66 | Jahmai Simpson-Pusey - 2024/25

[jamielowndes]

Hes walking justification that they were right to be as patient with Foden as they were, and that you can't just throw a load of kids in and expect them to be world class.

Hes massively out of his depth at the moment, and there's nothing we can do due to injuries and lack of depth. Feel bad for him tbh.

 

[domalino]

Well it is not fair to compare him to Harwood-Bellis. Harwood-Bellis had been cast out long before this young lad came up with age group. Pep preferred Eric Garcia to Harwood Bellis at that time and Harwood Bellis had to find himself a place to play professional football. So...

THB is probably as good now as JSP will be in 4 years time. That’s the difference between them and if you put an 18 year old THB in our side he’d be just as exposed, he made plenty of big mistakes in the championship and Belgium because that’s what 18 year old CBs do.

 

[cyan]

Felt for him last night - it will feel like we have lost every game he has played.

The first goal he might have made a different choice - but they are coached not to hoof the ball, and often play to players who are surrounded by opposition - when it works it creates space as we will have an overload somewhere else. The problem was the aimless backpass by Gvardiol.

The second, I'm not sure he could ever have been in a position to cut out the cross, it was looping over everyone - Lewis and Silva (I think) should have been closer to the crosser and cutting out, Nunes should have tracked the extra man overloading Gvardiol and Emerson should not let the ball passed his front post - if Simpson-Pusey is at any fault it is not dropping back to the goal just in case all those things happened - it is where Ake is so good, he sniffs danger.

The third - he is a little bit too far back to create an offside trap, but the big problem is McAtee and Lewis have tracked back beyond him - and the late runner springs the trap.

There are parts in each of those goals he might have done better - but it is part of a collective failure by the whole defensive unit, and others should not have been letting him be caught in those situations. Hopefully one day he will have learnt from this time - but right now I hope we don't see much of him again for a while.

 

[Tevez City]

Remind me of Eric Garcia


Lets hope Girona will be interested

 

[Mr HJ]

Very hard to judge him so far but he doesn't look ready to me. Looks comfortable with the ball at his feet but doesn't yet have that instinctive defending mindset to see things before they happen.

I find myself once again pointing to the opposition ( a pretty average side btw) who had defenders throwing themselves into blocks and cutting out passes - that is why several of our chances were deflected onto the woodwork or for an easy save - apart from Ruben who does that we seem to be a squad with defenders who are more comfortable in possession but ragged out of it.

 

[supercity88]

I'm sorry but... just... what the fuck is Pusey doing here? He can clearly see two Feyenoord lads running towards Gvardiol, who is also off balance, but he decides to just head it to him anyway, and on the bounce? An absolutely terrible decision that completely changed the complexion of the game.

McAtee is right there - he even looks at him but still decides not to play it safely for some reason.

It's actually given me a bit of confidence going into the next few games that the Feyenoord comeback was started by a frankly suicidal individual error, made by someone who won't get near the Anfield pitch. Gvardiol was at fault for the second goal - hopefully Dias can start and give Gvardiol a much needed rest.

View attachment 139065

He made some mistakes. He's a kid and it happens. Ultimately you can still question why Gvardiol didn't hoof it clear himself instead of trying to play it back to Ederson/Akanji. What exactly were they going to do? If the pass from Gvardiol was perfectly weighted he'd still have to volley it or head it clear. It was, like a lot of our goals recently, a collection of poor decision making.

 

[jimharri]

Shouldn't be anywhere near the first team squad. He clearly is nowhere near the standard required as of now. I'm not blaming him, it's just the way it is. I guess if it wasn't for all the injuries, he wouldn't be getting game time

 

[RayCTID]

I'm sorry but... just... what the fuck is Pusey doing here? He can clearly see two Feyenoord lads running towards Gvardiol, who is also off balance, but he decides to just head it to him anyway, and on the bounce? An absolutely terrible decision that completely changed the complexion of the game.

McAtee is right there - he even looks at him but still decides not to play it safely for some reason.

It's actually given me a bit of confidence going into the next few games that the Feyenoord comeback was started by a frankly suicidal individual error, made by someone who won't get near the Anfield pitch. Gvardiol was at fault for the second goal - hopefully Dias can start and give Gvardiol a much needed rest.

View attachment 139065

Injuries have the made situation where we have no choice but to throw him in.

 

[Kippax77]

I really fear for this lad mentally.
He's not been near a winning team and even appearing at 3-0 up he walks off the pitch, not as a winner again, unfortunately

 

[supercity88]

TLDR

There's no defensive structure. Defending remains individual without a clear line or system. Players aren't talking to each other to play an offside trap or help each other out. Players aren't working hard enough to press the ball or to track back when we lose it. That leads to individuals playing the opposition onside, or allowing them to get the ball in the box, or making errors that lead to goals.

The long story.

I would really suggest people go and watch the "highlights" of the game before slagging this kid off.

There are so many issues with our defending. The first could have been avoided. It's a tricky ball in the air and he makes the wrong decision, so does Gvardiol. But it's 3-1 and you're still in the driving seat.

Look at our defending for their second goal. They have three players in the box, we have 6. There's no pressure on the ball so it's easy to get the ball in. There's no defensive line. If Gvardiol steps up their players are offside. There's an overlapping player out of shot, that Nunes hasn't picked up either. It's a shambles.



And here's the third goal. Lewis playing the runner on side. No confidence or leadership on keeping the defensive line and playing offside. No defensive structure or shape, everyone loaded up on the near side.



Feyenoord have four players bursting into space and Lewis is now the only player in a position to get back.



But now look at the next frame. Where the hell is the urgency to get back?

If you look at Bernardo from the 1st image to the 2nd he's barely moved.

Then you look at the final image below, and it shows that when he finally put his foot down he was too late. If a few of our players had have instantly put their foot down and tried to get into position we might have been able to deal with the situation.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

TLDR

There's no defensive structure. Defending remains individual without a clear line or system. Players aren't talking to each other to play an offside trap or help each other out. Players aren't working hard enough to press the ball or to track back when we lose it. That leads to individuals playing the opposition onside, or allowing them to get the ball in the box, or making errors that lead to goals.

The long story.

I would really suggest people go and watch the "highlights" of the game before slagging this kid off.

There are so many issues with our defending. The first could have been avoided. It's a tricky ball in the air and he makes the wrong decision, so does Gvardiol. But it's 3-1 and you're still in the driving seat.

Look at our defending for their second goal. They have three players in the box, we have 6. There's no pressure on the ball so it's easy to get the ball in. There's no defensive line. If Gvardiol steps up their players are offside. There's an overlapping player out of shot, that Nunes hasn't picked up either. It's a shambles.

View attachment 139095

And here's the third goal. Lewis playing the runner on side. No confidence or leadership on keeping the defensive line and playing offside. No defensive structure or shape, everyone loaded up on the near side.

View attachment 139096

Feyenoord have four players bursting into space and Lewis is now the only player in a position to get back.

View attachment 139098

But now look at the next frame. Where the hell is the urgency to get back?

If you look at Bernardo from the 1st image to the 2nd he's barely moved.

Then you look at the final image below, and it shows that when he finally put his foot down he was too late. If a few of our players had have instantly put their foot down and tried to get into position we might have been able to deal with the situation.
View attachment 139099

Bernado is having an awful season.

The whole thing is a shambles. Look at the space for the second goal. Who is pressuring the man with the ball. Just a complete lack of leaders. Akanji should be taking control of that back four but look at that line for the offside for goal 3. I’d expect a kids team to do better. Why are playing offside near the half way line too? Why are we so high up the pitch?

 

[supercity88]

Bernado is fucking stealing a living off us at the moment.

The whole thing is a shambles. Look at the space for the second goal. Who is pressuring the man with the ball. Just a complete lack of leaders. Akanji should be taking control of that back four but look at that line for the offside for goal 3. I’d expect a kids team to do better. Why are playing offside near the half way line too? Why are we so high up the pitch?

That's why Pep was self harming. He will see that footage and be fuming. You can forgive individual errors but you can't blame a kid for clear issues with our defensive structure.

At 3-1 you have to have someone leading things. The priority is slow the game and keep the ball. Don't try and make it 4-1. Keep the ball, take the fouls, take your time. When you don't have the ball have a defensive structure in place which is based on two things. Pressure on the ball to make it hard to play through us, and an organised defensive shape to deal with situations. We had neither.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

That's why Pep was self harming. He will see that footage and be fuming. You can forgive individual errors but you can't blame a kid for clear issues with our defensive structure.

At 3-1 you have to have someone leading things. The priority is slow the game and keep the ball. Don't try and make it 4-1. Keep the ball, take the fouls, take your time. When you don't have the ball have a defensive structure in place which is based on two things. Pressure on the ball to make it hard to play through us, and an organised defensive shape to deal with situations. We had neither.

Yep: taking a quick free kick at 3-2 up with minutes to go. I mean why are they doing that? A corner straight down the neck of the keeper at 3-2 up? It’s absolutely nuts or just complete arrogance.

 

[bell_mcfc]

Although not at fault for any of the goals last night do you think there is a element of trust and chemistry with the team, not on JSP behalf but on the others?

Lewis, Gvardiol and Akanji all struggled and is that because being paired with JSP as opposed to JSP making the mistakes. Feel sorry for the kid his confidence (like the rest of the team) must be all over the place.

 

[supercity88]

Yep: taking a quick free kick at 3-2 up with minutes to go. I mean why are they doing that? A corner straight down the neck of the keeper at 3-2 up? It’s absolutely nuts or just complete arrogance.

Exactly. It's evidence of a bunch of players more interested in getting their individual moment than ensuring the team win. You have to go back to basics in this situation. A City side on a winning run would have taken the ball to the corner and kept it there, they'd have slowed it down. De Bruyne or Bernardo or anyone in fact, would have waved their hands to slow things down and ensured no one was looking to get an individual moment as the expense of the result.

The defence would have been organised and everyone would have known their responsibilities. Instead it was chaos and we drew a game we should have comfortably won. The outlook in the CL is now negative. The top 8 is going to be incredibly difficult so we face a playoff.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

The defence would have been organised and everyone would have known their responsibilities. Instead it was chaos and we drew a game we should have comfortably won. The outlook in the CL is now negative. The top 8 is going to be incredibly difficult so we face a playoff.

I hope we are facing a play off.
All will become clearer after tonight's matches but PSG Juventus and Club Brugge aren't going to be easy games

 

[sir baconface]

Bernado is fucking stealing a living off us at the moment.

Sad to see such disrespect. Off form? Yes. A thief or a cheat? Never.

Did a Millwall fan drop you on your head?

 

[supercity88]

I hope we are facing a play off.
All will become clearer after tonight's matches but PSG Juventus and Club Brugge aren't going to be easy games

I'd expect one more win would be enough to finish in the playoff positions.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

I'd expect one more win would be enough to finish in the playoff positions.

I'm guessing so too but I'm not too optimistic at the moment

 

[John Wayne]

I'd expect one more win would be enough to finish in the playoff positions.

I think we'll know more after tonight when everyone has played five games. PSG are 25th but have just four points. The team ranked 25th will likely have 6 points by the end of the night. If City win one and draw one then it requires the team ranked in 25th to double their points tally in three games to have a shot of going above us. It also requires every other team below us to outperform us over three games.

I think a win probably gets us over the line, but a win and a draw rubber stamps it.