After watching the match yesterday, it was clear to see that the majority of the team are limited when it comes to general speed speed and acceleration on the park. Seems to be a lack of sharpness both physically and mentally. I saw many examples during the game of when we had the ball going forward only to be easily closed down thus causing the player to choose the back pass which often led to an attempted long pass forward which 9 times out of 10 was easily cleared by the opposing team. I,m not knocking Joey, Nedum or Shaun Derry as players but they are very slow, and although it is too late to address at this stage of the season, I really hope this is improved upon for next seasons Premier League campaign. Yes, we WILL survive
I think a point worth noting from yesterday's game was how often the passes were aimed either directly at or just behind players rather than in front of them for forward momentum, that in itself gave the opposition additional time to defend and reduced our options...
Three games in six days for most of them will mean you're not at your absolute peak. Of yesterday's starting XI, only Derry and Hill are particularly slow imo and Hill is playing superbly. Onuoha's a big unit and is quick when he gets going but his first touch leaves a lot to be desired.
This has been a pet hate of mine for years. It is not just us that suffer from this, most teams seem to. So many times a decent break is slowed down by not passing into the space infront of the runner.
