After the Lord Mayor's show it's back to the bread and butter. Arguably far more important of course. Apparently we are still absolute favourites to be relegated this season despite the signs of green shoots and resurgence. So what to make of this one. There is little doubt that our back line has tightened up more than considerably. If, and it's a big one, we can stay injury free with the line up as it is and not knacker them all out too much I think we have every chance of winning here and in the future games. We have become the new Burnley of late. COYG
It’s interesting to read the comments of Liverpool fans about what happened on Sunday. Some simply and honourably congratulate Argyle but there is of course a lot of discussion about Slot’s team selection. Some say it was ill-advised but the rest are trying to maintain it was justified. The phrase that crops up most is “bigger fish to fry”. Nobody seems to acknowledge that we have far bigger fish to fry too and it needs to happen tonight. Mirom Muslic has generated some momentum in his first few matches by keeping things simple and relying on his own undoubted charisma to inspire the same players who struggled under Foster and Rooney. I swear this guy could give Henry V and Churchill a run for their money when it comes to motivational speaking. Astute defensive signings have of course helped too, together with what now looks like a culling of dead wood. The support at the last three home games has been phenomenal, especially on Sunday when a large visiting contingent were completely drowned out over the 105 minutes played. It’ll be the same tonight. I make no bones about an eagerness rather than mere willingness to trade an exit from the Cup, £1m paydays not withstanding, for 3 extra points on the board. So, once more unto the breach. On the peak of a wave of passion from players and fans alike, it’s now or never. Come On You Greens.
Pleguezuelo on the injury list for this one.....but there is a chance that Szucs might be back....that would be very timely....maybe our luck is changing.
There is a big difference between us and Liverpool selecting a side due to big or little fish frying notdistant. We do not have the depth to change our side that much whereas a Prem side could potentially put out three or even four teams. Whether we like it or not the FA Cup is our holly grail in cup terms but it is not the be all to end all of cups for many others. The Prem title is probably the bigest prize followed by the Champions league. I get what they are saying there. However, there were a shed load of internationals on show on Sunday and we, with our internationals, outplayed them. It was plain who wanted it more. The team Liverpool put out should have been able to cope with our eleven and there is no excuse from their perspective. We now have this bigger fish to fry tonight.
Hazard, Ogbeta, Houghton, Hardie, Wright, Bundu, Randell, Katic, Sorinolo, Talovierov, Palsson. Subs Grimshaw, Mumba, Szucs, Gyabi, Boateng, Tijani, Al Hajj, Baidoo, Issaka.
5-1.....F/T Bryan 6mins og.....Hardie 10mins pen & 56mins.....Bundu 53mins.....Katic 86mins. Bryan 80mins. WOW fantastic. How do we ring fence Miron Muslic so no one can steal him. Off the bottom.....2pts from safety.
This isn’t the stylish football we once played but Millwall just found it too much to cope with Muslic talked about playing in swarms and that’s what it is. Every time Millwall got the ball they weren’t faced with an Argyle defender. They were faced with a patient queue of Argyle defenders each waiting their turn. If you look at the stats, you might think Millwall were in this game and the score was a fluke. It really wasn’t, they were overrun. We played a lot of long balls and a good proportion of those tend to come back at you which skews the possession ratio but really the result is about right. This style isn’t really about individuals but the collective. Nevertheless, I’m going to put in a word for Mustapha Bundu, who I think had his best game since he came to Argyle in a No 9 role. Big, strong, handy with the ball at his feet and the scorer of the best goal of the bunch.
Style is not the thing that jumps out and bites you watching Argyle. However, in our situation style is not what is required it's results and this one was out of the blue. I have to admit I never expected it to be so easy and on the other hand so boring. It definately wasn't pretty. It was definately effective. You are right notdistant, the Argyle players hunt in packs these days and every time it got anywhere near out area there were at least 3 player ready to get stuck in. It works. The other side of the coin is that the defence does not fanny around with the dball anymore. If in doubt hoof it out. It works. It is also hard to pinpoint a MOM for the match. There was stacks of effort all round. Hardie is back on track. He is definately a confidence player and the goals have flowed in the last 3 games. However, MOM is maybe not his tag for this one despite 2 goals. I would give it to the whole of the defence including Hazard. I am picking up on the comment you made about Bundu notdistant and this shows how football is all about opinion. I actualy commented to my cohorts tonight that I thought Bundu didn't challenge for much and did a lot of running from side to side without sticking a foot in or getting close enough to stick a foot in. Appearance of working without making anything in productivity speak. Then he did score the best of the 5. Funny ole game aint it. We are no longer botom so thats progress anyhow.
I originally put us down to win 3-0 in the forecast and then bottled it and altered it to 2-0. I have to say I felt absolutely sure we’d win. MM has gone back to basics and filled the team with belief. We won’t win them all but a corner has been turned. Whether it’s enough remains to be seen. I suppose the reaction to the first defeat will be key.
I did carefully select my phrase regarding Bundu…… Nevertheless, for me, there wasn’t a man of the match. There were 11 plus the subs. Appropriately for a navy city, they did the Nelson thing. Every man did his duty. What has occurred to me is that the other teams probably haven’t fully cottoned on to the fact that the Muslic Bomb has gone off here and that the blast has changed everything. This has been aided by the fact that each of the opposing managers since Brentford have tended to blame themselves and their own players for what happened . Once they realise this isn’t the same team at all, things may get a bit tougher.
I'm just doing the rollover for the next forecast cycle. Taking the last 5 games, home and away, Argyle are now 11th. Jus sayin'.
According to the 'Erald: Tymoteusz Puchacz was left out only as a precaution after he felt something in a hamstring in training. A scan showed no injury but he was deemed too important to risk. Houghton was left out of the Liverpool game so he was certain to be available against Millwall. I'm pleased to see him back in the team. EDIT In the press conference, Muslic said that he'd found Argyle were "not dangerous at all" at set pieces and since 40% of goals in the UK either come from or immediately follow dead balls, that was a serious weakness. That's why a specialist set piece coach has been brought in. It's not revolutionary thinking but why had his predecessors not tackled it?
