match ratings vs Bristol

Davis - 6
Richardson - 6
Martin - 6
Hooiveld - 7
Fox - 7
De Ridder - 8
Morgan - 6
Cork - 6
Lallana - 5
Lambert - 6
Guly - 6

 

Poor goalkeeping for the goal it seemed to me as if he was attempting to catch the ball but got it badly wrong. In those conditions he should have just turned it around the post, it wasn't the greatest of shots but it did bounce just before it came to him if I remember correctly.

I thought the game was lost in the centre of midfield. Now I believe that both Cork and Morgan in 2 or 3 years will be world class footballers but at this stage neither of them seems to be able to control the game and dominate the midfield. Now although Hammond is not on the same level ability wise I think it is important that he plays alongside either one of them. He seems more willing to get involved in the physical side of things and the opposition always know he is on the pitch. Last night we could not get anything going through the middle of the park and this led to us constantly looking for hopeful balls down the wing. Luckily for us De Ridder with his pace was able to create situations out of very little. Though unfortunately for us his final ball was not always the greatest but then there was not much to aim for in the middle.

It wasn't Guly's greatest night either everything he did seemed to go wrong, you get nights like that. What I didn't like was his inability to move or make runs, he just didn't seem interested.

I was also a little surprised that Adkins didn't change it up sooner. Normally if we are not getting hold of the ball in the centre of the pitch he brings on another centre midfielder and plays a narrow 4-3-1-2.

It also highlighted that we need an impact player with real pace to be able to bring on in these situations. In the past we had the likes of Waigo and Antonio, the only player with real pace now is De Ridder and he's more of a provider than a goalscorer.

MOTM for me was De Ridder his final ball was not up to much but at least he was having a real go at them. If the whole team played with his energy it may have been a different story.

 

Pretty much agree with everything you say. De Ridder is now getting a chance to get a run of games together,and seems to be improving,and getting to know how his team mates play. The trouble is, where he is so quick he often gets in a position to play a ball into the box,and there is only one or two Saints players in the box,with about 4 or 5 defenders. This is one of the reasons we are missing Chaplow so badly.
Cork and Schneiderlin look better when they have Deano playing with them in the centre to do some of the dirty work.

 

Yeh agreed we do miss Chaplows energy and I really do feel we need an injection of pace up front. I think a fast centre forward would lead to us getting more points away from home, it gives you that out ball and ability to counter attack. Bristol being a perfect example last night with the pace they have up front they are always a threat on the break. We don't have that at the moment to win games we have to dominate teams and times it seems like we are trying to walk it in the net.