by 3points »
02 Oct 2019 13:37
Didn't make the game last night, but at one down and reduced to 10 men against a good side, Gomes should have settled for damage limitation imho. Take Barrett off and replace with Pele, drop Meite deeper & wide right, Ejaria to the left of midfield and leave Puscas on his own. Replace Puscas after an hour or so with Boye.
I reckon Gomes has about 4 more games. I've grown to like the guy (wasn't a fan on appointment) but the key thing for me is a lack of progress being shown (in fact the complete opposite). For me, it is that which will mean he loses his job.
Gomes track record does seem to suggest he's not known for a defensive set up of his teams, which is plain to see. The high positions of the full backs is really killing us. So many goals so far this season have come from teams exploiting the space behind the full back and the centre back not getting across quick enough. One thing Joey was very good at under Stam was filling in between the centre backs when they split wide. Neither Pele nor Rinomhota do that effectively, meaning we leave gaping holes in the centre of defence, even with the extra centre back.
I think we have the right resources to either play 4-4-2 diamond, with Swift at the point, or 4-2-3-1; both of which includes Pele & Rino for that extra defensive cover
My overarching feeling having read reports, etc from last night is I actually feel very sad about the state of affairs at the club. I just want us to have some stability in both a management and player sense, and a reasonable home record so I can look forward to going to home games.