| Can we talk about Matusiwa? 09:24 - Apr 15 with 1710 views | portmanking |
Dead leg aside, the bloke is running on fumes right now. He's stopped showing for the ball in the last few games too (Norwich included). We have a real problem in the middle of the park. Our CBs really dislike playing it short to Matusiwa.
Don't get me wrong, Neil is a far bigger problem than Azor, but our key midfielder is a shadow of himself at the mo. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:25]
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:27 - Apr 15 with 1671 views | homer_123 |
As I posted last night.
If you watched the game last night though - Pompey worked incredibly hard to press out midfield two, way more than Norwich did. That worked really, really well for them. Meant we ended up going longer more often.
Centre backs by homer_123 14 Apr 20:57Our bigger problem is that we have nothing in midfield.
We are giving balls away and being overrun in the middle of the park.
Dan Neil is doing almost nothing and Matsi is about 70% fit.
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:28 - Apr 15 with 1656 views | cbower |
Yep. McKenna seems to think one of our hardest working players can play every game and poor recruitment means if he can't, we're all over the place. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:30 - Apr 15 with 1633 views | baxterbasics |
Guy must have put more minutes in this season than any other outfield player, Shirley? |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:30 - Apr 15 with 1632 views | rickw |
I think that's fair, he's already played 34 games this season - which is more than he's ever done in his career and the Championship is probably more physical than Ligue 1 or the Eredivisie.
Hopefully we'll be 3-0 against Boro and can bring him off after an hour!! |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:31 - Apr 15 with 1617 views | cressi |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:27 - Apr 15 by homer_123 |
As I posted last night.
If you watched the game last night though - Pompey worked incredibly hard to press out midfield two, way more than Norwich did. That worked really, really well for them. Meant we ended up going longer more often.
Centre backs by homer_123 14 Apr 20:57Our bigger problem is that we have nothing in midfield.
We are giving balls away and being overrun in the middle of the park.
Dan Neil is doing almost nothing and Matsi is about 70% fit.
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He looks blown out it helps having Taylor beside him as Neil has done very little since his arrival was expecting more. Since his dead leg Azor has looked poor slow misplaced passes etc. | | | |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:33 - Apr 15 with 1613 views | Steve_M |
I was thinking about this this morning and it' a real failure of recruitment at heart; we've been lucky that Azor has been available for so many matches given there is no ideal alternative.
Taylor's energy meant that the combination was good enough but Neil's performance last night really exposed it.
And we're carrying Cajuste who can't get any minutes at the moment for whatever reasons or reasons. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:34 - Apr 15 with 1592 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:33 - Apr 15 by Steve_M |
I was thinking about this this morning and it' a real failure of recruitment at heart; we've been lucky that Azor has been available for so many matches given there is no ideal alternative.
Taylor's energy meant that the combination was good enough but Neil's performance last night really exposed it.
And we're carrying Cajuste who can't get any minutes at the moment for whatever reasons or reasons. |
Yep poor recruitment again. More of Ashtons fine work.
I don't blame him for the Hackney thing, because they tried and it is what it is. But how was there no alternative who is a similar skillset to Hackney. We have almost 0 ability to control a game from midfield. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:35]
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:39 - Apr 15 with 1535 views | portmanking |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:34 - Apr 15 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
Yep poor recruitment again. More of Ashtons fine work.
I don't blame him for the Hackney thing, because they tried and it is what it is. But how was there no alternative who is a similar skillset to Hackney. We have almost 0 ability to control a game from midfield. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:35]
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I fear that we're going to let Boro control the game through the middle on Sunday too. It's what they do with their box 4 of midfielders. I can already foresee us playing like the away side and the crowd getting irritated. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:40]
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:41 - Apr 15 with 1509 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:33 - Apr 15 by Steve_M |
I was thinking about this this morning and it' a real failure of recruitment at heart; we've been lucky that Azor has been available for so many matches given there is no ideal alternative.
Taylor's energy meant that the combination was good enough but Neil's performance last night really exposed it.
And we're carrying Cajuste who can't get any minutes at the moment for whatever reasons or reasons. |
We were supposed to have Morsy and Matusiwa. I think quite a few on here were surprised we didn’t dip into the market to replace Morsy once we knew he was off. And yes, add in Cajuste’s failure and we’re not much better off than in 22/23 and 23/24. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:41 - Apr 15 with 1498 views | GlasgowBlue |
I said this before the game. Should have started Taylor last night and given Matysiwa a much needed rest. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:42 - Apr 15 with 1487 views | portmanking |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:41 - Apr 15 by Swansea_Blue |
We were supposed to have Morsy and Matusiwa. I think quite a few on here were surprised we didn’t dip into the market to replace Morsy once we knew he was off. And yes, add in Cajuste’s failure and we’re not much better off than in 22/23 and 23/24. |
I don't think we're *any* better off than 23/24 in that area. If we had even 50% of the control we had that year - and the ability to play on the half turn - we'd be so much more dominant.
Azor does have some big flaws in that respect. He's not comfortable on the half turn whatsoever, which is surprising given his Ajax upbringing. | | | |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:47 - Apr 15 with 1421 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:39 - Apr 15 by portmanking |
I fear that we're going to let Boro control the game through the middle on Sunday too. It's what they do with their box 4 of midfielders. I can already foresee us playing like the away side and the crowd getting irritated. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:40]
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We really have to hope Boro once again have not got their shooting boots. | |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:58 - Apr 15 with 1314 views | SomethingBlue |
Yes, it worked ok against Norwich alongside Taylor but last night we had a big problem in there. Wonder if he's also carrying the hamstring that was troubling him a few weeks back. Hopefully we can get him through Boro with a decent-ish few days between games now but the turnarounds after that are absolutely nuts, it's a genuine concern. | |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:59 - Apr 15 with 1301 views | portmanking |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:58 - Apr 15 by SomethingBlue |
Yes, it worked ok against Norwich alongside Taylor but last night we had a big problem in there. Wonder if he's also carrying the hamstring that was troubling him a few weeks back. Hopefully we can get him through Boro with a decent-ish few days between games now but the turnarounds after that are absolutely nuts, it's a genuine concern. |
The bigger concern is *if* it's the playoffs. Does Azor have it in him to put in another 3 big shifts? | | | |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 10:07 - Apr 15 with 1250 views | LankHenners |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:34 - Apr 15 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
Yep poor recruitment again. More of Ashtons fine work.
I don't blame him for the Hackney thing, because they tried and it is what it is. But how was there no alternative who is a similar skillset to Hackney. We have almost 0 ability to control a game from midfield. [Post edited 15 Apr 9:35]
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It's a strange one in a way as we've clearly altered how we play slightly to want more control over matches, and the possession stats generally bear that out, but we just seem unable to take the sting out or wrestle control back in these sorts of games where the opponent gets in our faces, plays high octane etc.
Thought Neil would help in that regard but I think with him we're seeing the risk of bringing in someone who simply hasn't played for half a season - very hard to get into any rhythm and can't find a consistent performance level.
Taylor's improved as the season's gone on but to be blunt think a lot of the praise for him is in relation to how nobody else has looked much good in there. And really regardless of that it's pretty rubbish that for all we've spent/been able to spend in the last couple of years, we have a bench player from two seasons ago now looking like the best option in there.
McKenna said previously that Matusiwa was originally planned to share the role with Morsy so it seems very odd that once it became clear he would be a direct replacement, we wouldn't make the effort to find another body in there to take the load off him. Not necessarily saying him in particular but a Lewis Travis type would have been absolutely fine. I get we want to have an eye on players who can make the step up but, to quote a former manager, you do sometimes have to go short term to go long term. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 10:23 - Apr 15 with 1171 views | WeWereZombies |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:42 - Apr 15 by portmanking |
I don't think we're *any* better off than 23/24 in that area. If we had even 50% of the control we had that year - and the ability to play on the half turn - we'd be so much more dominant.
Azor does have some big flaws in that respect. He's not comfortable on the half turn whatsoever, which is surprising given his Ajax upbringing. |
Matusiwa may look uncomfortable on the half turn to you but I doubt that he actually is, all that lower body strength just means that he doesn't move like a Nureyev. Invariably he has an opposition player snapping at him but he still comes away with the ball. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 10:35 - Apr 15 with 1098 views | HighgateBlue |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:33 - Apr 15 by Steve_M |
I was thinking about this this morning and it' a real failure of recruitment at heart; we've been lucky that Azor has been available for so many matches given there is no ideal alternative.
Taylor's energy meant that the combination was good enough but Neil's performance last night really exposed it.
And we're carrying Cajuste who can't get any minutes at the moment for whatever reasons or reasons. |
Agreed. Our recruitment has not succeeded at CM or number 9. We've thrown so many darts at RW that every now and then that clicks.
It's remarkable how effective Matusiwa was when he was one yellow card away from a ban, and it's been remarkable how much of a shadow of himself he's seemed since the yellow card deadline! He has carried the midfield for a long while, but he's allowed a poor run for whatever reason. The problem as you say is that we don't have the quality alongside him. Hackney would have been an amazing signing, but we should have been able to recruit someone else. Cajuste I think has failed to fire in both seasons.
In a team that many consider to be a bunch of individuals, how can we have so few contenders for player of the season?
The decision that we could do better than Luongo was not on its own a poor one, but if you back yourself to do better than Luongo, you've darn well got to do better than Luongo or be judged accordingly. Dismantling the midfield (that knew each other) was a risk, the club backed itself to recruit well, and I'm afraid it's failed in that department.
Following the Town, up or down, we're gonna have another close season of churn, which means /again/ in late August the chorus will be "obviously they need time to gel, we mustn't be entitled, it's unreasonable to expect them to play like they've been playing together for years, give them time, judge it at the end of the season". But those first half dozen games count the same as any other half dozen games.
I don't think Dan Neil has been any better than Dom Ball, which means that Taylor is our current best bet by default. For a team with a comic relief sized cheque book, that is not a glowing report card. |  | | |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 11:23 - Apr 15 with 909 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 10:07 - Apr 15 by LankHenners |
It's a strange one in a way as we've clearly altered how we play slightly to want more control over matches, and the possession stats generally bear that out, but we just seem unable to take the sting out or wrestle control back in these sorts of games where the opponent gets in our faces, plays high octane etc.
Thought Neil would help in that regard but I think with him we're seeing the risk of bringing in someone who simply hasn't played for half a season - very hard to get into any rhythm and can't find a consistent performance level.
Taylor's improved as the season's gone on but to be blunt think a lot of the praise for him is in relation to how nobody else has looked much good in there. And really regardless of that it's pretty rubbish that for all we've spent/been able to spend in the last couple of years, we have a bench player from two seasons ago now looking like the best option in there.
McKenna said previously that Matusiwa was originally planned to share the role with Morsy so it seems very odd that once it became clear he would be a direct replacement, we wouldn't make the effort to find another body in there to take the load off him. Not necessarily saying him in particular but a Lewis Travis type would have been absolutely fine. I get we want to have an eye on players who can make the step up but, to quote a former manager, you do sometimes have to go short term to go long term. |
I do agree on Taylor. He has been a good option for us this season but the fact we look so much worse without him is very damning of our squad building. Same goes for Wes. Love Wes but he is 31 off the back of a serious injury. We have spent 30 million on wingers and our 2 best right wingers are said 31 year old and Ben Johnson who isnt even a right winger. Crazy. | |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 12:10 - Apr 15 with 725 views | Illinoisblue |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 09:41 - Apr 15 by GlasgowBlue |
I said this before the game. Should have started Taylor last night and given Matysiwa a much needed rest. |
Taylor and Philogene should both have started. But rotate we must. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 12:21 - Apr 15 with 642 views | BouncebackIpswich |
This thread is a very depressing read. Let's hope somehow Azor can be back to his best for Saturday. Maybe he could be rested Vs Charlton? Although tha didn't work so well last time. |  |
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| As others have commented on 12:21 - Apr 15 with 644 views | Dyland |
Poor, poor recrutiment.
Totally overrun in midfield last night. Matusiwa clearly playing through an injury, and presumably Taylor was rested and/or has a slight knock. Only the management really know about that, but it's our mantra to go one game at a time which means getting points on the board more than keeing an eye on upcoming fixtures.
Our energy levels and execiution were woeful. Beaten by a team with more energy and desire, basically.
Back to recruitment...Neil and Cajuste and Akpom... er, yeh right. And as we've said for ages the lack of options at 9 is hurting.
However unprofessional fans may accuse this to be, let's put it down to 'after the lord mayor's show' and move on to Sunday, a winnable game and a massive one to boot. |  |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 14:31 - Apr 15 with 379 views | LankHenners |
| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 11:23 - Apr 15 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
I do agree on Taylor. He has been a good option for us this season but the fact we look so much worse without him is very damning of our squad building. Same goes for Wes. Love Wes but he is 31 off the back of a serious injury. We have spent 30 million on wingers and our 2 best right wingers are said 31 year old and Ben Johnson who isnt even a right winger. Crazy. |
Yeah. Straying away from the thread topic but the right hand side does sort of sum up our muddled approach to recruitment/team building. We knew Burns would be out for half the season (and at that point not sure how he'd be having been out for so long with a nasty injury), so to replace him got in a kid from the Danish league who doesn't really look comfortable there and Kasey McAteer who's always been a squad option player at Leicester and frankly isn't a top end Championship wideman.
Behind them we have a very good defensive full back whose lack of attacking instincts and ability directly hinders the players in front of him from being able to be effective. He was brought late in the window as we decided we didn't fancy having Ben Johnson supported by old man Ashley Young as our options there. | |
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| Can we talk about Matusiwa? on 15:01 - Apr 15 with 296 views | OldFart71 |
Neil should be stepping up on the wages he is getting. Appears to be another in the long line of players we have had over the years he'll just take the money and run (But not on the pitch unfortunately). Wasn't Neil seen as the Matusiwa stand in should he have been suspended had he got another yellow card.
Last season we had Phillips from the Premier League. He cost us a fortune. Probably £75,000 a week of his £150,000 a week wages and he was a total failure. | | | |
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