Lacking in tempo. No one wanted to go forward. There was clearly no plan B against a very poor Barnsley at home. Yes we won and that's great, we're top of the league, getting results but is it just me who isn't convinced 100%? Funny how when Faurlin went off we looked a better side.
I wasn't there, but I'm guessing that we went 4-4-2 when Ale went off and Hoilett was making forward runs? Faurlin was superb last week, but we still didn't create that many clear cut chances. I suspect Harry needs to have a trade off between the neat passing, possession football that 5 midfielders gives you and a more attacking line up with 2 genuine wide men like Hoilett and Phillips (when fit). Something like this: --------------------Green---------------------- Simpson-------Dunne-------Hill-------------BOE ---------------Barton---Faurlin----------------- Hoilett-------------Kranjcar--------------Phillips ------------------Austin----------------------- With that line up we'd still have plenty of possession and numbers in midfield, but we'd also have players capable of getting up with and beyond Austin. It could be changed slightly to 4-1-4-1 with Faurlin/Henry holding and then a choice of 2 from quite a few central midfielders with the two wide men.
There's nothing wrong with not playing at 100mph like most teams in this league and actually trying to pass the football.
You only have to beat the team put in front of you. This was a potential banana skin. Leicester and Forest only beat them by a single goal. But nothing wrong with controlling possession, limiting them to 1 shot on target. We are still gelling as a side, 7 new signings in the starting lineup We have two of our most attacking players Phillips and Hoilett still not playing regularly, through injury. I say, steady as she goes.
First 10 games unbeaten, 8 clean sheets in a row, level top with a game in hand, only on a QPR board could you still get negative threads! I've been wondering if this clean sheet run has been effecting our attacking, are the players so desperate to not let in a goal that they aren't pushing forward as much? To be honest it doesnt really matter, I'll be quite happy to go the rest of the season winning 1-0 or 2-0!
Last time I checked this is a discussion board. I'm raising a concern for future matches against tougher opponents. Don't get me wrong we were good today, patchy at times but good, as said in my OP.
**** me mate...........I was trying to give you a reasoned response to your thread and you have a dig because I wasn't there!! Bollox to you.
For what it's worth Col, I thought that your post was very insightful and well written. Im actually really excited, as I still think that there's a lot more to come from this side. URsssss!!
I was there and you are spot on, we were a different team when Hoilett replaced Ale. Barnsley were not great, we will need to play 90 mins more like we did during the last quarter of today's match to beat better teams.
But if we keep the ball until those last 20 mins or so, even the better teams will be running on empty after chasing shadows all game. Then we pounce. Far better that than to play 4-4-2, kick and rush football imo.
I agree, which is why I'd like to see Hoilett and Phillips outside 3 central midfielders. Could be the best of both worlds.
Well on the bright side, at least we are lacking........ please log in to view this image In his post match interview 'Arry mentioned that ourselves & Leyton Orient are the only unbeaten teams in the Football League (compared to last season, at a later date, when I believe we were the only team without a win). The dirty truth about Brits and our sheets Half a million dirty Britons wash their bed sheets only three times a year, a survey discloses laying bare the disgusting bedroom habits of the nation. One in six people also admitted waiting at least a month before washing their bed sheets. Experts say up to ten per cent of the weight of an unwashed pillow can be made up of dead skin and mites, with a dirty bed having about ten million bedbugs. It would come as no surprise to most mothers but under 25s were found to have the dirtiest bed sheets with one in 10 admitting to washing theirs only six times a year. In contrast, house-proud over 55s air their dirty laundry on average three times a month. Londoners were the worst culprits when it comes to unwashed bedding. The capital was closely followed by Brits in the North East, and the South West, also keeping dirty sheets on their bed for more than a month. Time to break out the........ please log in to view this image
I've put on another thread Col. We were lucky to not go in one down after a penalty was not given. For all our first half possession we barely had a shot and it was pretty mind numbing. That was reflected in the atmosphere which hardly got going. Second half was better, we did much the same but upped the tempo. When holiet came on we has someone willing to take on the full back and get a cross on... And goal!
The game turned on Hoilett's introduction. We went from being totally in control to totally in control with a cutting edge. I'm not sure how much value we get out of Austin while the ball is rolled around the pitch majestically 30 yards behind him. As soon as he had someone providing from wide he came alive. Oh, and Joey Barton was MOTM by a country mile. There, I said it and it only hurt slightly.
