eric olthwaite wrote:Bobbycollins wrote:As regards Eric's point on second season syndrome, It would be more of a worry if we didn't have a recognisable pattern of play which puts other teams on the back foot. I don't think it's a question of us "being found out" next season, as it's far harder to play against a team that attempts to win every game, than a Sheffield United or Newcastle whose main aim is merely to survive.
Yeah, to be honest I’m not sure where this comes from or whether it’s actually a thing statistically. I think there might be a combination of first season ‘adrenaline’ in the promoted players and complacency in the teams they play. I do feel very certain that if we stand still we’ll get run over.
I think that Huddersfield and Sheffield United are opposite examples of the points that you and SoL were making. In their first season Huddersfield packed their defence, kept the games tight but scored few goals and more often than not lost in the second half. Whereas Sheffield United attacked with overlapping CBs, still scored few goals but only lost 12 of 38 games. In their second seasons they both spent big on terrible players, had no tactical plan and lost around 75% of their games, as they had nothing to offer but endeavour and that wasn't sufficient initially and failed entirely after 10-15 games. There are certainly learnings to be had, as Jos Buttler would say, but I'm still feeling cosy about next season, as our recruitment has improved massively due to the combination of Orta and Bielsa and I can't see us buying non-entities from the UK, as was the case with Blunts, or unheard of players from abroad, as per Huddersfield.
