...well thankfully im back home now, what horrible conditions to watch a football match in. sub zero temperatures, absolutely horrendous view from 6 rows back right in the corner (like fulham), and a terrible second half. THE GAME First half I think most of the fans who were there would have been satisfied with the way it was going. We were sitting quite deep but attacking well on the counter attack and Remy slotted home a great through ball from Adel, and an equally great finish. Only took him 14 minutes to get off the mark! It was a real battle this game and we stood well up to it in the first half - Hill and Nelsen really getting stuck in. Second half was completely different. They were pretty much on the front foot throughout bombarding us with crosses, long balls etc.. with relatively few attempts from us. Cant site here and say we deserved to win because we didnt. Terrible second half tbh that left me pretty angry at full time. We just kept giving the ball away every time and inviting pressure. This sort of game makes rating players difficult as its a balancing act weighing up the two 45 mins performances. THE RATINGS CESAR - 7.5 - MOM - superb in terms of saves as he made so many good saves in the second half and held onto most of them, bar their goal (which i wouldnt expect him to hold onto) and came out bravely to collect many crosses. in real form now. but kicking was poor and gave it away alot. FABIO - 6.5 - made some good tackles in the first half and worked hard. closed down most occasions but too many crosses were allowed into the box at times. HILL - 7 - got stuck in and didnt make it easy at all. won many headers which you need to v west ham and was leaving no room for them to get chances. NELSEN - 7 - much the same as hill really. forming a good partnership. what is that 1 goal conceded in the last three PL games? ONUOHA - 5.5 - not great tbh. made many mistakes giving away possession and mis kicking clearances putting us straight back under pressure. DERRY - 5 - poor tbh. gave away so much possession and never controlled the midfield battle. nothing due to lack of pace - just a poor performance. M'BIA - 5.5 - marginally better than derry but had the same sort of game. gave away possession easily and not doing the right things. SWP - 6.5 - gave them a bit to think about but cut inside too often. often involved in counter attacks and tracked back well. MACKIE - 6 - non existent in the first half but came a bit more into it in the second. but didnt really affect the game too much. cant help but think its him or SWP to be dropped when BZ comes back. TAARABT - 7 - did alot of our attacking work and linked well with remy, lovely through ball for the goal. REMY - 7 - worked very hard which is great to see and finished very well. hard to judge as he had little service. made two good runs but both shots blocked easily. gave his shirt away at the end to a lucky fan aswell to chants of reeemmmy, reeemy, reeeemmy. you get the idea! SUBS: TRAORE - 6 - got down the wing well replacing SWP and gave it a decent go. BOTHROYD - 6 - worked his socks off and had a decent run at goal but shot was blocked. did well. PARK - 5 - sorry but what anyone sees in him i will never know. complete and utter tosh. run around like a headless chicken with one leg missing. off the pace and tried to hold the ball in the corner and did a backheel for some reason straight out for a goal kick. get rid now and please dont put him in the 25. FINAL WORD Well it wasnt much of an exciting game but at half time we were pleased and it looked like our trip out would be worth it. But second half we were very poor, and HR summed it up exactly how I saw it. Gave the ball away cheaply from goal kicks, throw ins (as always) etc.. Just didnt fight for it in the second half imo. Lucky not to lose but I was very angry that we didnt win as we really should have given them more to think about. I can only remember one shot on target (the goal) other than that their keeper didnt have alot to do which is worrying when we need to win games. Just not getting forwards enough and tbh I thought against west ham we would give it a bit more of a go attacking wise. But no, we sat back just like in the previous two games. But on the other side it made us tough to beat. However, the main thing is that we are still 5 behind which we need to start closing down, but Reading are now in form. 3 wins from 4 I think? Feeling more positive now, but we need to try to win games rather than draw (stating the obvious but thats our problem).
Cheers Judo good report but I have can't agree on giving 6.5 to SWP and 6 to Traore and Mackie. I think SWP has been a lot better than those 2. I don't really know what to think about Bothroyd. First match to see him play and I think he was pants tbh. But I was watching on the telly so I couldn't see the whole picture. All in all great report mate
Cheers mate, Bothroyd did work very hard (which may not come across on the tv) and did have one good run in the time he was on for. Made a good effort of it.
Agree with your main post but on that performance we are doomed.No threat at all and we look so disjointed.We cannot continue playing like that and expect to stay up.There is no spine to the team,we look ok when we all get behind the ball but once we have it we are clueless.We cant pass, look afraid to shoot and I could go on and on.To little to late imo.
Thanks Judo.I get the impression this is a game we would have lost big time previously. It sounds as though it was ugly BUT it was a point and keeps us in contention (well, sort of). It will also show TF that M'Villa or whoever is badly needed and a CB or two. Loftus Road is on the way to becoming a fortress again.
Its better to play badly and still pick up points than to play well and not win. We cant continue to play like that all season so the wins will come, especially at home. Playing well and losing is a sign of a team going down.
Thanks Judo. I think that win over the scum has brought about this negative mindset where we can just sit back and nick teams on the counter. It won't always work like it did that day.
As I didn't get to see today's game I was looking forward to your report Judo, cheers. A point away from home keeping our unbeaten run going is a good result.
Totally agree about the point being better than a loss even though we didnt play well.My point was that we do not control games even when we play well ie Tottenham.The next three / four games will define our season,Man City,Norwich,Swansea,Man Utd.Even the most optimistic person would say three points max from these.
