Think Palmer and Miller will start on Tuesday night based on Walters comments after the match. Time for Kamara to show why we spent nearly £5M on him.
I feel with the service he received from Belloumi, Bedia could and should have had a hat-trick. At the match I thought he looked sluggish and couldn't move the ball around under pressure in the box. He looked a bit better on the highlights to be fair, but they didn't show 2 or 3 great opportunites including the cross he didn't get close to when it was on a plate/open goal. Not sure if its just me though and he looked okay when watching on a stream as there is a lot of positivity over his performance. For me on the day it made me think he isn't the answer and we need to try something else.
Macca was too easily beat today with passes in behind him. I’m also not sure why with all the options open to him he preferred to pass to Drameh facing his on goal with nowhere to go but back to Pandur. I also thought Zambrano was quality today and just seems to have an extra couple of seconds than everyone else on the pitch. We’d be better for passing through the line to him more often. You could also see Cardiff back-off Millar when he came on and he gets us much further up the pitch as they are terrified in a 1-1 with him. He runs with the ball so close to his feet and has great footwork, the chance he fashioned for himself would have been a stunning goal had it gone in. Rushworth for Pandur is also something I’d change. He made some good saves today but his second half distribution was poor and gave Cardiff opportunities to get back in the game. I didn’t understand why he didn’t close the angle at all for their goal, he just retreated into his own net and while it was a good finish, Pandur made it easier for him.
Thought Mehlem found his weight of pass today, particularly for the second goal. Also noticeable how many times he was involved in breaking up the Cardiff play or intercepting their passes. Heavily involved in the short corner for our third too. Thought Omur made a couple of good carries to get us up the pitch when he was central. Wonder if being on the wing nullifies him slightly due to being fenced in by the touchline rather than being able to travel either way. Wish he’d take a shot on occasionally too.
It's either or for me. It seems we are playing Omur on the wing to shoehorn him into the team at the moment. One second half run through the middle yesterday showed why Omur should be played centrally and not out wide.
If so, so be it. It's when we get to the three games a week phases of the season that we need to start utilizing the squad and resting players carrying niggles. Especially in positions where we have a bit more strength in depth. Planning to avoid longer term injuries is vital in the Championship where games come thick and fast.
Agree, that's what we signed all these wingers for isn't it. Time for Kamara and/or Millar to step up
He seems very flat footed. Doesn't anticipate balls into the box well or doesn't gamble on the chances. Has had a number of chances that could have been a simple tap in.
I thought he played well, forced a very good save, l and caused them problems that also created space for others. Hopefully even though it was a penalty getting off the mark gives him even more confidence and he starts racking up goals.
It not often an entire midfield (plus winger) are replaced with the game still not put to bed, and without any drop off in performance. I think the squad depth in midfield/wingers is going to be a huge asset once we get to 3 games in a week. It seems a lot is expected of midfielders in this system, so it is clear that he intends to utilise the bench. There’s one who could be the best of the lot we haven’t even seen yet (what has happened to Peurta?)
Yeah, he seemed to have a little bit of everything, just needs to keep scoring to keep the pressure off him.
The more I see their goal the more I'm convinced it was offside, terrible officiating, but those highlights also show what a great goal Boullimi's second was, wonderful vision from Mehlem and top drawer finish. Think the only downside from yesterday was Macca tbf, did some stuff well but the amount of times he is found wanting with his passing ability is cause for concern, I'm looking forward to seeing Hughes out there, I have a feeling he will be huge for us.
