I think Struijk was good when he came on. Rodrigo went missing 2nd half, as did Raphinha when he moved to the left. Forshaw was decent the whole game. Dallas could handle Lamptey although I think Struijk was covering. No matter what the haters think Roberts was our only threat when he came on. Defence worked hard, James was average. I don't understand why our passing was so bad. We stole that point.
That was utter garbage from us. it was a Premier League team v a Championship team. starting to worry now because we were so far behind them today in every area. we were out run in every department. our midfield its like the parting of the red sea at times people just glide through it unchallenged. happy with a point but we won't win any more prem games with performances like that. That's not the Bielsa team i know and love. It was very frustrating to watch because everything we done was rubbish. no positives from that game Tyler Roberts was our last sub and was my man of the match that's how shyte we were. and I'm being serious.
We don't press their defence any more. Maybe because we're missing Paddy. It was so frustrating watching Lamptey doing what our forwards should do, less quick feet, more composure and pick out a man.
This is my argument when I say we’ve not had value for money from him and a poor signing. No doubt he was signed to replace Bamford, sadly he misses as many chances worse still he doesn’t do the other stuff that Bamford does. So Bielsa tries to accommodate him in midfield and you just wish we’d spent that money on a proper midfielder instead. Then we spend another huge chunk on James and he gets played centrally, I just can’t get my head around spending lots of money and rarely playing the signings in their favoured position
Meslier - 9. Two great saves on to the post. Kept us in the game. Dallas - 7. When he was on the left Brighton had joy down the right. When he was on the right Brighton had joy on the left. Solid. Llorente - 6. Couple of moments where he looked half asleep but won alot of headers, mad alot of clearance. His passing was woeful. Phillips - 6. Did OK without showing anything of what he can do. Long passes were never easy in today's conditions. Cooper - 6. Did OK but always looks like he is really stretching his ability. A walking penalty but played his part in a clean sheet. Firpo - 1. **** performance but wasn't helped by Harrison who got him booked early and left Firpo on his own. Harrison - 2. Gave the ball away, failed to defend, didn't offer anything going forward. Looked lethargic all afternoon. Forshaw - 6. Another 90 under his belt. Isolated in the middle too often but went about his job with plenty of energy and tried to find passes to teammates when they could be arsed to be available. Rodrigo - 4. Refused to hold the ball up. Just allowed himself to be outworked and outmuscled too often. Yes he has ability but he has to show it consistently. Only seems to sprint when going forward, not interested in the defending part. Raphinha - 6. Trying to do it all on his own too often. Yes he is our best player but he has to play as a team. Got a few good positions but touch let him down. James - 2. Couldn't pass, couldn't shoot, refused to press. May as well paid on the turnstile to spectate. Subs. Shackleton - 4. Helped to shore up the defence but too many individual errors in his game. He tackled Struijk and played their striker in one on one. No good having a good game if you throw these mistakes in. Struijk - 7. Lost the ball a couple of times but put a real shift in. Helped to make us more solid and surely must be an automatic starter sooner rather than later. Roberts - 8. That's what a sub should do. Come on and add a bit of impetus to the team. Worked hard, closed down, inspired others around to do the same and was unlucky not to score. Great impact.
That was hard to watch but we lost 2-0 there last season. We got a clean sheet in an away game for the first time and against the run of play we just might have sneaked a win in the last few minutes.
Much better second half, we dug deep and nearly snatched the win. Struijk improved us and so did Tyler who was excellent.
That’s not going to happen Ps are these replacements for Phillips and Raphinha if things don’t change I think they’ll be off ski asap As I have said something is very wrong no team goes from very good to **** overnight without reason