| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday 08:35 - Feb 2 with 3400 views | Dubtractor |
Still quite shocked that we managed to lose, and actually play quite poorly, against a team as bad as that. I won't be at all surprised if Southampton don't get another win all season.
I don't tend to go all in on player critique, and in most cases this is just a reflection on yesterday rather than a more general perspective, albeit there are some longer term problems.
I'll admit I was in the crowd that wanted Muric back in as feel that he is the better overall keeper, despite some of his errors, but yesterday demonstrated that this is one of those things where a player gets better in their absence. If we'd had a premier league standard keeper all season I'm sure we'd be 5 or 6 points better off than we are.
Tuanzebe is usually Mr Reliable, but he seemed to really struggle at lots of the basics yesterday, and the winner came from his side with a player being allowed far too easily to cut across the box and shoot.
Davis seems to have really struggled to make a contribution in the final third in recent weeks, and that's played a part in our struggles in scoring goals.
I think Greaves and O'Shea mostly did OK in dealing with that unit up front. Odd game to judge them as they were asked to defend in a very different way to most weeks in this league.
Cajuste was one to come out with a bit of credit, and it was REALLY noticeable how much slower we played as he was tiring and then after he went off.
Morsy is a problem right now. He is the heartbeat of the team, and has been such an important part of our journey, but he plays too slowly for this league. Against teams that just set out to be organised and keep their shape we continually allow them to reset themselves.
Broadhead was decent, though probably should have scored.
Hutchinson's afternoon started with him trying (unsuccessfully) to run straight through their left back, and that set the tone. Nothing worked for him at all yesterday, despite getting into lots of good positions.
Enciso. What to make of him? I've seen quite a few comments on here praising him, and he clearly has a lot about him. Quick feet, direct, able to beat a man, but...... It was like watching a playground ball hog at times. Too many times he had a good pass option on, but tried to beat another man, or do another trick, and the moment was gone. He clearly has the tools to be a real star, and will probably create and score goals for us, but he's got to get so much better at releasing the ball at the right time.
Delap was Delap, well taken goal and was part of so much of the good things that we did.
None of the subs really made an impact when they came on. Philogene looks rusty/lacking in confidence, Taylor isn't a premier league level player.
I'm resigned to relegation now, and if I'm honest I won't miss much about this league, it was another game yesterday where the gamesmanship was off the charts - I was not entirely impressed to see some of it from Enciso either.
Despite our struggles this season, and none of us can be too surprised with how it has panned out (seeing Leicester and Southampton similarly struggle is telling), we'll be very well placed to have a strong season in the Championship. Obviously there are no guarantees, but I don't see us doing a Luton!
There will be no booing or jeering from me, no getting on McKenna's back, and it is easy to forget just how quickly we've gone from L1 to the Premier league, but it's OK to admit that we're falling short this season.
Never say never though, there are still 14 games left to give it a real go, but my years of watching football have taught me to believe what my eyes are showing me, and that's that a team who don't score enough and concede soft goals will struggle to string a run of wins together. |  |
| |  |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:39 - Feb 2 with 2686 views | BseaBlue |
An excellent assessment and refreshing honesty re the keeper.
I do think you've picked up on a big factor RE Leif. We were so reliant on his creativity last year and 8t just isn't happening for him at the moment. Every cross seems to hit an opposition player or straight into the keeper. Perhaps that's a lack of movement in front of him.
RE Enciso, I thought he did ok. Definitely looked a threat but he's another (as you mention about Hutch) that probably should have scored yesterday! |  | | |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:41 - Feb 2 with 2667 views | MK1 |
Pretty much agree with all of that. I ain't going to get on the players or manager if we go down, it was the speed in which we came up that's the problem. I would question our recruitment a bit though. Fine bringing in trading players, but we needed a bit of PL quality and savvy. A couple of players who have been around the block a few times.
As I have said many times on here, I love the Championship. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:41 - Feb 2 with 2665 views | BlueNomad |
Summed up perfectly |  | | |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:42 - Feb 2 with 2662 views | chicoazul |
Yeah I feel promotion just came a season or two too soon. We weren’t able to get in solid championship level players to replace Morsy Taylor Burns Burgess Chaplin etc and ended up going into the Prem with a significant number of League One players, admirable fellows they all are of course. But I think the club is well set for the next 5 years now and expect to see us bounce up and down in that period, or maybe even become a settled Prem team for 3 of those years before we are inevitably sold and move onto the next phase.
And like you say we’re still in it just about! And who knows if Delap can go on a tear and McK stop fiddling around with the personnel in defence and midfield we may yet do this. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:51 - Feb 2 with 2579 views | bournemouthblue |
I wouldn't say he suffers quite as badly from this as Delap or Hutch but as you say, Enciso whilst very lively did suffer from overplaying and holding onto the ball too long, he had several opportunities to release Davis down the left and didn't
That said, he had been with us just over a week he will learn the style of play hopefully and be a bit more selfless |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:53 - Feb 2 with 2563 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
And Enciso not being able to finish when in good positions.
And Delap diving when he could have shot.
And the defenders not following up the rebound on the second goal. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:53 - Feb 2 with 2560 views | SitfcB |
Probably sums up how many of us feel although I’ll never be resigned to or accept relegation until it’s mathematically impossible to stay up haha
Yesterday probably goes right to the top of this seasons disappointing games, didn’t expect an easy win/game by any means but it was pretty poor for our standards, when we got back level I thought we’d push on and see the game out.
Just something not clicking at the minute.
Not over until it’s over.
COYB |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:54 - Feb 2 with 2534 views | BseaBlue |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:53 - Feb 2 by SitfcB |
Probably sums up how many of us feel although I’ll never be resigned to or accept relegation until it’s mathematically impossible to stay up haha
Yesterday probably goes right to the top of this seasons disappointing games, didn’t expect an easy win/game by any means but it was pretty poor for our standards, when we got back level I thought we’d push on and see the game out.
Just something not clicking at the minute.
Not over until it’s over.
COYB |
I think what makes it worse was that they were truly poor. We've played some bloody good teams this season but they looked shot to bits. | | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:02 - Feb 2 with 2466 views | MK1 |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:42 - Feb 2 by chicoazul |
Yeah I feel promotion just came a season or two too soon. We weren’t able to get in solid championship level players to replace Morsy Taylor Burns Burgess Chaplin etc and ended up going into the Prem with a significant number of League One players, admirable fellows they all are of course. But I think the club is well set for the next 5 years now and expect to see us bounce up and down in that period, or maybe even become a settled Prem team for 3 of those years before we are inevitably sold and move onto the next phase.
And like you say we’re still in it just about! And who knows if Delap can go on a tear and McK stop fiddling around with the personnel in defence and midfield we may yet do this. |
If we go down, I hope we don't hold on to to many that got us here though. The reason we got relegated to L1 was because we held on to to many players for to long. There may be some we should keep as squad players, Chaplin, Broadhead and Woolfy spring to mind, but we mustn't just think that because they did it once, they will do it again. The likes of Delap and Davis will probably be off and Phillips, Godfrey, Axel and Cajuste the same, so a new midfield will be needed. Walton will be fine for the Championship, as will O'Shea and Greaves. Maybe Harry will come back if his loan spell goes ok. As with this season, it's those front positions that will need care and attention. | |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:06 - Feb 2 with 2430 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Agree with most of that, time for Sam to be rested sadly. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:07 - Feb 2 with 2417 views | Metal_Hacker |
I think that’s all very honest and would mirror my thoughts Dubbers
One thing I will add or question is , how come we’ve thrown away so many points at the end of games ?
Points we’ve lost this season , it’s horrendous
Is it naivety , tiredness , concentration , mistakes - all of the above ? |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:12 - Feb 2 with 2386 views | Herbivore |
Yeah, that's a fair summary. Saints were by an absolute mile the worst team we've played this season and we gifted them two goals in very poor fashion. The defending in the build up could have been better but your keeper is there to make routine saves and the first one goes in the middle of the sodding goal, how he fails to get anything on that I have no idea. The second one he should be pushing away from goal, not straight out. It's basic stuff.
But given how rubbish Saints were, there's no excuse for losing that and only scoring once. The poor goals conceded wouldn't have mattered if we'd smashed a few on, which we should have done. Broadhead should have scored really and we got in so many good positions but the decision making from the attacking players was horrendous. Too many holding on to the ball for too long, failing to beat a man repeatedly, not passing to players in space. Really poor stuff.
Midfield is a worry too, Morsy starting to look a bit out of his depth now which was always a risk but neither Cajuste or Phillips seem able to give us 90 minutes every week so we're a bit stuck there.
I do worry that we've changed a bit too much too soon. Of course we needed to add quality and depth to the squad but many of our signings don't look big upgrades on what we already had here. The large squad has contributed to quite a lot of chopping and changing so we've rarely looked anywhere near as fluid as we did last season. Of course the opposition makes that harder but you can tell that there's not that understanding between the players that we've benefited from in the past.
I am struggling to see any way we pick up enough points to stay up now. We need to keep fighting as we don't want to go down with a whimper but it feels like the game is close to being up. We aren't adrift but at some point we need to string 2 or 3 wins together and we don't look capable of that because we concede soft goals and don't score enough. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:17 - Feb 2 with 2336 views | MK1 |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:12 - Feb 2 by Herbivore |
Yeah, that's a fair summary. Saints were by an absolute mile the worst team we've played this season and we gifted them two goals in very poor fashion. The defending in the build up could have been better but your keeper is there to make routine saves and the first one goes in the middle of the sodding goal, how he fails to get anything on that I have no idea. The second one he should be pushing away from goal, not straight out. It's basic stuff.
But given how rubbish Saints were, there's no excuse for losing that and only scoring once. The poor goals conceded wouldn't have mattered if we'd smashed a few on, which we should have done. Broadhead should have scored really and we got in so many good positions but the decision making from the attacking players was horrendous. Too many holding on to the ball for too long, failing to beat a man repeatedly, not passing to players in space. Really poor stuff.
Midfield is a worry too, Morsy starting to look a bit out of his depth now which was always a risk but neither Cajuste or Phillips seem able to give us 90 minutes every week so we're a bit stuck there.
I do worry that we've changed a bit too much too soon. Of course we needed to add quality and depth to the squad but many of our signings don't look big upgrades on what we already had here. The large squad has contributed to quite a lot of chopping and changing so we've rarely looked anywhere near as fluid as we did last season. Of course the opposition makes that harder but you can tell that there's not that understanding between the players that we've benefited from in the past.
I am struggling to see any way we pick up enough points to stay up now. We need to keep fighting as we don't want to go down with a whimper but it feels like the game is close to being up. We aren't adrift but at some point we need to string 2 or 3 wins together and we don't look capable of that because we concede soft goals and don't score enough. |
Our midfield has been a major problem for us all season. Would have liked us play a 3 in the middle to help the back 4 more. Far to easy for the opposing team to walk through. We will need a new one next season. | |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:24 - Feb 2 with 2276 views | azuremerlangus |
Good summary backed by the responses so far.
Central Midfield is the main worry for me out of the points raised. Morsy needs either better support or replacing when necessary (not starting or getting subbed more).
Turning point for yesterday was Broadhead’s 1-on-1 with the keeper. Had Broady passed to Delap rather than the other way round it would have been 2-1 and maybe a very different result. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:31 - Feb 2 with 2228 views | ITFCBlues |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:07 - Feb 2 by Metal_Hacker |
I think that’s all very honest and would mirror my thoughts Dubbers
One thing I will add or question is , how come we’ve thrown away so many points at the end of games ?
Points we’ve lost this season , it’s horrendous
Is it naivety , tiredness , concentration , mistakes - all of the above ? |
Because we don't have the squad depth. Players get tired etc. Others sides bringing on 30 or 40m players and we've just not had that luxury. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:43 - Feb 2 with 2156 views | ITFCBlues |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:12 - Feb 2 by Herbivore |
Yeah, that's a fair summary. Saints were by an absolute mile the worst team we've played this season and we gifted them two goals in very poor fashion. The defending in the build up could have been better but your keeper is there to make routine saves and the first one goes in the middle of the sodding goal, how he fails to get anything on that I have no idea. The second one he should be pushing away from goal, not straight out. It's basic stuff.
But given how rubbish Saints were, there's no excuse for losing that and only scoring once. The poor goals conceded wouldn't have mattered if we'd smashed a few on, which we should have done. Broadhead should have scored really and we got in so many good positions but the decision making from the attacking players was horrendous. Too many holding on to the ball for too long, failing to beat a man repeatedly, not passing to players in space. Really poor stuff.
Midfield is a worry too, Morsy starting to look a bit out of his depth now which was always a risk but neither Cajuste or Phillips seem able to give us 90 minutes every week so we're a bit stuck there.
I do worry that we've changed a bit too much too soon. Of course we needed to add quality and depth to the squad but many of our signings don't look big upgrades on what we already had here. The large squad has contributed to quite a lot of chopping and changing so we've rarely looked anywhere near as fluid as we did last season. Of course the opposition makes that harder but you can tell that there's not that understanding between the players that we've benefited from in the past.
I am struggling to see any way we pick up enough points to stay up now. We need to keep fighting as we don't want to go down with a whimper but it feels like the game is close to being up. We aren't adrift but at some point we need to string 2 or 3 wins together and we don't look capable of that because we concede soft goals and don't score enough. |
Agree with everything you've said, bit which of the players that have departed would you have kept?
Maybe Hladky? But it's clear the likes of Ball, Jackson, Harness, Edmondson & Ladapo would never have cut it. There's Aluko as well who's retired. Ali needed this loan and Clarke hadn't cut it either so you're always looking at a big turnaround of players.
Issue we've had is that the players that had stayed haven't really stepped up, other than Burgess, Broady, Wolfy, Axel and Davis perhaps? Even that's questionable as Davis hasn't been able to deliver what he did last season. Morsy looking old now, Chappers done OK but not realistically got the quality and Burns was getting better but then got the injury.
Reality is, the gulf is huge and we've had back to back promotions meaning we've had a lot of work to do in the transfer market to make us even semi competitive | |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:48 - Feb 2 with 2110 views | SaffronWaldenBlues |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:43 - Feb 2 by ITFCBlues |
Agree with everything you've said, bit which of the players that have departed would you have kept?
Maybe Hladky? But it's clear the likes of Ball, Jackson, Harness, Edmondson & Ladapo would never have cut it. There's Aluko as well who's retired. Ali needed this loan and Clarke hadn't cut it either so you're always looking at a big turnaround of players.
Issue we've had is that the players that had stayed haven't really stepped up, other than Burgess, Broady, Wolfy, Axel and Davis perhaps? Even that's questionable as Davis hasn't been able to deliver what he did last season. Morsy looking old now, Chappers done OK but not realistically got the quality and Burns was getting better but then got the injury.
Reality is, the gulf is huge and we've had back to back promotions meaning we've had a lot of work to do in the transfer market to make us even semi competitive |
Our transfer business has been terrible unfortunately, that’s been a problem and tactically we’ve been naive. |  |
| An East Anglian Town overtaken by Londoners |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 10:03 - Feb 2 with 2051 views | rkc123 |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:53 - Feb 2 by Marshalls_Mullet |
And Enciso not being able to finish when in good positions.
And Delap diving when he could have shot.
And the defenders not following up the rebound on the second goal. |
I always think that is harsh blaming the defenders not following up in those situations. There's a reason it happens all the time (even with really high level defenders), and that is the defender has to be prepared to cover any range of eventualities following a shot, if they reacted as a striker can and sprint in on the off chance that the keeper pats it straight out into the 6 yard box, then they are out of position if the ball actually gets knocked out to say the edge of the box, or to a player out wide who can then whip a ball across to a space where the CB's are not covering.
It wasn't a howler, but the only player you can pin blame on for that goal is Muric, the striker is always going to be gambling on the ball in a way a defender won't (that is after the initial shot I mean, obviously we could have dealt with it better before that point). [Post edited 2 Feb 10:08]
|  | | |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 10:06 - Feb 2 with 2037 views | ITFCBlues |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:48 - Feb 2 by SaffronWaldenBlues |
Our transfer business has been terrible unfortunately, that’s been a problem and tactically we’ve been naive. |
You've only got 120m to build a PL squad when you have a base of L1 / Championship players, that's a very very difficult challenge. | |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 12:48 - Feb 2 with 1799 views | Whos_blue |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 08:53 - Feb 2 by Marshalls_Mullet |
And Enciso not being able to finish when in good positions.
And Delap diving when he could have shot.
And the defenders not following up the rebound on the second goal. |
Enciso did really well to make himself the space to get his shot away in the second half. It's unfortunate he completely scuffed his shot. I'm sure 9 times out of 10 he scores those in training.
Whilst all the heat is currently directed at Muric, did anyone else think Delap made the wrong decision to shoot from a narrow angle when busrt into the box in the second half? Enciso was unmarked on the penalty spot and a much better option.
I guess it sometimes comes down to what prism you watch the game through and where you want the criticism to fall.
This is a good thread by the way. Calm, measured and respectful. I hope this one stays this way. [Post edited 2 Feb 12:49]
|  |
| Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness. |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 13:14 - Feb 2 with 1709 views | BloomBlue |
I didn't think we played that badly overall. We started with energy which isn't something we've done consistently at home. Even started to open them up, then we did typical Town this season, simple ball into our box, 2 Southampton players unmarked by either CHs or CMs and they score with a shot Muric should be saving all day. I thought it was ironic that they nearly didn't score because they got in each other's way and no Town CH putting a challenge in
But on a positive we didn't let our heads drop and got back into it and on the balance could/should have gone in leading.
But came out 2nd half and the energy wasn't there. Then KM decided to replace Broadhead with Philogene, which I couldn't understand as Broady was finding space, I assume KM wanted more space down the left. But that completely changed the game.
Not because of the players but KM changed the formation. For some reason KM put Philogene on the right and moved Hutch into the middle, but both ended up on the right. That meant limited space and no outlet.
As soon as KM did that the S'ton mgr pulled Aribo over, pointed towards the right, Aribo passed the message around and when another S'ton player looked at the mgrn he held up 3 fingers and pointed towards the right. S'ton then just placed 3 players over there and there was no outlet.
That formation change, changed the entire game, it didn't make any sense taking off Broady playing on the left and finding space which was at least stretching S'ton to replace and effectively put two on the right. Even Delap was having to drop deeper and deeper to try and give them an outlet. As soon as that formation change happened S'ton looked comfortable.
Ok I never expected them to win but from that moment it had 1-1 written all over it. |  | | |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 13:20 - Feb 2 with 1662 views | LankHenners |
Thought we actually played better, or certainly had more control, this time than against them than last season (where, let’s be honest, for all the glory of that day we were a bit fortunate to come out with a win) and therefore like you struggling to believe we managed to throw it away.
I know McKenna (rightly) played down the ‘must win’ aspect but felt to me like the players knew the weight of the game and looked a bit nervy because of it. The space Southampton left all over the pitch should have meant lots of openings for us but we lacked a bit of purpose and quality. Too slow to release passes, not quite getting the balls right etc. In the 2nd half that ramped up and we had too many players trying to win it by themselves.
First time this season I’ve looked at Tuanzebe and thought he’s not quite on it. Always seems to want a bit too much time on the ball and as you say struggled to put up much resistance for their winner.
Think we’ve run Omari into the ground - he just looks so leggy to me. Seems to be coming in for some harsher criticism which is a bit unfair imo but he’s someone whose minutes we probably could have managed better this season.
Broadhead frustrated me - some nice movement but the speed of thought wasn’t there most of the time, several times had options to move the ball on but had his head down and wanted to dribble back into a defender again. Not alone in doing that but he also spurned our best chances to go into the break ahead. Didn’t really justify the slightly OTT clamour for him to start imo.
Enciso reminded me of how McGoldrick played sometimes - knew he was probably the most technically skilled player on the pitch so ended up trying to do too much and pick the ball up in areas he didn’t need to. Very lively and positive though.
Said the same about Cajuste yesterday - really helped us keep the tempo up and move the ball forwards quickly in the first half but once he tires the whole system slows down. Not good that that’s how our midfield functions.
Morsy’s done I’m afraid and has been for a while. Physicality of the league has caught up with him.
Was in the same camp as you re: Muric but we’ve got a major issue there haven’t we? One keeper who isn’t up to it really and also now injured and another who seems to have lost all confidence and makes too many howlers. Have to say though the crowd getting on his back because he didn’t release the ball in under 2 seconds was really poor although I guess it shows the trust just isn’t there for him.
Lots of talk about poor recruitment but we were always likely to put together a bit of a Championship super team as that’s the best we could have done. Not saying every signing’s worked out obviously but think the suggestion in some quarters that we should have stuck with more of the same team from last term is silly.
Strange that only a few weeks ago we were praising the Chelsea and Fulham performances where we looked more resolute and showed a clinical edge but we’ve regressed right back and look like a team that struggles to score and concedes a bit too easily. Don’t want to ever give up or give in and you never k ow what might happen but hard not to feel a bit flat about the rest of the season now. |  |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 13:23 - Feb 2 with 1642 views | TheBoyBlue |
Perfectly summed up. | |
| |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 13:42 - Feb 2 with 1567 views | backwaywhen |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 09:07 - Feb 2 by Metal_Hacker |
I think that’s all very honest and would mirror my thoughts Dubbers
One thing I will add or question is , how come we’ve thrown away so many points at the end of games ?
Points we’ve lost this season , it’s horrendous
Is it naivety , tiredness , concentration , mistakes - all of the above ? |
The biggest hurt is 5 points dropped to Leicester and Saints at home , those points would see us on 21 and the whole picture would have looked so much healthier, with club confidence on and off the pitch very much on the positive side . Given that scenario I would back us to survive and some . | | | |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 16:56 - Feb 2 with 1364 views | Steve_M |
| Far too many individual players had poor games yesterday on 13:20 - Feb 2 by LankHenners |
Thought we actually played better, or certainly had more control, this time than against them than last season (where, let’s be honest, for all the glory of that day we were a bit fortunate to come out with a win) and therefore like you struggling to believe we managed to throw it away.
I know McKenna (rightly) played down the ‘must win’ aspect but felt to me like the players knew the weight of the game and looked a bit nervy because of it. The space Southampton left all over the pitch should have meant lots of openings for us but we lacked a bit of purpose and quality. Too slow to release passes, not quite getting the balls right etc. In the 2nd half that ramped up and we had too many players trying to win it by themselves.
First time this season I’ve looked at Tuanzebe and thought he’s not quite on it. Always seems to want a bit too much time on the ball and as you say struggled to put up much resistance for their winner.
Think we’ve run Omari into the ground - he just looks so leggy to me. Seems to be coming in for some harsher criticism which is a bit unfair imo but he’s someone whose minutes we probably could have managed better this season.
Broadhead frustrated me - some nice movement but the speed of thought wasn’t there most of the time, several times had options to move the ball on but had his head down and wanted to dribble back into a defender again. Not alone in doing that but he also spurned our best chances to go into the break ahead. Didn’t really justify the slightly OTT clamour for him to start imo.
Enciso reminded me of how McGoldrick played sometimes - knew he was probably the most technically skilled player on the pitch so ended up trying to do too much and pick the ball up in areas he didn’t need to. Very lively and positive though.
Said the same about Cajuste yesterday - really helped us keep the tempo up and move the ball forwards quickly in the first half but once he tires the whole system slows down. Not good that that’s how our midfield functions.
Morsy’s done I’m afraid and has been for a while. Physicality of the league has caught up with him.
Was in the same camp as you re: Muric but we’ve got a major issue there haven’t we? One keeper who isn’t up to it really and also now injured and another who seems to have lost all confidence and makes too many howlers. Have to say though the crowd getting on his back because he didn’t release the ball in under 2 seconds was really poor although I guess it shows the trust just isn’t there for him.
Lots of talk about poor recruitment but we were always likely to put together a bit of a Championship super team as that’s the best we could have done. Not saying every signing’s worked out obviously but think the suggestion in some quarters that we should have stuck with more of the same team from last term is silly.
Strange that only a few weeks ago we were praising the Chelsea and Fulham performances where we looked more resolute and showed a clinical edge but we’ve regressed right back and look like a team that struggles to score and concedes a bit too easily. Don’t want to ever give up or give in and you never k ow what might happen but hard not to feel a bit flat about the rest of the season now. |
On players being knackered, Leif is another one who we’ve asked to do too much. The energy from Townsend at Liverpool suggested we should have used him more. We’ve rotated central defenders but not Morsy, Leif or Omari and it does look like we rushed the latter back and overplayed him since.
Defensive failings apart, the second half was as disappointing as any under McKenna. Lots of endeavour but nowhere near enough guile or conviction which made it easy to defend. A second Southampton goal on the break always looked a possibility.
No idea why we didn’t swap Axel for a better attacking option because when Philogene actually crossed the ball from wide we looked a (bit of a) threat. That and the constant cutting back with the ball really blunted us, I thought we were probably not going to score again from the hour mark.
And in that context, we really needed to take the chances that came up. We’ve not created enough all season but yesterday’s misses looked glaring.
Iim with you on recruitment, two big question marks over players we’ve signed but I think the bigger ones may be on gaps we weren’t able to fill. Some very talented young players o. Show yesterday but it merely highlighted how rarely we’ve been able to use our PL,experienced players.
Relegation was always a prospect but it does feel we’ve not quite given it our best shot at the moment. |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
