I thought Hendo played well in the advanced position but he really needs to add goals and assists to his game. He’s getting into some really good positions. Fabinho grew into the game and was brilliant. Has a knack of snuffing out danger and winning the ball back so many times.
Our press is possibly the best in the world. The amount of time our front 6 win the ball back from it is unbelievable. However, once you get past it, our defence is exposed. Norwich showed others how to do it last night. I’m sure we’ll get the balance right but based on last night’s evidence, there’ll be far fewer clean sheets this season. Early days mind.
Really surprised one of Keita and Chamberlain didnt come on. Really needed it in midfield second half. I think Mane came on just for fitness
No idea how good or crap Adrian is, but the lack of time with the team worries me alone. Mistakes will be made, even if it's just communication
He’s not Alisson. That’s all that matters really. Last night he remain rooted to his line and pushed a shot straight back into the penalty area. I’m afraid that @Tobes has a point here. Without Alisson, we’ll need to score more imo.
Clearly he is no Alison, and needs to train and get some games in with the defence, but I still think he is a better option than Mings.
I don’t think it helps that Gomez is down that side as cover. He’s good but if you’re going to target a side of our defence you go for TAA and Gomez over vvd and Robbo for sure. think it’s the midfield job to plug that gap when he is pushed up but just didn’t seem to happen. Will be interestbg to see see how he progresses over next couple years as I think long term he could well go to a right mid position but if he improves his defensive ability he could easily be the best attacking FB in the world in a few years.
Agreed. Fab is first midfielder on the team sheet for me. Hendo has a great engine and is a leader but he’s not best suited to the advanced role imo for the reasons mentioned previously. That’s either Ox or Keita for me but I’d prefer a Coutinho type player.
agree with Fab being first midfielder as we generally seem to have a better shape when he plays however personally thought he was MIA for much of first half and gave the defence little cover.
I’ve come to accept that if the opposition play through our press, we will be exposed at the back. VvD and Alisson were the difference last year as this never went away. It will never really go always when your front 6 are pressing so high......and I’m fine with it, we’ve proven it has more positives than negatives. On this basis, however, losing Alisson for any length of time is a big loss imo.
So glad Alison does not have Achilles snap and just calf injury. Depends on grade of injury but could be four weeks if a bad tear. Glad we don’t have to worry about Mig any more, always had a mistake in him. Overall, very happy to get that result against a newly promoted team who can play. The first few games are like cup ties to them and they can embarrass prem teams in August and September. I hope they stay up
