LCFC V Tranmere Match Thread

[J. James]

I'll bet Enzo is still shaking his head at that unacceptable performance from his former team...

[RowlattsFox]

Second half was walking football against a team who were ****ed. 

Skipp the big plus for me. Nice cameo from Alves, really good to see how much he wanted the ball. Ayew was good but rarely in the box, good to see his first touch is solid, compared to someone like Daka. 

 

Mavs biggest problem is he doesn't really want to link with a full back. 

[Finnegan]

11 minutes ago, CaliFOXnia said:

Alves needs a chance this season, I'd already take him over BDR after his first 2 showings this season. 

Real talent.

 

He'll get a lot of minutes mate don't worry.

 

On loan at West Brom.

[FoxesPork]

2 minutes ago, J. James said:

God yeah, l hate fast food that's not geometrically aligned too..

Lettuce was probably non symmetrical and the tomatoes the wrong shade of orange to boot.. Just unacceptable.. 😐

Sauce all over the fingers too, looked a right state

[kingfox]

I saw enough tonight to know that Jordan Ayew will break Arthur Chandler’s goalscoring record. 

[Viva]

3 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

There is truth in that of course, but I thought tonight that Cooper got many things right, and also showed people that some of his decisions prior to this game were probably backed up with some hard truths, i.e Mavididi is off the pace, Ayew could be a useful addition and Cooper is willing to use younger players, albeit later on. 

I didn't think he did much wrong tonight. Hopefully, he can get some wins in the Premier League and then there will be a shift in the OTT negative reactions to anything and everything Cooper is doing. Of course, it could go the other way, and after 10+ games, I will be one of those critics too. 

The unwarranted negativity on here just gets worse by the day. The pre-match comments and outcry about the team selection were just ridiculous. As is the mention of Rudkin in every page of this forum! 
The reality is, we are going to lose and get outplayed a lot more than not this season. Just need to deal with that fact and all that matters is that we pick up just enough points to hopefully stay up. If that means not playing the most attractive football or not picking a kid that hasn’t even started a match for us yet, then so be it! 

[Ric Flair]

3 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I’d rather give some of the senior players more game time to get them up to speed - the ones that haven’t played much in the opening two games. 

How would you go about developing academy players then?

[FoxesWalk]

2 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

He'll get a lot of minutes mate don't worry.

 

 

  Hide contents

On loan at West Brom.

 

West Brom would be an exceptional loan for him tbh, imagine he’ll go lower if he goes 

[J. James]

3 minutes ago, FoxesPork said:

Sauce all over the fingers too, looked a right state

This is you you isn't it...

[Stormfox]

2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

How would you go about developing academy players then?

Is "Tommy G" actually Spaghetti Coops?? 

[ronnup]

Let's see how Saturday goes....

[STUHILL]

1 minute ago, Viva said:

The unwarranted negativity on here just gets worse by the day. The pre-match comments and outcry about the team selection were just ridiculous. As is the mention of Rudkin in every page of this forum! 
The reality is, we are going to lose and get outplayed a lot more than not this season. Just need to deal with that fact and all that matters is that we pick up just enough points to hopefully stay up. If that means not playing the most attractive football or not picking a kid that hasn’t even started a match for us yet, then so be it! 

There was a significant number here who wanted Enzo sacked last season. I don't think it matters what certain Managers do or don't. Some people just love the OTT negative life. I am sure I will get accused of lacking ambition or being a happy clapper, but I am just trying to be realistic and have some balance, especially only 2 league games, and a cup game into the Manager's job with us.

[moore_94]

8 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I’d rather give some of the senior players more game time to get them up to speed - the ones that haven’t played much in the opening two games. 

Ndidi and Faes didn’t need that much if any game time tonight

[FoxesPork]

4 minutes ago, J. James said:

This is you you isn't it...

One wafer thin McFlurry

[CaliFOXnia]

9 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

He'll get a lot of minutes mate don't worry.

 

 

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On loan at West Brom.

 

Haha I'd take it to be honest mate, as long as he's playing. I think maybe that's his better option as I have little faith in Cooper to give progress him given how we've started. 

[Shamomoa]

14 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I’d rather give some of the senior players more game time to get them up to speed - the ones that haven’t played much in the opening two games. 

Surely the senior players should already be up to speed! Give the youngsters a chance! 

[studentofthegame]

19 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

There's a certain amount of distance between your comments and your username ........

 

Took O'Neil 7 or 8 games to get his messages across, Fergie was famously very close to the sack before he managed to get things right, even Pep got a lot wrong in his 1st season at Man City.

 

We're not talking about a manager in his 2nd season at the club with a few squad changes through the summer. We're talking about a guy who came in relatively late, in uncertain times, trying to to figure out a way of getting the best from a squad.

 

I'm still hugely unsure on Cooper, I wasn't a fan of his before his appointment and I still don't know, nor can I comprehend, the reasoning for his appointment, other than he the best available who wanted the job. But, he's here and I'll give him the time. We played a different system tonight and got some minutes in the legs of a 1 or 2 who will be looking to get in the 1st team. Yes, a routine win against lower league opposition, but it's important to see how Skipp fits, for example, or what Ricardo offers.

 

From what I've seen so far, we need a left back and a striker. Ricky in for Justin, Stephy for Reid, Buononatte in for Ndidi and we've got a decent 11 with some strength on the bench that could see us stay up

How the players fit in a game against the level of opposition we will only ever face in early rounds of the cup isn't hugely beneficial though. 

The entire identity of the team and how we set up all season will be entirely different to tonight, we are going to be the weaker side, chasing the game, conceding possession and having to defend resolutely in pretty much every single game we play. It's like getting some revision in for your Maths A Level and just focusing on your times tables. Are you technically doing something productive? Yes. Is it actually going to have any impact on your success?  not really.

[reynard]

Obviously a very good result but doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. Good to know we can at least easily beat an exceptionally poor opponent.

 

Hopefully will instill some confidence.

[Richard]

22 minutes ago, Viva said:

The unwarranted negativity on here just gets worse by the day. The pre-match comments and outcry about the team selection were just ridiculous. As is the mention of Rudkin in every page of this forum! 
The reality is, we are going to lose and get outplayed a lot more than not this season. Just need to deal with that fact and all that matters is that we pick up just enough points to hopefully stay up. If that means not playing the most attractive football or not picking a kid that hasn’t even started a match for us yet, then so be it! 

100% we are going to get outplayed most games before the majority of the league have far superior squads than us and we don't have the money to catch up in 1 summer. We tried overspending before to catch up and look where it got us.

 

We got outplayed by Fulham because frankly their squad is vastly superior to ours all over the pitch. 

[copunk]

Decent showing overall tonight I felt 

Hard to comment on the defence as Tranmere offered nothing, Okoli looked OK though and comfortable on the ball 

Mavididi stepped it up 2nd half and looked alot better 

Skipp, albeit against a league 2 team, had a very good game, always on the move and created some clever spaces to Ricardo to come inside at times, good passer of the ball and puts in a massive shift, the price tag has been questioned to death but I would feel comfortable with him and Winks in a double pivot 

I said on here earlier Ndidi needs to be dropped from this attacking role he's been given, granted he gets his flowers for his goal, which he showed great feet and the finish was lovely, but he's just not a good enough player with the ball at his feet, against lesser opposition maybe, but in the prem it's a complete disaster 

Ayew can hit a ball, looked decent again tonight but doesn't get in the box enough to become the striker we are crying out for if Vards gets injured etc 

Thomas got a bad rap tonight but I honestly don't see that he did anything wrong, just a standard performance, nothing special but nothing bad 

Mcateer didn't really offer much, however most of our attacks came from the left so that may be a bit harsh 

Feel Cooper managed the game well though, a wins a win so hopefully gives us a bit of confidence for the weeks ahead 

[EastAnglianFox]

21 minutes ago, ronnup said:

Let's see how Saturday goes....

Id rather not 

[Tommy G]

33 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

How would you go about developing academy players then?

Sending them out on loan and getting minutes under their belt - see Barnes and KDH for reference. 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Only caught about 10 mins due do a to do at home, just before the half, Riccy p looked class. Was he good overall?

[gurru991]

1 hour ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Ward clean sheet.

 

Starts on Saturday.

Don't think so ... I hear Man U are in for him.

[Jimbo]

9 hours ago, studentofthegame said:

How the players fit in a game against the level of opposition we will only ever face in early rounds of the cup isn't hugely beneficial though. 

The entire identity of the team and how we set up all season will be entirely different to tonight, we are going to be the weaker side, chasing the game, conceding possession and having to defend resolutely in pretty much every single game we play. It's like getting some revision in for your Maths A Level and just focusing on your times tables. Are you technically doing something productive? Yes. Is it actually going to have any impact on your success?  not really.

So using your own analogy, if you forget all about your times tables, too simple and have no use, are you going to do well in your Maths A level? Absolutely not

 

What else do you suggest for tonight? Playing none of the 1st team squad, get knocked out, learn absolutely nothing and morale takes a hit? Play all the 1st 11 stuff them, still learn nothing (by your admission) have them go into Saturday a bit more leggy? 

 

We did the right thing tonight. Gave minutes to those on the fringes i.e. Mavadidi and Ricardo to keep morale high, tried out a slightly different system to what we have been playing, not our fault Tranmere didn't offer much, gave minutes to a couple of youngsters, new faces found there way a bit more in actual competition and we got the job done comfortably. 

 

As I said, we're talking about a guy who been here for 2 months, of course he doesn't know his best 11 yet. I'm sure he has ideas, I'm sure he has his style and his system, but so far has only seen 270 minutes of competitive football to see if he needs to tweak his ideas and his systems or if he can make the players he's got fit into them. Financially, we all know it's uncertain, we still don't know what our punishment is going to be and you're talking like he's a manager who's been here for years. 

 

 

Edited 28 August by Jimbo