Don't think Neil meant us to be pushed back like that. We just did not have enough creativity in midfield, and no threat up top, to put any pressure on them, until he brought DJ on late.
No Oslo, it was definitely the game plan. You could see it a mile off. When they went one up they were stroking the ball around their own half and all our players were in our half waiting for them to attack. Nelly's the man, no doubt. But hes had a couple of poor games recently.
He simply isn't good enough to be the creative player mate. Ali is far more creative than Barton and Adel has more ability in his little toe!! People will jump all over me for this, but, really, Barton being made the centre of everything by NW has been a massive blunder. Barton was, by all accounts, very poor today, giving the ball away time after time. I think he does this because he believes he can play so much better than he actually can, meaning he attempts passes he hasn't got the ability to make...leave that to Ali Joey...he's a far better player. Barton has never looked like his heart is in it here and NW appears to pamper to him whilst completely hanging Taarabt out to dry. Could be the biggest mistake ever!!
Barton gave the ball up very cheaply today, and he was often out of touch with Ali which meant they couldn't keep hold of possession, particularly in the first half; he was also caught on the ball umpteen times. However, he did attempt a couple of incisive passes which got cut out, these probably negatively affected the stats, although on the whole he was poor. Perhaps the most revealing issue today was that Warnock appears to have lost faith with Derry, perhaps justifiably so given his performance during the Norwich game.
Look at what has happened Utd since scoles left. You have to pick two CM from Anderson, Carrick, Gibson etc etc. Ferguson even tried Rooney in there for a couple of games until he realised that the team then stopped scoring. You need one of your CM to be able to run with the ball at the opposition, like a Gerard, Lampard, Scholes, Modric etc etc. We currently have two CM that look afraid to attack. We just look so sterile. Don't know who is available to buy in Jan who could give us that edge in the middle and that would mean either Ali or Joey warming the bench for a while.
Every side in the Prem want a Modric, Gerrard, etc. There are simply not enough to go around! Certainly extremely doubtful that Rangers's could attract such a player, even if one were available. We have to utilize Tabs; leaving on the bench against WBA and bringing on Buzz was a crime. O.K., he wasn't available today, but surely Warnock needs to bring this player back into the fold, not continue to make unnecessary and snide comments during press conferences, as Warnock did on Friday. To drop either Barton or Faurlin would be a catastrophic, however, either now or in Jan. Yes Barton was poor today, but he and Ali were instrumental in the wins against Wolves Chelsea and Stoke. But the quality of player that Nuts desires just aren't there.
Gutted not because we lost 1-0, but because sides like Norwich, swansea and wigan seem to be hitting their straps. Next it'll be sunderland and Blackburn....
Was annoyed but Steve claridge's ugly foot shaped boat has just floated into view on the championship, and I'm thinking this time last year we were losing at home to Watford, so plus ca change
Consistency is one element that is missing. We know what this team is capable of playing like on a good day - Wolves, Man City and the silly draws that should have been wins. If new additions in January add to stability and consistency then good. If not, however, it is going to be a difficult end of the season. The serious business men who run the club have an opportunity to put right the debacle of the summer signings and non signings. We will then see whether Warnock has the ability to keep us up. I had no doubt about the latter until the Buz substitution in the WBA game that cost us the two points. That shook my faith just a little.
Fair points mate. Agree with most except that i had concerns about NW before the season started. I hope i'm wrong. It's way way too early to judge him now, he still has only a half decent team and poor squad.
Thought our midfield was poor yesterday. Surprised that Mackie hasn't been mentioned (he was anonymous for most of the match); SWP has disappointed me and contributed little yesterday; Joey was wayward with his passing. Only Ali seemed to be working from our midfield - and that's not good enough away and against this level of side. I thought our defensive side held off pretty good, considering the midfield did not hold on to possession and take some hold of the middle of the park!! Onward now... didn't really expect any points from the game; but I did expect a more spirited performance from the WHOLE team
Dissappointed, not by losing, to be honest who didn't expect to lose at anfield but performance and tactics weren't great. From the Chelski, City and Spurs games we learnt if we play high up the field push onto them we can cause some issue so why why why we were going to sit back and invite them onto us ? Midfield was dire, allowing the Fullbacks to come on the attack and not shielding the defence. I mentioned last week that our front line movement off the ball needs to improve a lot ot give options to the midfields, LFC where a perfect example of that yesterday, pulling the defence out of postion and allowing the midfield to come into the gaps created. Don't want to be completely negative some players out there ran themselves into the ground so kudos for the effort and is paddy going to automactically get back into to the Team, well done Cerny again. If results don't go our way next week we will be in the Mire, making the Sunderland Swansea games hugely important.
I've been accused of being hysterical with my views....but it seems a lot of people are saying very similar things! Hopefully NW will come up with the right formula, but I do believe that, looking from a fan's perspective, that we have a pretty poor team spirit....something that we had in spades last season!!
