02 Mar 2024 20:38:49
Macphee earns his money with the attacking set pieces but I'd like to see us improve on the defensive ones now.
Rogers made a big difference on that left hand side with good positioning and some nice touches, I'd like to see him get a run there now.
It was also nice to see Diaby take a risk with that cross to Digne, he's been in his shell for far too long.
Scoreline looks like we were in trouble, but if not for small margins, we could have had the same scoreline as City. Luton were at max intensity with a lot of help from the ref but we managed to come through it.
02 Mar 2024 21:23:05
Sometimes I seriously question if I’ve watched the same game as others.
McPhee is a set piece coach not a player, do you expect him in there heading the ball clear and organising because I for one expect professional football players to be able to do that. I’ve watched John McGinn lose not the aerial battle to morris countless times but the will to get to the ball first from a set play. After the equaliser where it was McGinn letting Morris get the run on him I then witnessed John McGinn try and push Morris offside rather than go with him which almost resulted in a second goal.
Also the score line does suggest we were in trouble and that’s because we were in trouble, second half Luton outfought us and to be honest on a game of two halves a draw was a fair reflection. Luton were at max intensity second half and they played us off the park, I also believe the aim of the game in premier league football along with all other levels is for the players to be at maximum intensity for the duration of the game.
Just a really arrogant post deflecting the blame towards a set piece coach and that Luton were lucky.
Story is we were good for a half, poor for a half and sloppy in our own box which is a running theme for the season but won the game which is what it’s all about now.
Spurs is need to win but a must not lose as they have the game in hand. Our fixtures are far less favourable plus the Europe factor don’t help
02 Mar 2024 21:35:11
Good analysis Rk, those balls to the back post are causing us terrible trouble lately, it really seems to be our Achilles heel, especially when they head it back across the box.
Rogers looks like he has potential it’s a shame he was booked as it took the edge off him I thought, a run of games will do him the world of good.
Delighted for digne I really think he’s our best LB and we had a great run at the start of the season with him in the team. great assist for Diaby, I thought Emery left it to late but they got it done?
Watkins boy what a season he is having, most goal involvements in the league and at his age he is worth serious money.
Ref was terrible, we only had to look at a Luton player and it was a free or a yellow card but Mengi pretty much tore the jersey off Ollie’s back all game but no booking. the only thing worse than the ref was zaniolo, a headless chicken is what I would describe him as, will be great to get Buendia back instead of him.
02 Mar 2024 22:27:16
Dan, the set piece coach is literally the person that decides who stands where at a set piece. It's all well and good saying a player could do better but if the coach creates a mismatch at the far post then it's still bad tactics.
It wasn't really a game of 2 halves, they had a spell but we could easily have been out of sight at half time bar those margins I mentioned. If JJs shot was higher or lower it would likely be a goal, their keeper pulled off a worldie for Rogers shot and Watkins caught the post.
Second half they scored from 2 set pieces but for all their energy created very little else.
Any manager worth their salt knows that max energy is not sustainable for 90 minutes and most matches the opponents will have a spell when they are on top. That's where game management comes in and unfortunately we were a bit naive on the day in giving away too many free kicks and corners which increased Lutons chances of putting one away eventually.
03 Mar 2024 01:02:00
McPhee takes the plaudits when we score from set pieces so he’s got to take some responsibility when it’s not working out, of coarse it’s not all his fault but that’s where more work is needed, Emery has taught this team to do so much in his time in charge so I’m sure between him and McPhee they will sort it out, it probably doesn’t help that we are not an overly physical team and we do get bullied at times.
You are right when you say we were good for a half and poor for a half but so were Luton, the only difference being our good was better than their good and our poor wasn’t as bad as theirs, they are dangerous from set pieces and that’s about all they had, yes they threw everything at us but they didn’t create a huge amount and as soon as we made the changes they were nullified once more, my only real gripe is that Emery waited until it was 2 all to change things up when it was clear to see that he had to do something
03 Mar 2024 09:26:07
I agree with Dan, we don’t seem able to kill teams off, it wouldn’t have been un reflective had we been 4-5 up at half time and I thought we were looking at a similar result to the 5-0 beating we gave Sheffield United, however for me it’s becoming a bit of a worrying trend that we can’t put in a 90 minute performance and put sides away we really struggle when sides change how they play and in the second half when Luton pushed higher up the pitch and pressed us with more intensity we couldn’t adapt and when the second Luton goal went in it really did feel like deja vous, the one positive to come out of it was we eventually got a grip and grabbed the third. My concern is that if we play as we did in the second half against Spurs we will get beaten, and that game for me is our biggest game for a long time, if we can put them away we have a nice cushion for when we face Arsenal, Liverpool and City.
03 Mar 2024 12:05:31
LOTM, I have being banging the drum since Sheffield at home that we are not adapting to teams working our tactics and weaknesses out. That's why performances and the number of goals we are concededing is a serious issue if we want fourth.After 50 minutes things needed to change and Emery didn't react quick enough, the next twenty minutes was some of the worst i have seen this season.