Nibor Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I don't get it, why would he pull out bearing in mind he's not averse to getting stuck in ? I know the occasions you mean, I think once he got 'megged, another occasion, Johnson (Glen) ghosted by him, dunno if he bottled that or not. Those aren't the occasions I'm talking about and I would say as footballers go he's very averse to getting stuck in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Economou Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Those aren't the occasions I'm talking about and I would say as footballers go he's very averse to getting stuck in. OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordofthebling Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Have not read most of the thread, but thought expressing my feelings of how proud I am of the performance should be stuck in here... Johnson, Maynard, Marvin and Sproule looked great - a great game and hopefully we can go into the Wolves game with confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindjuicer Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Not correct to say LJ didnt give the ball away at after the first 10, because he did - however he had a good game, actually got into both penalty areas on a number of ocassions, played a clever reverse pass to set up a good chance, though I think to say 5 is stretching it, unbelievably had a header on goal Yeah, looked like our best chance apart from the penalty. Perfect cross from Sproule, wasn't it? It's funny how Nibor said Sproule has just realised he can knock it past the defender and run because he really doesn't play like someone who is that fast. He delays before running past the player and he keeps the ball too close when he is past. And despite all the pointless long ball we play, hardly any of it goes to Sproule to run on to. I noticed in the 2nd half that when he looked up to cross, Maynard and Styvar were barely in the final third... So maybe he needs to look earlier, as soon as he gets past the fullback - then maybe run towards the box, draw a central defender etc. McIndoe looked up for it tonight but only ever got the ball when he took it from one of their forwards. :noexpression: I like the look of Styvar and gave my comments on the other thread. Agree the whole midfield played well. Dunno what tracking back has to do with LJ? Everyone around me (Williams stand) screamed "Get back" and the players just stopped (Sproule excepted). Belhadj took his time and drew McCombe off Kranjcar. I haven't seen a replay and I'm fully aware that in the heat of the moment, we see what we expect to see. So feel free to correct me but tracking back by at least 2 is not only necessary I think it would have made a difference. First half defence lost us the game tonight. Maynard was playing great when he came more central - considering we keep changing his partner. To get "quality service" you need quality positioning and that's not easy when the other team are defending that well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garlicbread Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I thought we played OK, without being great. Sproule looked threatening when running at players but he needs to be able to do this without having to keep his head down so much so he can see where to put his final ball. At least he's worked out that he's quick enough to just knock it past them and run. Skuse had a particularly good game, covered lots of ground and put in some decent challenges, as did Elliott who was a real physical presence - I also thought Nicky Maynard showed improvement all round. LJ had one of his better games this season and played a few decent passes supporting the attacking play well. Set pieces still a bit lacking on last season and no matter how great his passing gets he will never win the crowd over when he bottles 50/50s which he did several times. Styvar looked a clever player but was quite isolated, I'd like to see him in a 442 - not convinced by 433 as a formation when you don't have two exceptional wingers who score goals and we don't. Defensively we weren't too bad, I thought we could have done better with the first goal but after that we had to chase the game and only really got caught on the break. I was a bit surprised that we managed to pick 18 players and not include the only player left in the squad who seems to have the potential to produce a little magic even on the bench - how did Noble get left out? I also think the impact that John and Adebola didn't make shows that there is a use for Trundle. In fact I'd rather have brought on Akinde late in a game like that than either of those truth be told. The difference between the two sides was that the chances Portsmouth created were fewer but far higher quality and apart from a few pingball sessions following set plays we didn't really trouble them from open play much considering how much possession we actually had. Loved his dink passed the full back for Orr to run on to, when he realised Orr wasnt even looking, started to run and even beat the pompey defender to he ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Not correct to say LJ didnt give the ball away at after the first 10, because he did - however he had a good game, actually got into both penalty areas on a number of ocassions, played a clever reverse pass to set up a good chance, though I think to say 5 is stretching it, unbelievably had a header on goal, and even won a tackle. Long may that continue, if it does he will find a convert here. Sproule had the beating of the left back - who was for me their best player in the first game - every time, however the final ball is a real frustration, and for that reason doesnt get MoM from me. That has to go to Elliott, who was superb and determination personified. Closely followed by Skuse, who can consider himself very hard done by not to have previously been given the run in the side he is getting now. Maynard is looking better and better, and sharper and sharper, and more confident as each game passes. Shocking penalty though. James will have done his homework and knew which way to go, the height of the ball even more of a bonus to him. Pompey forwards as you say were pants, including Crouch, well especially Crouch as he was their only forward until, bizarrely, they went one up, after which time they seemed to have 3 or 4 up front on the counter attack. To say no-one tracked back (the underline presumably being an answer to the criticism of LJ's deficiencies in that area, but one example hardly constituting a scientific study) for the second goal is not really much of a point IMO, as we were committed to pushing forward. Sproule being the quickest player on the pitch did his best, and to his credit never gave up, but it was a forlorn cause. Styvar needs to improve, I don't recall one really telling contribution from his first 2 games. Spoke to a few lads after the game who don't go to Ashton Gate but watched on TV. Their opinion - forwards not being given enough quality service. Did Noble have something more important to do this evening? Overall, over 2 games Portsmouth did not seem that much better than us, as was the case with Middlesborough in the past 2 seasons, however since we keep losing to Premier sides, the gulf is probably wider than we'd like to believe. Very accurate chants of wak-ner (sp) aimed at Distin towards the end of the game. Disgraceful, I would very much like to punch him. Good comments as usual Nick - I am not a massive fan of LJ but I think he had one of his best games for City for as long as I can remember, and when you consider the opposition, despite having lost so many midfielders, I reckon it was a massive performance from him. He seemed to be playing in a more advanced position, which means he wasn't playing so many 'pointless' balls and maybe GJ realises that every other team seems to rely upon the back four to distribute from deep positions, so needs to make sure we have footballers there good enough to bring the ball out. I think some of the first half problem was down to the formation where we were outnumbered in defence at times and Glen Johnson was able to plough down our left. Ivan again looked dangerous but whenever Pompey pushed him inside he didn't have the left foot to do anything which is a shame, but nothing he will be able to do anything about at this stage of his career. I agree that Marvin was our MoM and he easily matched up to the opposition. All in all, it hinged on the penalty and subsequent goal 17 seconds later - had we got the decision, we might have scored the pen and the whole shape of the game may have changed, because I wonder how fragile Pompey might have been in terms of confidence had they gone one down. Lets not forget though that they hit the woodwork twice in quick succession before they scored. After that, we chased the game and did it bloody well, although we mustn't forget that we looked a bit vulnerable against the hoofball on at least two occasions in the second half. Nicky looked lively, Styvar a bit out of it, which is understandable perhaps, and I thought Cole was steady rather than great like some have said, but nothing wrong with that. My concern (Basso apart) was probably the back four - distribution was sloppy on occasion which needs to be worked on before the weekend. All in all, i'm a bit deflated, but its a measure of how far we have come that there isn't quite so much of the 'plucky Bristol' crap flying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssexRobin Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 We looked very good on the box tonight, at times hard to tell who were the Prem outfit. Think we've been hard done by, a draw at least would have been fair, and the chances we missed, could well have won it. Special mention to Marvin, Johnson and Sproule, all class. How fortunate were Pompey though, 2 Crouch handballs in our box for their first, and I swear the ball went out for our corner before their 2nd! Did ourselves proud anyway. Completely agree. Yes, there were little things that we can work on, but walking back from the pub with two Spurs supporters there was a general agreement that we played out of our skin. If luck was on our side, things could have been very different indeed. I think today's Metro (London edition) sums it up rather well when it says Bristol City gave Pompey a "serious scare". C'mon you mighty reds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhatWill Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I thought Johnson should have brought on Adebola earlier. He caused mayhem at Fratton Park when he came on. Against the likes of Campbell and Distin we needed more of a physical prescence up top and again when he came on last night space was visibly being created for our other forwards. He should have at least come on before John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atticus Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I thought Johnson should have brought on Adebola earlier. He caused mayhem at Fratton Park when he came on. Against the likes of Campbell and Distin we needed more of a physical prescence up top and again when he came on last night space was visibly being created for our other forwards. He should have at least come on before John. I agree, Adebola really played well when he came on, I was very impressed with him, as well as Maynard, Sproule, Johnson and Elliot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terjon Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Its all been covered in this thread about the game, I would only like to add how impressive Maynard is starting to look, he is a million miles away from the lad that started playing for us, WELL Done Maynard, Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Ian M Posted January 14, 2009 Admin Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Loved his dink passed the full back for Orr to run on to, when he realised Orr wasnt even looking, started to run and even beat the pompey defender to he ball Without the benefit of having seen a replay yet, was Brad coming back from an offside position? It seemed a reasonable explanation at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindjuicer Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Saw the goals on Sky News. First was worse than I thought. Carey and I think Skuse ignored Crouch unmarked about 1.5m away and just stood there ball-watching. Second goal, McIndoe ran back as well but probably got overtaken by Sproule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Tansley Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Its all been covered in this thread about the game, I would only like to add how impressive Maynard is starting to look, he is a million miles away from the lad that started playing for us, WELL Done Maynard, Brilliant. which proves what everyone EXCEPT you was saying about him doesn't it, he NEEDS time, and games... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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