paul4040 wrote:
donmentor wrote:
I reckon the difference is that Jacko has recognised the players limitations and is simplifying what they are asked to do. All the messing about at the back and trying to play out has gone and the play is much more simple and direct. The players seem to be responding much better.
How I see it too. He's asked them to play very simply and to their strengths. All he cares about is "behaviours" and extracting 10% more from each individual than Manning did. Never took any journo bait about "individual performances" when Tucker was costing us badly and that has paid dividends as Tucker has improved a lot - sometimes easy to forget he's still 23 and at a crucial part of his career. There's none of this 4D chess buggering about either. Every time he's about to make a sub I can tell who he's going to take off.
I'd agree to an extent. The basics are improving and this squad actually looks like it has some balance to it. A box to box and a ball playing 'quarter back' in midfield, not dissimilar to the idea of Gleeson and Potter as a duo (though Gleeson wanted to shoot unlike Maghoma) and we have two creative players either side of a 9. Individuals have stepped up and there is more swagger and drive with the additions of Kaikai, Leko and Maghoma. Whilst Harvie, Tucker and Watson have all stepped up big time in the past month or two.
However I wouldn't agree about messing around at the back. Under Manning we stopped, we just punted it forward a lot. Our defenders are getting on the ball a lot again, just look at our goal vs Derby. That came from playing out from the back and many side ways passes