Whether it was shite or not, Lewis wasn’t the cause of the goal being conceeded.Rico's recovery run was shit, simple as...
Played a large part in it IMHO.Whether it was shite or not, it was not the reason for the goal.
I have watched it back about ten times, because I thought I must have missed something based on what people in this thread are saying about Lewis, and for me it is 40% on Gvardiol for not closing Semedo down (he ran away rather than to him), 50% on Stones for going walkabout (inexplicably covering no one or even occupying a position where he can impact play), and 10% on Lewis for perhaps not running back as fast as he could.Played a large part in it IMHO.
To be honest I don’t think Lewis has the pace to get back anyway. He is very slow to get back when we lose the ball up the field. Agree that Gvardiol gave too much space but he did make up for it in the rest of the game.I have watched it back about ten times, because I thought I must have missed something based on what people in this thread are saying about Lewis, and for me it is 40% on Gvardiol for not closing Semedo down (he ran away rather than to him), 50% on Stones for going walkabout (inexplicably covering no one or even occupying a position where he can impact play), and 10% on Lewis for perhaps not running back as fast as he could.
But, if you watch it back, I think you’ll see that Lewis probably can’t do anything about it even if he does sprint back a bit faster because the crosser was given so much space to put in a great cross and Stones didn’t take a line that would allow him to have a chance at cutting the ball out before it reached a far post runner.
It’s just bizarre to see so many throwing him, of all players, under the bus.
Every time I’ve seen it back, I’ve thought it was a KDB ball. Not dissimilar to the Sane goal against Stoke. Not as good, but aesthetically similar.Footballers aren't robots, every player makes multiple mistakes every game, some small, some big.
Truth is it was a great ball in, I doubt many would be dissecting it if De Bruyne played that ball because it was that good a delivery.
I think Stones had a shaky first 45 but a better second before scoring the winner, Gvardiol was on balance ok before his absolutely vital stunner, and Lewis, without doing anything flashy, was on the whole the better of the three over the entire match. That’s not to say he was substantially better, but that he was just more consistent and he did everything asked of him well.To be honest I don’t think Lewis has the pace to get back anyway. He is very slow to get back when we lose the ball up the field. Agree that Gvardiol have too much space but he did make up for it in the rest of the game.