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Can the team handle pressure? - .....
Posted:
Mon May 16, 2011 4:49 pmby jacdaniel
I saw this being discussed over on RAWK and thought it was worth discussing on here too. There is no doubt whatsoever that Kenny has done a magnificent job in turning our season around and getting the most out of an average enough squad.
But some people have pointed out that we haven't been under too much pressure. It could hardly of gotten worse than it did under Roy.
The game against Spurs yesterday and the game against Braga at Anfield are 2 examples were we needed to get a positive result but never really showed up. Maybe its something the younger players need to learn how to handle?
Does anyone think this is potentially a concern for next season, when there is going to be a lot more expected of us? Im not too sure myself at the moment but thought it might be worth discussing.
Posted:
Mon May 16, 2011 4:54 pmby ethanr
It's hard to say. You could possibly say that any home game we have played has came with mounds of pressure because we are expecting the squad to win every home game, but I get where you are going at. With the Braga game we started to shape our play around Suarez a bit and the players we had available just weren't good enough offensively. With Spurs I think we may have been cocky. Great results for a few games and it's gone to their heads a bit, got ahead of themselves and thought they had 5th spot wrapped up.
Posted:
Mon May 16, 2011 5:36 pmby glambertino
I agree, a few factors at play I'd say. Complacency is definitely one thing that needs to be looked at and stressed to all the squad. In these early stages of Kenny's new reign though I think they may prove good examples for the future to avoid.
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 1:44 pmby stmichael
I think we need to take a step back and remember that whilst at the moment confidence is high and the team is performing really well, that when it wasn't, the same players, (bar the Kids and the new arrivals) generally lacked the mental strength to dig themselves out of the hole we were in. Think back to the capitulations of Wolves, Blackpool, Northampton at home and numerous awayday horror shows. Yes, things are different, Hodgy and Torres have gone, Kenny and his team have lifted them , and we are playing a different brand of stuff, but just remember that when the going got tough in the first half of the season, too many of our side couldn't handle it and went missing.
Next season, as I said, I think we are all hoping that the team does have to play under the pressure of competing at the top. Personally I harbour doubts about the mental strength of a number of the current senior squad, they're good when things are going well, but go AWOL when they aren't. Chuck in the pressure and expectation of getting close to challenging for the league, or in a cup , then there have been enough of the squad who have buckled when the chips have been down in the past to give us some cause for concern.
Winning the league is as much about mental toughness as it is about the quality of the side. it's about the refusal to accept defeat when you are 1-0 down at the Emirates in the 96th minute, not when it's only three points on offer, but when those three points matter. Look at Arsenal, fantastic players, great football, mentally weak. My contention is that we still have questions to be asked about the mental strength of many in the squad, especially at the business end of a tournament.
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 4:03 pmby SouthCoastShankly
A fit Gerrard would of made the difference on Sunday.
We still lack a truly world class game changing player. In the absence of Gerrard we're stuffed.
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 10:33 pmby Kenny Kan
The Braga performance epitomized Roy Hodgson's football. I can't remember exactly how long Kenny had been here when that fixture popped up - in other words that definately (to me) showed the transition and mindset was still in motion from one manager to the next.
The Spurs match (IMO) was lost in midfield, I'd actually put that down to Kenny getting the line-up wrong rather than to do with bottle. Had Raul Merieles been playing instead of Carroll I think we'd have seen a better performance - just like we've seen recently.
Yes both these games were quite decisive but for me it's too early to state whether the players are unable to handle the pressure. I think that the good thing with Kenny is - he's an excellent man-manager and I think he is the kind of man that can take the pressure off of his players rather than making them feeling it. So all we can do is really wait again and see next season in a decisive game whether the lads can handle it, but at the mo I'd rule us out of mirroring Arsenal. 
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 10:47 pmby Thommo's perm
He picked the wrong team
Its that simple
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 10:52 pmby tubby
We needed a result against the Mancs and we got that didn't we?
Results bring confidence and we have a long way to go before the squad is strong enough to push for top honors. I don't think it's an issue though. We have some good characters in the dressing room now and that will only improve before next season. Give Kenny time.
Posted:
Tue May 17, 2011 10:55 pmby The Good Yank
The Braga matches were in mid March after we thumped the Scum with the Kuyt hat-trick. I chalk that up to Suarez being unavailable for Europa League and the squad having no strength in depth.
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 9:23 amby Raoul
I posted a similar question somewhere else here the other day.
I don't think we've seen enough to say that there is a pattern, but the lack of energy, enthusiasm, etc against Spurs reminded me of Braga. We seemed to freeze. There seemed to be a lack of belief. I do wonder if we play with freedom when there are no expectations, but when there are... we lack the mental strength to deal with it.
Time will tell, but next year this team WILL be playing with expectations hanging over them, so lets hope we've simply seen a lack of squad depth rather than a problem with belief.
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 9:30 amby Raoul
tubby wrote:We needed a result against the Mancs and we got that didn't we?
Results bring confidence and we have a long way to go before the squad is strong enough to push for top honors. I don't think it's an issue though. We have some good characters in the dressing room now and that will only improve before next season. Give Kenny time.
With all due respect, I think you are missing the point:
If we had of lost that game, would anyone have been surprised? No. We were not expected to win.
In this great run we've been having we've been a mid-table team with nothing much to play for. We got our noses ahead of Spurs not because we were great, but because they were rubbish. No one really expected the turnaround in our fortunes. But once we got into 5th, what happened?
We were expected to beat Spurs and guarantee ourselves 5th place, but we played poorly. That is the issue. Can we handle expectations?
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 10:19 amby Johnny Boy
I am not sure we will really find out till next year.
Expectations will be higher, squad hopefully will be stronger.
Until then I am not sure we will know.
Injuries have played a part this season too.
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 2:30 pmby Raoul
Yeah, it is an interesting question, but I think it is too early to say either way. Still, a couple of good experienced winners amongst the newcomers wouldn't hurt.
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 3:35 pmby Ben Patrick
Raoul wrote:tubby wrote:We needed a result against the Mancs and we got that didn't we?
Results bring confidence and we have a long way to go before the squad is strong enough to push for top honors. I don't think it's an issue though. We have some good characters in the dressing room now and that will only improve before next season. Give Kenny time.
With all due respect, I think you are missing the point:
If we had of lost that game, would anyone have been surprised? No. We were not expected to win.
In this great run we've been having we've been a mid-table team with nothing much to play for. We got our noses ahead of Spurs not because we were great, but because they were rubbish. No one really expected the turnaround in our fortunes. But once we got into 5th, what happened?
We were expected to beat Spurs and guarantee ourselves 5th place, but we played poorly. That is the issue. Can we handle expectations?
I am with Kenny Kan about the spurs game, we were overrun in midfield due to having one less player in the middle.
Simple as that for me.
Posted:
Wed May 18, 2011 4:01 pmby Scottbot
I don't think we'll find out until next season tbh. At the weekend we got beaten by a decent Spurs side who found a bit of form after a few dodgy (and worth noting unlucky) weeks.
I think bringing Carroll back in was perhaps a mistkae given the form Kuyt and Suarez had been showing and the re-shuffle meant Modric had all the space in the world to run the game.