That's fair enough. Everyone will have a different view and it is true Northampton did get in the box a little too often, but I never felt like we'd really been pulled about much. As a result there was normally a man between ball and goal and we were able to put the striker on their weaker foot.
I think if they'd had a big striker we'd have played differently. We setup the way we did to stop them finding space either between the lines or in behind, knowing that's how they wanted to play. But they didn't have a big centre forward so we seemed pretty relaxed letting them get crosses in.
To quote a well-known phrase, 'Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'. It doesn't matter how you get the W, nobody is going to look at the table at the end of the season and say 'Wycombe shouldn't have won that game, they get a 3 point deduction'.
We now have 10 points from 6 games. If we maintain that rate over the season, we'll end up with 76-77 points, probably enough for the playoffs.
Those 10 points have come from the last 4 games, which is automatic promotion form if we can keep that up. There will obviously be bigger challenges ahead, but I'm convinced that we have a talented squad of players, and the tactics and teamwork will continue to improve from one game to the next.
No one is pretending that we played well, but for all the possession Northampton had they didn’t hit the post or crossbar, had no shots cleared off the line and Max made no more than 3-4 saves. Give some credit to the way we kept them at bay in the second half especially.
Yes, but Max saved two 1v1s and there was a free header from a set piece in the first half and then what about the other 10-15 opportunities? Various other flashes across goal. We were incredibly fortunate today - even our manager isn’t defending our players; let’s not be deluded.
In situations that involve a high element of chance (eg poker, where this analysis comes from, and football) it is good to avoid results-orientated thinking. You can succeed even having made the wrong decisions and, crucially, if you were to repeat the same actions again in the future you probably wouldn’t succeed.
I think this is the kind of thing that @ReturnToSenda means when he says the performance is more important than the result. The manager & team can control their own performance, but they can’t control the result. If we play well consistently, in the long term the results will follow. If we play badly we might get one off results, but we won’t win as many as we’d like. And we definitely played badly for most of the game yesterday.
On a related note, there seems to be some confusion about what playing well means. It’s not about style; not about playing football ‘the right way’. You can play both long ball or tiki taka competently or incompetently. In the first half yesterday we were incompetent. Which isn’t something you would say about the vast majority of the Ainsworth era.
Much as I have watched some less than brilliant performances the last couple of weeks I still think we are not far off clicking and giving someone a spanking. Certain players aren’t clicking. And certain players aren’t clicking with each other. But they will. And when they do it’s going to be pretty frightening for an opponent.
The reality is , we were very fortunate yesterday. Northampton had most of the game. If we dominated a game as much as they did , we’d be disappointed at the result. My concern despite picking up 10 points from 12 after the poor start, I’m not seeing any real pattern or style of play we’re trying to adopt. I know we’re trying a new system with new players but there is little cohesion in our play. Blooms has consistently talked about evolution as opposed to revolution but seeing very little evidence of it. However very happy taking points playing crap.
If the first six games of the season are all about the performance and the final half dozen about results, what is the requirement of the 'middle' thirty four?!
I have said we got away with it yesterday, but although we were poor going forward, let’s give some credit to the defending. Forcing the opposition to shoot from long range-which was part of the game plan-helped to nullify Northampton’s overwhelming superiority in terms of possession.
I think some people on here would be better off supporting Man City. The organisation and effort in the Northampton match was very impressive, winning football matches isn't all about short passes.
Chatting to a Northampton fan on the way back they have a range of exciting midfielders, obsess about "playing the right way" but also have several non-scoring centre forwards . If they had an in form striker it could have been very difficult.
On Vokes it's not unreasonable to point out he hasn't achieved much recently but I still think the quality is there. Can't really fault him yesterday, he got a whack early on and we barely went in their half again before he was subbed.
Performances are important but what we get from this one apart from a very welcome three points (that could be important at whatever end of the table we find ourselves at) is some underrated problem solving from the players and the boss, minutes for key players and some real spirit. We aren't playing the flowing passing football we think he'd like so he has to be realistic about when to vary the efforts and when to double down.
2 weeks of recuperation and training at this stage must seem like a blessing.
Fine to say the performances are a more important indicator than wins in a long season if you also didn't wet yourself when we got spanked early on.
A win is a win though and the injustice and ref moaning from the beaten opposition is always a welcome addition to the weekend.
Excellent post, agree with every word. We are very much a work in progress and if we can pick up points whilst not playing well it is a promising sign.
Comments
High praise!
That's fair enough. Everyone will have a different view and it is true Northampton did get in the box a little too often, but I never felt like we'd really been pulled about much. As a result there was normally a man between ball and goal and we were able to put the striker on their weaker foot.
Fair enough too. It does seem like Northampton are a #9 away from being a truly scary proposition.
Meanwhile, we will whistle cheerfully as we pocket the win and prepare for Blackpool!
I think if they'd had a big striker we'd have played differently. We setup the way we did to stop them finding space either between the lines or in behind, knowing that's how they wanted to play. But they didn't have a big centre forward so we seemed pretty relaxed letting them get crosses in.
I mostly scratch my head reading others’ tactical analysis, but I think you’re right on the money @Glenactico
I really am getting football wrong.
To quote a well-known phrase, 'Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'. It doesn't matter how you get the W, nobody is going to look at the table at the end of the season and say 'Wycombe shouldn't have won that game, they get a 3 point deduction'.
We now have 10 points from 6 games. If we maintain that rate over the season, we'll end up with 76-77 points, probably enough for the playoffs.
Those 10 points have come from the last 4 games, which is automatic promotion form if we can keep that up. There will obviously be bigger challenges ahead, but I'm convinced that we have a talented squad of players, and the tactics and teamwork will continue to improve from one game to the next.
I would rather get relegated than gain promotion by beating far better teams with a spawny goal.
Nine thumbs down, some people have a lot to learn 😂
Automatic promotion watching that crap. Don’t make me laugh
If every game for the rest of the season goes exactly like that we’ll be champions!
No one is pretending that we played well, but for all the possession Northampton had they didn’t hit the post or crossbar, had no shots cleared off the line and Max made no more than 3-4 saves. Give some credit to the way we kept them at bay in the second half especially.
If we play like the last 20 mins + injury time going forward, I would be massively confident.
Yes, but Max saved two 1v1s and there was a free header from a set piece in the first half and then what about the other 10-15 opportunities? Various other flashes across goal. We were incredibly fortunate today - even our manager isn’t defending our players; let’s not be deluded.
@glasshalffull one shot in the first half scrapped the outside of Max’s right post (I was in line behind it and it span away at the last second).
In situations that involve a high element of chance (eg poker, where this analysis comes from, and football) it is good to avoid results-orientated thinking. You can succeed even having made the wrong decisions and, crucially, if you were to repeat the same actions again in the future you probably wouldn’t succeed.
I think this is the kind of thing that @ReturnToSenda means when he says the performance is more important than the result. The manager & team can control their own performance, but they can’t control the result. If we play well consistently, in the long term the results will follow. If we play badly we might get one off results, but we won’t win as many as we’d like. And we definitely played badly for most of the game yesterday.
On a related note, there seems to be some confusion about what playing well means. It’s not about style; not about playing football ‘the right way’. You can play both long ball or tiki taka competently or incompetently. In the first half yesterday we were incompetent. Which isn’t something you would say about the vast majority of the Ainsworth era.
And not wanting to sound too negative, the last half hour yesterday was a vast improvement.
Much as I have watched some less than brilliant performances the last couple of weeks I still think we are not far off clicking and giving someone a spanking. Certain players aren’t clicking. And certain players aren’t clicking with each other. But they will. And when they do it’s going to be pretty frightening for an opponent.
The reality is , we were very fortunate yesterday. Northampton had most of the game. If we dominated a game as much as they did , we’d be disappointed at the result. My concern despite picking up 10 points from 12 after the poor start, I’m not seeing any real pattern or style of play we’re trying to adopt. I know we’re trying a new system with new players but there is little cohesion in our play. Blooms has consistently talked about evolution as opposed to revolution but seeing very little evidence of it. However very happy taking points playing crap.
Condescending much?
If the first six games of the season are all about the performance and the final half dozen about results, what is the requirement of the 'middle' thirty four?!
I have said we got away with it yesterday, but although we were poor going forward, let’s give some credit to the defending. Forcing the opposition to shoot from long range-which was part of the game plan-helped to nullify Northampton’s overwhelming superiority in terms of possession.
I think some people on here would be better off supporting Man City. The organisation and effort in the Northampton match was very impressive, winning football matches isn't all about short passes.
Chatting to a Northampton fan on the way back they have a range of exciting midfielders, obsess about "playing the right way" but also have several non-scoring centre forwards . If they had an in form striker it could have been very difficult.
On Vokes it's not unreasonable to point out he hasn't achieved much recently but I still think the quality is there. Can't really fault him yesterday, he got a whack early on and we barely went in their half again before he was subbed.
Performances are important but what we get from this one apart from a very welcome three points (that could be important at whatever end of the table we find ourselves at) is some underrated problem solving from the players and the boss, minutes for key players and some real spirit. We aren't playing the flowing passing football we think he'd like so he has to be realistic about when to vary the efforts and when to double down.
2 weeks of recuperation and training at this stage must seem like a blessing.
Fine to say the performances are a more important indicator than wins in a long season if you also didn't wet yourself when we got spanked early on.
A win is a win though and the injustice and ref moaning from the beaten opposition is always a welcome addition to the weekend.
Excellent post, agree with every word. We are very much a work in progress and if we can pick up points whilst not playing well it is a promising sign.
Have we been in a game before where both keepers were called Max?
Obvs ours was "Super" Max.
Burton at home just a few weeks ago!
Let's remember that Max looked totally comfortable handling everything sent his way. In contrast, their keeper dropped an absolutely clanger.
These things often aren't factored into an assessment of which team was 'the better side'. But the fact is it's worth a two goal swing.
So, by my reckoning, we were comfortably better than them because they weren't anywhere near good enough to make up that huge goalkeeper deficit.
Exactly - not sure why that's so difficult for some to grasp
I didn't thumb you, but I also didn't understand the claim until I read @Chris' excellent explanation.
You can thumb me all you like