I could accept him taking part of the blame, but all of the blame? So you don't think the lack of marking was part of that at all?
For me the goal is a catalog of errors from Howe not going 4-4-1 when we scored and bringing on Hayden and Almiron just prior to the goal. This would have allowed more players to stay central which almost certainly would have provided the cover in the box to not allow Pukki and unchallenged shot... Then Dubravka needs to do better. No doubt about it for me you can't palm a ball down into the area to a free man regardless of anything. punch it further, push it behind, hell try and catch it and if you drop it go for the second ball but do not palm it down to a spare player Once that happens Joe needs to press, Shelvey now has a decision to make, stay with Pukki or close the closer man.. he moves away from Pukki and closes the closer player - not his fault tbh, as much as it pains me to say it. Lewis (who's done 79 mins of graft) and Hayden (whos pressed the initial ball in and now out of position) then need to react quicker but don't, leaving Pukki absolutely free with Almiron getting closest but as per my original point Hayden would have been more central if we'd not tried to use Miggy as a striker and just gone into two banks of 4. Also what are Schar Fede and Manquillo doing? Standing around watching basically, look at the distance Joelinton, Lewis and Miggy have covered between the last two photos comparatively. Those three have managed about 3 yards between them, and only Fede actually moving towards the danger and Schar and Manquillo have actually managed to move further away from the ball then there were just after the initial flap by Dubravka.
I suppose you can blame the likes of Lewis for not being more alive and aware. However the lions share and almost all of it has to reside with the catalyst. The catalyst for that problem was our keeper not dealing with the ball properly. Everything that happened thereafter would not have happened had he done better. As I say I don't really hold it against him, life of a goalie. You drop a clanger, invariably it leads to a goal. He's a good keeper and seems like a good character. The fact he was pissed off with himself tells you his standards.
Agreed. But he was still one of the best players out there IMO. Made some good saves, and commands his box well. It's a shame that his only real bad moment of the night contributes to a goal.
He had a good game and me marking him 7 is just an example of how hard it is being a keeper. He did well all night and his calmness had such a positive effect on those in front of him. To me our defence for the 2nd half of the season is built on him and Fernandez because they are dependable 7/10 every day of the week minimum. Excellent pros, with a high level of ability.
I don’t think Max had a good game but I think some miss part of what he brings to the team. Invariably when he gets the ball he is quickly marked by 2 or 3 players. He may not have done a great deal last night but he occupies defenders by being there making it, at least in theory, easier for others who are consequently less tightly marked than would otherwise be the case. If Max was as good as his potential he wouldn’t be here, a bit like Ben Arfa.
i could’ve scored that …. but seriously, it wasn’t world class in my opinion, just “world class” by comparison with what we are used to seeing from the Lards. Standard good volley for me. Under no pressure. I’d agree with Tash’s 7s for Joelinton, Fede, Manq and Lewis…. but no one else - despite an overall good team effort to hold them off scoring, individuals were made more heroic by the sum of all parts - I’ll credit training and managerial decision making there. Nobody was **** though (except ‘him’). I embrace that point and look forward to our 2022/2023 Premier League signings. **** you ‘every other club and its fans and Guardian commenters I n the history of the universe’
