Great Result, but….

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Oh I'm so sorry. Firstly I didn't see that post and secondly I didn't realise that Bristol City had been given a tougher schedule than anyone else and that we're the only team to play replays. 

Please note the sarcasm. 

Well if you have a look at the post - which was a reply to you - you'll see that the fact is that we DO have a tougher schedule than everyone else we're playing at the moment. 

I'll give you an example. When we play QPR on Saturday that will be our 11th game (plus an extra time) since the Xmas/New Year games. It will be their 8th.

I'm not going to look out the post or get all the details up together again since you probably won't read this one either. 

No sarcasm intended!

Edited February 12 by italian dave

[italian dave]

5 hours ago, Davefevs said:

I wouldn’t say we were comfortable!!!  Emotion of watching real time is one thing, but it’s also much easier to not fret about situations watching it back when you know the striker isn’t gonna place a shot into the corner, and hit a good shot straight at O’Leary…or Dickie is gonna somehow get a toe to a cross!

Williams got amongst them.  Shame the other 3 subs didn’t make any impact (Conway excluded as he worked hard without service).  Having said that, Roberts did his job, more McCrorie and Mehmeti who didn’t get anywhere near the levels of Bell and Cornick.

+++++

It was good to hear Manning’s interview today and him talk specifically about his systems, and in particular it’s more what each system does without the ball, which is what I was alluding to with the two man press (with Knight) and the one man press (without).

I don't know about "comfortable", but I honestly didn't have that 'it's only a matter of time' feeling.

And I'm someone who hates going into an early 3 goal lead on the basis that it looks embarrassing when we give it away!

I do agree about Williams though. And we did largely revert to a back 5 - as opposed to wing backs pressing forward. Which with one fewer in the middle, may have played its part in the limited effectiveness of Mehmeti and McCrorie, and the complete lack of service to TC.

And although I'm talking about watching it real time, and not in the knowledge of what's going to happen, I will acknowledge that it probably helped that it was all happening down the other end from us!!

[Davefevs]

10 minutes ago, italian dave said:

I don't know about "comfortable", but I honestly didn't have that 'it's only a matter of time' feeling.

 

Nor did I, believe it or not.  But that’s because we are a courageous group, where heads don’t go down, and pride has been built in defending the goal over a period of 18 months or so (we all know what it was like before players like Zak came of age).

But they got into really good positions, especially within the lines of the penalty area.  The back three’s spacing went to pot, the 2 CMs couldn’t handle the overloads, and we were a mess.  Thankfully Boro didn’t have the final ball that their endeavours might’ve rewarded (a bit like us at times this season).  

That was the frustration (and yes, anger in the after match period) for me, 1) we’d been so good first half and 2) that had Boro been more clinical, or Dickie or Vyner fail to get a toe in, we throw away 2 points.  And had that happened, I sense I wouldn’t have ended my thread the way I did (“and chill”), and I doubt many would’ve been quite so forgiving either, because many are reactive to result.  And of course 3) I don’t think the shape helped us one bit!