Curious how it looked on to others as we seemed to play the 3 in midfield rather than 2 and a 10. Or did I just see what I wanted to see.
I wonder if the players psychologically missed Amad when we couldn’t get going in the second half (before the sending off). He was a talisman for the team and the crowd when the chips were down.
Their 2 performances put together would be the perfect no10 performance. Bellingham with his workrate/pressing n arriving late into the box but pritchards ability to find space n receive on the half turn I thought pritchard was coming too deep at times n meant he we didnt have that threat in the forward areas, but then remembered we were down to 10 men so he probably had to
Because O’nien is ****. Falling over himself back-pedalling, constantly stepping up and getting caught out of position, not helping Cirkin out when he’s trying to deal with a runner as well as the ball carrier. Just play a natural CB and we’ll be fine.
Think its the cover in front rather than playing with 3 CBs, thats why ive probably bored everyone with my shouts for another cdm lol Also doesnt help when hume wanders too much in field then doesnt have the pace to get back to RB
O9 was nowhere near as bad as some are making out, but i respect your opinion I thought his passing was good but the biggest thing for me is him getting caught too square at times, thats what happened for the hirst goal He definitely wasn't shocking today and CB is 100% his best position for us. Think it was prehab that said it but i suspect seelt will be 1st choice with ballard
Interesting comments on this and the summer window thread. Huge deflection for the First goal, could have gone anywhere. Cirkin needs to learn he has two feet that he can use, he did well today vut is frightenly one footed and gets into some terrible positions as he can't tackle with his right foot
Lot of hysteria on this thread, I can't be arsed with it. I know these players are good, I know Mowbray will sort out the problems and while it's not ideal to lose the first game it's not that big a ****ing deal.
I just can’t believe how unaware he is at times it’s like his positioning just goes on a wander. Gets some good clearances in and will always give you 110% but it’s the same story as last season, it happened twice against South Shields regardless of it being a friendly they’re non-league opponents and 2 simple balls in behind and he’s lost. I really think a high line will see him exposed far too often unless we’re playing a 3 which isn’t really necessary. Dack is going to end up coming straight into the first team and we’ll play Ekwah with Neil/Bellingham.
Wouldnt judge it on 1 game mate, we know this team has fight and they showed it eventually in this game
it was the same last season with ballard and batth playing we get it open to east cos are fullbacks are so attacking minded
Just picking up on a couple of points being raised. 1. Onein was poor today but I personally now see him as a centre back not a midfielder. He is probably best if we play 3 at the back but I'm not upset about him in a 2 at centre half he's had plenty good games there. 2. If Bellingham is gonna be a number 10 he's not gonna be in the mould of Pritchard he's gonna be more like a Dele Alli style number 10. Decent footwork which he showed today with a knack of arriving late and getting goals which is what he needs to work on. He's a big lad so should be decent in the air like Alli was/is but can't really judge him properly on today and before anyone mentions it im aware he's still only 17. Overall today was pretty poor I think we needed Pritchard not Bellingham in that role in order to open them up a bit but there will be times when a Bellingham style number 10 will be required. Not gonna get too downbeat its only the first game of the season but we were crying out for some creativity in the first half for all the ball we had we really created **** all. And also we really need Ross Stewart this season unless the recruitment team have a huge rabbit up there sleeves.
Neil should be the 1st name on the teamsheet, he is vital to this team. Ekwah has higher potential because of his physicality but neil is so good at breaking up play n winning tackles now O9 is too eager at times, nectar was like that against hartlepool. Sometimes defenders think they always need to win the ball but sometimes its not about winning the ball but rather covering the danger areas I do wonder if batth does leave whether we would go for another cb, suppose would depend if they see alese as a cb or lb
Without a doubt. Tbh, fight only takes us so far. We need that quality. I’ll judge when the window slams shut. We need quality in the forwards positions. At least 1, hopefully 2.
