Of course maybe Bijol and nmecha weren't fully fit
08.02.2026 10:22
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Of course maybe Bijol and nmecha weren't fully fit
My main gripe, is the 2 minutes between longstaff and James coming on, bring them on together and you keep yourself a slot to make more subs.
Bijol and seb could've come on for the FBs with Justin going lb and seb RB to solidify the defensive line
Then one more sub slot left still to kill time
Honestly, make changes earlier. We hadn't had a shot since the 65th minute and it was obvious Forest were building in confidence and we had some tired legs out there.
We used 0 subs by time forest had used 5 and we still only made 3 because of how DF structured them.
We can be smarter here imo
I think it's fair to say that DF was being stubborn at least or to perceive his dedication to a style with players that weren't working as that, when it looked like the team recruited was not to play such a way.
Don't think I've ever called DF moronic though. If I have, likely to have been in jest
Part of why it works with DCL and Nmecha
For Okafor if we played direct with 4-3-3 or in a 4-2-3-1 and he stays wide I think the style suits him. It definitely doesn't suit him playing off the 9 in the back 3 at the moment
I'm not sure controlling possession suits players like stach or longstaff, at least not in the way they've been utilised in the 4-3-3 when we've looked to. I.e dropping in at LB for build up
Going direct however, they're 2 very adept and winning second balls high up the pitch
I say unqualified, I'm actually qualified theoretically but I am rather modest.
Overall, what I'm trying to really say is, it's right for us to question DF and how he's gone about things. Maybe we don't give him enough credit. But that comes from the frustration that we as unqualified podcasters could see what we needed from the summer to make us perform well.
However, the players didn't sit in a low block and continued to press high... This could have been instructional or the players simply got caught up in the game and kept going. (Nmecha have a note to ampadu when he came on, but nothing changed and I doubt that said "keep going")
I'm of the opinion that last night Farke could've made changes earlier and they may have helped. I also think his plan may have been to ask the players to go into a low block and then exploit Newcastle coming forward with Okafor and Nmecha, they created 2 dangerous moments from this at 3-2 & 3-3
5/6 people on a stats/tactics podcast could see was the preferred direction in the summer?
(I'm pretty certain I say I see what we're trying to build in the season preview)
So there's a bit of vindication for us in that, and potentially a bit of hubris has come along with it.
Strengths and there was a general feeling in the fan base (from what we saw online), that the club had signed dross. The fruits of the labour are coming now we're playing to the strengths of the players, and farke is getting a lot of credit. But why did it take so long to change for something...
I think, for me anyway, we predicted that the signings we were making in the summer lent to a more direct style. We profiled and reviewed those signings and felt that it was being built to play a certain way. A frustration from my pov with Farke came when he wasn't playing those players to those...
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That's all I'm trying to emphasize, people can still believe he should've done better. But I, at least, won't be digging him out or criticising him on that performance.
I also wouldn't say this is vindication for Perri, but it certainly warrants a discussion for those who believe he should've done better. As fans we're quick to portion blame on our team, without appreciating what the opposition also do, they increased the likelihood of a goal by their shot quality
Saka
FbRef: 0.26 ≈ A goal in every 3.85 shots
SBomb: 0.43 ≈ A goal in every 2.33 shots
Gyökeres
FbRef: 0.24 ≈ A goal in every 4.17 shots
SBomb: 0.51 ≈ A goal in every 1.96 shots
The original xG was roughly 1 in 12.5 for Saka and 1 in 10 for Gyökeres
Me talking stats xox
Apologies for my fat fingers
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You can kick yourself I reckon
Review pod is out, but I say that if it's a "free hit" then what's the risk if you need to get players minutes in the legs?
If you're going to say "this game won't define our season" then when not try to do something different?
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