-30 yards we will offer another threat, we need to stop looking for the perfect goal.

I agree but would add that we also need to cross the ball a lot more too. It must be so frustrating for Rodriguez when he makes a run expecting a cross then the cross is dummied and we just continue to keep the ball. Once the ball has been worked into space out wide the ball needs to come in a bit more than it currently does. Also, as the first goal at Wigan shows, sometimes a cross can cause mayhem and you can get a lucky break.

[claretspice]

I thought we lacked 2 things last night. The first was someone making runs behind off Jay. That's been Tella's role recently but he was clearly instructed to stay wider - I'm not sure that really worked for him or the team but either way we lacked someone running behind from centrally and attacking the width of the posts. On another day that might have been Brownhill, but it's also where the failure to bring on a number 9 on deadline day affects us. With Jay wanting to come short, and Cork and Cullen not really breaking the lo
Iine, it's a bit easy for us to fall into the trap of playing in front of teams.

The second thing we lacked was a genuine 10 to manipulate the ball in tight spaces. That's not really Tella's or Benson's game - they like to attack space and they aren't really looking for the clever pass. Our ball manipulators are Cullen and Cork and they are deeper and a bit safer.

There's probably a world where if Twine plays, he plays as a 10, Brownhill shifts back one because Kompany feels Twine helps us keep the ball moving and so doesn't need Cork and Cullen, and we play a relatively orthodox 442 for the last 10 minutes - and probably so more to open them up as a result.

[Top Claret]

Barnes wouldn’t have made any difference imo, we weren’t getting the ball into a position where he could have been effective, Jay rarely had anything to work with, certainly nothing much in the air within the 6yd box.

Rodriguez needs to be hitting the box more he plays far to deep for a striker, they were numerous occasions last night when we didn't have a presence in the box and our midfield just get passing side ways

[Burnley1989]

Rodriguez needs to be hitting the box more he plays far to deep for a striker, they were numerous occasions last night when we didn't have a presence in the box and our midfield just get passing side ways

I noticed he was spending a lot of time too wide or too deep which meant we had absolutely nothing in the box centrally and these daft lofted balls in by Benson were bread and butter for PNE.
To be fair to Jay hes having to work really hard up there to stretch play, drag defenders wide and allow other to break the line, we just lack that cutting edge at the minute but I don't think we are far off.

[claretonthecoast1882]

When we got a point in the last 6 seasons against a team with far better players than us we congratulated ourselves on how good defensive we were.

We are now at a level where some teams even at home will play 7 or 8 behind the ball and refuse to come out for long spells (like last night and it is up to us to break these sides down but this will come with games. We are going to need a bit of patience.

[Murger]

Last night reminded me of Arsenal under Wenger. We just tried to walk the ball into the net. It was so infuriating to watch.

[Elizabeth]

You can use as many words as you like to, however this set up lacks penetration going forward. Other than a couple of little forays down the attacking left at the end there was little to excite. You can only watch so much passing before getting bored regardless of how clever it is.

Many have decided Twine is the answer. That's a lot of expectation on one player.

[Top Claret]

When we got a point in the last 6 seasons against a team with far better players than us we congratulated ourselves on how good defensive we were.

We are now at a level where some teams even at home will play 7 or 8 behind the ball and refuse to come out for long spells (like last night and it is up to us to break these sides down but this will come with games. We are going to need a bit of patience.

And we are going to have to hold onto a lead better than we did last night, they equalised within minutes of our goal. If we want to get promoted we have to learn to defend set pieces better and stop giving soft goals away

[RVclaret]

You can use as many words as you like to, however this set up lacks penetration going forward. Other than a couple of little forays down the attacking left at the end there was little to excite. You can only watch so much passing before getting bored regardless of how clever it is.

Many have decided Twine is the answer. That's a lot of expectation on one player.

While I agree to some extent, this side that ‘lacks penetration’ is still the 2nd top scorers in the league! We had the penetration vs another defensive set up in Millwall didn’t we? One of the goals we scored was from a 24 pass move where we patiently moved the ball around, for example.

I think Twine is identified as the profile of player who could provide such penetration / quality in the final third, his goal / assist record last season (but also the type of goals he scored) show that. Against low blocks you need players capable of receiving passes in tight spaces and playing on the half turn. As much as I love Brownhill it’s not a strength of his.

Regardless, It’s also very difficult to penetrate a team with a flat back 5 and 3 central midfielders and sat on the edge of their box! The times when we did (Vitinho first half, Maatsen a few times late in the second) the final ball / shot wasn’t accurate enough.

[MACCA]

Hang onto that lead for a further 10 minutes it's a diffrent game imo.
They'd have some moans and groans from the stands, would have to come at us a bit, and obviously leave more spaces, and be susceptible to the counter at pace, which we have in abundance.

There's going to be a lot of sides, especially at the Turf thst play exactly thst way, will kick us, be organised and hope to nick a goal from a set play , moment if magic ir mistake to cling on to

I think we got the line up and tactics slightly wrong last night, and to be fair other than the 2 set play goals which both sides will be disappointed with conceding, no goalkeeper was worked enough snd no team "deserved the win"

[RVclaret]

Hang onto that lead for a further 10 minutes it's a diffrent game imo.
They'd have some moans and groans from the stands, would have to come at us a bit, and obviously leave more spaces, and be susceptible to the counter at pace, which we have in abundance.

There's going to be a lot of sides, especially at the Turf thst play exactly thst way, will kick us, be organised and hope to nick a goal from a set play , moment if magic ir mistake to cling on to

I think we got the line up and tactics slightly wrong last night, and to be fair other than the 2 set play goals which both sides will be disappointed with conceding, no goalkeeper was worked enough snd no team "deserved the win"

Out of interest which players would you have started last night?

[MACCA]

Out of interest which players would you have started last night?

I'd have had Maatsen in at LB
Vitinho RW
Even just swapping Benson and tella for 30 mins might have had some joy
And had at least 1 forward player playing on their "stronger side"

We had no one to drive at and beat their man on the outside, and put a ball in with accuracy and pace.

I think our left always wanted to cut in, and with PNE set up barrow and deep it just meant turning into traffic and more bodies.
It change in the last 10 mins with a few balls through their defence and resulted in a few very nearly good chances

SD mentioned how much easier to defend it is when you squeeze the play with your shape into busy areas with lots of bodies. PNE did thst, but we assisted them as they had no fear of anyone going on the outside of them ( or if they did they'd either check back to cross, or the very odd time crossed with their weaker foot with terrible accuracy with only 1 man to aim at )

[claretspice]

I'd have had Maatsen in at LB
Vitinho RW
Even just swapping Benson and tella for 30 mins might have had some joy
And had at least 1 forward player playing on their "stronger side"

We had no one to drive at and beat their man on the outside, and put a ball in with accuracy and pace.

I think our left always wanted to cut in, and with PNE set up barrow and deep it just meant turning into traffic and more bodies.
It change in the last 10 mins with a few balls through their defence and resulted in a few very nearly good chances

SD mentioned how much easier to defend it is when you squeeze the play with your shape into busy areas with lots of bodies. PNE did thst, but we assisted them as they had no fear of anyone going on the outside of them ( or if they did they'd either check back to cross, or the very odd time crossed with their weaker foot with terrible accuracy with only 1 man to aim at )

I think this is a fair point and was exacerbated by Roberts underlapping on the right although as the game went on he went outside more but lacked options in the box. The obvious in-game fix would have been to try swapping Tella and Benson over, but somewhat surprisingly we didn't try that once. Given Vitinho's natural tendency to come inside from left back that's something we may need to look atbin future. We certainly looked more dangerous with Zaroury and Maatsen willing to hit the byline on the left.

I don't have any criticism of the starting XI but I am a little surprised by the lack of in-game flexibility at times.

[tiger76]

And we are going to have to hold onto a lead better than we did last night, they equalised within minutes of our goal. If we want to get promoted we have to learn to defend set pieces better and stop giving soft goals away

Excellent spot shame we couldn't sit on our early lead for longer, then they would have been forced to come out and chase the game, which would likely have given us more space to work with.

We've taken the lead in 6 of our 9 games, however we've only gone on to win 3 of those games, and that stat does need to improve if we're to maintain our lofty position.

Clean sheets have also been a rarity, and if we can start keeping more of those the wins will come as we do have goals in this team.

[Lancasterclaret]

Worth saying that if every team we play away from home adopts the Preston tactic of essentially sitting on the edge of their box, then we are not going to lose many away from home

[RVclaret]

I'd have had Maatsen in at LB
Vitinho RW
Even just swapping Benson and tella for 30 mins might have had some joy
And had at least 1 forward player playing on their "stronger side"

We had no one to drive at and beat their man on the outside, and put a ball in with accuracy and pace.

I think our left always wanted to cut in, and with PNE set up barrow and deep it just meant turning into traffic and more bodies.
It change in the last 10 mins with a few balls through their defence and resulted in a few very nearly good chances

SD mentioned how much easier to defend it is when you squeeze the play with your shape into busy areas with lots of bodies. PNE did thst, but we assisted them as they had no fear of anyone going on the outside of them ( or if they did they'd either check back to cross, or the very odd time crossed with their weaker foot with terrible accuracy with only 1 man to aim at )

Fair enough I personally hope we don’t see Vitinho right wing again as he’s been underwhelming there and looked out of position every time. We have several round peg in round hole options there now and I felt Benson did quite well aside from some poor final decision making. In hindsight maybe Maatsen was the better option at left wing back last night due to his ability to go on the outside, whereas Vitinho drifts inwards a bit more.