Our last three second halves...

swabianfox

swabianfox

Rare Continental Breed
were won by us.

Coincidentally, they all ended 1-0!

I know it sounds a bit like clutching at straws but at least we show some grit and don't squander games that easily for the time being.

I'm definitely not convinced it'll be enough in the end but it's a step in the right direction.
 
But mein Deutscher freund it’s no good if we’re conceding the first half. Going behind in all 3 games. This is THE problem. Score first we have a chance. We’re putting ourselves under enormous pressure and IMO if Everton score first on Monday we’ll do well to get a draw and have no chance of winning as they can defend with their lives. I’m dreading Gray. It’s written isn’t it. One of the class of 2016 contributes to our relegation
 
LGFOX said:
But mein Deutscher freund it’s no good if we’re conceding the first half. Going behind in all 3 games. This is THE problem. Score first we have a chance. We’re putting ourselves under enormous pressure and IMO if Everton score first on Monday we’ll do well to get a draw and have no chance of winning as they can defend with their lives. I’m dreading Gray. It’s written isn’t it. One of the class of 2016 contributes to our relegation
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Keep those sort of thoughts to yourself KP
 
Yes, we definitely have to stop conceding first. Last night, again and annoyingly, it didn't work.

We're making steps in the right direction (we did score an early goal last night but it was chalked off) but it might not be enough.

I'm still not sure how to take last night's result but there is now definitely more pressure with regards to the Everton game.
 
swabianfox said:
Yes, we definitely have to stop conceding first. Last night, again and annoyingly, it didn't work.

We're making steps in the right direction (we did score an early goal last night but it was chalked off) but it might not be enough.

I'm still not sure how to take last night's result but there is now definitely more pressure with regards to the Everton game.
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Better than losing and given the atmosphere and Bamfords's miss it was very loseable
 
swabianfox said:
were won by us.

Coincidentally, they all ended 1-0!

I know it sounds a bit like clutching at straws but at least we show some grit and don't squander games that easily for the time being.

I'm definitely not convinced it'll be enough in the end but it's a step in the right direction.
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That's the conditioning being worked out of us.

Rodgers put negativity into every part of our set up.

We are starting to look like the team we were, and should have been, l think the only downside is our new lot are taking too long to understand which players are absolute shite. It'll dawn on them as every game goes by.
 
bnet said:
[...]
We are starting to look like the team we were, and should have been, l think the only downside is our new lot are taking too long to understand which players are absolute shite. It'll dawn on them as every game goes by.
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We are a bit like a big ship ("S.S. Leicester City") that has spotted an iceberg too late and is now desperately trying to reverse course.

We are definitely going to hit the iceberg and already have serious damage to the ship but whether the damage will be big enough for "S.S. Leicester City" to turn out like the Titanic and sink remains to be seen!

Not like this hopefully:
 
We have to remember that D, S and T are learning, hopefully quickly, our strengths and weakness by the game.
Both individually and collectively.
 
Just to put some numbers behind this. These were the last six 2nd half results before Smith et al. came in:

Bournemouth 0-0 (end result 0-1)
Aston Villa 0-1 (end result 1-2)
Crystal Palace 1-2 (end result 1-2)
Brentford 1-0 (end result 1-1)
Chelsea 0-1 (end result 1-3)
Southampton 0-0 (end result 0-1)

So that is three "losses", two "draws" and just one "win", regarding our last six 2nd halves before Smith. In only one of those six games (Brentford), we managed to improve on the result of the first half and get something back from a poor first half.

I guess we're seeing an improvement there already (3/3 with two of them resulting in improvements of the results, Wolves from a draw to a win and Leeds from a loss to a draw). Now all that's left is cutting out going behind early. This is probably as much about mentality, confidence and psychology as it is about pressing and defending per se. Once again, it's ever so regrettable that this rescue mission didn't start a couple of games earlier.

Edit: typo
 
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swabianfox said:
Just to put some numbers behind this. These were the last six 2nd half results before Smith et al. came in:

Bournemouth 0-0 (end result 0-1)
Aston Villa 0-1 (end result 1-2)
Crystal Palace 1-2 (end result 1-2)
Brentford 1-0 (end result 1-1)
Chelsea 0-1 (end result 1-3)
Southampton 0-0 (end result 0-1)

So that is three "losses", two "draws" and just one "win", regarding our last six 2nd halves before Smith. In only one of those six games (Brentford), we managed to improve on the result of the first half and get something back from a poor first half.

I guess we're seeing an improvement there already (3/3 with two of them resulting in improvements of the results, Wolves from a draw to a win and Leeds from a loss to a draw). Now all that's left is cutting out going behind early. This is probably as much about mentality, confidence and psychology as it is about pressing and defending per se. Once again, it's ever so regrettable that this rescue mission didn't start a couple of games earlier.

Edit: typo
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Since Smith came in, the team has clearly continued to battle during periods when they're under pressure and/or a goal down. In the first halves against Wolves and again last night, this kept the damage to a minimum, which enabled us to get back into both games with a few tactical tweaks. We just didn't have that kind of resilience under Rodgers - the moment the pressure was on, we just seemed to disintegrate. It feels like such a breath of fresh air to support a team that is able to dig in and actually get stronger as the game goes on.
 
Jordan Blackwell has also picked up on our recent improvements:
Twelve decisions Dean Smith has got right
Previously, City had struggled. Before Dean Smith’s arrival, there had been 21 games this season where City had either been drawing or trailing at half-time. In only one of those 21 did they improve on the half-time result, away at Brentford in Brendan Rodgers’ penultimate match, where Harvey Barnes scored a second-half equaliser to earn a point.
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Under Smith, they’ve already done it twice, turning a draw into a win against Wolves, and now a loss into a draw at Leeds. In all three matches he has been in charge, City have outscored their opponents in the second half, something they hadn’t done in three games on the bounce since the end of 2021.
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He further alludes to both tactical tweaks / substitutions and also a better mental disposition.
 
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