Been very poor lately. Certainly not picking on him, one of my favourite
signings of recent seasons and most of our lot were weary today.

But I can't understand his game falling away like it has, don't know who he prefers
alongside him, was doing great even through Defours absence.

Hope it's just the proverbial bad patch.

Looks like he needs a rest. He’s a class player but nowhere near it at the moment.

Missing Defour....end of!

No idea. He has been poor most games. His passing has gone to pot, gets caught in posession, is indecisive.

Bar a couple of purple patches here and there he has really struggled. I rhink he needs a rest.

Midfield is too thin.
Drop a winger, reinstate Hendrick who at least tried to look after the ball.5 in midfield for a while would help Cork a whole lot.

Steve1956 wrote:Missing Defour....end of!

I don't think it is, Steve. SD has been out ages, yet Jacks been giving great
performances without him. Don't know what it is, tbh.

Steve1956 wrote:Missing Defour....end of!

Hopefully for not too much longer!

ElectroClaret wrote:I don't think it is, Steve. SD has been out ages, yet Jacks been giving great
performances without him. Don't know what it is, tbh.

No worries Electro.....Everything will be fine,where has your positivity gone ?

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:Hopefully for not too much longer!

If he's not injured he has personal problems WTF is going on with Defour?

Something’s just not right in the camp.
Do Mee and Tarks detest each other,is Tom severely disappointed not to have got his place back after his injury now he is fit.
The fog Dyche spoke about before Bournemouth has sadly descinded again

I don't think he has been quite as good since Defour got injured. Defour did a huge amount of work with the ball, which allowed Cork to focus on what he's really good at - the water-carrier role. He's taken on more responsibility for carrying the ball forwards since Defour was injured and it hasn't really suited him. Equally, we've lacked players all over the pitch in Defour and Brady's absence who can take defenders out of the game and open up space and that's not helped Cork.

And as a result, he's lost a bit of confidence, especially on the ball. That's the main problem currently. There's possibly also a question about whether Westwood and Cork have the legs in a midfield 2 against an opposing central 3, but first and foremost, he's short on confidence. It happens to the best.

claretspice wrote:I don't think he has been quite as good since Defour got injured. Defour did a huge amount of work with the ball, which allowed Cork to focus on what he's really good at - the water-carrier role. He's taken on more responsibility for carrying the ball forwards since Defour was injured and it hasn't really suited him. Equally, we've lacked players all over the pitch in Defour and Brady's absence who can take defenders out of the game and open up space and that's not helped Cork.

And as a result, he's lost a bit of confidence, especially on the ball. That's the main problem currently. There's possibly also a question about whether Westwood and Cork have the legs in a midfield 2 against an opposing central 3, but first and foremost, he's short on confidence. It happens to the best.

Nail on the head buddy!

You can go through the whole team and say what happened to......insert a name. The only consistent performances are JBG , Hart and Hendrick who suddenly can't start a match.
Most teams carry someone who isn't at their best, but when so many are off form at the same time it's easy to understand why we are struggling.

I think we need to go back to three in the middle to relieve some of the pressure in there. Get Hendrick back in, he's looking confident right now when confidence is at a premium. Go with Vokes alone up top, none of the others are doing much.

claretspice wrote:I don't think he has been quite as good since Defour got injured. Defour did a huge amount of work with the ball, which allowed Cork to focus on what he's really good at - the water-carrier role. He's taken on more responsibility for carrying the ball forwards since Defour was injured and it hasn't really suited him. Equally, we've lacked players all over the pitch in Defour and Brady's absence who can take defenders out of the game and open up space and that's not helped Cork.

And as a result, he's lost a bit of confidence, especially on the ball. That's the main problem currently. There's possibly also a question about whether Westwood and Cork have the legs in a midfield 2 against an opposing central 3, but first and foremost, he's short on confidence. It happens to the best.

The 3 v 2 is enough. Lennon is no Arfield.

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:Hopefully for not too much longer!

Really? What have you heard?

Lots of players are out of form, but the fault is the tactics. Why persist with 2 up top when midfield is getting overun? To not bring hendrick for barnes at half time was madness. To bring wood on and not hendrick and not vydra was similar. Wtf do the 3 of them discuss? Someone should sit in the jh upper and see how **** we were.

If we had a proper squad with competion for places in all areas Cork would have been dropped by now

Come on guys give Cork a break he was immense for us last season.

Cork is superb. Hard work this season tho. Especially with the tactics we currently employ. Hopefully he can get back to his normal self when / if defour and brady come back.

Jack was excellent last season but now looks like the same Jack we signed on loan years ago.

Same as Mee and Barnes, I don't know

Having read the comments on Jack cork and the tactics I agree we should put 3 in midfield but I would put vydra up front I just wish Dyche would play 352 although don't know where gudmondsson would fit in that system this would be my team playing 352

Hart
Tarkowski Gibson mee
Gudmondsson Hendrick cork defour Brady
Vydra
Barnes

Missing Defour who simply MUST start from here.

IanMcL wrote:Lennon is no Arfield.

Absolutely right, yet he was completely frozen out for how long?

Robbie Brady 12 wrote:Having read the comments on Jack cork and the tactics I agree we should put 3 in midfield but I would put vydra up front I just wish Dyche would play 352 although don't know where gudmondsson would fit in that system this would be my team playing 352

Hart
Tarkowski Gibson mee
Gudmondsson Hendrick cork defour Brady
Vydra
Barnes

Get him told Robbie lad. Hope you’re back soon pal!!

The problem with Cork ( and Westwood ) is that the opposition have discovered that by closing our two midfielders down really quickly, effectively stops us playing any type of football and results in hoofball.

Dyche doesn't help the situation by allowing the forwards to be static, waiting for the ball in the area rather than making themselves available and passing the ball out wide then turning to run into the area.

Nonayforever wrote:The problem with Cork ( and Westwood ) is that the opposition have discovered that by closing our two midfielders down really quickly, effectively stops us playing any type of football and results in hoofball.

Dyche doesn't help the situation by allowing the forwards to be static, waiting for the ball in the area rather than making themselves available and passing the ball out wide then turning to run into the area.

Agree with this 100%.

The difference with Defour is that he is clever enough and talented enough to play around/out of the press.

Hopefully Vydra will start too and I think both players will suit each other.

The problem is not just JC but central midfield in total
Both are too lightweight - they can't tackle, they can't win a ball in the air, they have no pace and they're distribution amounts to sideways and backwards passing for the majority of a game
But they are just part of the obvious problem that Dyche has no Plan B when these shortcomings manifest themselves

Cork and Westwood are just far to lightweight, getting bullied every single week. Neither of them are ball winning midfielders and neither of them can keep the ball or even string a pass together at the moment so it’s no wonder we are being out played every week.

gtclaret wrote:Same as Mee and Barnes, I don't know

And Chris Wood

Post 27 29 & 30 have not only nailed what is wrong with Cork but why we are so poor this season. All our hopes seem to rest in our 2 absentee midfielders returning and making the difference. Given their records with injuries, I fear we are in for a long hard season as I don't think we will see 30 games combined from them.

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:Looks like he needs a rest. He’s a class player but nowhere near it at the moment.

Definitely needs a rest poor lad, 90 minutes work for £40 k a week, ridiculous expectation.

He’s played 12 full serious matches, inc 1 of ET, and two sub apps this season.
Last year at this time he’d played 8 + 1 sub.
Now I know the armchair warriors wil say that’s nowt but to a professional athlete rest is key.
He’s just stale. This break will do him a power of good and he’ll be fine.

There was debate on here after the Olympiakos away leg because we flew back immediately.
I noticed in the week Citeh stayed over in Germany, trained there in the am. and then flew home at a sensible time.

He ran further than any other player in the PL last season and he's in the top 3 this season - the guy is hyper fit but probably a bit jaded at the moment - the international break will work well for him

He seems to be able to run long distances but I have often seen him appear knackered towards the end of a game and does little chasing back in these situations. We lose a lot of fifty/ fifty challenges in the middle and aerially in midfield we are very weak. Joey made a big contribution during his stay but physically was not hugely different than Westwood or Cork. Hate to say it but we need someone like Cattermole of a few years ago but without the card history

The midfield does need an extra body in there , so i would start with 4-5-1 so we can get a foothold in the game which can be changed to 4-4-2 depending on how its going . Off topic , fans are moaning that Taylor's not ready yet and that mee's having a shocker at centre half , so why not bring Long in and put Ben to left back ?

Danny Drinkwater on loan in January might be a decent solution...

paulatky wrote:Something’s just not right in the camp.
Do Mee and Tarks detest each other,is Tom severely disappointed not to have got his place back after his injury now he is fit.
The fog Dyche spoke about before Bournemouth has sadly descinded again

The thing that's not right in the camp is the fans! Moaning booing players. Time to stand up and be the twelfth man!

We were playing at home had less than 40% possession against a side who are bottom of the league. Dyche set us out like rabbits in the headlights.

We sit far to deep with 2 banks of 4 that are playing on top of each other and just hoof the ball forward to our 2 strikers.
This is not footballl it is organised chaos. The likes of Cork are crowded out and have no outlets to pick a proper pass and work the ball forward with any purpose

Cork alongside Defour worked wonders last season.
I have no issue with either of the two current midfielders, other than they are 2 against many.