I have to say, I think we look better with Hirst up top than Delap!! Something about Hirst I love, his hold up play is second to none, no he isn't a 20 goal a season striker but he is so much more than that. Would love to see Omari, Szmodics, Clarke and Hirst against Villa
Decent recent, fair play we hang in there like our captain who always steps it up at the end of the game. 2nd half wasn't a great performance much like last season we couldn't really get control of the midfield. Our forwards also could keep the ball Hutchinson gets in good positions but just keeps giving it away. Tuanzebe defensively superb again.
Hirst needs to start, Delap is too raw and keeps giving needless free kicks away. Hutch's decision making has been off this season, he's not passing when he should and keeps running into dead ends and giving the ball away. Like many others, I'd like to see Clarke get a start on the left. Maybe move Sammie inside and drop Hutch to the bench to come on as sub. Back line were ok today, I did notice the attacking threat that Johnson offers at RB when he came on but Axel has been great defensively in what has really been a lopsided back three, with Leif playing so high up. A great point on the road, should've made more of the chances we had, especially in the first half. Ramsdale did make a couple of good saves but we need to be more clinical in the final third, too many poor decisions or mistimed passes that ultimately led to nothing.
I agree about Hirst, Delap has been brilliant but Hirst just brings the best out of others and occupies some good positions which takes players out of the game. Still think Burns should be in the team atm, just gives us something different on the right. Again like Hirst think we always look better with Burns on the pitch due to the positions he takes up.
Credit to Taylor, looked decent when he came on. I'm just soooo pissed off that he keeps playing Omari in the 10, he ain't good enough for that position, okay him wide right!!
We're clinging in there but you can just see we're not as fluid as we were and whether that's players getting used to each other or McKenna figuring out their strength and how that gives a balance to the rest of the team. It took a little while for him to figure this out I'd be tempted to bring back some of the old guard again (Chaplin, Burns and Hirst) with Jack Clarke (the exception) and slowly integrate the new ones in. Also bringing players like Delap, Hutchinson and Szmodics on second half will be intense. It does remind me a little of when we started league 1, nice moments but team isn't quite up to speed and balance not figured out quite yet.
He gave the ball away but when we didn't have it he was great. He tackled when he needed to and stood off when he needed to. Greaves and O'Shea couldve learnt from that today, they both seem to be agressive front foot defenders which means they step in and intercept but today I saw something which has worried me a bit with Greaves where he gets caught out where he tried to step in rather than holding his position and it leaves us exposed. I felt the same when Edmondson played last season
I thought Taylor looked decent. It's just players who've played under McKenna for a couple of years who knows where to play. Doesn't account for Hutchinson losing the ball alot though. I do like Hutchinson on the right but we need to balance that out somewhere in the rest of the team in terms of width, otherwise we have too many players who want to occupy the same space in the centre
So far I really like what I see with Greaves and O'Shea but I get what you're saying. I just think it's early days for them and so far so bloody good, great looking players that will only improve
And of course the stats do show we deserved a point. More shots, more shots on goal, more corners, similar possession. All said and done, we have lessons to keep learning, players to get used to our style, and partnerships to forge. And while Hutch's form does worry me, we all agree Clarke should start. I see Sarmiento scored again. And we avoid the bottom 3!
First result this season I think I'm disappointed in. But can't be too upset with a point away from home - clearly more integration still needed but still showing positive steps. First time this season we've scored after going behind.
Thought we maybe missed Phillips in the middle today. Cajuste looked a little slow and Morsy didn’t have his best game - although full credit for the goal. Second half was a bit of a non-event after an encouraging first 45 minutes (although we were poor to go a goal down). Ideally would’ve been three points today, but on balance of the game - don’t think there can be many complaints for a draw. Definitely lacking a bit of fluency up top. Hutchinson tried to do too much and isn’t playing well in the number 10 role in the Premier League. I’d argue defenders find Burns quite predictable down the right too. Davis isn’t playing anywhere near the standards he was last season, struggling defensively and not making inroads up top. I actually think Delap has looked a handful - Hirst is obviously needing to get minutes, but he probably should have scored that presentable header chance late on. I think an attacking trio of Clarke down the left, Hutchinson down the right, and Szmodics through the middle would work best currently.
Well let’s be honest - that was bloody terrible. First half Davis looked as though he’d been out on the sauce all week. O’Shea was a shadow of last week. Morsy still looks the best player on the pitch, which is a bit of a concern. That is also the worst performance from a referee I’ve seen in all McKenna’s time. Some good tackles were punished with a yellow card and fouls were let go. Over and again any momentum we had was stifled by the ref, particularly second half. Still, we just about got away with it. I’d be more concerned as a Southampton fan though. To not capitalise on enough of their chances was a crime and so was the distribution from the goalkeeper and many other aspects of their play.
I thought Burns had a decent first half and was really our only consistent outlet, he's just not being found enough, I think how things shaped up yesterday it would've been an ideal game for Chaplin. It just feels like there's just been too many players who aren't quite used to the system yet, I know some of this is due to injury but there's definitely bits of the players who got us there that we miss, particularly from a positional sense. Woolfenden inviting the press...Morsy has looked far less impressive without Woolfenden. Davis in part hasn't been as able to get forwards due to the role which Luongo plays. Chaplin being out of the side means Burns isn't being played in as much and Davis isn't able to find him in the box. Hirst being out of the team isn't able to create the same space for others in the box. From what I have observed so far the players we've brought in are superior in terms of their athleticism and strength to those we already had but their positional/tactical awareness currently isn't as good and a significant part of that may be down to the fact they haven't played together for very long but I also think the players we recruited in League1 and the Championship are all intelligent tactically aware footballers but perhaps lacking athleticism in some form. I've yet to see that from any of the new players yet. And this is the challenge we have in regards to integrating lots of new players into the team. There's areas we are far stronger in than last season, we are clearly a faster, more athletic and stronger but there are also areas we are weaker that's tactically and positionally and we'll need to wait to see whether these new players develop that through playing together but also how McKenna develops the team tactically because we've always been at our best under him when he's selected a settled line up and understood the strengths of his players and how they all fit together in the team. At the moment we've not looked anywhere near as coherent on the ball as we have previously and that may partly be due to the level but I do think in the main it's due to the number of players we're integrating into the team. I think McKenna does need to stick with the team a little more, there have been players this season who've had great games and been dropped the next, it doesn't feel too much like form is being considered in team selections currently. I do like the sound of Clarke, Szmodics and Hutchinson but I also think you risk being crowded in the centre and it would also require having more width from our fullbacks, something we haven't done as much this year.
I think we've almost gone back to the stage we were at when KMc first came in.His main priority at the moment is to make us difficult to beat and from there he'll develop the more attacking side integrating the new players.
Fair points. I do agree with your central argument about the new signings needing to adapt quickly to our system and style of play. I’m optimistic for most of them and think generally they’ve improved the team. It’s a small sample size this season, and some tough fixtures in it, but I’ve been impressed with the defensive reinforcements. Muric has been better than Hdlaky (who can only be second choice at Burnley). Greaves has impressed me and is better than Burgess. O’Shea looks promising, presume he’ll be better than Woolfenden. Arguably one of our best defenders so far has been Tuanzebe at right back, really making that position his own. In midfield, Phillips or Cajuste over Luongo? Jury still out there, although Phillips looked good against Fulham. I think it’s in attack where we need to see more from our new players - although in the Premier League as a promoted club, I recognise we’re not going to be as potent up top and chances will be rarer. I think Delap leads the line well enough and might be a better finisher than Hirst, but Hirst does have good qualities. When Hirst is back to full fitness, that will be an interesting battle for the starting role. Clarke needs minutes. Szomodics has been alright in an unfamiliar left handed side role. I think Burns still has a place in our team, but I fear his main strength - direct burst of pace to beat his man and put in a cross - is largely nullified by most Premier League left backs.
Jack Clarke is a rough diamond. He can’t do the defensive side of the game yet and unfortunately we will be defending a lot.
