22-11-2020, 00:12
I wasn't particularly happy with the selection when I saw it pre-game. It was completely different from the side which showed so much pride against Spurs and I don't know why. Obviously we were missing Jake, but I didn't see why the likes of Robbo and Krovi who played so well against Spurs were dropped. I feel in particular for Robbo, who for me has been our best player this season and never gets selected...
So when I saw that XI, I feared the worst. I felt with a 4 man midfield against their 5 that we might get massacred.
So now, post-game, I suppose the positive is that the performance exceeded my expectations in that we kept the scoreline reasonable. In fact, we probably could've snatched something had the penalty not been chalked off. I have no idea why that was chalked off, because I couldn't see any evidence of Fernandes touching the ball on the replays. It was a joke of a decision.
That said, if the penalty had been given, it would've papered over the cracks of what was a quite dour performance. For me, this team simply don't look like scoring against anyone. This formation is reliant on having good wing backs who get forward. We don't have that, so there are simply too many men behind the ball. We are lacking options going forward and Perira and Grady, who were unjustly selected over Robbo and Krovi IMO, were again below par.
What really annoys me is that it's the 88th minute onwards and we keep tip tapping about at the back. Any coach worth their salt would push Bartley up front and knock some balls long. Does Bilic really think we're going to work an opportunity from open play in 3 minutes when we haven't been able to work one in 3 games? Even in the 93rd minute when we had chances to pump the ball in, we continue going short, with Ajayi and Bartley passing between themselves and the back. The game finishes after spending 2 minutes going side to side.
Where is the guts? The will to get a goal back? The desire to actually score?
Where is the player grabbing Bartley by the scruff of the beck and telling him to push up top and ordering Johnstone to launch it?
There's just no brains or bottle. For the ref to blow up like that, after going side to side for 2 minutes is criminal.
So when I saw that XI, I feared the worst. I felt with a 4 man midfield against their 5 that we might get massacred.
So now, post-game, I suppose the positive is that the performance exceeded my expectations in that we kept the scoreline reasonable. In fact, we probably could've snatched something had the penalty not been chalked off. I have no idea why that was chalked off, because I couldn't see any evidence of Fernandes touching the ball on the replays. It was a joke of a decision.
That said, if the penalty had been given, it would've papered over the cracks of what was a quite dour performance. For me, this team simply don't look like scoring against anyone. This formation is reliant on having good wing backs who get forward. We don't have that, so there are simply too many men behind the ball. We are lacking options going forward and Perira and Grady, who were unjustly selected over Robbo and Krovi IMO, were again below par.
What really annoys me is that it's the 88th minute onwards and we keep tip tapping about at the back. Any coach worth their salt would push Bartley up front and knock some balls long. Does Bilic really think we're going to work an opportunity from open play in 3 minutes when we haven't been able to work one in 3 games? Even in the 93rd minute when we had chances to pump the ball in, we continue going short, with Ajayi and Bartley passing between themselves and the back. The game finishes after spending 2 minutes going side to side.
Where is the guts? The will to get a goal back? The desire to actually score?
Where is the player grabbing Bartley by the scruff of the beck and telling him to push up top and ordering Johnstone to launch it?
There's just no brains or bottle. For the ref to blow up like that, after going side to side for 2 minutes is criminal.