I hope Harrison was annoyed with his performance, and not at being substituted because I would have hauled him off at half time, piss poor crossing and decision making.....forshaw has been surprisingly good in his last two appearances neat distribution and kept the ball moving and covered a lot of ground if he can keep fit could be a big asset....1 point not ideal but we had to avoid defeat that was imperative
Oh and I've said for months that if we can get Forshaw back fit (or something similar) to add a bit of steel and to just keep possession ticking along that our overall play would improve. Seems to be the case. You can't just play a side full of wingers and strikers and hope that it clicks. There is a system and shape. Forshaw and Phillips just play those triangles very well and send us on our way.
All the better teams cut through our midfield with ease as soon as Phillips gets caught out of position, Forshaw negates that by knowing how to play the role, covering when Phillips goes awol, Dallas and especially Klich are forward thinking not defensive thinking players for that position
Best performance if the season and Forshaw and Phillips dominated midfield and thats Forshaws first 90 minutes for over 2 years, no wonder Bielsa was almost tearful speaking about having his doubts if Forshaw could ever get back to where he was and how Forshaw has roved him wrong. Chuffed for him. We now have another option in the middle
I’d have taken the point before today and looking at that team sheet I’d convinced myself we were in for a defeat. I assume Joffy was injured? The International break will give us time to get players back so no more injuries please and let’s get Bamford back as I can’t take any more of Harrison. Well done Forshaw
By the time the International break is over I expect Firpo, Ayling, Bamford to be back fully fit. Drameh and Joffy and Cresswell all providing us options and with having Forshaw fully fit we can look forward to options in the middle with Klich, Forshaw and Dallas all available and Koch cannot be too far away now too, so more options as cover for Phillips. I see a solid defence backed with a better midfield, I just hope Harrison and James can start delivering, because thats the area we are struggling with. Lets be frank Harrison and Klich have scored lots of goals for us and even Dallas was chipping in but we have not had that this season yet.
A few comments about today: * Most enjoyable match this season. Surprisingly, I was sufficiently entertained that I wouldn't have been too bothered if we lost. * Leicester were at it, like the other non-top6 clubs. Hitting the deck at every opportunity to interrupt our rhythm & intensity. Didn't work too well for them, I'm glad to say. * If Forshaw wasn't our MOM, then he should have been. Covered every blade, destructive, constructive, and a little bit of nasty. Great to see him back. * Sorry, but James is not a CF. Proved once again that he's as fast AF, can dribble well, but sadly, he seems to still be dodging the Scoring & Crossing classes, hence the lack of end product with worrying consistency. * Dallas was really sharp & was a great support to Raphinha down the right wing. * Different story on the left wing. Struijk was no slouch defending as a LB, however he only seems to have grasped the basics of left backism when attacking. He did try. Indeed, he tried very hard, but him & Harrison were often on different pages when it came to swift triangles. I do wonder if this is why some felt that Harrison had a poor game. I don't think he did. I thought he's re-found his mojo in the first half, and with Struijk falling well short of what Alioski used to bring to the left wing relationship. * Coops had a major let-off. Again, unfortunately, however Lady Luck was with us this time, so he failed to score an o.g. Good effort thought. Not! * Last couple of games, Llorente has played very well, however he does have heart-stopping moments when caught in possession. Needs to give his head a wobble. * KP was a lot better this week, but still not at the top of his game, imo. If he's going to have a right stinker soon, I hope he saves it for england. * I'm not a big Rodrigo fan, but thought he played very well today. I think we're getting there ..... Btw, they said on the radio that Joffy wasn't injured. He was rested as he felt 'uncomfortable' after the last match.
