Lee says Wasps 'need to address' problem area after Bristol Bears defeat

[westwaleswasp]

I actually think that overall our backs are not very good individually or as a unit. This does not mean they are bad, but week on week I see opposition team sheets that have 3 players in the backs that terrify me, even if teams are shorn of players. We don't have that.
 We have solid operators like Bassett, but, let us be honest, if you compare him to Wade, Varndell, Lewsey, Voyce, etc. Well you get the point, he is an honest worker, a bit like Kenny Logan, but not the sort of guy who scores from nothing, not the sort of guy who creates space just by being on the pitch.
In our team at the moment there are very few X factor backs, and some of those we have- like Jacob, come with enormous brain fades and questions as to where they should play. For a the plaudits from Friday's second half, the first had Jacob exposed at the back. Odogwu has the x factor, but I don't think we know if he should be a wing or a centre. That said, if you give those guys great ball, they will convert some of that into tries, and there will be wins, just not enough as we are often quite prodigal.  Had the pitch been 3m shorter we would have been golden, as it was we had the breaks to make 40 m but could not bridge the gap in the most important inches, top two inches in the brain. How many tines was it a case of 'it has got to go' or 'why were you forcing it?'.



If we sort the problem of the breakdown, we can win matches, but it will be because we create loads of chances with our turnovers, some of which will be spurned, of course.
Looking at our strengths, it is in the mobility and handling of the forwards, but even then there are players just settling in. I am not certain Oghre is the hooker for us- could he be a 7? Without Shields other back rows we put out have sometimes been imbalanced- glue players are hard to come by.

It is hard to gel a backs unit with players making their way unless you are giving them an armchair ride and our pack is not that type of pack. Many are young and how many times have we seen Atkinson/Mills/Spink? Or indeed any settled combination that does not gave Jimmy at 12?
Fundamentally we are going through churn, a couple of wins and we could sneak 4th but a couple of bad weeks and we are 10th, that is the nature of the league.


Just like Wales when they play England, Wasps never know when they are beaten, but sadly we often have a creaking Welsh lineout, which is something we need to fix. We do score from lineouts, but the number of times it does an impression of a wet fart is too high.

[Shugs]

To answer the questions I’d say we’re better than Irish and Gloucester. Of course I could trot out the fact that we’ve also recently beaten Saracens and Leicester but I fear they have been dismissed as “lucky” or playing “3rd teams” etc because they were positive results. Secondly, I think possibly one of the worlds best tight heads will have an impact. For clarity our backs aren’t “shitty” - that’s an insult to some very, very good players. I haven’t excused anything. We’re a good side. A top six side which means we’ve won some good games and lost some - it’s the way sport goes. To your final point we did beat Irish the last two times we’ve met - does that mean we’re miles behind them?

I suspect it's the case that you watch Wasps and only Wasps, so your appreciation for anything outside of Wasps is limited. The fact you think we are better than either lends itself to that.
To your Sarries / Leic comment..thats my point, your only see results as a measure of the standing, you refuse to look at the performance. You mention the top 2 fine, i'll mention the loss to 3 of the bottom 4, with a win against 13 of the 4th. How does that fit into your narrative of being a very, very good side? As for maintaining we are a top six side, with the proof being in the eating, we weren't top 6 last season, we aren't top six now and I bet you a new hat that we won't be come season conclusion. When that happens, you may have to finally except what's in front of you.
I also didn't call the backs shitty, I said shitty back play. Lee needs to recruit himself out of it because he doesn't seem to be able to coach himself out of it. Like it or don't, the teams that are playing well are clearly we'll coached, with a consistent game plan and tactics.
Atkinson came into the first team and looked the business, he then gets 1st team coaching and now looks a shadow of the player that stepped up...whats that down to?
Like i said, sum of part in minus...you didn't expand on that

I disagree with you, ergo I don’t watch anyone but Wasps. That’s puerile and incorrect. The sum of parts in minus I don’t really understand. Is your argument that good players are having their ability coached out of them - extremely unlikely. My assertion is not that we’re the best side in the league. But we could easily be top six - easily. We were 4th two weeks ago.