Ratings from today

[BobBobSuperBob]

3 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

Yep. That definitely gets a like from me. 
 

Been saying all season that none of our midfield are comfortable taking the ball off the back four. None have the composure to play from deep. They all panic. About 15-20 times this season one of JB, AN or HNM have lost possession easily on the edge of their own box when trying to ‘play’ out. 
Pack tended to make this error about 3 times a season and get absolutely blasted for it. This season it’s happened 15-20 times! 
 

Bob is right. We miss Pack if we wanna play a measured build up. Perhaps LJ has realised he doesn’t have the tools for this and correctly started to play more ‘direct’. It was clear that the midfield were bypassed today in our build up. Fam won his fair share of knock downs and we had runners off him. 
 

If that’s to be our identity for the rest of the season then so be it. It’s a case of realising we don’t have the players to be able to play a measured build up, so play to our strengths. Big man up top, runners off him, full backs pushing on for overloads. 

I know you are a big Pack fan Harry , but I think that’s fair

I wasn’t always sold on him as the best we could do but if I’m being brutal we may have moved on the wrong one and despite Burnley’s alleged interest , controversial with some but Josh is the one we maybe needed to trade

Our very best spell under LJ was with Korey and Pack playing their different but respective roles together centrally with JB on RHS , which always has and still is his best position for me

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, Harry said:

 

Yep. That definitely gets a like from me. 
 

Been saying all season that none of our midfield are comfortable taking the ball off the back four. None have the composure to play from deep. They all panic. About 15-20 times this season one of JB, AN or HNM have lost possession easily on the edge of their own box when trying to ‘play’ out. 
Pack tended to make this error about 3 times a season and get absolutely blasted for it. This season it’s happened 15-20 times! 
 

Bob is right. We miss Pack if we wanna play a measured build up. Perhaps LJ has realised he doesn’t have the tools for this and correctly started to play more ‘direct’. It was clear that the midfield were bypassed today in our build up. Fam won his fair share of knock downs and we had runners off him. 
 

If that’s to be our identity for the rest of the season then so be it. It’s a case of realising we don’t have the players to be able to play a measured build up, so play to our strengths. Big man up top, runners off him, full backs pushing on for overloads. 

Quite like the sound of it Harry.

Just need a Pack-type, but perhaps a bit more athletic.

2 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Good pressing Bob, Bob

I like the questioning and look forward to a forum where only people going to the game can comment on the game itself. Obviously a wider forum for topics other than the games and players should be facilitated 

A major reason why this forum attracts such a small % of City fans is that so few contributors have actually  been to the games. 

With streams / Robinstv you need to allow them too.  But I think it’s good to know how posters watched the game.  I know watching away games on Robinstv I miss loads of stuff I catch watching live at AG.

[Berkshire Red]

5 hours ago, Numero Uno said:

Bentley 7

Hunt 6 Williams 7 Baker 5 Dasilva 6

Paterson 9 Smith 5 Brownhill 4

Elliasson 6 Fammy 6 Weimann 4

Baker 5?? Seems harsh for lots of fans MOTM

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 hours ago, RedDave said:

Smith was outnumbered and let down by Brownhill. How can he dominate a midfield in his own?

In a 2, at this level, you can always be swimming against the tide a bit.

[Numero Uno]

32 minutes ago, City18 said:

Baker 5?? Seems harsh for lots of fans MOTM

Might be a bit harsh as he did defend well enough but his distribution was crap imo. Paterson MOTM all day long.

[Davefevs]

7 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Might be a bit harsh as he did defend well enough but his distribution was crap imo. Paterson MOTM all day long.

Yeah, his passing as usual not his strong suit....but those green icons are aplenty!!

blue = successful passes, red = unsuccessful

green = duels won (various types inc clearances) orange = duels lost

One key pass today, the pacy pass to Dasilva for the goal.

[Chivs]

3 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Helpful view / post Dave

As for your last paragraph , being brutal , Korey and Josh , setting aside their pluses, are between them not good enough technically , on ball for me

If you want players to take it off the Centre halves or full backs deep , Neither breed confidence in doing so

Neither are ‘great’  passers of the ball and both can have a suspect first touch under pressure 

As soon as we kicked off I said to the lad next to me, anticipating what was likely ‘We moved Pack on , With Nagy as his replacement to provide that role and we had no obvious receiver in there today

If Nagy isn’t going to play , we miss Pack , and although he had his limitations in some respects , we miss quite a few things about Pack , including his range of passing which Nagy doesn’t have 

In fairness (Blimey I think this is the third ‘In fairness’ to LJ post I’ve just written) I don’t think the plan was to try and play through them Dav ebecause of their press

I suspect that , particularly with the current vibe , LJ was happy to go longer to avert the press, and have to be honest , with the way we’ve been playing , and what he had available and in any kind of form , having been plagued by constantly giving the ball away in our own half for weeks now, I’d have to say , if that’s right , he did the sensible / right thing today

Brownhill has an awful first touch whether he's under pressure or not. I've seen drunk camels with animal balloons tied to their legs with better touches than Brownhill.

Very often, he will make an awful mistake in the middle of the park (ask Massengo!) causing a good opportunity for the opposition.

I'm really looking forward to him going to Burnley as it means LJ will be forced to pick someone else (Nagy!).  Plus, it will show how poor the Premiershit is.

By the way, we don't miss Pack.  He had a good range of passing but that isn't responsible for any draw/losses.  Pack's other limitations would have been a problem for this season's midfield.

[Baldyman]

Josh needs to be sent home and told to stay away from footy for a few weeks . Looks like he desperately needs a rest and time to think about what he wants . An absolute shadow of his former self and we have Massengo and Nagy to step in . Love Josh to bits but some good mam management is needed .

[Grem]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Today, probably as a knee-jerk reaction to Brownhill’s performance, was to think if he actually did go to Burnley, I’d replace him with.....

.....big, athletic, central midfielder, complimented by Nagy, Massengo and Morrell (next season).  I think we could play a bit longer then.  Plus we’d have a better balanced midfield, little ones and a big one.

We probably have one.......Bakinson

[Fuber]

Bentley - 6 - Some bad kicking at the start, a class save and then settled down a bit, wasn't tested much thereafter. 

Hunt - 5 - Fairly anonymous, struggled at times with Ritzmaier and Chaplin floating between eachother and wasn't decisive when deciding whose run to track. 

Williams - 5 - Did the basics, but struggled at times with Chaplin's feints on the edge of the box. Guilty of giving too much space at times. 

Baker - 7 - A rock solid Baker performance. Shut down Brown fairly well and supported and covered well for Ash. Good pass through to DaSilva setting up for the winner. 

DaSilva - 8 - Best game since back from injury, and first full 90 I beleive, which is fantastic in the circumstances. Only blip being a short back pass to Bents. 

Eliasson - 7 - Cant put a foot wrong at the minute, did well to not let his head drop after the first miss, and took the second chance very well. 

Brownhill - 5 - Fairly anonymous and a few heavy touches, went missing a bit today I felt. Nagy would have been more suitable possibly, as he would have at least given the option to collect from the Defence more. 

Smith - 6 - Solid, covered well for Brownhill but it was a bit much for him, especially on the counter. Only thing that let him down was straying tol far forward at times, allowing Barnsley to break. 

Paterson - 6 - Worked hard first half, went missing a bit in the second, but we have missed his carry ability on the ball it must be said. 

Weimann - 5 - Went awol today, one good pass, but besides that - didnt show for the ball often, a couple of lazy runs, our entire right hand side goes missing at the moment. 

Diedhiou - 6 - Getting into good position, some nice flick ons from limited service, played his role, a shame about the two misses. 

*Just a personal viewpoint. 

[Garland-sweden]

Weimann saved a goal and had a brilliant pass to Famara who should scored.

[Son of Fred]

11 hours ago, real_bristol said:

Dare I say someone with more pace (Semenyo?) May have got there sooner and made it 1 nil.

Dare I say he wouldn't,,, he's very raw & more likely to jump in with a rash challenge - woefully out of his depth at championship level,, hasn't as yet a single championship goal to his name, to be more productive than a bloke proven over years in this division & higher?...really??

Good luck with that.

[Redspark]

13 hours ago, Davefevs said:

My ratings:- (6 is a player earning his wages for having a decent game)

Bentley 6 - fine save in first half, but ponderous with the ball at feet or in hand at the mo’.  Did the job I expected today.

Hunt 6 - bit mixed, a couple of great balls down the right in first half and looked like he was asked to play narrower alongside Williams today, meaning there was a bit of space down their left.

Williams 7 - much more like it.  Great block with Bentley beaten in second half.  Defended with heart and experience against a very willing Chaplin.

Baker 7 (would be a 7.5 but I don’t do halves) - love someone’s comment - he’s a rock made of glass - but he’s been our best defender this season, and was very solid today both on the deck and in the air.

Dasilva 7 - sneaked a 7 for the run and cross that led to the goal.  Still feeling his way back, but he is getting better.  Defensively sound.

Smith 6 - snuffed out a lot of stuff (good) but ponderous on the ball (bad).  Another probably not fully at the races following injuries.

Brownhill 4 - just poor, as poor as I’ve seen him.  Looked heavy legged when actually staying on his feet.  Offered nothing today with the ball, and left Korey exposed without it.

Weimann 6 - ran his nuts off today, starting RW in a 4231 and then in a 4141 before up front for final 5 mins in 442.  Linked well with Hunt today, unlucky with blocked far post volley, and lovely pull back for Fam to blaze over.

Paterson 8 - probably our best player, in the hole initially, in his old 17/18 position for most of the match, and if anyone deserved to be on the pitch and contribute to the winner it was him.  Hope it’s not a typical Pato false-dawn, but he really looks “on it”.  Great cross on the run with his left peg for Weimann’s volley.

Eliasson 6 - I know he got the winner, but he was pretty ineffective today against their RB Williams. Missed a really good chance and showed composure for the winner.  He was a 5 for me without the goal.

Diedhiou 8 - led the line well, and his desire was great today.  Got into scoring positions, and gave his markers a tough old game today, which is the minimum.  Got the crowd going too.  Probably our best player of late overall.

Sub: O’Dowda - no rating.

 

[Redspark]

Diedhou 8!

I know opinions vary, but really,  Fam  your top rated player today. Imo average at best

[Hampshire Red]

Hands up, I wasn't there. Pleased to receive your ratings which clearly I can't comment on. However with your comments on NE, I presume you mean at home he can't put a put wrong. 

For a fact at Shrewsbury he was awful after 10mins and at Wigan he was poor all game. He was totally overshadowed by Pato and by Fam's 'game of the decade' 

[And Its Smith]

13 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

Hands up, I wasn't there. Pleased to receive your ratings which clearly I can't comment on. However with your comments on NE, I presume you mean at home he can't put a put wrong. 

For a fact at Shrewsbury he was awful after 10mins and at Wigan he was poor all game. He was totally overshadowed by Pato and by Fam's 'game of the decade' 

He wasn’t great yesterday. But scored the winner. That’s about it really 

[Shtanley]

10 hours ago, Harry said:

 

Yep. That definitely gets a like from me. 
 

Been saying all season that none of our midfield are comfortable taking the ball off the back four. None have the composure to play from deep. They all panic. About 15-20 times this season one of JB, AN or HNM have lost possession easily on the edge of their own box when trying to ‘play’ out. 
Pack tended to make this error about 3 times a season and get absolutely blasted for it. This season it’s happened 15-20 times! 
 

Bob is right. We miss Pack if we wanna play a measured build up. Perhaps LJ has realised he doesn’t have the tools for this and correctly started to play more ‘direct’. It was clear that the midfield were bypassed today in our build up. Fam won his fair share of knock downs and we had runners off him. 
 

If that’s to be our identity for the rest of the season then so be it. It’s a case of realising we don’t have the players to be able to play a measured build up, so play to our strengths. Big man up top, runners off him, full backs pushing on for overloads. 

Palmer was doing it a lot when we were playing 352 and it was working. 

[Oh Louie louie]

I dont wish to be harsh, but can anyone tell me what on earth this hunt is doing in the team?

Was his best game in 2 months yesterday, and he was rated a 6, which was fair.

Always looks like hes going to give away a goal.

[And Its Smith]

23 minutes ago, Oh Louie louie said:

I dont wish to be harsh, but can anyone tell me what on earth this hunt is doing in the team?

Was his best game in 2 months yesterday, and he was rated a 6, which was fair.

Always looks like hes going to give away a goal.

Is Pereira much better? Hard to strongly argue either way really. Both average right backs. Only thing with Pedro is he’s young so should improve. If we are going to sign him we should be playing him though 

[Oh Louie louie]

Id go with the latter and hope he improves dave, i agree.

I reckon hunt has been at fault for at least 5 goals over the last 2 months..

He shouldnt have had a look in after that charlton game.

[Red Army 87]

13 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Great points

I think we are generally muddled in our thinking / approach atm and have been for some time

Agree about your comments the ‘how to go longer’  but I think it was more about risk averse , and in terms of trying to get a result , I think the plan of less risk against the press was probably sensible in LJs situation 

Agree very much with your last paragraph. It was clear that they were instructed not to take any risks at the back - imagine the reaction if we conceded in the first 10 due to an individual error trying to pass out.

We also didn’t press to high either, and you could see why in the second half when on one occasion we did press strongly with 5 or 6 players and Barnsley passed through it  with advantages all over the front line - fortunately for us they didn’t have the end product to punish us.

[Spud55]

14 hours ago, BobBobSuperBob said:

Well that’s the first mistake

It was Weimann with a threaded ball at perfect weight 

It was a pull back and it wasn't perfect weight it was behind Fam, who should absolutely have done better but pretending it was the perfect ball is not true. 

[Davefevs]

8 hours ago, Grem said:

We probably have one.......Bakinson

Will really need to see the ugly part of his game, at present he’s an easy on the eye passer.

1 hour ago, Redspark said:

Diedhou 8!

I know opinions vary, but really,  Fam  your top rated player today. Imo average at best

He sneaked an 8, thought he worked hard, actually ran a couple of channels, won some great flicks that we didn’t quite have the right run on.  Paterson got an 8, my MOTM, so Fam not the only 8.  Sometimes I mark Fam quite harshly, eg. Wigan, but today I thought he did well, wasn’t like he got great service.

[REDOXO]

17 hours ago, bcfcnick said:

I know you mean in preference to those three players, but I'd like to see LJ literally / positionally play Taylor Moore in front of (defensive midfield) two of the above. 

He brings the ball forward so well and has the skills and instinct to try and retain possession and that rarely seen ability of late, to consistently pass to a teammate. His weakness has been in terms of winning the aerial battles and the odd mistake. 

I think he has the footballing ability and physical presence to play defensive midfield and, who knows,  it might turn out to be another positional change revelation like Bobby Reid.  Defensive midfield is a little less pressurised than playing centre back where the odd mistake as the last man has more significance and scrutiny. 

There is a growing consensus that whilst we need a striker who is more clinical than Fammy, our midfield is being dominated match after match by the opposition and is a little lightweight and needs strengthening. 

The three practical solutions are 1) sell Brownhill and recruit.  Recruitment has been interesting but a little lightweight and unbalanced, although I don't think we have seen the best of Nagy just yet.  2) Bring back Joe Morrell, something I'd like to see but doesn't look likely to happen. LJ talks him up but actions speak louder than words.  3) Lastly,  give Taylor Moore the opportunity to physically strengthen midfield and potentially provide more cohesion to our link-up play. Perhaps worth a try given the obvious current weakness.

I think there is a great opportunity here! Taylor Moore is a very good player. I get pissed off with the horribly lazy ‘not as good as Webster’ comments, the bloke is a really good player warming a bench, when we are crying out for some more skillful forward motion form our own penalty area...LJ is in no mind to take risks however and right now fancies lumps at the back hoofing the ball forward...What they used to call percentage play (meaning its 50-50 whether you retain possession)

[real_bristol]

On 18/01/2020 at 21:45, Robert the bruce said:

Dare I say he wouldn't,,, he's very raw & more likely to jump in with a rash challenge - woefully out of his depth at championship level,, hasn't as yet a single championship goal to his name, to be more productive than a bloke proven over years in this division & higher?...really??

Good luck with that.

Bet you a fiver that Semenyo would beat Weimann in a sprint?