| Lack of sharpness, lack of luck 17:24 - Sep 30 with 753 views | SomethingBlue |
Both applied there but we can't complain about the result. We were outbattled there by a lively enough side that didn't really have much guile but was sparky and penetrative. I suspect the stats for challenges won will look absolutely terrible on our part.
A few key things. The late withdrawal of Adeyemi was undoubtedly very significant. He would have helped us get a grip on that midfield through size and athleticism alone and may have helped get us up the pitch too. Nydam looks as if he is going to be an outstanding player so I don't mean it as a criticism of him to say we would have been much better with Adeyemi there today.
Perhaps Mick did go too attacking although I don't think any of us wanted to see a different lineup. The first goal was instructive, wasn't it - Celina (poor today, but there we go) failing to complete a dribble and then no pressure applied to Bristol on the counter. With a more compact system we probably have enough covering players to sort that out.
After that it was always going to be difficult, especially when you've got all your best attackers on at the start and there's little obvious improvement on the bench. Perhaps Ward might have been useful sooner for his energy. Thought we would really come back at them in the second half but they managed it well and I must say the ref was poor - seemed to have decided in advance that Flint was a good honest pro and Garner a conniving s*d, when in fact they are as bad as each other. There was next to no football played in the last 35 minutes: partly our fault, partly credit to Bristol, but games need to be refereed less pedantically.
We are still well placed but this felt like such a good opportunity. We saw the pitfalls of the system today - and incidentally we did play some good stuff when on the front foot - and the task now will be to find the right balance. And also to keep players fit - it is knackering us. |  |
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| Lack of sharpness, lack of luck on 17:49 - Sep 30 with 682 views | Darth_Koont |
Agreed although I think we at least gave ourselves a chance in the second half with a bit more discipline when we were ridiculously open in the first half. But certainly credit to Bristol for tightening up themselves.
Re: Garner, it's been the glaring weakness in his otherwise fantastic all-round game. He really has to stop trying to win cheap free kicks. His sudden collapses seem to put refs against him from the off when he could be putting pressure on defenders throughout 90 minutes. His work rate and commitment are phenomenal otherwise and deserve far more. |  |
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