10-04-2016, 19:34
Carlos's Blind Spot
A good day spoilt by Wednesday.
CC seems to have a blind spot when we play weaker sides away because he seems to go 442 & wonders why we lose (Charlton, MK, Shrewsbury & now Bristol City). Trouble is that he keeps doing it.
We seemed all wrong for this match. Firstly the team set off & got stuck in traffic & missed their scheduled evening meal on Friday. Then we pick a team with six loan players in it & it took a fan tweeting this before CC changed the team. Then Westwood got injured in the warm up.
We set up 442 with Nuhiu & FF up front, Lee on the right, McGeady on the left with Bannan & Lopez in the centre.
We actually played well for about ten minutes with McGeady missing a great chance one on one with O'Donnell and Bannan floating a free kick a foot wide with the keeper stranded.
After that, we were second best for the rest of the half. Nuhiu was next to useless, FF was below par, Bannan was rusty, McGeady disappeared, Pudil was all over the place and Turner looked like he hadn't seen a football pitch before. Both full backs were given little protection and Pudil was given a succession of roastings.
City scored with their first attack. Pudil was easily beaten down his flank and Turner's attempted clearance was blasted against Palmer & bounced into the net. They doubled their lead by again targeting our LB area and Pudil was asleep again from a quick free kick which was despatched tidily.
The third goal was a bit unlucky having seen the highlights. It was difficult to see from the away end but Palmer appeared to make a good tackle but the referee gave a penalty. Anyone who heard the Warnock interview midweek would be aware that Bristol City love to dive in the box & he said it takes a good referee to stand up to their diving.
The match was over as a contest by half time & although we came out looking sharper (Joao & Wallace for McGeady & Lopez) after the break, we quickly went four down after Wildsmith stupidly lunged in as the ball rolled out of play with no danger. Matias for Nuhiu meant that we switched to 4321 with Matias & FF tucked in behind Joao.
From this point on we played decently but the contest was already over. Wallace pulled one back with a beautiful free kick which went in via the post & the keeper.
The Matias penalty incident was impossible to see from the away end but the video evidence shows that it was a penalty & he was wrongly yellow carded for diving.
In the second half, we looked far better. Bannan started to find his form, the shape (4321) looked much better, Joao held the ball up much better, FF & Matias started to find space and we started to control midfield.
Wildsmith - 5 - never looked settled
Palmer - 6 - hung out to dry, no protection, unlucky with penalty decision
Lees - 6 - solid but missed Loovens
Turner - 2 - looked lost, moved like an oak tree
Pudil - 3 - well below his best
Lee - 6 - tidy, kept the ball moving
Lopez - 5 - neat but no intensity
Bannan - 6 - took him an hour to get into it
McGeady - 3 - missed early chance then disappeared
FF - 6 - livened up with Joao & Matias on
Nuhiu - 4 - looked lost in a 442
......................................................
Joao - 6 - neat & tidy
Wallace - 6 - far more purpose than McGeady
Matias - 6 - found plenty of space
We missed Hooper's ability to find space between the lines with Nuhiu & FF both suffering, playing in a 442. CC keeps repeating this same mistake. Hopefully this will be the last time. Bristol City did play pretty well and looked dangerous on most attacks. Our next two matches should be much easier against Ipswich & MK Dons.
Stat Attack:
Goals: 1 - Wallace
Assists: 0
Touches: 98 - Bannan, 75 - Pudil, 72 - Lees, 48 - Lee, 45 - Palmer, FF, 43 - Wildsmith, 38 - Turner, 34 - Joao, 29 - Lopez, Wallace, 25 - McGeady, 24 - Nuhiu, 20 - Matias
Tackles: 4 - Pudil, 3 - Lee, 2 - Lees, Bannan, 1 - McGeady, FF, Nuhiu, Joao
Interceptions: 4 - Pudil, 3 - Lees, 2 - Turner, Bannan, 1 - Palmer, Lee, McGeady
Clearances: 9 - Lees, Pudil, 4 - Palmer, Turner, 2 - Lee, 1 - Bannan, Joao
Attempts: 2 - Lees, Bannan, FF, Wallace, 1 - Palmer, Pudil, McGeady, Wallace
Attempts On Target: 1 - McGeady, Matias
Key Passes: 3 - Bannan, 2 - Wallace, 1 - Lee, Matias, Joao
Dribbles: 3 - Lopez, 2 - Bannan, FF
Dispossessed: 2 - Nuhiu, Palmer, 1 - Lee, FF, Wallace
Bad Control: 4 - Lee, 3 - McGeady, FF, 2 - Bannan, 1 - Palmer, Nuhiu, Joao
Crosses (Accurate in brackets): 5 - Bannan (2), 4 - Pudil (0), Wallace (2), 3 - McGeady (0), 2 - Lee (1), 1 - FF (0), Matias (0)
Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):
Lee - 97% (34), Lopez - 92% (26), Pudil - 92% (49), Matias - 88% (17), Joao - 83% (30), Bannan - 83% (77), FF - 82% (33), Wallace - 82% (22), Turner - 81% (32), Palmer - 79% (34), McGeady - 79% (14), Lees - 76% (53), Nuhiu - 74% (19), Wildsmith - 40% (25)
All our deficiencies were exposed in that first half. Turner is no longer up to this standard of football. Sasso played fine on Tuesday & would be a far better replacement for Loovens. We are so much better defensively when Loovens plays. We need to give the back four some protection from midfield. No-one protected the back four and we paid big style. When we play 442 with two wingers, we get over run in CM. Nuhiu is only worth playing in a 4321 or 433.
On the plus side, Hooper & Loovens will soon be back. Our next two matches should be much easier. Hutchinson will return soon. We looked decent in the second half when we played 4321.
A good day spoilt by Wednesday.
CC seems to have a blind spot when we play weaker sides away because he seems to go 442 & wonders why we lose (Charlton, MK, Shrewsbury & now Bristol City). Trouble is that he keeps doing it.
We seemed all wrong for this match. Firstly the team set off & got stuck in traffic & missed their scheduled evening meal on Friday. Then we pick a team with six loan players in it & it took a fan tweeting this before CC changed the team. Then Westwood got injured in the warm up.
We set up 442 with Nuhiu & FF up front, Lee on the right, McGeady on the left with Bannan & Lopez in the centre.
We actually played well for about ten minutes with McGeady missing a great chance one on one with O'Donnell and Bannan floating a free kick a foot wide with the keeper stranded.
After that, we were second best for the rest of the half. Nuhiu was next to useless, FF was below par, Bannan was rusty, McGeady disappeared, Pudil was all over the place and Turner looked like he hadn't seen a football pitch before. Both full backs were given little protection and Pudil was given a succession of roastings.
City scored with their first attack. Pudil was easily beaten down his flank and Turner's attempted clearance was blasted against Palmer & bounced into the net. They doubled their lead by again targeting our LB area and Pudil was asleep again from a quick free kick which was despatched tidily.
The third goal was a bit unlucky having seen the highlights. It was difficult to see from the away end but Palmer appeared to make a good tackle but the referee gave a penalty. Anyone who heard the Warnock interview midweek would be aware that Bristol City love to dive in the box & he said it takes a good referee to stand up to their diving.
The match was over as a contest by half time & although we came out looking sharper (Joao & Wallace for McGeady & Lopez) after the break, we quickly went four down after Wildsmith stupidly lunged in as the ball rolled out of play with no danger. Matias for Nuhiu meant that we switched to 4321 with Matias & FF tucked in behind Joao.
From this point on we played decently but the contest was already over. Wallace pulled one back with a beautiful free kick which went in via the post & the keeper.
The Matias penalty incident was impossible to see from the away end but the video evidence shows that it was a penalty & he was wrongly yellow carded for diving.
In the second half, we looked far better. Bannan started to find his form, the shape (4321) looked much better, Joao held the ball up much better, FF & Matias started to find space and we started to control midfield.
Wildsmith - 5 - never looked settled
Palmer - 6 - hung out to dry, no protection, unlucky with penalty decision
Lees - 6 - solid but missed Loovens
Turner - 2 - looked lost, moved like an oak tree
Pudil - 3 - well below his best
Lee - 6 - tidy, kept the ball moving
Lopez - 5 - neat but no intensity
Bannan - 6 - took him an hour to get into it
McGeady - 3 - missed early chance then disappeared
FF - 6 - livened up with Joao & Matias on
Nuhiu - 4 - looked lost in a 442
......................................................
Joao - 6 - neat & tidy
Wallace - 6 - far more purpose than McGeady
Matias - 6 - found plenty of space
We missed Hooper's ability to find space between the lines with Nuhiu & FF both suffering, playing in a 442. CC keeps repeating this same mistake. Hopefully this will be the last time. Bristol City did play pretty well and looked dangerous on most attacks. Our next two matches should be much easier against Ipswich & MK Dons.
Stat Attack:
Goals: 1 - Wallace
Assists: 0
Touches: 98 - Bannan, 75 - Pudil, 72 - Lees, 48 - Lee, 45 - Palmer, FF, 43 - Wildsmith, 38 - Turner, 34 - Joao, 29 - Lopez, Wallace, 25 - McGeady, 24 - Nuhiu, 20 - Matias
Tackles: 4 - Pudil, 3 - Lee, 2 - Lees, Bannan, 1 - McGeady, FF, Nuhiu, Joao
Interceptions: 4 - Pudil, 3 - Lees, 2 - Turner, Bannan, 1 - Palmer, Lee, McGeady
Clearances: 9 - Lees, Pudil, 4 - Palmer, Turner, 2 - Lee, 1 - Bannan, Joao
Attempts: 2 - Lees, Bannan, FF, Wallace, 1 - Palmer, Pudil, McGeady, Wallace
Attempts On Target: 1 - McGeady, Matias
Key Passes: 3 - Bannan, 2 - Wallace, 1 - Lee, Matias, Joao
Dribbles: 3 - Lopez, 2 - Bannan, FF
Dispossessed: 2 - Nuhiu, Palmer, 1 - Lee, FF, Wallace
Bad Control: 4 - Lee, 3 - McGeady, FF, 2 - Bannan, 1 - Palmer, Nuhiu, Joao
Crosses (Accurate in brackets): 5 - Bannan (2), 4 - Pudil (0), Wallace (2), 3 - McGeady (0), 2 - Lee (1), 1 - FF (0), Matias (0)
Passing Accuracy (Total Passes in Brackets):
Lee - 97% (34), Lopez - 92% (26), Pudil - 92% (49), Matias - 88% (17), Joao - 83% (30), Bannan - 83% (77), FF - 82% (33), Wallace - 82% (22), Turner - 81% (32), Palmer - 79% (34), McGeady - 79% (14), Lees - 76% (53), Nuhiu - 74% (19), Wildsmith - 40% (25)
All our deficiencies were exposed in that first half. Turner is no longer up to this standard of football. Sasso played fine on Tuesday & would be a far better replacement for Loovens. We are so much better defensively when Loovens plays. We need to give the back four some protection from midfield. No-one protected the back four and we paid big style. When we play 442 with two wingers, we get over run in CM. Nuhiu is only worth playing in a 4321 or 433.
On the plus side, Hooper & Loovens will soon be back. Our next two matches should be much easier. Hutchinson will return soon. We looked decent in the second half when we played 4321.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.