I think last night showed that we have not got the depth in the squad that most of us thought we had. We missed Munari and Abdi, McGugan was very poor I cant remember him doing anything to be honest except have a weak shot in the second half. The defence were not strong enough Birmingham were not a good side at all we made them look better than they are, they didn't have much creativity, they simply hit the ball up towards Donaldson who won everything and then give it to their wide men. No surprise that our defence wasn't great though when you consider 3 of our best defenders were out. Not sure if Vydra was carrying a knock as he had a bit of a limp in the last game but why leave the best forward in the league on the bench until 12 minutes to go when we need a goal. I thought we should've played Dyer he as we clearly lacked width and Ikechi looked like he did not want to make a run behind their back four all night.
Of course we have good squad depth. We had Abdi, Munari, Tamas, Bassong and Angella out, with Vydra and Pudil suffering from slight knocks. And yet, our line up could have looked like this: (3-5-2) Gomes Cathcart Ekstrand Doyley Paredes Tozser Andrews McGugan Dyer Deeney Forestieri Bond, Hoban, Murray, Pudil, Ighalo, Vydra, Anya The problem wasn't lack of squad depth, it was bizarre decisions. Chelsea have squad depth but would struggle if they played Hazard at CB and Ivanovic up front. We could be playing Luton and we wouldn't win with McGugan and Anya in centre mid. You can't expect to win games with passengers in midfield.
It was because Ighalo dangled a foot at a challenge instead of maybe hurting himself. It allowed the attacker the option to then cross or shoot.
Thoughts from last night: One of the biggest mistakes from last night I think was not playing Andrews in midfield. We desperately needed someone with a bit of bite and someone who wasn't afraid to get stuck in. McGugan and Anya just didn't do that and with Shinnie sitting on Toszer, he was marked completely out of the game. His only start in recent times was against Millwall so I have to admit I was a bit bemused by leaving him out from the start. Both goals came from slack marking/positioning from Hoban (the space Donaldson had for the 2nd was frightening)! Not having a natural left-footed left back hindered our play down the left, as Doyley constantly went back infield to Tozser or Anya who were then crowded out by Birmingham's midfield, which stifled our play a lot. Hopefully Jokanovic will have learnt a lot about certain players last night.
I will bite once and once only. Don't flatter yourselves. We came because it was only a tenner and because the new manager has created a positive vibe for the first time in eons. You were just incidental.
Uneccessary. A Millwall c*nt comes on here at the weekend trying to wind us up. Just top the c*nt. Another Millwall fan comes on, opens a thread of his own with something sensible to say and that's fine by me. This guy comes on here, has something sensible to say and you have a go at him. You need to make the distinction. But maybe your post's just ironic ... beats me ...
Second. Middlesbrough he did the same thing first half but got away with a draw and could've won by second half changes, ie taking Anya out of CM and getting in a tackler. At St Andrews he didn't. The common denominator was both games his set up and personnel left the wing backs exposed dreadfully. If you don't win midfield, you're unlikely to win.
Given our current defensive injuries woes, it's a shame we didn't keep Belkalem here after his decent World Cup showing.
Probably lucky. If you had found them maybe you would have been buggered. Finding an alleyway between the pub and the ground is always the safest way ...
I can understand. It was a good little effort by your team of minnows against the juggernauts of this division. Sneaking a win in your cup final. Big praise for you. Hope your players can raise themselves for games against smaller teams.
I posted on Sunday that almost every team in the top half of the league has had a 'banana skin' moment this season but we hadn't..now we have. If last night was a one-off, so be it, it's very frustrating and a shame to lose the unbeaten run, but in a funny sort of way better to lose to a lowly team than a promotion rival. I believe whoever was B'ham's first home opponents after their 0-8 and appointing Rowett was in for a hard night, though like you guys I'm annoyed we made it easier for them. It's the most bizarre season in our league I can remember for ages. I've seen the stat about the side at the top after 15 games being promoted for each of the last 7 seasons, but I'd be interested to know how many points they each had. I wouldn't mind betting our tally of 29 was on the lowish side. I'll have a look later but I also believe hardly any club has topped our league this season and then won their next match. It appears a right curse to be top. I'm annoyed about the rotation last night, but as with Rodgers controversial decision at Liverpool, you can really only tell if it succeeds a few matches down the line. If Jok really thought Vdyra, Andrews etc couldn't play 3 x 90 minutes this season, and that last night was the one to not start them as it looked easier on paper than Saturday, then he will have learnt a lesson, although he might say in his defence that Forestieri in for Vydra did score. I believe we do have a strong squad numerically, but not always huge depth in talent, or how it's divided up into certain positions. . We're loaded with central defenders but still can't keep clean sheets. We look weak at times at fullback. Most people here brick themselves if our Number 2 keeper starts. Our preferred midfield 3 look strong, but can the back up players come in and do an instant, reliable job? And up top, are we trying to fit in all our forwards at the expense of a more solid or wide shape behind them, like England tried to fit in Gerrard AND Lampard rather than consign one to the bench? In my opinion. we will not go up unless we start defending better, or unless we start treating every match with equal importance. How ironic we had an experienced Number 2 coach on the books until recently, who I'm sure as a Number 2 could have advised Jokanovic on how rotation and resting key players might not work so well in this league. It's a bonkers league with the lead constantly changing hands and nobody seeming to want to pull away. The really frustrating thing is that WE appeared well-placed after Saturday to be the side to actually do that, and last night brought us crashing back to earth. We've actually only won 4 out of 11 now. Disappointing but not terminal. Onto Saturday with hope...
Totally agree. I may have been a bit harsh on Troy. Was probably still in a bad mood due to the result!
