We aren't doing well in possession the last few weeks. The number of stray and loose passes is through the roof.
It was obvious beforehand that Stoke would get stuck in and be aggressive from the start. As @Charley Farley suggested, midfield should be 09,Ekwah,Ba/Neil against physical teams.
I think their baldy player Smallbone was man of the match yesterday. I also think that he would not get into our starting eleven. Strange.
AN was always good at analysing the opposition to find a way to counter it. He certainly did that yesterday We were awful and I think a big shake up needed. Amad needs a rest
Good analysis . The midfield 2 is a major concern for me . We have players like Michut, Neil, Ekwah , Ba , Kelly or Alese even who could play alongside O/9 in a 3 or 4 designed to make solid starts to games without burning out chaseing lost causes. Lihadji on the other hand is, like Bennette an attacker, and should be used as such, maybe as alternatives to Pritchard , Amad , Roberts or Clarke who have as you say become very predictable.
We have had more possession than the opposition in ALL of our recent games since QPR away, however we do give it away in dangerous areas and have not been taking our chances. Yesterday was the first time that we didn't create more chances than the opposition since Millwall away, we still had more possession but Stoke had twice as many shots as us.
Don’t know if it’s been mentioned and I have watched highlights to see whether the player who had received attention was waved back on by the ref I was positive that he wasn’t at the time but the highlights were inconclusive . The linesman seemed to be wanting to speak to him but was ignored just after the goal , I don’t know whether it was because of the placing of the dropped ball or because it wasn’t obvious he was waved back on - either way it was a farcical decision . I have always said it should be the same as Rugby Union where the official has to explain or justify his decisions , another thing that I think works well is taking the ball forward ten yards if a free kick was delayed by the opposition or the refs decision being questioned . Having said that the standard of the refs we have had over recent years I think in most cases they probably haven’t a clue on why they made that decision !!!
Thanks, wondered what he had to say, saw the Danny thing, didn’t realise it was TM . Not very much learned except to hear that Alese is injured. TM got it wrong today in my opinion, the team didn’t seem to know what they were doing and I think that knocked any confidence they had leading to mistakes all around. Still looking forward to the next game! OAU
Ref definitely waved him back on as soon as he dropped the ball for their keeper. Keeper played it out to him and the rest is history.
Think you've hit the nail on the head mate, if Stewart had stayed fit and we'd been able to bring Simms in as well which obviously was the clubs target then I think TM would have us storming up the league. Problem is that didn't happen and he is still trying to have us play like it did. We have some real talent at the club, his job is to get the best out of what is at his disposal, not complain that he hasn't got the right tools. Now is not the time to be going out all attack because that is when we are conceding goals, change the personnel if you have to, change the system but right now he needs to make us hard to beat. Get that bit right and with some of the quality players we have we will nick goals. This is a learning curve for a lot of players and they also need to learn sometimes you can't always win games with fancy free flowing football. Don't get me wrong it's a pleasure to watch at times but not when it starts costing you games
Danny talks more sense than ToneBone post-match. More direct/to the point anyway. At least we’re not ManUre fans…. Liverpool now ahead of the Mags in points & GD. What a funny game football can be ….
Thats where Stewart is a bit special, he manages to occupy both centre halves with his movement, strength and holdup play which we no longer have. Opposition teams now just double up on our flair players knowing even if they manage to get a cross in there will be absolutely nobody on the end of it. That and for some reason none of our players want to take a shot unless they are virtually on the goal line.
I think Stewart is fantastic at leading the line mate. I have said before his weakness is probably his finishing, still scores plenty mind. His hold up play, his work rate, the way he hassles the opposition back 4 for 90 minutes. He scored against sheff wed in playoffs by chasing them down.
