Originally Posted by
SingaporeHibs
I agree with the opening paragraph of the OP. We certainly have the 2nd best group of players in the league and play the 2nd best Football in the league. On our day we should be able to beat anyone. However, there is certainly something not right about our formation or the players that are being played in that formation. This sits with Lennon. I don't think he has worked out how to get the best of the players. Slivka is wasted on the right, he is a middle of the park player. I like him but I wouldn't start him before McGinn or Dylan. Therefore he wouldn't start for me. Square pegs in round holes has rarely worked well. Which formation we play or who fills the roles could be argued about. Injuries at the back haven't helped. If McGregor or Fonts were fit I would have played 3 CHs today. Not possible tho. So with a 4-4-2, I would have had SDG at right back at Whittaker right mid. Whittaker is at his best further up the pitch, he can't tackle. Barker is direct and dangerous so I probably would have started him left mid. Front 2, should Murray get the nod? I like the speed of Boyle but are we getting anything significant today from that? Prob not. Stokes needs to be quicker to pull the trigger, too often running with the ball at a wall of defenders after taking one or two touches too many and getting no where. We certainly aren't streetwise on the pitch. Aberdeen were taking yellows when needed, don't have the stats in front of me but they must have made way more fouls than us and a lot of them at important moments. The ref was terrible today. McGinn was getting plenty treatment. Aberdeen are not better than us but they have a system that works and Mcinnes has them drilled in it. That's the difference. 1st half they closed us down quick, didn't let us get into our game. 2nd half they played a lot like the championship teams did at ER, sat back in numbers and tried to break. Was it good Football in its pure sense, no. Did it work, yes. Are they happy tonight, you bet. We need to get our mix correct. Has Lennon worked it out, absolutely not. Does it sit with him, absolutely does. He needs to get more from this group. Formation and the best starting 11 are the first challenges. We should be way better than 1 point ahead of a poor Hearts team. Are we too easy to play, I think so far the proof is that we are. We have run over teams and only got a point. Today, we deserved something and got nothing. It all points to a problem that needs solved. I hope Lennon makes the changes to get it right. If he does that I have no doubt we can be strong from here but the clock starts ticking pretty quickly and before you know it we are either fighting for 3/4th or we're fighting to stay in the top 6. Over to Lennon