Man of the Match - Bournemouth (a)

[Dax777]

Jeez, I thought I was a miserable git 'til you came along.....

KDB was magnificent, Spanish Dave pulled out the pass of the season so far to set up the equaliser, Danilo was rock solid, and stupid pass or not (and remember he's under instruction to play the ball out) Otamendi was excellent bringing the ball out. The only one who stank the place out, and even then it wasn't for the want of trying, was Sterling, whose control and judgement belonged in a primary school team.....and he then scored the winner

Not to worry, you are still the misery king. Won't even attempt to steal your thrown :)

But Like I told ADeg on second viewing individual players weren't as bad, bit I still didn't see any standout performances l, so I'm still going with Ederson for making those saves. Kev and Mendy a close 2nd and 3rd.

Didn't think Dave was good even after2nd viewing. Sterling still looked confused and Danilo was up and down..

Also I am often accused of being Otamendi's mum. So I try to be particularly critical of him in my analysis - that way when I think he's played well, my opinion is beyond reproach.

I guess it wasn't any individual player I found underwhelming, it was the team play on general.

We are not purring... We are clearly the sum of all our parts and maybe even less. That needs to change.

There has been complaints of teams parking the bus against us, but one can't but wonder if our play is part to blame for what seems like a well parked bus.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Not to worry, you are still the misery king. Won't even attempt to steal your thrown :)

But Like I told ADeg on second viewing individual players weren't as bad, bit I still didn't see any standout performances l, so I'm still going with Ederson for making those saves. Kev and Mendy a close 2nd and 3rd.

Didn't think Dave was good even after2nd viewing. Sterling still looked confused and Danilo was up and down..

Also I am often accused of being Otamendi's mum. So I try to be particularly critical of him in my analysis - that way when I think he's played well, my opinion is beyond reproach.

I guess it wasn't any individual player I found underwhelming, it was the team play on general.

We are not purring... We are clearly the sum of all our parts and maybe even less. That needs to change.

There has been complaints of teams parking the bus against us, but one can't but wonder if our play is part to blame for what seems like a well parked bus.

Yeh, I know what you mean. I look at us and I just don't see champions at the moment. There's a lightweight feel to us. We create plenty, which is no mean feat given the compressed space in which we operate from an attacking point of view, but the trade off is that innate vulnerability at the back whenever we hand possession to the opposition. It all looks so wide open and seat of the pants, and I can't decide if that's an inherent design flaw or whether quicker, stronger defenders would help, albeit that we may turn out to have them already in the shape of a fully integrated Walker and Mendy

 

[Saddleworth2]

Not to worry, you are still the misery king. Won't even attempt to steal your thrown :)

But Like I told ADeg on second viewing individual players weren't as bad, bit I still didn't see any standout performances l, so I'm still going with Ederson for making those saves. Kev and Mendy a close 2nd and 3rd.

Didn't think Dave was good even after2nd viewing. Sterling still looked confused and Danilo was up and down..

Also I am often accused of being Otamendi's mum. So I try to be particularly critical of him in my analysis - that way when I think he's played well, my opinion is beyond reproach.

I guess it wasn't any individual player I found underwhelming, it was the team play on general.

We are not purring... We are clearly the sum of all our parts and maybe even less. That needs to change.

There has been complaints of teams parking the bus against us, but one can't but wonder if our play is part to blame for what seems like a well parked bus.

Agree, have been saying this. Less than the sum of our parts just now which is probably unsurprising given the turnover at the club. Think Dave, Kun, KDB are below their very best. Team not that incisive and only a small number of clear chances in the first three games. It will improve but I wish Liverpool was not the next game.

 

[Dax777]

Agree, have been saying this. Less than the sum of our parts just now which is probably unsurprising given the turnover at the club. Think Dave, Kun, KDB are below their very best. Team not that incisive and only a small number of clear chances in the first three games. It will improve but I wish Liverpool was not the next game.

Yeah, I think I said similar on the game thread. Liverpool comes too soon for me... And sure, it was against an open Asernal who always attacks, I think Liverpool was actually playing at a higher clip than their talent suggested.

Intricate and incisive 1-2s, lightning quick counters, and I'm not just talking about the speed of their wingers, but also the team's general speed of thought when on the counter. Yes, the speed of Sane and the other guy helps to.o. but they looked well oiled. And lets not forget they are missing Coutinho... So its not like they don't have distractions... :(

 

[ChicagoBlue]

In some respects, I feel like Pep has become the new Tinker Man. We never end the game in the same formation we start it, and that requires players shifting positions and playing off new and different players within the game. Some shifts are to be expected, but sometimes we spend the game searching for something,not imposing and overcoming.

Of course, it is good to have players who can play multiple positions, but I feel like we are creating a team that becomes disjointed for periods of the game, until we figure it out. A couple of times now, we have almost left it too late to figure it out.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

In some respects, I feel like Pep has become the new Tinker Man. We never end the game in the same formation we start it, and that requires players shifting positions and playing off new and different players within the game. Some shifts are to be expected, but sometimes we spend the game searching for something,not imposing and overcoming.

Of course, it is good to have players who can play multiple positions, but I feel like we are creating a team that becomes disjointed for periods of the game, until we figure it out. A couple of times now, we have almost left it too late to figure it out.

Hard to remain in the same formation when we begin with 11 men and mysteriously find ourselves down to 10.

Pep is an amazing manger - he'll change formation when necessary - the first few games of this season have been outliers.