DavidP Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 I went to Norwich who played well and felt that midfield let us down. Very disappointing after a long journey. Against Newcastle we played better - O'Neill had a better game which helped. I am a fan of Tomlin and Abraham but in the Norwich game especially they did not get much possession. Freeman was better than O'Dowda against Norwich. I would like to see Bryan in midfield to link up with the attack Defence seems OK generally so that is a good sign Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheddarReds Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Was also at both, both very good sides who will be up there come the end of the year. I'm happy that we competed well in both games though. I feel Norwich wanted to dominate the game so pressed us for the ball more and is perhaps more of the reason why Tomlin etc didn't get on the ball as much as they did against Newcastle, who were happy to sit deep and compact. I think the midfield could and will play better than they did against Norwich but they put us under good pressure rather than us being poor purely by our own faults, if that makes sense? On Newcastle defending deep, hopefully LJ can work with them in training to help us break down teams better who do come to sit deep at AG which IMO will no doubt happen again this season. I think Bryan also played very well at Left-back against Norwich, and think they were instructed to leave a foot in a couple times and he got a couple big hits. A compliment. Personally, as much as he does add to the attack, I think he's fine doing it from full back. He still manages to get forward, can over and underlap well, especially as he is good with both feet and by playing him full back means we can have Tomlin, Freeman, O'Dowda etc further forward which will hopefully be even more exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gl1 Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yeah agree, this time last year there an over riding feeling of doom, I was convinced we would be relegated. This year even though lost 2 on the bounce I don't feel worried at all. Performances are less panicky and the soft underlbelly of looking like we could concede 4 or 5 a game seems to be gone. 2 one nil losses to the teams who will walk this league is no disgrace. Think we will be comfortably mid table, pushing top 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bar BS3 Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 I think the main point is, as you say, our defenders have looked fairly steady, despite personnel changes over the first 4 games. The basis of any decent team. Build on that and develop our attacking play and we continue to build and develop, as per the plan. I think our attacking options are decent and restricted opportunities against 2 of the title favourites are not something to be overly worried about at this stage in the development of our team. I'd like to think that come the end of September we will be scoring more goals, whilst remaining more solid at the back, will have our full strength team fit & available, plus another addition or 2 maybe. A point against Villa and I think most people will be satisfied with the start of the season, during a very tough August fixture list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meh Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Sorry but the defending whilst generally good needs to get better. Last year we were a mess at times and got punished and were often a couple down. This year we are steadier but basics are still costing us and in the last 2 games we have had to chase from a goal down and failed -When we struggle to break teams down but it is nil-nil in the 70th minute we still have a chance to nick one but when we are 1 down these clever teams sit and hold. Against Norwich there was missed tackles across the back and 4 players near to the eventual scorer but nowhere close enough to challenge and block or harass. Against Newcastle Matthews was 10 yards in front of Gayle and Flint was goal side but 10 yards to the right - a decent pass and he was gone as we saw - goal side and tight or even allowing a couple of yards for pace is basics taught at school !! There is still naivety we have not learned from and need to else we will keep having to chase from 1 down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redysteadygo1 Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 I thought that Newcastle's goal was due to Flint ball watching. I think it was JK who lost the ball in their half and they moved it quickly forward out wide. Flint had his eyes on the wide player with the ball and let Gayle run away from him and get in behind for a superb ball over the top. Had flint been more aware he could ahve tracked Gayle and that deft little pass would never have got to gayler in the clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 6 minutes ago, redysteadygo said: I thought that Newcastle's goal was due to Flint ball watching. I think it was JK who lost the ball in their half and they moved it quickly forward out wide. Flint had his eyes on the wide player with the ball and let Gayle run away from him and get in behind for a superb ball over the top. Had flint been more aware he could ahve tracked Gayle and that deft little pass would never have got to gayler in the clear. It was actually GON who `lost` the ball although he didn`t so much lose it as get steamrollered by their CB who knocked the ball to Diame. The rest is as you say though, a bad case of ball watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 4 minutes ago, cynic said: We were playing a very high line which is susceptible to a quick ball over the top. Couldn't really blame anyone and just give credit to a very good pass and an excellent finish. Exactly what I said at the time. If GON had won the ball instead of their giant who did, every chance it would have gone forward into their area and who knows what would have happened then? It could just as easily as ended up 1-0 to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meh Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 12 minutes ago, cynic said: We were playing a very high line which is susceptible to a quick ball over the top. Couldn't really blame anyone and just give credit to a very good pass and an excellent finish. You can still play a high line and be goal side close to the man. It was an excellent pass and an excellent finish but both right sided defenders made it too easy. We have to learn - how many games of going behind do we give these excellent passes and well taken goals before we are allowed to criticise as they will keep coming !! Perhaps it was as much an obvious pass as an excellent pass due to the space Gayle was afforded ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChippenhamRed Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 I take a pragmatic view on the last two games. Consider how we were shipping goals for fun at times last season. 4 conceded v Brentford, Birmingham, Fulham, Hull, Derby, Brighton, Burnley. I would argue Norwich and Newcastle are superior to all those sides but we never looked like conceding four. We look a more solid side this season, and solid sides generally finish mid table or above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciderbeans Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 I think in the final third we need to focus on getting crosses in on a constant basis. Undoubtedly some will prove dangerous. No point cutting back and allowing their defence to reorganise. Abraham is a poacher and kodjia is also good at heading. Play to their strengths. the forwards also need to move more and run the channels to stretch the defence. Haven't seen enough of that so far apart from Abrahams debut against Wigan where it proved a game changer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said: I take a pragmatic view on the last two games. Consider how we were shipping goals for fun at times last season. 4 conceded v Brentford, Birmingham, Fulham, Hull, Derby, Brighton, Burnley. I would argue Norwich and Newcastle are superior to all those sides but we never looked like conceding four. We look a more solid side this season, and solid sides generally finish mid table or above. Said to a few people today, that although the game wasn't great, it is the type of game we'd have conceded 3 or 4 last season. We played quite well in the opening 15-20 minutes, especially down the wings, and Tomlin looked like his little one touch turns were gonna start to come off. When we conceded having just survived an edge of the box free-kick, I thought we might cave. We didn't. Would have been nice to have got a point or two from the last two games, but I think we are learning. At least we were in both games to the final whistle. At times we'll sneak a point or all three (if we are level). Encouraged. i would use tomorrow night to get Kodjia and Abraham to play as a central two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy1968 Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 18 minutes ago, Davefevs said: i would use tomorrow night to get Kodjia and Abraham to play as a central two. Amen to that brother. Kodjia can do a job wide right, but that means we are isolating Abraham upfront, and making it easy for more experienced defenders to deal with him. If we play the same way tomorrow night expect the same goal return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Ah well, LJ got other ideas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchay Red Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 2 minutes ago, Davefevs said: Ah well, LJ got other ideas! 2nd round exit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigratedRobin Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 What about this formation: GK D D D D M M M M Kodjia Abraham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redysteadygo1 Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 On 22/08/2016 at 20:21, Red Right Hand said: It was actually GON who `lost` the ball although he didn`t so much lose it as get steamrollered by their CB who knocked the ball to Diame. The rest is as you say though, a bad case of ball watching. Just had a look at the highlights and it was KJ who lost the ball after a short pass on the left from Freeman. Maybe just before that GON may have lost the ball but we did regain possesion out on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Fair enough, only saw it at the time - haven`t seen any highlights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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