The biggest loss we've had since Carrick became manager...

..wasn't a footballing result.

Wasn't losing Akpom.

Wasn't injuries.

Wasn't poor recruitment.

It was losing Aaron Danks and failing to replace him with someone who was as good as him.

it's very easy to spin that narrative when you have no idea what either Danks or any of the other coaches bring to the table.

We were open defensively and poor out of possession when Danks was here (even Kompany made a point of emphasising it in his team talk in that Burnley documentary). I don't see a lot of difference to now, we just built up some momentum and confidence in that first season and got on a roll.

We still play pretty passing football and can look really dangerous in attack but have a soft underbelly and don't look like we enjoy doing the dirty stuff.
 
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it's very easy to spin that narrative when you have no idea what either Danks or any of the other coaches bring to the table.

We were open defensively and poor out of possession when Danks was here (even Kompany made a point of emphasising it in his team talking in that Burnley documentary). I don't see a lot of difference to now, we just built up some momentum and confidence in that first season and got on a roll.

We still play pretty passing football and can look really dangerous in attack but have a soft underbelly and don't look like we enjoy doing the dirty stuff.
Can't agree.

We were different under Danks. We were still dangerous in attack, but we were much more stronger in defence. The stats and underlyings proved this.

And also, since Danks has gone, our in game management and tactical changes are non existent.
 
We still had many of our current frailties last season when Danks was around. I do think we miss him but him going isn't the reason for our poor form.
 
Can't agree.

We were different under Danks. We were still dangerous in attack, but we were much more stronger in defence. The stats and underlyings proved this.

And also, since Danks has gone, our in game management and tactical changes are non existent.

I haven't looked at the defensive stats I'm purely going on what I've observed in matches. I will say that I was hoping we went for an experienced established coach when Danks left as I felt Carrick might benefit from that, but that's more a feeling/personal preference rather than me knowing anything about what Danks brought to the set-up.

Nah it was Akpom

You make a fair point about Akpom he was a brilliant attacking pivot and helped us move the ball quickly in the final third. We are not quite as dynamic going forward now as a result, but he was a level above who we have playing in that position now.
 
He wasn't just good going forwards, he pressed well. We defended from the front. We don't do that anymore. We have 3 players sometimes that only attack. They make half-hearted attempts to look like they are pressing but it's not effective. We defend with a maximum of 6 players. It's no wonder we get over-run down both wings.
 
Nah it was Akpom.

He was phenomenal that last season. 29 goals. Made the system work wonderfully. When he was playing it felt like we had an extra player. He was the most effective player in the midfield, then he'd spray the ball out wide, and he'd pop up as the most effective player up front too.
Agree, Akpom was superb at receiving the ball deep and turning his marker to create the space to do some damage. We’ve had nobody who can do that since he went.
 
We have been poor defensively ever since Carrick arrived, we’ve got progressively worse as Howson has played less, we’ve lost Smith and Lenihan and others have left. I can’t believe I’m posting this but Paddy McNair and Marc Bola were both better than their replacements.
 
Seems like we’ve ran out of ideas and some changes are needed… like the Robson - Venables season…
 
I also think we are a lot better moving the ball out of defence when we have three at the back with a fullback sitting, rather than Morris or barlaser dropping into the back line. I've never liked this as it takes a man out of midfield and we are left with hackney by himself there.

I still think we should have just gambled keeping Akpom.
 
I also think we are a lot better moving the ball out of defence when we have three at the back with a fullback sitting, rather than Morris or barlaser dropping into the back line. I've never liked this as it takes a man out of midfield and we are left with hackney by himself there.

I still think we should have just gambled keeping Akpom.
I think that's about personnel as much as the shape. I've just posted similar on the other thread. Our third CB would usually be a McNair, Howson or Lenihan. They can all carry the ball out and are a bit more mobile in possession than the 3 CBs we currently have available. If we were going to go 3 at the back right now I'd play Ayling as our 3rd CB. But we'd be just as well staying 4 at the back and briefing Ayling to tuck in and make a back 3 in possession rather than bombing on.
 
Don't agree. Full back tucking in means both hackney and Morris can receive the ball in midfield. Hard to explain but I think it's much easier to play out when you have those two triangles.
Otherwise our play seems to go to the fullbacks and they get boxed in, trapped by the sideline. Cue weak punt that barely makes the halfway line and is inevitably won by the opposition.

I was hoping that we would revert back to this with Giles in the side, but unfortunately no.
 
Think Danks amongst other things, was a bit of a specialist in 121 player coaching wasn't he?

Could be a coincidence but a few players seem to have dropped off a bit since he left.

Of course no one really knows what impact various coaches have behind the scenes, but I said this at the time he replaced Danks with his brother, if it goes wrong he's opening himself up to that criticism. Same as Woodgate.

I'll say this for Aitor, he knew the value of having a different perspective on his team. Can't imagine he was besties with Agnew or (especially not) Hignett.

I picture Carrick, Woodgate and co. sitting around just nodding along and agreeing with each other. The perception is it's just all a bit too comfortable.
 
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