Home and Away

[18nufc92]

The difference between our home and away form this season is like night and day. Our home form has been exceptional, gaining 12 wins from 19 games and only suffering 3 defeats. The 4th best record in the division.

Our away form on the other hand has been awful and is something we need to address next season if we’re to meet our objectives. 11 defeats in 18 games with one more game to come at Brentford. With only 5 wins from 18 games, we’d be 15th in the table based on away form.

What do we think the issue is/issues are? Gordon questioned our mindset in his interview after the Man Utd defeat and it’s hard to argue with him. We’ve leaked 38 goals in 18 games. Very poor defensively all season, especially in comparison to last, and the problem stems from central midfield in my opinion. We get passed through too easily. Even with a fully fit squad, I think we lack a defensive-minded holding midfielder and would prioritise this in the summer despite appearing overstocked with CMs.

[Ragatino]

Indeed it's a mentality however taking the Man U match as a stand alone. The problem was Dubravka.

The man is made of lettuce.

[Kal]

Indeed it's a mentality however taking the Man U match as a stand alone. The problem was Dubravka.

The man is made of lettuce.

And Swiss cheese.

[Zippity]

We don't have a winning mentality in the club.

Not in the team, not on the staff, not in the club. And I don't mean that in a 'motivational' way. You know, the sort of thing they might shout at each other in the tunnel or in the pre-game huddle ;c'mon, lads, we're winners'...etc

i mean literally. We have nobody who's won anything apart from maybe Trippier? Like it or not, failure-glorious or otherwise-is, at the moment (and has been for a long time) ingrained in us. i hesitate to say 'in our DNA' but...

A winning mentality is only achievable by...winning things. It's not the only thing that matters, obviously but, when the margins are tight, it can make the difference.

It was never more obvious than in the second half against Liverpool at home. Their players never lost belief and, as theirs grew, you could almost see it physically draining out of ours.Like I said, much as other factors are relevant too, I think playing for a club that expects to win things becaise they are used to winning things can help make the difference in games.

Look at our record at places like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd...it's embarrassing. How many times have we ever turned up expecting to win or at least draw? We are so far behind these clubs and one of the things that we have to try to change is our mentality.

Y'see, now I've depressed mysef!

[Jammy89]

It was never more obvious than in the second half against Liverpool at home. Their players never lost belief and, as theirs grew, you could almost see it physically draining out of ours.

Agreed - this was one of the clearest cases all season of us not have that mentality.

[Kal]

We don't have a winning mentality in the club.

Not in the team, not on the staff, not in the club. And I don't mean that in a 'motivational' way. You know, the sort of thing they might shout at each other in the tunnel or in the pre-game huddle ;c'mon, lads, we're winners'...etc

i mean literally. We have nobody who's won anything apart from maybe Trippier? Like it or not, failure-glorious or otherwise-is, at the moment (and has been for a long time) ingrained in us. i hesitate to say 'in our DNA' but...

A winning mentality is only achievable by...winning things. It's not the only thing that matters, obviously but, when the margins are tight, it can make the difference.

It was never more obvious than in the second half against Liverpool at home. Their players never lost belief and, as theirs grew, you could almost see it physically draining out of ours.Like I said, much as other factors are relevant too, I think playing for a club that expects to win things becaise they are used to winning things can help make the difference in games.

Look at our record at places like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd...it's embarrassing. How many times have we ever turned up expecting to win or at least draw? We are so far behind these clubs and one of the things that we have to try to change is our mentality.

The truth can be uncomfortable but shouldn't be ignored. Damn good post sir.

[18nufc92]

We had a hard to beat mentality last season whereas this season we’ve been a bit more gung-ho. If we can tweak our system to mix the two, improve our mentality and have more luck with injuries, we’ll be on to something. Problem is we need to find the solution by this Sunday afternoon or we’ll be staring down the barrel of no Europe and no Bruno..

[toptoon]

Not sure why the pessimism re Bruno. He came to us when we were relegation candidates.

[Sclox]

We don't have a winning mentality in the club.

Not in the team, not on the staff, not in the club. And I don't mean that in a 'motivational' way. You know, the sort of thing they might shout at each other in the tunnel or in the pre-game huddle ;c'mon, lads, we're winners'...etc

i mean literally. We have nobody who's won anything apart from maybe Trippier? Like it or not, failure-glorious or otherwise-is, at the moment (and has been for a long time) ingrained in us. i hesitate to say 'in our DNA' but...

A winning mentality is only achievable by...winning things. It's not the only thing that matters, obviously but, when the margins are tight, it can make the difference.

It was never more obvious than in the second half against Liverpool at home. Their players never lost belief and, as theirs grew, you could almost see it physically draining out of ours.Like I said, much as other factors are relevant too, I think playing for a club that expects to win things becaise they are used to winning things can help make the difference in games.

Look at our record at places like Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd...it's embarrassing. How many times have we ever turned up expecting to win or at least draw? We are so far behind these clubs and one of the things that we have to try to change is our mentality.

Y'see, now I've depressed mysef!

I agree. Known it for years but hate to admit it
The Keegan years were great but ultimately a failure that reinforced this. A blessing and a curse.