I thought joseph had a good game, made space for himself and shoots, something we have all been wanting. Not sure we can judge darlow on that game had next to nothing to do and flapped at a corner.
Just to be clear, we've hammered plenty of teams. Coventry, Plymouth, Luton, Derby at home, Oxford. The bet was scoring at least 5 whilst maintaining a 4 goal cushion (cos of our dodgy keeper). We haven't done that yet but we've definitely hammered a few already.
Joseph just isn’t ready for this level yet. Not saying he won’t develop and become a very good player but we need that here and now.
Was at my dads when the game was on, so forced my dad to watch the match on Iplayer. His view after 45 minutes was that we prat about too much at the back and are too slow in moving the ball, and why are we afraid to shoot. Said now you understand why I tell you that it was a tough watch when he asked me every week how the game was
Was ****ing freezing today but here goes... Darlow - 7. Had one or two bits to sort out and did them very well. Caught a corner! He did have a bit of a flap at a cross but Neslier does that every time anyway. Schmidt - 7. Neat and tidy, final ball was poor and looks a little nervy defensively but overall a very promising full debut. Guilavogui - 5. Looked a penalty from where I was stood. His forward passing was suspect too. Other than that he was okay but I think we've learnt that centre back would be one hell of an emergency. Struijk - 6. Comfortable at the back but managed to look a bit panicky in his clearances and his distribution. Looked like he missed Rodon. Byram - 6. Worked well going forward and got in some great offensive positions but his lack of a left foot really came to the fore throughout. Ampadu - 8. Consistent as ever. Quietly dominated the centre of the pitch. Rothwell - 7. Kept things ticking over without really hurting Harrogate with anything decisive. Gnonto - 7. Clever movement but often never got the pass he wanted. Probed and pressed without ever really looking like the match winner. Solomon - 9. Man of the match. A class above. Had his man on toast every time and was constantly dumbfounded why the ball wasn't passed to him more despite him being in acres of space. Assist. Ramazani - 7. Dipped in and out of the game but ultimately scored the winner. Not in the form of early season but the goal really picked him up and he looked more confident. Joseph - 7. Usual stuff. Excellent build up, good close control, good movement but dreadful in front of goal. There's a player in there somewhere. Subs. Tanaka - 7. Decent half hour appearance. Looked very good. Rodon - 6. Didn't cover himself in glory on a couple of occasions but nothing much for him to do. Firpo - 6. Wandered around for a bit. James - 7. Made a positive impact on the game with his pace. Gruev - n/a. Back from injury and got a great reception. Could have scored late on.
I think we’re learning why guilavogui didn’t have a club and was available. It could be ring rust but on this showing, to carry on the boxing analogy, he looks shot to me. Slow, ponderous, clumsy. I’m not as convinced that Joseph’s first touch was that great… he looked like he was struggling to get the ball to stick for me. Also thought ampadu’s psssing was a bit below his usual standard.
My thoughts too Milky. I also thought Schmidt’s passing was a bit suspect as well. Thought Darlow dealt with crosses far better than Mes, and made a decent save on the snapshot, when Amp was closed down on the edge of the box, and it fell to one of their forwards. I’d play him Sunday, and see how he gets on - give Mes some competition. Sadly I don’t see DF doing that - hope I’m wrong.