We've actually gained more points than City this year. Insane. What a turn around. I only hope this isn't just a good run now but we get a massive wake up call next season. Roll on the bin dippers. The atmosphere will be amazing. I personally think we could do with dropping wood. Seems almost a waste of time playing him. Ratings - Dubz - 7 Krafth - 8 Schar - 6 - Decent defending but still seems error prone Burn - 8 - Solid. Targett - 8 - Solid defensively and also very useful in attack Bruno - 9 - MOTM - Great assist, brilliant passing, brilliant on the ball, brilliant defending. Joelinton - 6 - Worked hard, good runs and some decent passing, but made some mistakes. Shelvey - 6 - OK. ASM - 6 - Some decent runs, look a threat at times, but unfortunately mostly lacked an end product. Wood - 5 - Meh. Hard work, won some headers, but that's about it. We simply don't have the players to get the best out of him. Almiron - 8.5 - Great goal, great shift. It seems like RF appears to work for him. We may have finally found a position that works, rather than playing him as a left cdm in a 5-4-1...
Dubz had little to do. Very good defensive display. They stayed organised till the last kick. I thought Joelinton wasn't more than 5. He nearly gave Palace a goal with a loose pass, and just didn't seem to be his usual self. Bruno looks more world class every game. IMO he's the main reason we're getting most of our points. Top end of the pitch is the weak zone. ASM's form is so-so. He's trying, but he lacks defence splitting passes. Miggy has improved, but he's a good player rather than being a great player. We missed a good Fraser last night. The ball isn't in the oppo penalty box often enough for Chris Wood to be at his most effective for scoring. I don't think that any of our starting players from last night should be moved on in the summer, as we need a squad, but once again we had about 35% possession. There's a problem there. I know we won, but it's nail biting to have to defend a slender lead for a full 45 mins. I'd suggest Shelvey and ASM should be squad players rather than 1st choice starters. EH will obviously have strong thoughts on where the team need most strengthening. Our owners will have trust in his judgement and react accordingly. They'll look at the stat of us being 2nd in top points total in 2022 and want more.
Didn’t see the game and “watched” on here and on the BBC. Fortunately the BBC actually seemed to make some comments about us as on “here” it looked as though play stopped for every 15 minutes or so and then Wood would get a mention for not doing something which seemed unfair as nobody else seemed to be doing anything either. I’m guessing based on very limited information but in the second half Miggy seemed less involved and that combined with Wood’s slow pressing, Max’s non pressing and Joe being off the boil Palace had more of the game and we failed to get a grip of midfield. A definite must in the summer is to get two mobile goal scoring strikers and someone like Paquetta (sp) as well as one if not two top notch centre backs.
I listened to it on the radio, so can't really say too much on ratings. First half we seemed to be on top, but, didn't take advantage and get a second goal. Second half, Palace had more of the game - other Teams would have punished us, so although a very good result, we should exercise caution on where we stand. Whilst I was listening I had the misfortune of taking my headphones off just before the goal went in. Some dozy old git, wandering around the ward I'm in, toppled over falling backwards setting off alarms and nurses panicking. Then it turns out he has the plague, so was swiftly removed to another ward. All I wanted was too listen to the match, but, no, I had to have a Trev feet away.
Ratings - Dubz - 7 Krafth - 8 Great pressing first half and really was at it all game Schar - 8 - Some stray passing but I thought he was excellent defensively personally Burn - 8 - Solid. Targett - 8 - Solid defensively and also very useful in attack Bruno - 7 - Bit sloppy at times and caught in possession a few times. Looked like fatigue to me the way the ball was under his feet a lot. But his all round game is so good, he got the assist and his effort levels are setting a standard for others to follow. Joelinton - 6 - Great first half but faded badly 2nd half. Shelvey - 5 - Anonymous for large parts and gave so much possession away with his stupid worldie passes. Confirmed what everyone knows about his limitations and why he'd be Bruno's back up at best in ideal world. ASM - 6 - Some decent runs, look a threat at times, but unfortunately mostly lacked an end product. Better first half. Wood - 5 - Hard work, pressed really well. I thought other parts of his game which were functioning well, making it stick, the little lay offs, have all deserted him last two or three games. He was poor. Almiron - 8 - Ridiculous finish and MOTM for me simply because he combined all that with loads of hard work, and seldom lost possession.
If someone said exactly a year ago, that ASM is our weak link, we miss Fraser not being in the tean, and it was a surprise that Joelinton wasn't outstanding as normal..... I really don't know what I would have said. ASM seemed happy under Howe to start with, but now seems like something of a square peg on a round hole. However it's very encouraging to see Almirion playing well and finally fitting into the team again.
Bang on for me, but I’d go one lower on Wood, Schar and Joelinton for some very poor bits of individual play. Joelinton missing that header was dreadful, I’ve already highlighted Wood and Schar made some mistakes that could again have been costly.
So has Krafth finally found some form with a run of games at RB? Not long ago he was being slated consistently, but the last few games he's been getting 7s & 8s when others around him haven't. And "solid" has been used fairly consistently to describe his performances.
Although we are winning we seem to have a problem retaining possession against all but the very bottom teams. I thought we had got out of this (West Ham game was much better) but we are now back in the 30-40% range and at the lower end against the better teams. It doesn't bode well for the fixtures coming up after Norwich. Need to start trying to build through midfield again. Schar has got into his habit of going long again, as has Dubravka, which means we are much more likely to lose possession.
I think people giving Bruno a lower score because of being caught in possession a couple of times is unfair. He is awesome on the ball, is very clever at winning free kicks, assisted the goal, and his performance was mostly flawless.
