Our defence

I think Saylor is our best defender. And our best leader. We miss both of these when he is out. Hopefully either Willo can come in and do a job or we can get an all round CB to come in for the rest of the season then play with Saylor next season.

 

Their first goal came about because we didn't have Cabaye. Although Vuckic played well the game passed him by a lot meaning West Brom had time in midfield to pick a pass, which is dangerous given Odenwingie's pace and movement. I also think the second and third would've probably been prevented by Saylor.

The main problem is, as people have said, Perch and Collo are too similar. Perch has been playing well recently, he just isn't strong in the air. Both of them prefer the ball on the floor and I seem to remember Perch made a very well timed sliding tackle in our box in the first half. We'll fare better when Williamson is back as he is in the same kind of mould as Saylor, even if he isn't as good as him.

 

Saylor is a huge miss, as people have said, for both his leadership and aerial presence in the box. I definitely don't think Colo is back to 100% health, and I think he's failing to adjust his position to account for the lost pace. That's only accentuated when Raylor is playing along side him and he has to stretch his position to cover when Raylor gets lost in the midfield (like on their third goal). Tiote isn't controlling possession in our own half as he did last season either.

 

Others may disagree but I think the Perch-Colo partnership is very similar to the Guthrie-Cabaye midfield partnership that we had earlier in the season. The lesser players (Perch/Guthrie) are playing well but they are to similar to the better players for the partnership to work. This is effecting the better players and they are not performing to their normal levels as they are having to try to do the job that their partner would usually do.

If any of that makes sense....

 

Makes great sense! That was always my defence of Cabaye's performance in those games; although Guthrie did a respectable job, him in the line-up didn't allow for Cabaye to press forward as he was in September

 

3rd game in a row where we have dominated possession, but not won. Conceded 7 goals in the process.

That says it all really.