Why has ETH gone so open?

[matherto]

Last season we had a good defensive record but we were still easy to play through and relied on blocks and de Gea saves quite a lot.

So why would you look at that and go ‘I think we need to be even more wide open’.

Nothing about our transfer strategy nor the tactics ETH has decided makes any sense. I said it around the Wolves game that we were playing suicidal tactics and I still feel that way.

Feel like he’s quite stubborn too so even though it clearly doesn’t work, we’re stuck playing this way. Might be his undoing.

I get that the type of players we have dictates it somewhat and we don’t have to be a City clone either but we basically look like Bielsa’s Leeds (albeit at least with them you could actually see what he was demanding of the players).

I’m really struggling to understand anything this summer onwards.

 

[Bastian]

Think it was summed up pretty well on the latest UWS podcast. He's caught somewhere between what he wanted to do last season (become a possession controlling team) and now wanting to become this high octane transition team, whilst in reality doing neither.

Last season we didn't have the depth for what he wanted to do and we lacked both a striker and a partner for Casemiro. The logical way to proceed, people thought, was to sort that out. But we didn't. Those quotes about the best transition team in the world (I'm paraphrasing) were the first instance of a change in direction though I didn't take them at face value at the time.

The other point made on the pod was about the two best players he inherited, Rashford and Bruno, both being this transition players who don't really have much to offer for a team that controls games. Neither would really work at City for instance, or a prime Barca. That being said, we don't have to go full Guardiola to become a team that controls games, but we are quite far from doing so.

The other bit I'd add is that our team has looked incapable of sustaining a good performance for 90 minutes all last season, and certainly this season so far. I believe it is about character, of which we have little, as has been pointed out repeatedly, but also because we are physically inferior to most sides and simply do not have the same athleticism.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

When the tactic is completely reliant on winning the ball higher up the field, there isn't much to do once the press is bypassed by the other team. He either succeeds in turning them into a better pressing unit or lose his job after October.

 

[bosnian_red]

Against wolves, just bad individual performances and players lunging in. First game of the season vibes. Give it til mid September. Some clubs have better pre seasons than others, some times teams just aren't sharp at the start of the season and you get a whole bunch of wonky performances and results. Wouldn't read into it too much, it happens every year. Can criticize why are we starting slowly, but it's knee jerk I think to read too much into some chances given away.

Also the Spurs game - urge people to rewatch the first half. We were by far the better team, didn't give much territory or chances away despite them having a bit more possession, and we created plenty and pressed well. The 2nd half was then sloppy and we lost composure after going behind, started lunging in and all that to try and chase the game rather than calmly doing it. Is what it is. That's the main thing we need to work on. Composure in front of goal, composure at varying game states.

 

[garelo]

was his ajax team really a possesion based team? having player like Edson Alvarez in your midfield make it extremely difficult to play possesion football, this guy is a great at breaking attack but absolutely woeful at passing.

 

[Skills]

We were like this last season as well. Its why we conceded 7 at Anfield and 6 at the Etihad.

We basically set up the same way as Bielsa's Leeds - the man marking system, when it works is effective but you're too reliant on your players winning your 1-1 match ups. And unfortunately, our middle's too soft to win those match ups. When it doesn't work out we get thrashed. All it takes is one player to have a bad game, and you're going to get cut through like butter.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

An average of 48% possession and 20 shots at our goal so far in the 2 games this season.

The move from 4-2-3-1 has been a disaster so far, and you can hedge your bets he reverts to last season's methods within the next week or two.

With Arsenal around the corner we need a positive performance soon or we're at risk of being absolutely annihilated.

 

[flameinthesun]

Think it was summed up pretty well on the latest UWS podcast. He's caught somewhere between what he wanted to do last season (become a possession controlling team) and now wanting to become this high octane transition team, whilst in reality doing neither.

Last season we didn't have the depth for what he wanted to do and we lacked both a striker and a partner for Casemiro. The logical way to proceed, people thought, was to sort that out. But we didn't. Those quotes about the best transition team in the world (I'm paraphrasing) were the first instance of a change in direction though I didn't take them at face value at the time.

The other point made on the pod was about the two best players he inherited, Rashford and Bruno, both being this transition players who don't really have much to offer for a team that controls games. Neither would really work at City for instance, or a prime Barca. That being said, we don't have to go full Guardiola to become a team that controls games, but we are quite far from doing so.

The other bit I'd add is that our team has looked incapable of sustaining a good performance for 90 minutes all last season, and certainly this season so far. I believe it is about character, of which we have little, as has been pointed out repeatedly, but also because we are physically inferior to most sides and simply do not have the same athleticism.

Good post, I agree on the middle bit, he is hampered by Bruno and Rashford being the two key players for united who unfortunately are not really possession based players. There are other issues but this is one of the key ones meaning it'll be difficult to build a possession/controlling team when you have to fit those 2 in.

 

[Blood Mage]

This is why I fear for him because I think he was so confident this midfield combo would work and he won't want to give up on it yet regardless of how bad it was in the first two games. I can see us taking more hammerings this season to be honest, Pep and Klopp will be rubbing their hands.

 

[DWelbz19]

We simply had to become a bit more open. Our backline was ridiculously low last season (De Gea big factor).

Now that we have a sweeper in net we can afford to play higher, the only major issue is we went to open because we play a nonexistent midfield.

 

[crossy1686]

Eh? We got fecking pummelled multiple times last season, it’s not something new or exclusive to this season. Whatever he’s been trying to do in the midfield since day one either doesn’t work in the PL due to how good at counter attacking teams are or he needs multiple world class players in every position to fulfil his game plan.

Personally I suspect it’s the fact teams only need one chance to beat you in the PL and a counter works perfectly for that. Hence the reason this season he’s doubled down on trying to replicate that high up the field grip on the ball even when not in possession.

He has to find a new way of playing in the middle if he’s going to succeed. I don’t even think it’s a player issue at this point.

 

[DWelbz19]

was his ajax team really a possesion based team? having player like Edson Alvarez in your midfield make it extremely difficult to play possesion football, this guy is a great at breaking attack but absolutely woeful at passing.

It was very much so, but that’s intrinsic to Ajax players being indoctrinated in that style and the league being so ass. Ajax’s new manager is a literal nobody and they had 68% possession in their most recent match.

 

[dubplate warrior]

We simply had to become a bit more open. Our backline was ridiculously low last season (De Gea big factor).

Now that we have a sweeper in net we can afford to play higher, the only major issue is we went to open because we play a nonexistent midfield.

This kind of reminds me of what happened with Ole. Tried to play more attacking and we ended up getting shegged, taking battering after battering along the way. I don't think this season will end like that but if we don't buy a midfielder it will end up being a major disappointment.

In reality this will be a lot easier if we for once, focused on buying midfielders who are actually good with the ball. Casemiro was a great signing, but Bruno and Mount are pretty shitty partners. We desperately need a player who can keep the ball under pressure.

We also at some point just have to get a right back, genuinely sick of seeing such dross there.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Feel like he’s quite stubborn too so even though it clearly doesn’t work, we’re stuck playing this way. Might be his undoin

I struggle to see why you say this. Maybe if you just look at his words where he doesn't come out and shout "OMG it's all falling apart. I need to change immediately!"

But when looking at actions one of the things you must give him credit for last season is that he showed after the Brentford loss that he can be pragmatic and switch to a style that isn't his dream football if it wins us more matches in this league.

 

[Skills]

We simply had to become a bit more open. Our backline was ridiculously low last season (De Gea big factor).

Now that we have a sweeper in net we can afford to play higher, the only major issue is we went to open because we play a nonexistent midfield.

I don't think the line has much to do with it. A higher line should result in a more compact set up. We're not getting beat with balls in behind, we're literally just seeing teams carry the ball through the middle of the pitch.

 

[Big Ray]

Eh? We got fecking pummelled multiple times last season, it’s not something new or exclusive to this season. Whatever he’s been trying to do in the midfield since day one either doesn’t work in the PL due to how good at counter attacking teams are or he needs multiple world class players in every position to fulfil his game plan.

Personally I suspect it’s the fact teams only need one chance to beat you in the PL and a counter works perfectly for that. Hence the reason this season he’s doubled down on trying to replicate that high up the field grip on the ball even when not in possession.

He has to find a new way of playing in the middle if he’s going to succeed. I don’t even think it’s a player issue at this point.

How can you say it’s not a player issue when there are so many highlight videos, showing the same players as always, jogging around, not putting in the required effort on or off the ball, not putting bodies on the line, while others can’t pass a ball accurately frequently enough. There is clearly a personnel issue for implementing the game plan. He needs at least two, possibly three perfect signings to get into the Top 4.

 

[NLunited]

I think the first half against Spurs illustrates perfectly what Ten Hag is trying to do. We pressed high, man to man, and dominated Spurs for 40 minutes, forcing them to turn over the ball almost all the time.

We were creating chances for fun, illustrated perfectly by Bruno’s nonchalant rabona cross.

We should have been one or two goals up. The 100% penalty that was stolen from us didn’t help either.

Mount played well, never mind he is the new scapegoat this season. He pressed well and had some good progressive dribbles which he can’t do according to some on here.

What we could have done better in the first half: obviously finishing, and there were moments where we were sloppy with the ball.

 

[Borys]

Eh? We got fecking pummelled multiple times last season, it’s not something new or exclusive to this season. Whatever he’s been trying to do in the midfield since day one either doesn’t work in the PL due to how good at counter attacking teams are or he needs multiple world class players in every position to fulfil his game plan.

Personally I suspect it’s the fact teams only need one chance to beat you in the PL and a counter works perfectly for that. Hence the reason this season he’s doubled down on trying to replicate that high up the field grip on the ball even when not in possession.

He has to find a new way of playing in the middle if he’s going to succeed. I don’t even think it’s a player issue at this point.

It's only player issue if you think players have world class, no-mistakes games week in week out. The way we are set up it requires all key players to be in top form, otherwise we'll struggle - Casemiro to get the ball back and start transition, then Bruno/Mount to pick up the ball and create for Rashford/CF. The further forward you get the ball back the easier it is to generate a chance. But it doesn't work that way because that's difficult to generate chances if you don't move the opposition players (what we do is basically put wingers/Rashford against a few players and hope something happens).

There's also psychological aspect. Apparently any team can impose their style on us. You want to play counter attacking? Just sit deep, hold tight and you will get plenty of transitions. Want to play possession game? Sure, once you pass the first line of pressing (basically Mount and Bruno running around), you will be able to control the central areas and pin us back because we really don't have any players good at getting the ball back (apart from unfit Casemiro).

There is no counter-attacking OR possession football, but we seem to completely give up on the latter. And why exactly?

 

[Rood]

We had very similar under Ole - good results with a focus on defence and transition

Then try to evolve to a more progressive style at start of season and the whole thing fell apart (yes there were other factors like Ronaldo but the change of style was a contributor)

Let's hope ETH finds the right balance ASAP

 

[matherto]

I struggle to see why you say this. Maybe if you just look at his words where he doesn't come out and shout "OMG it's all falling apart. I need to change immediately!"

But when looking at actions one of the things you must give him credit for last season is that he showed after the Brentford loss that he can be pragmatic and switch to a style that isn't his dream football if it wins us more matches in this league.

His approach to away games and the subsequent terrible record proved he was reluctant to change much at all. If anything the Brentford loss response was the only time he ever changed anything.

 

[Marwood]

We were terrible defensively in pre season as well so I expected it to continue as it has.

It's nothing tactically complicated. All managers and coaches are singing from the same hymn sheet now, they all know how to set a team up, all very much the same as each other.

It comes down to individuals. If your individuals are poor on the ball and lack physicality off it you'll be open defensively. You will concede goals.

No tactics can compensate for that.

If anything last season we got away with it to some extent. Plenty of fixtures where fortunately the lack of No.9's in the game helped us out.

 

[DevilRed]

Our midfield gap is back again.

There is such a massive disconnect between our holding midfielder and the rest of the attack/midfield.

 

[Jackal]

His approach to away games and the subsequent terrible record proved he was reluctant to change much at all. If anything the Brentford loss response was the only time he ever changed anything.

He's a very stubborn man. He has no respect for the other teams in the top 6 when playing on their grounds. Even Sir Alex tightened up when going to Anfield or Stamford Bridge.
Ten Hag sets his team up on those grounds the same way he would play Luton FC at Old Trafford. This is the reason he got battered 7-0, 6-3, etc last season. United didn't win a single league game last season against the top 9 teams.

Ten Hag does not have top quality players to be this stubborn. Someone needs to tell him that England isn't the weak Eredivisie he's used to. No manager plays the same tactics in every game in this league. Even Pep tweaks his formation every now and then. If he doesn't fix up, he would get his P45 before Christmas and rightly so. The football hasn't improved. He keeps playing the disillusioned Antony when there are hungrier and younger forwards.

 

[Skills]

He's a very stubborn man. He has no respect for the other teams in the top 6 when playing on their grounds. Even Sir Alex tightened up when going to Anfield or Stamford Bridge.
Ten Hag sets his team up on those grounds the same way he would play Luton FC at Old Trafford. This is the reason he got battered 7-0, 6-3, etc last season. United didn't win a single league game last season against the top 9 teams.

Ten Hag does not have top quality players to be this stubborn. Someone needs to tell him that England isn't the weak Eredivisie he's used to. No manager plays the same tactics in every game in this league. Even Pep tweaks his formation every now and then. If he doesn't fix up, he would get his P45 before Christmas and rightly so. The football hasn't improved. He keeps playing the disillusioned Antony when there are hungrier and younger forwards.

I'd argue he doesn't have much respect for Manchester United, its why he's so unbothered by the stain of these massive hammerings we've gotten.

 

[gza the genius]

It kind of seems like he intended on playing someone else alongside Casemiro, whether it been Mainoo or a new purchase and probably having one of Bruno or Mount play more wide, or at least have them both be flexible. Obviously neither of those are options right now. I'm sure buying a new striker and him not being available isn't helping things either. This clearly isn't how ETH would ideally like to line up. I think it will just take some patience.

 

[dubplate warrior]

It kind of seems like he intended on playing someone else alongside Casemiro, whether it been Mainoo or a new purchase and probably having one of Bruno or Mount play more wide, or at least have them both be flexible. Obviously neither of those are options right now. I'm sure buying a new striker and him not being available isn't helping things either. This clearly isn't how ETH would ideally like to line up. I think it will just take some patience.

Yeah, Mainoo starting against Madrid suggested to me that another midfielder was wanted in order to stop us being exposed in the middle so badly. Problem is, with him injured and no money for Amrabat/alternative we're in a perilous position. Football is a funny game though, sometimes one player can make a big difference.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

We weren't all that open in the first 30 minutes against Spurs when we maintained our shape. When you're trying to defend higher up the pitch and 2-3 players start doing their own thing, you're basically just handing the opposition 2/3rds of the pitch to stroll around in. We have a discipline problem that has faced every single manager post SAF.

 

[DJ_21]

The biggest mistake we’re making is allowing Casemiro to press high up the pitch in the positions that Mount and Bruno take up. When he’s doing that it means there’s no one in the actual midfield area so it turns into attack vs defence very quick. We should keep Casemiro back and allow Bruno and Mount to be the creative players and the pressers further up the pitch.

 

[CM]

Think it was summed up pretty well on the latest UWS podcast. He's caught somewhere between what he wanted to do last season (become a possession controlling team) and now wanting to become this high octane transition team, whilst in reality doing neither.

Last season we didn't have the depth for what he wanted to do and we lacked both a striker and a partner for Casemiro. The logical way to proceed, people thought, was to sort that out. But we didn't. Those quotes about the best transition team in the world (I'm paraphrasing) were the first instance of a change in direction though I didn't take them at face value at the time.

The other point made on the pod was about the two best players he inherited, Rashford and Bruno, both being this transition players who don't really have much to offer for a team that controls games. Neither would really work at City for instance, or a prime Barca. That being said, we don't have to go full Guardiola to become a team that controls games, but we are quite far from doing so.

The other bit I'd add is that our team has looked incapable of sustaining a good performance for 90 minutes all last season, and certainly this season so far. I believe it is about character, of which we have little, as has been pointed out repeatedly, but also because we are physically inferior to most sides and simply do not have the same athleticism.

This is a good summary. We had three glaring weaknesses in the team last season - goalkeeper, midfield and striker. We've only sufficiently addressed the goalkeeper one with the Onana signing. The deficiencies in midfield have been exacerbated by the Mount signing, if anything, and even with the Hojlund signing our problems feel unresolved up front. In his absence we have nobody capable of holding the ball or providing any sort of threat in the penalty area.

I get the point about inheriting players whose skillsets are best suited to being a transition based team, but we should have been looking to re-balance the scales rather than doubling down. It's the thing that has disappointed me most about Ten Hag. I thought we were finally getting a manager who would sort the lack of control in the team, especially after the long pursuit of Frenkie de Jong last summer. Instead, he has gone completely the other way and it feels like there's no going back.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Our midfield gap is back again.

There is such a massive disconnect between our holding midfielder and the rest of the attack/midfield.

Teams that do what he is asking the front 4 to do also have inverted fullbacks that effectively form a middle 3 with the defensive midfielder. Somehow, Wan Bissaka is not getting the message as he is closer to Antony and remaining higher up the pitch and it takes away our best attribute in attack since the days of Ole with the Rashford/Shaw combo on the left.

 

[Lentwood]

The reason is simple - in order to win the Premier League, you will need about 95pts, and that means you can only afford to drop about 19 total.

Factor in games against the top 6 and there's basically absolutely no room now for dropping points against midtable teams or lower.

In most leagues, the bottom half teams roll-over and/or go blow for blow against the top teams, invariably getting beaten in the process.

In the Premier League, clubs like Wolves or Burnley will turn up at Old Trafford and literally setup and fight as if their entire careers boil down to scraping a 0-0 against United. Look at the pattern of results teams get after drawing with/beating United. They normally exert so much effort into playing us that they get beaten the following week. Check out last seasons results.

All of this means that we need to find a way to create enough chances to beat these crab-like defensive teams week-in, week-out...and because there's no space in behind and they pack the middle of the pitch, football tactics have evolved to create attacking overloads in the half-spaces and also to win the ball back high off opponents, relentlessly press them back into their own half, isolate their forward(s) and score from transitional moments.

The problem we have is that we didn't play this way for a decade. LvG perhaps came closest but his style was dull and the players didn't seem to buy into it. Jose was a bit of a throwback. OGS seemed to rely on counter attacks, but predictably really struggled against teams who wouldn't let us counter them. Remember how good our away record was, but also how many draws we got at OT against relegation fodder?

People are so quick to whinge nowadays that they aren't looking at the underlying numbers. Last season we had the most shots and created the most big chances but had an absolutely shocking conversion rate. This season, we've already had 50 shots, the second most in the league. Again, our conversion has been shocking. This all matters though, because its a work in progress and building a squad cut out to play this way takes time. Rashford isn't, he's lazy, can only play one position and doesn't press well enough. Martial very similar, bar the 'one position' criticism. Sancho similar, although think it's more lack of physical attributes and timidness rather than laziness.

ETH also needs a CF he can hit with a long ball. Haller at Ajax did the job for him and he loaned Weghorst for that purpose (he was garbage at it, but still better than Rashford).

You can't have your cake and eat it. One United fan famously demanded 'a barca style of play'. Well you don't get that overnight and you need a squad with a very specific skillset to pull it off. Fans don't see it yet but Anthony and Mount have the skills that Rashford, Martial and Sancho lack.

I'm convinced ETH will pull it off but it will take time. If people want to revert to the double pivot and the middle block and finish 4th year-in, year-out, then that's their perogative. I believe ETH has higher ambitions than that and is set about building a team that can deliver major trophies.

What we're also going to see is a continued move away from 'flair' players towards functional players. That doesn't mean not talented, but good at different things than we are used to seeing at OT.

 

[dubplate warrior]

Teams that do what he is asking the front 4 to do also have inverted fullbacks that effectively form a middle 3 with the defensive midfielder. Somehow, Wan Bissaka is not getting the message as he is closer to Antony and remaining higher up the pitch and it takes away our best attribute in attack since the days of Ole with the Rashford/Shaw combo on the left.

He isn't good enough and never will be. How he's still here I can't fathom, and the worst part about it is he is potentially going to get a new contract. This system is reliant on two things, a better right back and a better midfielder.

 

[The Hilton]

I'm not sure if this video has been posted on here, but it articulates what I see as our main problems really well (lack of intensity, players not committing to their off-the-ball duties). The worry is that we had a similarly lazy start last season, and it took EtH dragging everyone out for a punishment run for us to show the required intensity, perhaps he'll need to crack the whip again.

 

[Lentwood]

Teams that do what he is asking the front 4 to do also have inverted fullbacks that effectively form a middle 3 with the defensive midfielder. Somehow, Wan Bissaka is not getting the message as he is closer to Antony and remaining higher up the pitch and it takes away our best attribute in attack since the days of Ole with the Rashford/Shaw combo on the left.

I don't believe the plan is for AWB to do it, because I don't think he can...plus he's a very useful recovery defender.

I believe the plan is for Shaw to always be the player to step in for now at least. Maybe that will change in-time.

This led to some numpties complaining about his positioning vs Wolves/Spurs...give the bloke a chance, it's going to take time to learn a completely new role!

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I think the first half against Spurs illustrates perfectly what Ten Hag is trying to do. We pressed high, man to man, and dominated Spurs for 40 minutes, forcing them to turn over the ball almost all the time.

We were creating chances for fun, illustrated perfectly by Bruno’s nonchalant rabona cross.

We should have been one or two goals up. The 100% penalty that was stolen from us didn’t help either.

Mount played well, never mind he is the new scapegoat this season. He pressed well and had some good progressive dribbles which he can’t do according to some on here.

What we could have done better in the first half: obviously finishing, and there were moments where we were sloppy with the ball.

We said this a lot last season. Annoying to see the problem is still there after 170m spent

 

[justsomebloke]

Think it was summed up pretty well on the latest UWS podcast. He's caught somewhere between what he wanted to do last season (become a possession controlling team) and now wanting to become this high octane transition team, whilst in reality doing neither.

Last season we didn't have the depth for what he wanted to do and we lacked both a striker and a partner for Casemiro. The logical way to proceed, people thought, was to sort that out. But we didn't. Those quotes about the best transition team in the world (I'm paraphrasing) were the first instance of a change in direction though I didn't take them at face value at the time.

The other point made on the pod was about the two best players he inherited, Rashford and Bruno, both being this transition players who don't really have much to offer for a team that controls games. Neither would really work at City for instance, or a prime Barca. That being said, we don't have to go full Guardiola to become a team that controls games, but we are quite far from doing so.

The other bit I'd add is that our team has looked incapable of sustaining a good performance for 90 minutes all last season, and certainly this season so far. I believe it is about character, of which we have little, as has been pointed out repeatedly, but also because we are physically inferior to most sides and simply do not have the same athleticism.

I've been thinking the same things. And am still really trying to not read too much into that, because I sure as hell hope that I shouldn't.

 

[Abhinav]

Last season we had a good defensive record but we were still easy to play through and relied on blocks and de Gea saves quite a lot.

So why would you look at that and go ‘I think we need to be even more wide open’.

Nothing about our transfer strategy nor the tactics ETH has decided makes any sense. I said it around the Wolves game that we were playing suicidal tactics and I still feel that way.

Feel like he’s quite stubborn too so even though it clearly doesn’t work, we’re stuck playing this way. Might be his undoing.

I get that the type of players we have dictates it somewhat and we don’t have to be a City clone either but we basically look like Bielsa’s Leeds (albeit at least with them you could actually see what he was demanding of the players).

I’m really struggling to understand anything this summer onwards.

Actually, in order to become more compact, we are becoming more open. EtH wants to play a high press, high intensity and high line where we squeeze the opposition in their own half. It worked quite well in the first half against Spurs. The challenge is that Garnacho, Bruno, Rashford are not disciplined enough to do that for 90 minutes every game. Plus, Casemiro has lost a bit of pace and is unable to cover as much on his own. With a bit of fine tuning, we could really become an exciting transition side.
One thing is for sure, if Garnacho does not sort his defensive game out, he will likely have to sit on the bench.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

We said this a lot last season. Annoying to see the problem is still there after 170m spent

Players that were already here are culprits as well so that’s a bit of a weak connection.

 

[NLunited]

We said this a lot last season. Annoying to see the problem is still there after 170m spent

Yes, and the second half away slump is back.

On the positive side: we did fix the pressing we could not do last season, upgraded to a modern gk and got a promising striker.

I don’t expect we can fix all of our issues this window. There are issues we can fix on the pitch though.

 

[Glorio]

Against wolves, just bad individual performances and players lunging in. First game of the season vibes. Give it til mid September. Some clubs have better pre seasons than others, some times teams just aren't sharp at the start of the season and you get a whole bunch of wonky performances and results. Wouldn't read into it too much, it happens every year. Can criticize why are we starting slowly, but it's knee jerk I think to read too much into some chances given away.

Also the Spurs game - urge people to rewatch the first half. We were by far the better team, didn't give much territory or chances away despite them having a bit more possession, and we created plenty and pressed well. The 2nd half was then sloppy and we lost composure after going behind, started lunging in and all that to try and chase the game rather than calmly doing it. Is what it is. That's the main thing we need to work on. Composure in front of goal, composure at varying game states.

Agreed - I don't think we were that open against Spurs. We just lost composure - first after the Bruno yellow, and second after they scored (and then became open as a result of constantly giving them back possession with aimless long balls).