Inconsistency this season

I agree, different types of midfielder.

 

Outside of the injuries I think Rodgers has put too much focus on trying to keep all our attacking players happy, couple of examples where a players played well scored a goal or two and then found himself on the bench in the next game, happened with Dembele after the game at pittodrie which was his best of the season, Griffiths before the huns game at new year, and happened with edouard today when there was no need for it, I know we've got a lot of strength in that area of the field but we don't have to change the attack every game.

 

If that was the case he would be having a season like Armstrong and Rogic did last season, banging in a load of goals from 20yds. I wouldn’t put him in the same category as Armstrong and Rogic (the way they were last season anyway)

Perhaps that potential is there though and we have just yet to see it or see more of it should I say as he’s scored a couple of belters fair enough.

 

Clearly a coincidence. Ntcham and Brown playing in midfield isn't at fault for Rogic and Roberts being injured, or Dembele and Griffiths been injured/out of form, or Sinclair's awful performances etc.

Our midfield is fine. It's the defence and, at times, the attack that is a problem.

 

Well, for one, Rogic plays in a different position. Oh and Rogic scored 7 league goals last season. Ntcham already has 5.

Armstrong gets beyond the striker more than Ntcham does but that doesn't mean Ntcham doesn't have any attacking initiative. He's always getting into decent shooting positions. Unfortunately he needs to work on that aspect of his game.

 

Injuries have taken a major toll on our play with Roberts being out virtually all season, our tempo is ridiculously slow however, saw during the week against hearts KT bombed at them every time and looked dangerous but a lot of times this season him and Sinclair get the ball and instead of going for it check back and pass infield and then the opposition have 10 men behind the ball, our rhythm has been totally lost this season

 

Aye but you were on about a Gerrard/Lampard scenario when they weren't even a pair today..

The reason they were split was because it worked excellently and Rogic/Armstrong and Paddy are all out as well as McGregor being pish lately..

He wasn't great today whatsoever (Broony), no one was but you must be blind if you think he's just defensive and isn't urban driving force at time's..

 

Think when we need persevere with two strikers.. as whatever formation we play with one up top (4-2-3-1 or 3-4-2-1) has become easy to set up against..

I’d like to see...

De Vries
Hendry Simunovic Bitton
Forrest Brown Ntcham KT
Musonda
Edouard Dembele​

Until we have more players fit..

 

I don’t think we’ve been inconsistent, Celtic have played the same namby pamby style all season.

Rodgers said that he played the same system against Hearts with different players today against Killie, yeah; Stevie Clarke is actually a half decent manager mate, do you not think he might have watched the game against the Mini’s, and setup against that style?!

 

The problem today was that Ntcham wasn't playing centrally he was pushed far too wide by our formation and he didn't look comfortable at all when receiving the ball in a wide position rather than centrally. Rodgers needs to smarten up big time because his tactics have been found out this season and we look stale and completely unimaginative. We are ahead in the league because we have better players. I can probably count on one hand the amount of good games we have had.

That is just way below average when we have played over 40 games already.

 

Our overall play is just so slow. Never seen so many sideward n backwards passes. Last season we kept the ball, pulled teams all over the pitch, tired them out and the goals flew in.

This season it seems we pass the ball just for the sake of it. No idea how to score.

 

I think its a few things mostly already covered.

We play the same way every week and teams have adapted to playing us. We have no plan B.

Guys who were on fire last season - Sinclair and Dembele in particular - just dont look the same this season. No idea why.

Our defence is still rotten and we just seem to refuse to strengthen it properly. It is ridiculous that Tierney has to play every week because we dont have an alternative. And we arent good enough to pass out from the back when pressed.

Last season we probably got lucky with the lack of injuries and this season we probably got unlucky with the number of injuries.

Rotating our strikers just doesnt seem to do any of them favours. Hard to build momentum when you are rotated every other week.

I think the team probably needs some new blood to freshen things up- hopefully the new signings make a difference.

Aberdeen, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and Killie are better than they were last season. The gap is still wide but probably isnt just as wide.

 

Could be loads of things, really. For a start, teams have had 12 months to figure out how to play against us. There might also have been a bit of complacency creeping in.

Aside from that, Lustig has been showing signs of slowing up, we've not been able to get a settled defensive partnership, Tierney has played far too many games, Ntcham has taken time to settle, Armstrong & Sinclair haven't hit the heights of last year, Roberts & Rogic have missed a big part of the season so far through injury, and neither Dembele nor Griffiths have got going because of injuries.

We're playing too slowly and with the idea that we just have to be patient and keep the ball and the opponent will tire. But you have to move the ball quickly and switch the play and really stretch teams. We never bothered Killie today and, worryingly, they could have hit us for 4 just like Hearts did.

It hasn't gone wrong a lot for us, but when it has, it looks like it could go really wrong.

 

This you finally admitting you were wrong!

No passion and no penetration has been too eveident this season. Rodgers has also been too one dimensional. One shot at goal in 90 mins is poor. Lost count of how many sideways passes and passes along backline were made. If that was the object of the game, we'd be world champs. Lack of movement upfront was criminal. We got what we deserved today: hee haw.

Only plus was musonda looked good.

 

I think the inconsistency has been for a number of reasons.

Injuries been one.

Lack of a plan B is definitely the case in games such as Killie, Hearts and a few others in which we have struggled to break teams down.

Lack of continuity in the side, because of injuries and Brendan chopping and changing.

But one of the main reasons imo that stands out the most is the lack of tempo in our passing at times. We are so slow at times and with constantly passing the ball backwards and sideways without any tempo it allows the opposition to regroup and defend in numbers which then makes it harder for us to break teams down. Last season at times our tempo in our passing was a lot quicker. We would get the ball forward quickly which wouldn’t allow the opposition to get back and defend which has been a major flaw for most of this season.

My dad also pointed out a good point recently which is that a lot of the time we seem to take ages to actually make an impact in games. Yes we might have a lot of possession but without really been dangerous. So often the first half of games we are poor but generally improve by the second. We have to come out of the blocks a lot faster in games, get an early goal or two and then the opposition have to come at us more if they are to get anything out of the game which then suits us.

Today I didn’t really have any confidence the longer the game went on that we were actually going to score. Killie obviously made it difficult today by defending in numbers but we didn’t change approach by trying to play quicker and it was only very late on we went for the direct approach.

Our pressing I don’t think is as good either this season. Last season we were a lot better at putting teams under pressure and winning the ball back further up the pitch which resulted in a lot of goals and chances.

 

Clarke outdone him at home aswell and Murty has outdone him twice also! Take off the green tinted glasses we should be wiping the floor with Killie and Sevco pure pish this s again! To get to amount of games we have played and to have a maximum winning run of 3 games if * disgraceful! Even Sevco have managed 4 in a row thank * they beat Aberdeen 3 times or we would be 1pt behind Aberdeen!

 

There was a few things it could have been but the manner of performance confirmed to me the players have hit the Wall

The style of play has knackered the players over the non stop last 18 months and the fact there's no end in sight only furthers this mentally.

Weve lost any form of directness. we play it safe now and pass it about so we don't lose it. It was Brendan himself that said " on the ball , we rest". The change in Sinclair shows this and the way he passes the buck to tierney who is knackered at this point doing two players work only makes it worse.

Some serious adaption needed