Been out all day. I assume from reading this that I didn't miss much. Vital that we get striaght back on the points-horse!
We can't win them all. More disappointed to lose the scoring streak. Eight days to sort things out which I think will be very welcome for Warbs and the team.
Not too disappointed about today really, we played pretty well and would have won it on another day. If Austin scores the penalty, it's a different last half-hour. Twenty-four goal attempts and seventeen corners tells a story. Kakay and Field did ok, but they're not wing-backs. Eight days to get people fit for an important game at Sheffield.
As Chas said it was a bad day at the office, we had the chances but bad finish finishing and their ‘keeper playing a blinder (how he didn’t get motm is beyond me).We regroup and go again. We R QPR
You can’t keep giving away an early goal and turn it around into a victory every time. Time caught up with us this time around. Shocked Charlie missed a pen, which could have been the catalyst (and kept our scoring record). We reset. Get players fit again. And move forward and consolidate. Honest hard week, teamwork a pinch of luck and we can achieve that top 6.
The worst thing about their first goal was that it was a replay of the goal we gave away at Derby - we give it away in midfield and they play a pass through our wide open CBs. With our WBs always pushed up high, our CBs are always spread wide apart, making us vulnerable to just that ball if we lose possession in midfield.
Very bad day at the office. We regroup and go again, we know our capabilities. I also blame the "curse of Kiwi" for posting those pictures.
It's bloody poor defending to have that gap between them over and over again, it's happened far too many times this season and we've gotten away with it a few times due to poor finishing but last 2 games have highlighted it more cos they've scored on both occasions. Our centre halves simply don't have the pace to be playing that far apart and that high up. One simple ball straight through them and their never gonna recover. It really does need looking at urgently, before every team spots it and it becomes an every game occurrence.
It's how we play. The wing backs are always high, leaving the CBs to cover the width of the pitch. Mostly it's worked in our favour in an attacking sense, but sometimes it will leave us exposed defensively.
It always leaves up exposed, you have to be ready to adapt. If you don't have proper wingbscks playing who can track back quickly enough it's a recipe for disaster. We've escaped due to poor finishing in previous games but last 2 games we haven't. Also the lack of pressuring the player on the ball drives me mad, we simply just backed off every time and let them get to the edge of the box. We eventually got punished for it with their 2nd goal but he should've been confronted 15 yards outside our box !
Well that doesn't sound too promising on those 4 players making it for Sheffield United or even the following game !
I want top 2 to be honest. If we had beaten Stoke we'd have been just 5 points off a catchable Bournemouth in 2nd. Now we are 8 points off, lots of injuries and 3 players likely to be gone for 6 weeks at the Afcon. 2nd looks a hard ask and we'll need better luck with injuries and better finishing to make that top 6. Think myself Warburton needs to play Field at DCM to protect the back 3/5 that need protection as we saw again last night for both their goals, and let Johansen and / or Dozzell concentrate more on making chances than they are with previously Ball, and lately nobody in that holding role.
