Because we can't change the penalty decision and I'm pissed off just thinking about it... I've got a few things: - we weren't bullied at all today, which was impressive- I thought it was interesting that Lambert removed our two most creative (and smaller) players, to make sure we could match up physically. That showed in the number of chances we created, but realistically was just the sort of tactic needed and should have won us the game - defensively I thought were all great (Naughton a highlight, especially in the first half when he was able to attack more). Ayala was wobbly on his debut, but it was the worst possible timing for him. - strikers: Morison didn't feature (but I thought was solid) and Holt was good, but may rapidly become the most hated striker in the league for how easily he goes to ground. Sometimes I thought he should have stayed on his feet and not stop the flow of the game. Also, his touch still isn't up to scratch and he gave the ball away more than anyone else I can think of. Chris Martin was obviously picked because he's a bit of a psycho and I thought he was our best striker today. Felt sorry for Jackson as he just chased hoof-ball to the corner. - midfielders were good. First half Bradley Johnson looked in complete control of the game and was amazing, but second half wasn't so obvious (did anyone else think he picked up a bit of a knock after a couple of hard tackles on him and he faded after that?) I thought Pilkington and Bennett were great and losing Pilkington to bring on Ayala, while obviously necessary, meant we lost a player who caused the Stoke defence different sorts of problems than Holt/Morison. Just goes to show the impact a sending off has on all parts of the pitch. Surman worked well with Tierney, but obviously didn't get a chance to do much as we were just defending (the elbow in his head was a definite foul though). - My main criticism today would be our game plan after the sending off. I thought for most of the match we looked assured in possession, so I'm not quite sure why we kept hoofing the ball up the pitch (this mostly happened in the last fifteen minutes). All it seemed to do was allow Stoke to throw another attack in quickly and I wasn't surprised that eventually they did find the net because of the sheer number of times they got it into our penalty area. I would have preferred it if we'd knocked the ball around a bit in midfield/defence to waste more time and then only got rid of it if under real pressure. Having said that, the way we shut the game down after the sending off was admirable- and sets us apart from Blackpool last year- showing that with eleven men I have no doubt we'd be able to hold onto a winning position when needed. What's everyone's thoughts on my assessment?
Grolt was our worst player today by a long chalk, looked short of pace and match fitness much like he did the first half a dozen games last year (when people we ready to write him off as out of his depth, remember?) so I'm putting it down to a bad day at the office and have no real concern. Totally agree with him becoming the most hated player if he carries on with his antics, I counted five free kicks he won and as many failed attempts at winning them - a couple just plain ridiculous! That said I won't have a problem if he's still being hated by PL defenders next season of course
We played really well today. Lots of positives. Best thing is we looked as if we belonged. We Looked Like a proper premier league team and that's great. No cannon fodder here And Sid, what the hell are you on about. Grant holt is god get over it...
Keeper: Ruddy looked solid yet again, no complaints what-so-ever about him. Deserved the MoM champagne. Defence: All four looked solid, Tierney and Naughton looked good going forward and once again De Laet looked a class apart from everyone else Midfield: Johnson and Crofts were obviously given a task and they stuck to it, while Pilkington and Bennett looked threatening, when they were given the ball Forwards: Holt and Martin didn't look up to it today. Holt had his falling over boots on instead of his scoring boots and Martin's first touch was just plain awful at times. Something that did confuse me though was why, for the first ten minutes, did we insist on launching high, long balls up to Chris Martin wen he was up against four giants in defence? When we got the ball down and played we had Stoke rattled. The biggest plus though is that we didn't look out of our depth, even when we went down to ten men. I fully believe we'll stay up this season.
So are you saying he had a good game and played well today? You'd be wrong to think or say that as he didn't, and I'm sure he would be the first to admit that. Like I clearly said I've certainly got no long term concern at all about him as he started off last season slowly, but if you can't see that he was poor today then we will have to agree to disagree. The guy is a legend and I am one of his biggest fans, doesn't mean we have to blindly praise everything he doesn when perhaps sometimes it's not up to scratch.
When he doesn't score he gets crap from the fans. Same thing happened last season. Grant Holts strength isn't in his excellent shooting or his superb physical presence. It's his all round play and leadership that makes him a true great. Whether grant holt has a stormer, or a quiet game, we are weakened when he isn't on the pitch. He enables others to play to their potential. He's essential.
I agree with every single word you have just written, and I can assure you he has never got any crap from this particular fan as I love the guy as much as you do. All I said was that compared to his usual standard he was poor today and our most ineffective player - can you name one who had a worse game?
weighty, possibly. it was tactical - Wes doesn't fit into a 442 formation easily. Pilkington and Bennett played well.
I would saay that when we were chasing last year to get a winner or an equaliser we hoofed it a fair bit in the last 10/15 minutes of games last year. I particularly remember R Martin doing this against Derby and I don't need to say what happened in that game, so nothing new there. Also the hoofball was used as it suits Jackson and his pace running past the last defender to chase down a ball to beat the offside.
