Agreed with getting Phillips off, but I’d personally rather have Delap up top than Hirst. If we’re to create goalscoring opportunities, I’d much rather Delap on the end of a chance than Hirst.
Nah, don't agree. This new team isn't doing it yet, think we'll be better with Chappers and Hirst. Remember, Hirst is the one that creates the space for the others to score, I don't care if he gets on the end of one or not. Clarke coming on has already added to the attack, we look better for every player from last season that we bring on.
He's scored, sure, but he's not stretching the defence or creating space for others. He gives away too many free kicks when we can't afford to be gifting cheap possession back. I say it every week, Delap is too raw and too rash.
We probably need a relegation and immediate return to compete properly in this league. We don’t quite have the quality or depth at the moment. I really hope it’s just gelling and the team will get better with more minutes. It’s a long old season.
It's not though, it's 38 games, not a long season to get it right. For me, we've looked better each time a player from last season comes on. Chaplin is our best 10, finds space better than anybody else and Hutch doesn't affect the game enough there. Clarke has added overlaps to the right. Hirst is running in behind and stretching the game. I think the experiment of integrating the new players is done, we need to start with a few more of the lads that got us here, we look more accomplished and more of a connected team.
There we go, a rare home defeat. We did look much better wen the old guard came on. Much to think about. Are we enjoying matchday as much as last season?
I think it’s dangerous to read too much from the last 20 minutes when Everton - with a two goal cushion - were still relatively cruising along in second gear. We had a few chances, but nothing of real substance. Kieran needs to change something though. Whether that’s starting more of the lads who got us here or change the formation, we need some kind of spark. Staying up was always going to be a challenge because the Premier League is a very different beast to the last time we played in it 22 years ago. Mistakes are punished - and we made far too many today.
I'd like to see a change in the starters up top. Hirst and Chaplin, Hutch on the right. Delap has scored a few but mostly done by himself. We're not scoring the team goals we were. The fluidity isn't there, the understanding isn't there and the games are ticking on by. Shame we don't have more Cup games to integrate the new players but we're taking a risk on getting this new team playing well in a short space of time. We can't keep letting points pass by whilst we wait for it to improve. Let's start with more of last year's team just to see if we can get a foothold in the game early and then bring the new lads on. It's certainly not working doing it the other way around.
Yeah, Everton may have been sitting back a little more, I still think we looked better with Clarke at RB, Chaplin in the hole and Hutch on the right. Clarke made overlaps, Chaplin found space and passes forward, Hutch has more space and less defenders around him on the right.
