Amazing what beating Reading does to people; it seems to have the same effect as swigging from of a bottle of Vodka! No chance DD; I'm well known for my perennial smile and cheery optimism
I think it may have more to do with four consecutive wins in spite of the worst injury situation I can remember in 50 years of following City.
Good debate on Canary call. Mcgovern has played his part in the winning run without Krul . I personally think he should keep his place until his form goes sideways rather than rushing Tim back . Krul is arguably our best player but Mcgovern in my opinion has grown in stature and confidence. That extra time free kick save was great and last game he tipped over a close range header that looked like a certain goal
I would also say that I thought yesterday’s performance was probably one of our most satisfying this season. I won’t say best because there were obviously several players slightly out of sorts, but we looked really solid defensively, only really conceded to a double deflection (which arguably could have been ruled out due to a handball) and the only other concrete chance they had was on 93 minutes or so, when McGovern pulled off a tidy (though in my view regulation) save. Going forward, we were not always fluid as I would hope and not helped by a shocking pitch, but equally we played some very nice football at times, created plenty of chances and on another day Pukki could have had one or two more - but for some equally tidy saves from their keeper. So still room for improvement but I’m not sure the score line truly reflected our dominance and that for me was very satisfying.
I think Krul is so good I struggle with this, but I do agree that Farke should be rewarding quality performances. And it takes the pressure off Krul rushing back in.
With keepers alot of it comes down to confidence. If Farke drops Mcgovern and Krul is not fully fit and has a stinker he can't really switch back to Mcgovern again as that would come across as desperate. The same for Sorensen, if we keep winning and Byram is match fit it would be foolish to drop him . It's not like Mcgovern at his age is going to permanently displace Krul and it's nice to see the guy getting a run of games on merit after we were all concerned. I for one criticises Webber for not getting a quality back up keeper in , turns out we already had one. I think he deserves another start against Cardiff and if we win that one keep him in again.
On Saturday, and again last night, we played with a real authority, which IMO we hadn't done previously. Getting through the injury "crisis" with only the one loss seems to have generated a new level of confidence and conviction. Some of the attacking play last night was brilliant. Well though Martin has played, there's no doubt that the introduction of Cantwell raises the level a notch or two; Emi and Max both benefit from his presence.
Just to play contrarian, i think once Krul is fit he gets his spot back. Hes widely acknowledged to be the best keeper in the division (number one on whoscored). Hes our 4th best player on whoscored, Mcgovern is our 19th. Hes too big a figure to leave out for the sake of compassion, and too important to the whole teams morale and drive. McGovern has deputized well, but he hasnt managed a clean sheet yet, to Kruls five. In my opinion his spot is his the moment he can take it again.
I think the general feeling was Martin did not play that well? I actually thought he got into really good positions - but he lacks final composure. I think Farke said that the other day and when Martin scored he remarked about how Martin showed he is learning to be composed. There was one particular chance in the first half I remember where Martin had a great clear sight at goal, but seemed to panic and snatch at the shot.
The EDP picked up on this point after the Blackburn game. They highlighted 2 or 3 instances where Martin was in a good position to take a shot, but because it was perhaps (to entirely make up numbers) a chance with an xG of 0.1, he opted for the safer option of a pass, or hesitated to pull the trigger and the opportunity was lost. As he develops more self-confidence, and feels like the team and manager have faith in him to do what feels right even if it's risky, I think we'll have quite a tidy young player. It's one of the things I think you can see the most in Max Aarons. He has pretty unshakable belief that he's doing the right thing, whether that's getting into the opposition penalty area, or trying to dribble out of our own. And that only comes from knowing the team and manager have complete faith in you.
@DHCanary I've been watching Placheta going through a similar learning process (as I think I posted about a week or two back). When he first came in following Hernandez's injury, he tended to shoot whenever he had any sort of sight of goal. He then changed tack (presumably in response to coaching), always looking to pass and hardly taking any shots. Unfortunately this coincided with Pukki's absence, when we were short of goal threat of any sort! There are times to shoot, and times to pass; knowing one from the other comes with more experience than either Martin or Placheta currently possess.
In one of those Pink'Un player interviews where they are asked questions about their team mates, someone mentioned that Hanley was one of the quickest over short distances in the squad (last year I think that was). For all his virtues, accurate distribution over longer distances is definitely not one of them. I actually think opposition coaches recognise that and have their forwards press accordingly.
