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View Full Version : Why do teams generally play well or badly en masse?



G B Young
30-12-2019, 02:28 PM
If you compare our two most recent performances (albeit allowing for the fact Hearts are woeful) you could say that in the derby every cog in our team played its role effectively (ie solid goalkeeping, strong defending in the second half, dominant and creative midfield coupled with sharp forward play in the first half) yet against Livi we were pretty much crap in every department.

Very different types of fixture I know (and a look at Livi's home record coupled with their awful pitch shows it's a tricky place to go), but why is it that the whole team was so poor? Is it not reasonable to expect that at least half the players will be on their game to the extent that they can carry the rest of the team over the line? Or does it all come down to tactics?

It's a question that perhaps applies to team sport in general, whereas in individual sports (eg golf, tennis) it's easier to understand when a player simply isn't firing on all cylinders.

wookie70
30-12-2019, 03:22 PM
One teams strength v another's weaknesses. That has many variables before you take into account tactics, conditions, home advantage, injuries, illnesses etc.

Like everyone I was delighted with the result at Tiny but for most of the game Hearts were the better team. They walked through our frontline and midfield time after time and got the ball into our box far, far too often. I was pleased that teh subs Ross made were well thought out if a bit late. Livy did the same but had the quality, helped by some poor defending and goalkeeping, to score a couple of times while keeping us very quiet. Ross made his subs and I think most of us knew they would change nothing. Without doubt we played better at Tiny but that was against the worst team in the league and they looked a better team than us in the second half.

The team element of football isn't talked about as much as it should be. I think Stubbs understood it and made sure he had leaders. Lennon continued that mainly because the leaders were still there but when they left or fell injured we didn't replace that strength of character and those forces that bind teams together.

Ross needs to try and build a team and squad with the required character and skill. Leeann needs to re-emphasise the message that the club will have a style of play that will permeate through every age group. That was lost under Lennon who bought individuals imo and we need to get that back.

greenpaper55
30-12-2019, 03:50 PM
When we play well it's of a good standard, when we play badly i think we are the worst in the league. This is nothing new as someone who has been watching Hibs for over fifty years it has been a common failure over this period of time. I think the club ethos is to try and play football but oddly enough this does not guarantee that we win matches. As Jock Stein once said " some games you have to put your boiler suit on " meaning you have to did deep and dirty, anyone in our midfield capable of doing that ?. Our squad is unbalanced age wise and physically, can you think of a team in the league with a smaller defence ? can you think of a midfield that brushed aside as easily as ours ? . Plenty of problems for the manager to sort out and it will be interesting to see if he is up to the task.

MWHIBBIES
30-12-2019, 04:02 PM
Probably true. An interesting question as well. Results do massively skew how people view performances though. Doidge for example wasn't bad at all yesterday imo. He worked hard, won headers, tried to hold it up. Not really any different from his derby performance but he'll get little credit because we lost.

Stevie Mallan is recognized as a goal scoring midfielder but I think many of his better games for us (Aberdeen few weeks back) were when he didn't score and he wasn't actually that great in some of the ones he did.

Livingston didn't really do anything yesterday either. Rocky never had a save to make but 2 goals from punts into the box make it look like we got outplayed. Really, both teams were equally awful.

greenlex
30-12-2019, 06:39 PM
I think all it needs is two or three not performing to drag the rest down very quickly during a game. Makes the whole team look poor.

Viva_Palmeiras
30-12-2019, 06:42 PM
All in the mind and I think that’s what Hecky was driving at the evening some folks attended in the chat about the training centre and use of the new GPS we helped provide.

Torto7
30-12-2019, 07:07 PM
Too many of our players lack endurance, we very rarely play well back to back. Horgan, Allan, Mallan, Hallberg, Newell are usually blowing out of their ***** after an hour. I think this is an ongoing problem. Last season Omeonga really stood out for his energy. We need some athleticism in the middle of the park and on the left as well imo.