64 Goals Conceded in 35 Games, Where did it all go so wrong?

[An Away Move]

12 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

It's not (just) the team. It's the club that's gone to shit.

 

Vichai left us with three pillars.

 

1. Great scouting

2. Great academy

3. Great finances by leveraging the scouting and academy

 

1. Rodgers ignored the scouting

2. Rodgers ignored the academy

3. Rodgers let the players run down contracts

 

To add insult to injury, Rodgers ignored the physios and we suffered injury after injury.

 

And Rudkin saw it going to shit and gave Rodgers two big thumbs up. And Top did nothing.

 

The fact the team's gone to shit is a symptom, not the  cause.

Believe me - I am no fan of Rodgers, but he did not ignore the academy. He was set to give Alves a run in the first team before he got assaulted by that twat from Wolves. 

[Foxxed]

2 minutes ago, An Away Move said:

Believe me - I am no fan of Rodgers, but he did not ignore the academy. He was set to give Alves a run in the first team before he got assaulted by that twat from Wolves. 

The academy hated Rodgers from what people have said on here. Braybrooke should have been integrated much sooner. The player Rodgers has given the most time to is.... Brunt. He should have done much more especially since it's one of our central pillars. Just another case of the club coming second place to his ego.

[Lambert09]

1 hour ago, Will1981 said:

Most of his mistakes are with his passing rather than his defending which is usually quite solid, He is not good enough to start every game but every game he does start he gives 100% effort, how many of our other players can we say honostly give 100% every game?

I feel sorry for him tbh, he can put in 4 great games in a row but our fans can’t wait for that one bad game to jump on his back and ridicule the club for allowing him to play. 

 

Overall he’s had more good games than bad but people still hate him because he’s not good at passing. He’d probably be really solid in a everton or west ham set up where his job is just to defend 

 

I fully get that this isn’t how we play and because of that he’s not quite what we need but he’s always done a job as a stand in option for me. 

Edited 9 May 2023 by Lambert09

[foxinmyhouse]

I think a lot of the problems come from some of the players holding onto the ball far too long as if they are the only ones on the pitch, it slows the play down and most the time  get the ball taken off them and a lot of time it's resulting in a goal. If that doesn't happen they either pass it sideways or back . What's annoying is how they seem like they  don't have the confidence to pass the ball forward incase they loose it, yet suddenly start passing the ball around Infront of their own goal then loose it anyway. I would rather they lost it higher up the pitch actually trying to score. It's amazing how it's so easy to see when the opposition is going to score against us when it's one of our own players with the ball.

[Vindaloo FOX]

It might be boring but I want us to bring a defesive minded manager in.

 

Forget all this beautiful football for a minute and let's focus on being hard to beat.

 

Making the KP a fortress again.

[HybridFox]

Laziness. And that's on the players. Not fit to wear the shirt

[HybridFox]

2 minutes ago, Vindaloo FOX said:

It might be boring but I want us to bring a defesive minded manager in.

 

Forget all this beautiful football for a minute and let's focus on being hard to beat.

 

Making the KP a fortress again.

Why we should have made a move for Dyche earlier in the season. For all the doubters, Everton will ultimately be playing Premier League football next year

[EnglishOxide]

It's a cultural problem. 

 

The only players missing from our squad which beat Man Utd and Chelsea back to back in May 2021 where we finished 5th and won the FA Cup are:

 

Kasper

Fofana

Perez

Albrighton

 

This squad would not be where it is with 6 months under a manager that isn't a total bellend. 

[Dames]

28 minutes ago, An Away Move said:

Believe me - I am no fan of Rodgers, but he did not ignore the academy. He was set to give Alves a run in the first team before he got assaulted by that twat from Wolves. 

A game Alves should have been nowhere near if a competent manager has integrated him properly. However he might have come good and that didn't fit with Rodgers narrative about not being backed so we ended up with Brunt at LB instead.

Edited 9 May 2023 by Dames

[Guest Col city fan]

It’s been in recruitment, pure and simple. We sold Fofana and went out and signed Faes, Souttar and Kristianssen. We’d also blown big wages on two other defenders, in Vestergaard and Bertrand.

We’d relied on Amartey far too often and dropped Cags.

We’ve had this double whammy of having a very lightweight midfield in front of a very shaky defence. Neither area of the pitch have been strong enough, ability wise, to get the team defending well.

We have been crying out for a really good DM and very able defenders for too long. Our goals conceded column under Rodgers, particularly over the last two seasons, has been horrendous.

[ClaphamFox]

1 hour ago, splinterdream said:

I think our major problem is in midfield tbh, if you don’t win your battles there, you put huge pressure on the defence.

Exactly. A few years ago we had a very good defensive midfielder in Ndidi, who (if I recall correctly) came top in Europe for tackles for two seasons running in 2017/18 and 2018/19. His steep decline since then has given us a massive problem that we haven't found a solution to.

Edited 9 May 2023 by ClaphamFox

[Lambert09]

15 minutes ago, Vindaloo FOX said:

It might be boring but I want us to bring a defesive minded manager in.

 

Forget all this beautiful football for a minute and let's focus on being hard to beat.

 

Making the KP a fortress again.

I know it’s risking a legacy but honestly, pearson would be perfect just for sorting us out at the back and not just that, but we know he doesn’t just play boring football he just gives you a solid base and that’s exactly what we need. 

 

I either want a complete random manager with a new philosophy or if we go tried and tested.. it just has to be pearson for me. 

 

We know pearson is good in a rebuild, he won’t come in and try to be everyone’s best friend. He will truly drain the swamp as he did with mills and beckford  (and the rest). I think there are too many managers that think they’ll just come in and suddenly those players will start playing well for them… but we all know how certain players won’t change. If there are a few bad eggs in the group pearson will get rid of them.  i’m honestly now terrified that we give smith the full time job, he’s all over the place tactically 

 

 

[Vindaloo FOX]

1 minute ago, Lambert09 said:

I know it’s risking a legacy but honestly, pearson would be perfect just for sorting us out at the back and not just that, but we know he doesn’t just play boring football he just gives you a solid base and that’s exactly what we need. 

 

I either want a complete random manager with a new philosophy or if we go tried and tested.. it just has to be pearson for me. 

 

We know pearson is good in a rebuild, he won’t come in and try to be everyone’s best friend. He will truly drain the swamp as he did with mills and beckford  (and the rest). I think there are too many managers that think they’ll just come in and suddenly those players will start playing well for them… but we all know how certain players won’t change. If there are a few bad eggs in the group pearson will get rid of them.  i’m honestly now terrified that we give smith the full time job, he’s all over the place tactically 

 

 

Yes agree with this also, hate when a manager comes in and wants to be one of the lads.

 

To friendly with them, need someone they kinda fear and will run through a brick wall for.

 

I remember watching a interview where Carragher said Rafa was like this, he would blank players if he felt they were not putting enough effort in.

 

He wasn't talkative, he was just ruthless and knew what players would play for him.

[David Hankey]

I have read all the replies but it would be interesting to know how many of these 64 goals were conceded by Schmeichel?

 

I really do think it was a retrograde step him moving on. Surely, there were other ways of saving cash.

[Lambert09]

9 minutes ago, Vindaloo FOX said:

Yes agree with this also, hate when a manager comes in and wants to be one of the lads.

 

To friendly with them, need someone they kinda fear and will run through a brick wall for.

 

I remember watching a interview where Carragher said Rafa was like this, he would blank players if he felt they were not putting enough effort in.

 

He wasn't talkative, he was just ruthless and knew what players would play for him.

we really missed a trick not going all out for rafa. I think we’d all be begging him to stay even if other clubs results sent us down. 

[WigstonWanderer]

3 hours ago, Will1981 said:

 

Mendy and Preat have been criminally underused as our most solid midfielders, Ndidi has been a complete liability and statistically we concede the most goals per game when he is on the pitch.

Think Mendy has been the victim of heightism

[Guest Mee-9]

Where it's gone wrong is so easy to explain. 

 

All our defensive players, Goalkeepers and CDM's have been absolutely and utterly shit. It's that simple. 

 

[Richmondfox]

A midfield that prefer to pass back to the defence rather than to the attackers isn’t a great start.  Add the constant passing around the back and playing backwards adding more pressure upon a useless defence. 
 

I like Iverson for shot stopping but his decision making when holding the ball is poor. 
 

[Chrysalis]

Defending is probably the part of the game thats most heavily impacted by mentality.  I also think good coaching has a high influence on defending, so ultimately the previous manager who inherited a team that was reasonably solid at the back, and by the time we left we are like a moth infested sheet.

 

Mentality seems screwed, so I feel a squad refresh needed for a reset, neutral on keeping the trio on for start of next season, think its harsh to blame them for this, they had no off season or transfer windows, but at same time we have seen at other clubs a new manager can have an immediate impact.

 

I wouldnt change them for the sake of changing though, only for someone with a good record in the championship.

 

Lots of chopping and changing at the back, partially due to Rodgers been an idiot, and also partially due to injuries.  I find it interesting we had Evans talking to Terry, Soyuncu hangs out with Evans, and then Terry suggests to Dean we play Soyuncu.

 

The club also clearly made a mistake when they were letting previous successful scouts leave the club, thinking its easy to find someone as competent.  A fair few of our signings made in last few years, I think are below the standard of the one's made under Puel and Walsh.

 

Letting Kasper go has ended up been a massive mistake.

Edited 9 May 2023 by Chrysalis

[Fulham Fan In Peace]

Fulham Fan In Peace here.  I, and many other Fulham fans from what I have read on various forums, would be sorry to see you relegated (despite our long-held dislike - far too weak a word but I'm trying to be restrained - of Terry).  You were truly terrible yesterday until at 4 nil we thought it was far too easy and became complacent, our passing became sloppy, a shed load of substitutions meant we lost impetus.  Your shape throughout the game looked very very poor to me - a bit like kids following the ball too much, completely disorganised. If you tried to press us, we simply hit a long diagonal to Wilson or Willian and we were in on goal.  Liverpool, Newcastle and W Ham to go for you - you might get lucky and I hope you do, but it doesn't look good  if you carry on that way.  (And by the way Kristiansen was the worst LB I've seen this season)

Edited 9 May 2023 by Fulham Fan In Peace
missed a point

[filbertway]

Would probably help having a mobile midfield that won't just let the opposition run through them and leave the defence consistently stretched.

[justfoxes]

4 hours ago, Will1981 said:

We are pretty much nailed on to go down as we have leaked goals at an alarming rate with teams scoring against us for fun, so I decided to see which players played the most minutes for us per goal conceded.

 

Goalkeepers

 

Ward 2340 minutes played 46 goals conceded (50.9 minutes per goal conceded)

Iversen 810 minutes played 18 goals conceded (45 minutes per goal conceded)

 

Defenders

 

Amartey 1610 minutes played 27 goals conceded (59.6 minutes per goal conceded)

Castagne 2987 minutes played 59 goals conceded (50.6 minutes per goal conceded)

Evans 811 minutes played 24 goals conceded (33.8 minutes per goal conceded)

Faes 2517 minutes played 47 goals conceded (53.6 minutes per goal conceded)

Justin 1254 minutes played 25 goals conceded (50.2 minutes per goal conceded)

Kristiansen 894 minutes played 21 goals conceded (42.6 minutes per goal conceded)

Ricardo 385 minutes played 9 goals conceded (42.8 minutes per goal conceded)

Souttar 900 minutes played 19 goals conceded (47.4 minutes per goal conceded)

Soyuncu 529 minutes played 13 goals conceded (40.7 minutes per goal conceded)

Thomas 868 minutes played 18 goals conceded (48.2 minutes per goal conceded)

 

Midfielders

 

Dewsbury-Hall 2244 minutes played 40 goals conceded (56.1 minutes per goal conceded)

Mendy 731 minutes played 12 goals conceded (60.9 minutes per goal conceded)

Ndidi 1531 minutes played 37 goals conceded (41.4 minutes per goal conceded)

Praet 639 minutes played 10 goals conceded (63.9 minutes per goal conceded)

Soumare 1365 minutes played 26 goals conceded (52.5 minutes per goal conceded)

Tielemans 2080 minutes played 45 goals conceded (46.2 minutes per goal conceded)

 

Attackers

 

Barnes 2540 minutes played 48 goals conceded (52.9 minutes per goal conceded)

Daka 1124 minutes played 23 goals conceded (48.9 minutes per goal conceded)

Iheanacho 999 minutes played 23 goals conceded (43.4 minutes per goal conceded)

Maddison 2259 minutes played 50 goals conceded (45.2 minutes per goal conceded)

Tete 710 minutes played 14 goals conceded (50.7 minutes per goal conceded)

Vardy 1685 minutes played 34 goals conceded (49.6 minutes per goal conceded)

 

Our Best XI

 

Ward

 

Castagne - Amartey - Faes - Justin

 

Praet - Mendy - KDH

 

Tete - Vardy - Barnes

 

 

 

Our Worst XI

 

Iversen

 

Ricardo - Evans - Soyuncu - Kristiansen

 

Tielemans - Ndidi - Soumare

 

Maddison

 

Nacho - Daka

 

Conclusion

 

Ward has conceded less per minute than Iversen but Ward played all of his games under Brendaball whereas Iversen has been in goal for Smith's more gung-ho style

 

Justin has been very solid and is a big miss, Amartey has been by far our most solid central defender.

 

Mendy and Preat have been criminally underused as our most solid midfielders, Ndidi has been a complete liability and statistically we concede the most goals per game when he is on the pitch.

It all started when Brendan Rodgers ego got bigger than the club blames everyone but himself for the awful results and performances, the way he alienated players keeping them from playing benching them and playing players not capable of competing with others benched!

 

His holier than thou attitude around the dressing room the pitchside just scribbling in his notepad, but the one that got me thinking he needed to go was first game of the season a rather warm day we went 2-0 ahead Thomas Franck changed half his squad Rodgers made 1 substitution the lads looked knackered Brentford came at us with a fitter side equalised 5 more minutes they would have beaten us !

[Fox1980]

Answer is in the title 

[Gamble92]

4 hours ago, StanSP said:

Where did it all go wrong? 

 

The manager who should have been sacked months ago persisting with Ward and Amartey, and ostracising the good players that could have played, such as Soyuncu. 

 

Barring Iversen's horror show for their first yesterday, it was quite clear to see he was better than Ward. 

 

Willing to confidently state if both of those were played earlier in the season, and Mendy perhaps too, we wouldn't be in this mess. At not as close to relegation as we are now. 

Definitely. The small changes it would have taken to keep this (albeit absolute disgusting) bunch of players up is actually quite laughable. 

 

It's only as I watch games like yesterday I see why so many detach themselves further from it all as they get older and tell us all how silly we are to invest as much as we do in it. They don't give a flying ****. 

 

What's worse is you have loads of ex players as pundits who relentlessly defend them. Stuff like players not turning up for training because they want to force a move etc. I've heard the term rotten to the core about our team a lot this season but I think it's just football now. It's gone to the ****ing dogs.

[The Guvnor]

Most successful Managers build their team around a solid defence, and spine .Our Manager successfully built an average spineless team around an awful defence.