These are teams he sees week in week out in his job. Would you not go and see something a little different? Maybe he went to catch up with Steve, they're big mates.
Credit were its due as many stood near us also thought we did a number on them yesterday given the possession they had. Ugly win. One to look back on maybe should we avoid the play offs. Agree about the need for another ankle biter in the middle of the park. Don't rate Meyler but Bruce does so we deal with it. Big vocal support needed now as teams around feel pressure.. LVG OUT
The thing about the championship which makes it such a competitive league is precisely that there are a host of teams with players who could and have played in the league above Fulhams midfield 3 being a case in point. Where I disagree with you is that we do look and feel like promotion candidates because we can win games like these ( at least now ! ) one week an imperious hammering the next a ground out smash and grab it's a great recipe for success.
I thought it looked like tactics to sit back and let them come at us, a dangerous game as some previous away matches have shown. I'm sure we did have players out there who could have pressed more. The penalty award got us the win in the end. Just like in the QPR game their keeper got us the win. Things are going our way away from home now, but I'm still not sure the tactics are really the best at times, no point camouflaging things.
Maybe you are right. He might have had an important evening planned and needed to get home quickly to change into his top hat and tails.
Mourinhos former assistants team play Fulham end of February. Maybe he was keeping an eye McCormack for him as well.
That, according to the locals, was just about Fulham's best performance of the season. That was also probably about the best I've seen anyone play against us this season. Despite that, we stuck together, were compact, resilient, battled and closed down, and limited them to just a couple of chances. Snodgrass, Diame and Hernandez all worked their socks off to help out the midfield. If that had been the Charlton, Brighton, Rotherham away version of us, we would have been battered. I was really heartened by that, and it looks like we may have got the bit between our teeth at last.
Clean sheet. Good defensive. Had a few chances. 3 points. Boro have lost to lower table teams against expectations. As has the rest at the top. Brighton seemed unstoppable. Long way to go, and if we eke 3 points a game from the next 3 in the same manner I'll be happy. I would love to know why we don't play away the same as at home, we'd be unbeatable. Ish. But the home teams do put more of a shift in, like we saw with Fulham.
Surely its now very much about not letting the standard drop as we have been culpable of doing on many occasions. We have now almost a fully fit squad, so no excuses on that level. While the Charlton win was good for morale and yesterdays for different reasons, bigger tests are coming and where we really are IMO starts with Burnley.
They really didn't. They heroically over-achieved, scoring a bundle of late equalisers and winners. They haven't beaten a single team by more than one goal yet. Many people predicted the slide that duly came.
The reason we can play the way we do at home is partly because opposition teams allow us to by fielding more defensive formations/ players.
You're right of course, but it is a bit bizarre It's like there's an unwritten rule that away teams must attack less Surely if you set up the same away from home, and used the same attacking tactics, then the home team would have to field more defensive players too?
Quinniesta saying he signed for Reading because he wanted to get back to the Premier League Sorry, I just remembered that and thought it was funny...
