well that was
- on the one hand, given this was the first home game since we lost our best player,
it was going to take some time before Roberts works out how to play on the right,
and he did well enough for the first 70 mins until he started playing balls into a crowded
midfield in front of their box. Nathan is really such a promising lad too.
- and yes we do miss Hollands' extra thrust around the box....
- Macca was generally quite restrained in driving forward, but when he did it was
nearly always positive. I would still prefer to see him in midfield, where he can use his
skills more.
- i'm happy to forgive Williams a lot as he does some great stuff, and a number of times
looked like he had an understanding with Rooney. Collins' miss at the end was worse for me
than anything Williams 'missed'.
- De Vita worked hard at times (not much of a 1st half from him though), and I like his vision and understanding with Macca.
- Defence all did well, though Pool didnt have much upfront at all really.
- Ferry was his usual great self.
- Miller impressed me in the first half, but I didnt follow him much after that.
SO..........
The big puzzle for me is the hoofball. So many of us are saying - get it down and play and then
you can build up pressure. Banging it forward all the time means you're playing percentages
and can't built pressure.
AND here'e the rub for me - Paolo's frequent references to 'too much tippy tappy'. That wasn't
what I saw, and I also thought we did better when we did get it down and play.... So it's
something of an enigma for me...they would appear to be playing to his orders. That long ball desire
would also explain his brief love affair with Martin [and the other big front men/donkeys we have had].
It's not just today though - I have the same puzzzlement almost every game, except the big wins -
which are usually the result of fluid passing football.
So, as I said, I'm still
Oh and credit to Pool for trying to play football from the back in their parlous position - but surely we could
have pressured them into more mistakes. (Spurs of all teams have done this very well this year)
They had about 3-4 minutes of great play when they moved the
ball excellently and ended up with the goal - that's what passing the opposition into befuddlement can do...
I concur with others about the lack of urgency - that was puzzling too, but if we had played a passing game
that would have been less noticeable.
Still
so I better go and eat !
