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"Our squad isn't strong enough!"


Alfa said:
There’s also an emerging trend in which it seems some posters cannot accept any form of criticism of the side or a player.

This is a forum for the exchange of views.

Of course we all want SAFC to prosper and achieve the objective of staying up this season.

Last night was a chance for some of the players on the periphery of the first 11 to stake a claim for a starting spot. With the exception of a couple they didn’t take that chance.

For the side we put out last night to lose to what was effectively Huddersfield reserves was very poor and posters are well within their rights to point that out.
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It's great when it's an actual debate.

Unfortunately the same old knackers pipe up after a defeat and pick their favourite scapegoats (Neil/Roberts/Onien) whilst offering absolutely nowt in terms of discussion.
 
CH and proven goalscorer are the huge issues with me, what we have will not produce what we need.

It's gonna be a relegation scrap, which I'm sure most on here already know. Quality and the not so good opposition know that 1 or 2 goals and we ain't coming back, points in the bag.
 
hardlife said:
CH and proven goalscorer are the huge issues with me, what we have will not produce what we need.
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The two we had at centre half last night both lol capable. Of course, we'd like one more but if we have to go with what we have, I'm actually confident we have just about enough with Aldrete, Mukiele, Masuaku, O'Nien, Ballard and even Reinildo all capable. Odd game for Alese and Seelt in there, if needed.

Addressing the goalscorer thing is priority, for me.
 
Dodgy said:
The two we had at centre half last night both lol capable. Of course, we'd like one more but if we have to go with what we have, I'm actually confident we have just about enough with Aldrete, Mukiele, Masuaku, O'Nien, Ballard and even Reinildo all capable. Odd game for Alese and Seelt in there, if needed.

Addressing the goalscorer thing is priority, for me.
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Where is Mukieles natural position?, Masuaku?

O9 will not cut it at CH, Seelt forget it, Alese not seen enough of him.

Reinildo good shout. The most important positions on the field, CHs and proven goalscorers, we've failed badly.
 
Building a good team is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. You've got to put down the foundations (defence and midfield) to allow the creativity (wingers and forwards) to deliver the penetration.

We've done the foundations bit. Just need to see some penetration now
 
dave hedgehog said:
Building a good team is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. You've got to put down the foundations (defence and midfield) to allow the creativity (wingers and forwards) to deliver the penetration.

We've done the foundations bit. Just need to see some penetration now
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🤣 🤣 Well 2 legs on my beds just collapsed and my pointy bits just not getting there. SAFC I'm talking here :lol:
 
Wakoro said:
Should have prioritised buying a striker, simple as that. Most of the good ones have now gone to other clubs, including to our competitors. Hopefully they have one up their sleeve, but I think they are risking going with Mayenda and Guiu, with Isidor occasionally playing there. But what do I know, I've only been successfully coaching for over 5 years...
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You've hidden it well.
 
hardlife said:
Where is Mukieles natural position?, Masuaku?

O9 will not cut it at CH, Seelt forget it, Alese not seen enough of him.

Reinildo good shout. The most important positions on the field, CHs and proven goalscorers, we've failed badly.
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Mukiele has played numerous times at centre half, including for PSG.

09 has been doubted at league one and championship level and I think he's decent backup at whatever level he's needed. In an ideal world we'll get somebody else in but time is ticking and if we have to go with what we have, I think we can.
 
Wakoro said:
Should have prioritised buying a striker, simple as that. Most of the good ones have now gone to other clubs, including to our competitors. Hopefully they have one up their sleeve, but I think they are risking going with Mayenda and Guiu, with Isidor occasionally playing there. But what do I know, I've only been successfully coaching for over 5 years...
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They are putting a lot of faith in young lads improving as they get used to the prem.
fingers crossed they do.

Strikers miss chances… but the difference between success and failure is paper thin.
If Mayenda scores we win that game. But the double whammy was Ballard injury.

Suddenly we are pivoting between bouncing back with a statement win or dealing with a third loss on the bounce.

This division is relentless and the players need the quality, physicality and mental strength to deal with it.

The team will get better as the season goes on but we have to take our chances
Dodgy said:
Mukiele has played numerous times at centre half, including for PSG.

09 has been doubted at league one and championship level and I think he's decent backup at whatever level he's needed. In an ideal world we'll get somebody else in but time is ticking and if we have to go with what we have, I think we can.
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Until the next injury
 
norfolk mackem said:
It is poor to lose to Huddersfield but maybe just maybe RLB's tactics in the first half were a major factor.

To impress in these games the team has to be a functioning unit and when it isn't individuals will find it hard to stand out.

RLB was trying new players and new tactics at the same time, sometimes it's too much change all at once but he obviously decided that it would be a useful exercise and the result was less important to him.
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Agree.The first half looked like RLB trying players in other positions to cover potential future gaps due to injuries.
 
Dodgy said:
Of course they're not!

That's why our owner and his team have went out and spent millions on players that they've identified as being better.

One of the main positives from last night is that two of those new recruits, Mukiele and Masuaku looked the part and could hopefully slot straight in, if needed.

Hopefully, the majority of last year's squad will just be bit part players and some of the younger ones will learn from the better players we've brought in and thus, will improve.

Our owners and RLB need to be cut some slack, though. They've given us a chance to survive and hopefully even compete in this league.

We need to keep our kegs (in both senses of the word) dry and see what the season brings. RLB identified the problem and (almost) addressed it in the second half, last night.

There's a long way to go but all of the usual suspects are back out in force, it would seem.
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just wow wow - you dont have belief in our squad. unbelievable. You're panic which no need to. some of the players are not fully fit compare to huddersfield. however, man utd are in worst position than us.
norfolk mackem said:
A lot on here are suggesting we need a striker who will be guaranteed to score the one chance we create in a game. News Flash, they don't exist.

That's what Mayenda is being criticised for, missing his one chance against Burnley.

The real problem in the Burnley game was the low number of chances we created.
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and low blocks that where we are struggling with. But these players arent fully fit even Guiu.. In time we'll get better, believe me.
 
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I think the issue we have with our bench isn’t just down to quality as some of those from last season can step up. The issue I see is the lack of motivation in some players who have went from regular starters to bench warmers. Yes we need more in and not just to start but also as part of the squad, but I’m sure the owners know this. What I can say is that no matter how this season goes we can’t knock the efforts in bringing in players as the owners have done way more already than anyone expected.
 
Alfa said:
There’s also an emerging trend in which it seems some posters cannot accept any form of criticism of the side or a player.

This is a forum for the exchange of views.

Of course we all want SAFC to prosper and achieve the objective of staying up this season.

Last night was a chance for some of the players on the periphery of the first 11 to stake a claim for a starting spot. With the exception of a couple they didn’t take that chance.

For the side we put out last night to lose to what was effectively Huddersfield reserves was very poor and posters are well within their rights to point that out.
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I hear exactly what you're saying but I'm not sure how it's really relevant to my original post. My opening gambit was that KLD has identified that Tuesday's players (or certainly, some of them) aren't up to scratch and had sought to improve on them: surely that's inarguable.

This isn't about my refusal to criticise players: exactly the opposite, if anything. They're probably not good enough so we've (hopefully) bought better.

That said, I still hope that the likes of Neil proves me wrong but I think that we are the very best he's ever going to get and if he doesn't sign a new contract, I can't see anybody else at this level giving him a go.
Madcap11 said:
just wow wow - you dont have belief in our squad. unbelievable. You're panic which no need to. some of the players are not fully fit compare to huddersfield. however, man utd are in worst position than us.
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You what? Read it again, I've said almost the opposite. If you look, the title is in quotation marks. It's not my opinion, it's that of others.
 
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norfolk mackem said:
A lot on here are suggesting we need a striker who will be guaranteed to score the one chance we create in a game. News Flash, they don't exist.

That's what Mayenda is being criticised for, missing his one chance against Burnley.

The real problem in the Burnley game was the low number of chances we created.
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The problem is Mayenda misses a lot of chances
 
RichD said:
It's takes years to build a team that can be comfortable in this league. 4th bottom is the target this season....
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4th bottom isnt the target.

However I think most fans would be happy with it. Those are not the same thing
norfolk mackem said:
A lot on here are suggesting we need a striker who will be guaranteed to score the one chance we create in a game. News Flash, they don't exist.

That's what Mayenda is being criticised for, missing his one chance against Burnley.

The real problem in the Burnley game was the low number of chances we created.
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We created two good ones, both in the first 10 minutes.
 
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