2nd Half and Scoring Goals

[Arky_R]

We all know we could do with more goals but thats not what i'm tackling here...

Why is it all but 1 of the goals (league) are coming in the 2nd half of games?

It would seem Nuno's half time team talks and substitutions are proving their worth but why isn't it happening earlier?

Is this down to game preparation or simply our guys take a while getting into games?? needing the fresh legs later? wrong players on the pitch?

I guess Nuno could just need to see how the game is unfolding before making the changes but its certainly interesting.



Any thoughts on the matter?



On a side matter - adidas don't make footie socks for the 3-4 yrs group! how rubbish is that.

 

[GoldenHorseshoe]

Keep it tight early, concentrate on the clean sheet.

 

[jrpb-3]

Nunos strategy is all about controlling the game, keeping the shape, being solid defensively, we can break quickly, but otherwise our passing build up is generally more patient and about not giving the ball away and leaving the defence exposed (belief being we will get chances sometime over the 90 minutes), so more chances come later in the game as players start to tire and subs able to make an impact

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

We are focused on a clean sheet.....three points......Champions League.....

 

[glorybox]

Keep it tight early, concentrate on the clean sheet.

Some elements of my sex life there...

 

[Guzeppi]

As above

 

[saturday boy]

We could have been 3 up at half time against Leicester and Burnley - and have had decent chances in other games. I don't think there's much to analyse here other than our failure to convert chances. Results suggest we are finding a way to get something out of games.

 

[Deleted member 3751]

There are a few contributing factors, although we've been unlucky not to score in the first halves against Leicester, Man City, Burnley, Man Utd and Southampton through a mixture of bad luck, concentration (Jimenez v Man City offside) and great goalkeeping. Sides have generally been thankful to go into the break against us still with a clean sheet. We tend to maintain the level of play though, and then when the game begins to open up as players get tired Nuno does have a habit of changing his front three which gives us extra impetus, and there's only so long you can 'hang on' in a match.

I don't think it's a pre-conceived idea as such, more a case of we'll keep knocking on the door and eventually someone will lose concentration or make a mistake and we'll be in. Also I very much doubt that the current 1:6 ratio will continue!

 

[WolfLing]

Lulling teams into a false sense of security.

Make them open up trying to press for a goal.

I'm half joking, but it wasn't until Southampton started to open up and believe they could score that we did!

 

[glorybox]

I think our ability to bring on players with the ability of Traore and Cav is plain unheard of outside of the big 6 teams and arguably better than some of their subs too.

 

[Wolves Heathen]

Fair point, but its all part of the system, keeping possession, moving the ball around really tires out the opposing players then eventually they start leaving space for our players to get into, its hard work running around chasing shadows for 90 minutes.

 

[Flynn]

We are against a better calibre of player and a better calibre of manager. Some of them set up to stop us. Some of them play their own game. By half time, Nuno's worked out what we need to change to get us over the line.

 

[kennyB]

Lulling teams into a false sense of security.

Make them open up trying to press for a goal.

I'm half joking, but it wasn't until Southampton started to open up and believe they could score that we did!

Sorry WolfLing but I don't entirely agree with that, what mainly made a difference was Traore coming on and then Cav of course. What Traore did, although he lost the ball the first few times he was in possession, was force Saints to put 2 men to mark him and also forced them further back defensively. On one occasion it took 3 defenders to get the ball back from him. He then went on the little run that produced the first goal from Cav. Traore can be very frustrating at times but there is no doubt that he makes opposing defenders think twice.

 

[WolfLing]

Sorry WolfLing but I don't entirely agree with that, what mainly made a difference was Traore coming on and then Cav of course. What Traore did, although he lost the ball the first few times he was in possession, was force Saints to put 2 men to mark him and also forced them further back defensively. On one occasion it took 3 defenders to get the ball back from him. He then went on the little run that produced the first goal from Cav. Traore can be very frustrating at times but there is no doubt that he makes opposing defenders think twice.

But Traore didn't have 2 men on him when he broke for the first goal. Maybe they were doubling up on him when they could, but the fact they were committing more men forward at the time allowed for the counter and for Traore to get 1 on 1.

That sort of pace makes any defender cack themselves.

 

[Knocker Lite]

Our players believe in our system and have a patience to continue playing in the same way until they gain their rewards, Winning mentality.

 

[Deleted member 4453]

It's a magnet, the South Bank....