Yep, I need a good lie down in a dark room to get over that. It was Bielsa like against Birmingham (if memory serves)
That could prove to be a season defining result. Hopefully it will instill confidence within the team that this league is there to be won.
If you were a neutral you’d have loved that game, it ended up being a great result and we have some proper game changers on the bench as we get the injuries back. Top of the league and back to back wins, just what we needed and a great platform to build on
Best game of gootball for a while, defending could have been better from both teams. Watching the goals back, Struijk's pass to Byram for the third goal was sublime
Meslier - 6. Not sure any of the goals were his fault but he always leaves the impression he could help us a bit more than he does. Bogle - 7. Good going forward. Got in some great positions but scuffed his lines too often. Worked the right flank tirelessly. Could do better defensively. Rodon - 6. Caught the wrong side too often. A bad day at the office. Struijk - 7. A wonderful intersect and pass to release Dan James for the first goal and a solid ball over the top to Byram for the third. He was caught out too often in the middle and lost a couple of key duels which cost us goals. Not great defensively. Byram - 7. A pretty average game but did exploit the space to set up Solomons 2nd goal. Tanaka - 10. A pretty perfect game from a player capable of playing much higher than this. What a find. Rothwell - 8. Played a good supporting role in front of Tanaka. Played some lovely passes and worked himself to a standstill. Aaronson - 7. Neat and tidy. Busy. Good pressing. Decent runs to create space for others. Just lacks that class to run a game even at this level. James - 10. A hat-trick of assists and his pace broke the Swansea line time and time again. Probably our best winger at the club but criminally underrated. If Pablo plays that ball for Gnonto then we'd be calling him a magician. Any other day he'd be man of the match but Tanaka was head and shoulders the boss today. Solomon - 8. Hard to put a score to his name. Didn't really do much but scored two goals. Ultimately won us the game I suppose. Piroe - 5. Tough day. 1st half didnt have a sniff. More involved in the 2nd half and would have notched if the Swansea lad didn't put through his own net. Probably should be used off the bench. Subs. Gnonto - 8. Scored the winning goal. Was a constant thorn in the Swansea side. Joseph - 6. Quiet. Not as intense pressing as we've seen and as is becoming normal, should have scored or assisted after their keeper gave it away 30 yards from goal. Guilavogui - 5. Never stemmed the flow of Swansea attacks and dived in at one point costing a shot at Meslier. Wober - 6. Helped to see the game out at left back. Debayo - n/a. Injury time sub. Farke - 7. Stuck to his guns despite everyone calling for subs. I don't mind the defensive mindset at 3-2 up. An element of luck to winning the game at the death but his stubbornness paid off for once.
Their manager said we deserved the win and that we are the best team in the league. Chris Wilder said that we are a 'different animal' at this level. We are odds on to win the league with most bookmakers. Ridiculously odds on to go up automatically. Seems like alot of people think we are the best in the division yet we still yearn for better. It's all a bit strange.
I was pretty impressed with Wober's attitude when he came on, looked fairly well committed and celebrated as much as anyone when the winner went in
Its getting to the point where some of our fans enjoy the losing so they can say "I told you so". Doc has flounced 2 seasons running because we are winning games. It's a bit strange.
Struijk can go through "rough" patches of form and can be injury prone. I think Wober could end up playing a decent amount of games.
I think a lot of it is frustration as much as anything. Stupid things like today 2-3 up, 2 minutes plus injury time, free kick by their corner flag, no one in their box, Joseph ****ing about with it by the corner flag, there's too much time to go to be doing that, he inevitably loses the ball and they go on to attack, just as he did against Sunderland, difference being Sunderland scored from their attack all be it from a free kick from the attack.
Good call regarding Mes. I honestly think our defence believes that they have to be 100% spot on and keep the ball away from goal if we are to keep a clean sheet. You rarely see that “worldie” save from him, the sort like Pickford would pull off (not just him, plenty of keepers have been MOM against us), that wins the points that keep you up, or win the league/playoffs. If we go up I’d love to get the Liverpool No. 2 but think Chelsea have targeted him.
Probably because there are three teams in same points at top. One of them were docked two. Table never lies so maybe why some not getting carried away. Guinness is class by the way
