20-10-2014, 23:34
What a rollercoaster to warm up a cold autumn night, eh?
First and foremost, I think the effort and application from all the lads on the pitch tonight was exemplary. Clarke spent a good portion of his final few months in charge blaming fans' unrealistic expectations for a negative atmosphere at the ground, but in my opinion, most fans just want to see the team giving everything they're capable of on a matchday - the result is a secondary concern - and recently we've been getting that high level of performance. It's always gutting on a basic level to come away with a draw after leading twice in a match, but realistically, when you're playing a team who can field about seven world-class attacking players, each of whom cost more individually than our entire team put together, any point is good. End of story. We'd have taken that draw before kick-off, and I'll take it now.
If there are criticisms to be made tactically, it's in the fact that we steadily drifted deeper and deeper and lacked any kind of outlet to relieve the pressure, making both equalisers pretty inevitable (and nearly inviting a winner). Given the quality of the opposition, it's difficult to see much of an answer to that - you're never going to control the midfield against Man Utd, and you're on a hiding to nothing if you try - but it was serious Alamo time around our box for large portions of the match. Something for Irvine to consider going forward.
Individually, Lescott had his first wobbly performance, but hopefully can put it behind him. Both goals were fantastic finishes, full credit to Saido and Sess. Dawson was rock-solid, Dozza showed some real flashes of genuine Prem quality once again (though struggled to contain Di Maria, perhaps understandably), and Brunty looks right back on form with some of those absolutely visionary passes which have always been his strength.
Ultimately, how good a point this is will be determined by what we do against Palace. We NEED to build on this draw and get that win on Saturday which'll shove us right up the table. Let's do it.
First and foremost, I think the effort and application from all the lads on the pitch tonight was exemplary. Clarke spent a good portion of his final few months in charge blaming fans' unrealistic expectations for a negative atmosphere at the ground, but in my opinion, most fans just want to see the team giving everything they're capable of on a matchday - the result is a secondary concern - and recently we've been getting that high level of performance. It's always gutting on a basic level to come away with a draw after leading twice in a match, but realistically, when you're playing a team who can field about seven world-class attacking players, each of whom cost more individually than our entire team put together, any point is good. End of story. We'd have taken that draw before kick-off, and I'll take it now.
If there are criticisms to be made tactically, it's in the fact that we steadily drifted deeper and deeper and lacked any kind of outlet to relieve the pressure, making both equalisers pretty inevitable (and nearly inviting a winner). Given the quality of the opposition, it's difficult to see much of an answer to that - you're never going to control the midfield against Man Utd, and you're on a hiding to nothing if you try - but it was serious Alamo time around our box for large portions of the match. Something for Irvine to consider going forward.
Individually, Lescott had his first wobbly performance, but hopefully can put it behind him. Both goals were fantastic finishes, full credit to Saido and Sess. Dawson was rock-solid, Dozza showed some real flashes of genuine Prem quality once again (though struggled to contain Di Maria, perhaps understandably), and Brunty looks right back on form with some of those absolutely visionary passes which have always been his strength.
Ultimately, how good a point this is will be determined by what we do against Palace. We NEED to build on this draw and get that win on Saturday which'll shove us right up the table. Let's do it.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley