Great win and good performance. Issac Haydens sending off may be the biggest blessing of the season. Credit to Bruce though because the easy decision is to chuck Ki or Shelvey in alongside, big games need experience afterall? I've been saying all season we need to inject some energy into the team. Young Longstaff gave that and then some. Its also a great example of why stats are not the basis for final judgement and rather just a good way of confirming what you think you're seeing. Issac Hayden's stats look ok. He wins a lot of tackles, makes a lot of blocks. Don't get me wrong that's important but at this level you need a whole lot more. The reason he makes so many blocks and tackles is because a midfield containing him and either Ki or Shelvey doesn't move anywhere. It invites wave after wave of attack. Rafa had a way of making that tick for him. However Rafa has a very unique style based largely around the ability to take all the oppositions strengths away from them. Allardyce is similar but not as good at it. Bruce worried me that he was being a bit archaic, but I now have some sympathy as it appears the players he inherited may the problem. Lets be honest Hayden wouldn't get near another PL midfield so there must be a reason for that. He has been available for transfer for 12 months and no one has shown interest.I don't want to get too down on him because he has had a right go under Rafa and played through some pretty testing personal circumstances. There is no room for sentiment however and yesterday exposed badly what happens when you put more modern and naturally gifted players in there. Its a crucial area of the pitch and NUFC can't afford to have someone of Haydens quality in there too often. I know some will disagree with that which is fair enough, each to their own. We still played counter attack football yesterday. However we carried intent because the two in central midfield were able to get around the pitch and push us back onto them by pressing the whole time. Modern PL football requires energy and movement. It requires an ability to have confidence to put your foot on the ball and dictate the pace rather than just having it dictated to you. The two Longstaffs combined to give us a modern looking and performing midfield. Obviously the interviews and the general feel good from the whole day is important, but I just hope there has been a lesson learned in the dugout heading forward. There were some cracking performances in amongst it yesterday. They all defended well and Saint Maximin was wasteful and dangerous in equal measure. He's a bit nuts and at times just puts his head down and loses it. But when he is running at folk he is difficult because I believe its all a la Tino off the cuff. I like Willems too. He's a bit touched but there is some crazy skills in amongst it and if his thought process was a touch quicker he'd be a serious talent.
Yeh - that's what I said but with one sentence: Thought we looked so much better in centre midfield just because of the energy levels there. The two of them play quick simple balls and just get us on the front foot.
I hope so too pal. I've lived in Warrington since I was 15. I've put up with scum bullshit for 30 years. I want payback
I hope you guys win it too fella. Decent bunch on here you scousers are. I also got blown off all the way back on the M62 after our 4-3 by the (now) wife so will always have a soft spot for LFC. #talent #perfectday