Luke Thomas

Andybarca said:
The first goal starts with a ball down the right, when he’s nowhere to be seen and the second it’s his man that he doesn’t track who scores.
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The second isn't his man. Its Clarke's man.
His man is no16 the RM.
They had two up top. Clarke and Fry were man to man with them. Clarke leaves his man to pick up the midfield runner who isn't tracked.
Hackney follows the ball instead of tracking the runner.
Ayling remains totally ineffective during the whole move.

Screenshot_20240215-075750_YouTube.jpg

I have circled VDB who is man to man with Keane, Clarke who is man to man with Riis (the goalscorer) and Thomas who is man to man with Millar (their RM).

Ayling is totally ineffective. Howson is the wrong side of the ball to help which is why I think Hackney probably drifts towards the ball.

Screenshot_20240215-075852_YouTube.jpgAs the midfield runner comes, Clarke sees the danger and leaves Riis to cover the MF runner. Thomas is still with his man. Ayling is still totally ineffective. Not in the back line or near a man.



Screenshot_20240215-075929_YouTube.jpg

Thomas then tries to switch to Riis who is more dangerous but he's too far away.

It's not Thomas's man at all. It's Clarke's. Clarke isn't at fault though. The goal is scores simply by not having enough men back and pushing 2 x Full Backs forward simultaneously AGAIN and leaving the 2 x CBs v 2 x Strikers
 
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B_G said:
The second isn't his man. Its Clarke's man.
His man is no16 the RM.
They had two up top. Clarke and Fry were man to man with them. Clarke leaves his man to pick up the midfield runner who isn't tracked.
Hackney follows the ball instead of tracking the runner.
Ayling remains totally ineffective during the whole move.

View attachment 72020

I have circled VDB who is man to man with Keane, Clarke who is man to man with Riis (the goalscorer) and Thomas who is man to man with Millar (their RM).

Ayling is totally ineffective. Howson is the wrong side of the ball to help which is why I think Hackney probably drifts towards the ball.

View attachment 72021As the midfield runner comes, Clarke sees the danger and leaves Riis to cover the MF runner. Thomas is still with his man. Ayling is still totally ineffective. Not in the back line or near a man.



View attachment 72022

Thomas then tries to switch to Riis who is more dangerous but he's too far away.

It's not Thomas's man at all. It's Clarke's. Clarke isn't at fault though. The goal is scores simply by not having enough men back and pushing 2 x Full Backs forward simultaneously AGAIN and leaving the 2 x CBs v 2 x Strikers
Click to expand...
That's just like watching Sky Sports.....😁😁

One thing you do pick up correctly is an element of play which we have struggled with continually this season - the MF tracking back. Hackney has this really, really bad habit of just sauntering back and when the opposition MF invariably pops one in from 20 yards he's still 5-6 yards away in his own personal zone marking system. We desperately need a quicker more athletic CM to replace Howson if Carrick wants Hackney just to stay further up the pitch.
 
It was Clarke’s fault, he gives away the ball with an awful pass which means that players can’t recover from their attacking shape
 
B_G said:
The second isn't his man. Its Clarke's man.
His man is no16 the RM.
They had two up top. Clarke and Fry were man to man with them. Clarke leaves his man to pick up the midfield runner who isn't tracked.
Hackney follows the ball instead of tracking the runner.
Ayling remains totally ineffective during the whole move.

View attachment 72020

I have circled VDB who is man to man with Keane, Clarke who is man to man with Riis (the goalscorer) and Thomas who is man to man with Millar (their RM).

Ayling is totally ineffective. Howson is the wrong side of the ball to help which is why I think Hackney probably drifts towards the ball.

View attachment 72021As the midfield runner comes, Clarke sees the danger and leaves Riis to cover the MF runner. Thomas is still with his man. Ayling is still totally ineffective. Not in the back line or near a man.



View attachment 72022

Thomas then tries to switch to Riis who is more dangerous but he's too far away.

It's not Thomas's man at all. It's Clarke's. Clarke isn't at fault though. The goal is scores simply by not having enough men back and pushing 2 x Full Backs forward simultaneously AGAIN and leaving the 2 x CBs v 2 x Strikers
Click to expand...
Very good analysis but without the ability to watch it in motion, difficult to see how much effort Thomas is putting into getting back.
I don’t really think Thomas was at fault with either goal but I was trying to highlight that Engel would have been blamed for the exact same defending.

I believe that the injury to smith and then to a lesser extent McNair, have made us much more open. From having 1 attacking FB and 3 CB moving over, to having 2 CB and then either Howson or Barlaser dropping in, has made us much more open.
 
Andybarca said:
Very good analysis but without the ability to watch it in motion, difficult to see how much effort Thomas is putting into getting back.
I don’t really think Thomas was at fault with either goal but I was trying to highlight that Engel would have been blamed for the exact same defending.

I believe that the injury to smith and then to a lesser extent McNair, have made us much more open. From having 1 attacking FB and 3 CB moving over, to having 2 CB and then either Howson or Barlaser dropping in, has made us much more open.
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We are definitely missing Smith. The amount of times he would tuck in in a match and make us a back 3 goes massively unnoticed.
I do think it's poor that we haven't addressed this as it has happened all season
 
Ayling has played centre back for Leeds, so I can only assume he’s being instructed to bomb on rather than tuck in
 
B_G said:
Hackney follows the ball instead of tracking the runner.
Click to expand...

I'm glad someone else has realised this. I've been saying it all season.
Hackney is great at "what he does" going forward - but defensively he leaves massive holes which are easily exploited.
Engels first games vs. West Brom/QPR are a great examples. Engel got pelters for those games - but he was 1v1 vs quick wingers all game because he had no protection.
 
Also think VDB shouldn’t have dropped off the man who was clearly going to receive it, allowing him to turn and get a shot away. Probably in two minds with the other guy floating about but still, if he went tight and put pressure on him he could have easily forced him back.

But, hey, we have to let the other team shoot from time to time 🤷‍♂️😩
 
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Interesting to look at the stats for this. Preston had three shots on target. First one was (IIRC) the only shot of any sort that they managed in the first half. Second goal was blocked and looped up for Riis to tap in with Glover stranded (perhaps slipped?). Thomas is running back towards Riis but slows to a jog as the initial shot is taken, might he have got back if he had kept going? It's difficult to call but it doesn't look great.
 
BoroMart said:
what was his fitness like before joining us? Is it just adjusting to football league, bad luck or is he actually made of glass
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No idea to be fair to him, but he's the type of player that will be prone to muscle injuries I guess, especially coming to a closer climate.
 
Thought both full backs dreadful
all night. Dijksteel even worse when he came on and I have been calling for him to start.
Would prefer Engel with a left midfielder in front of him ( McGree )
But Manager keeps ppicking wrong team/formation
 
As others have said, it was a 6/10 performance.

I didn't really notice he was playing, but I didn't notice him make too many mistakes either, apart from a few misplaced passes.
 
B_G said:
The second isn't his man. Its Clarke's man.
His man is no16 the RM.
They had two up top. Clarke and Fry were man to man with them. Clarke leaves his man to pick up the midfield runner who isn't tracked.
Hackney follows the ball instead of tracking the runner.
Ayling remains totally ineffective during the whole move.

View attachment 72020

I have circled VDB who is man to man with Keane, Clarke who is man to man with Riis (the goalscorer) and Thomas who is man to man with Millar (their RM).

Ayling is totally ineffective. Howson is the wrong side of the ball to help which is why I think Hackney probably drifts towards the ball.

View attachment 72021As the midfield runner comes, Clarke sees the danger and leaves Riis to cover the MF runner. Thomas is still with his man. Ayling is still totally ineffective. Not in the back line or near a man.



View attachment 72022

Thomas then tries to switch to Riis who is more dangerous but he's too far away.

It's not Thomas's man at all. It's Clarke's. Clarke isn't at fault though. The goal is scores simply by not having enough men back and pushing 2 x Full Backs forward simultaneously AGAIN and leaving the 2 x CBs v 2 x Strikers
Click to expand...
I know I sound like a broken record, but we're poor on the transition - a problem that goes back to Wilder's days.

Admittedly the Karanka/Pulis era is over - we're not the type of side to sit in, press in a limited manner but prioritise shape over pressure on the ball.

At the moment it looks as though we do next to no work on transition when losing possession - we don't counter-press intelligently, continually lose runners and have multiple players out of position.

Last night we elongated our shape with the ball (makes sense given recent errors when holding the ball in the defensive third) but it did create some significant gaps between FOR>>MF>>DEF when losing the ball.

My solution would be to be even braver in possession, push the defence up, get compact and close the gaps between the lines.

Just maybe not against Leicester :)
 
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