To be fair even the Millwall fans said he was lazy at times and I am inclined to agree up to a point. I have noticed it in other games, even games where he has scored. Holt covers much more of the pitch and puts in a better shift most of the time but I still like Morison in our side because he does score goals at this level.
Maybe awful is over the top, but he is lazy and his first touch isnt as good as anyones in the team bar whitbread. Last night and the game against Chelsea he was lazy, if he loses the ball he stops for a moment and moans to himself rather than trying to win the ball back. The whole barclay saw this (and got on his back) against chelsea where he didnt look motivated whether it was his fitness i dont know but all we ask is you try your best and it just doesnt look like he tries hard enough for me. Even last night holt was telling him to get up top with hoolahan when he was coming back to defend corners 1/2-0 down and he didnt even listen to his captain.. and decided to zonal mark instead of picking someone up, sometimes he just looks lost
complete over reaction canariez he's a bit out of form, that's all. he gets through far more work than you are suggesting. some people really seem to turn against some of our players for some reason and its totally ridiculous. personally i feel he should be on the bench at the moment as jackson's form is better, but you have exaggerated everything dramatically
Let's change that to: "Morison appears lazy without really running too hard, yet the hidden work he does is appreciated by the fans"
I would like to see Jackson and Holt starting the Bolton game, with Pilkington (he really makes a difference to our balance), Fox, Surman and Bennett, and Tierney, Ayala, Whitbread and Naughton, and Ruddy Pace is a good cure for poor performances, the other team has to curb their all-out attacking instincts somewhat so as not to get caught on the counter-attack, and it is more exciting to see Pilkington terrorising some poor full-back rather our own!
yep, i'd go for something along the lines of: ruddy naughton, ayala, whitbread, tierney fox bennett, johnson, pilkington jackson, holt
On a very positive note about the defence, I think Ayala generally is looking more and more assured, gaining confidence. He looks like the real deal, I think with our new acquistion, they will form a fantastic centre back pairing.
if we'd played paolo maldini and franco baresi in that defence last night we'd have got beaten, such was the gaping hole in the middle of the park
Yeah there was a gaping hole but centre backs not keeping goal side is a fundamental error, they could have kept closer to the front two, etc. Also beresi would have taken a step forward, grasped crofts and Johnson by the bollocks and told them what to do.
longsight, you stated yesterday that our lack of clean sheets highlights major problems at the back. this is not true. i argued it was the midfield that was the problem with the lack of clean sheets. and actually, the real error for the second goal came from johnson not tracking his man after the nutmeg. the centre halves were being pulled all over the place because they didn't have enough support from in front of them. we were undone by basic mistakes but also explosive counter attacking. ayala and whitbread actually didn't perform too badly, martin was done for pace against mclean and naughton got dragged out of position but he isn't a left back in his defence. neither full back had support from in front due to the diamond and johnson and crofts were anonymous
I never said major problems, I think I was simpy trying to suggest there was room for improvement and if clean sheets aren't the mark of a team's defensive performance then I'm an ipswich fan. So the the defence could improve. All I'm trying to do is actually have a constructively critical debate about the team, not to dismiss them
Morison is not the greatest target man. The stats say his completion of passes to a team mate is the worst in the division. His forte is meeting crosses in the box or running the channels as alone striker and allowing midfield players to take up the space he has created by drawing a CB and FB toward him. He's not everyones cup of tea and does look a cold fish at times. He isn't lazy and I haven't noticed him moaning any more than any other player. In fact I haven't noticed any bad feeling in the team. And its unfair to compare him to Holt.
The comment about his first touch is the most frustrating thing about Morison. Last night someone made a lovely cross field pass that went over his head and he brought it down on his instep beautifully, and I thought, people moan about his first touch, but that was sheer class. BUT, alas, 10 minutes later, the ball is played into Sunderlands box, Morison was all alone, and couldn't control it, and I thought oh yeah, there it is! had he brought that down, he would have surely scored. I really want Vaughan in and fit and staying fit. he must be good for 45 at the weekend?
I seem to remember Morrison cropping up at LB position a couple of times this season, which is kind of odd for a 'lazy' player. He had a bad game last night, but he didn't have much to work with and to be honest, he scores a lot of goals.
