| Marginal gains and losses 11:47 - Dec 11 with 1024 views | saint901 |
Back in the early 2000's, the GB cycling team with very deliberate intention looked at literally every aspect of their riders, their kit, the venues used for competition and even how to best get rider and kit to places in order that they could compete at their best. Some of the ideas and kit they came up with have made it into mass production road/off road bikes. Some was nonsense and was binned.
The point is that they left no stone, physical, mental or spiritual unturned in their search for perfection. And it worked.
For them "nearly" the best was not good enough. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result was not good enough. Mentally they invested in their riders and some who did not have the strength were let go.
I fear that we are or have become a "nearly good enough" team. Playoffs? Probably. A playoff though is almost random chance of promotion (OK - 1 in 4).
It worries me that almost half way through the season, RM is still talking about mental resilience, killing off teams and making the most of dominating possession - and we're not doing any of it.
That is a failure of RM and his coaching team and one that cannot continue if we want to get out of this league. |  | | |  |
| Marginal gains and losses on 12:10 - Dec 11 with 999 views | PatfromPoole |
They also cheated with various use of steroids…… |  |
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| Marginal gains and losses on 14:32 - Dec 11 with 914 views | saint901 |
| Marginal gains and losses on 12:10 - Dec 11 by PatfromPoole |
They also cheated with various use of steroids…… |
Yes, some cyclists - aided and abetted by their teams - did cheat.
They did so for a variety of (incorrect) reasons, one of which was that in order to compete on a level playing field they needed the same chemical advantage.
I think we can agree that the cycling world is much cleaner now and that the football world, even cleaner in terms of drug use. Therefore we are competing at the same physical level as the other teams and that in a team sport, individual physical performance is less likely to sway a result. (thee are the odd physical freaks like Haaland but we don't have him).
The point I'm trying to make is that if we are serious about promotion and don't want to risk the lottery of the playoff, we need to actually do what RM talks endlessly about and adopt a way of thinking and playing that converts superiority into winning.
He's had close on half a season - he's mentioned this mental toughness after every victory achieved in the last minutes of a game - he complains about not being able to finish teams off - but we still do it.
He needs to fix it. | | | |
| Marginal gains and losses on 15:00 - Dec 11 with 904 views | dirk_doone |
When Markus Liebherr placed Cortese in charge of the club, his first step was to visit the most successful clubs in Europe, including, at the time, Barcelona, to find out all of the small details that had made them better than the rest, like taking the players' own mattresses to hotels where they slept for away games so they slept well and didn't risk catching anything. Of course that was just one of the hundreds of fine details he started to put into place. When he said he intended to turn Southampton into a Champions' League club, he meant it. Unfortunately, Markus died far to soon and his daughter didn't share the same vision. [Post edited 11 Dec 2023 15:05]
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| Marginal gains and losses on 15:11 - Dec 11 with 879 views | PatfromPoole |
Football is a simple game.
Shouldn't need to over-complicate it.
If we have more shots and crosses, we should score more goals.
Watford's keeper really didn't have a lot to do on Saturday.
We just weren't threatening enough, and played a lot of what Strachan used to call "propaganda football". All fart, no sh1t.
Oh, and not letting in soft goals from 25 yards out would also help...... | |
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| Marginal gains and losses on 17:11 - Dec 11 with 804 views | Berber |
I will take quite a bit more than marginal improvements to reduce the ridiculously soft goals we have been conceding this season, and the last one, and the one before that. Major changes, like the manager, several times has made little difference. |  | | |
| Marginal gains and losses on 17:25 - Dec 11 with 795 views | saint901 |
Individual errors will cost us always. If a forward makes a mistake, we lose the ball. If a keeper makes a mistake we let in a goal.
The present situation is more than individual error. It's about RM and his staff failing to get the players in the right mental and physical condition to win games.
That's not just "not losing" but winning.
Playing and passing teams off the park for 75 minutes and then letting in a soft goal is unacceptable. As is taking the pressure off teams with 15/20 minutes to go. As is having 50% more possession than the opposition but fewer shots (on or off target).
My point remains. RM has the team playing as he wants (boring as it is to watch) but now he needs to get them winning and that is a mental/spiritual thing that needs to be done. | | | |
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