ranger_syntax 4,330 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 Just watched the 'highlights'. Some of the defending was absolutely criminal. Tavernier, Goldson and Edmundson at fault this time. What was Tavernier thinking when he headed the ball into a dangerous area? If he can't control where he puts it then he is better to focus on taking up a good position instead. Goldson continues to be incapable of clearing his lines. He has developed a nasty habit of kicking it straight up in the air. When he's not doing that he is passing it to a player in a dangerous position. I feel like I've said this before but he needs to get his head straight. If he can't do that, and return to form, then I think we may well be cashing in on Goldson in the summer. We may still get a nice fee for him from a team in England. Edmundson had a few shocking mistakes. He's the most junior defender in the squad and I'm inclined to be more forgiving in his case. I wonder if we should have brought in another veteran for situations like this. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,330 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 I should add that without the defensive mistakes we may well have escaped with a replay. I suspect we were playing for a replay until Hearts scored. Kamara was about to come on but then Hearts scored and Hagi went on instead. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc 280 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 11 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said: Edmundson had a few shocking mistakes. He's the most junior defender in the squad and I'm inclined to be more forgiving in his case. I wonder if we should have brought in another veteran for situations like this. Well we did in the form of Helander but his long term injury has probably cost us more than any of us realised at the time. Edmundson was expected to be 4th choice centre back behind Goldson, Katic and Helander so we can't blame him too much. Nobody foresaw how Goldson and Katic would turn into headless chickens since the turn of the year. We should not be getting caught out with long balls as often as we have been. That's just basic defending and it's not like we are up against Messi or Ronaldo week in week out. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc 280 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 18 minutes ago, ranger_syntax said: I should add that without the defensive mistakes we may well have escaped with a replay. I suspect we were playing for a replay until Hearts scored. Kamara was about to come on but then Hearts scored and Hagi went on instead. If we really we just playing for a replay at 0-0 then that's worse in my eyes. That's just gutless. And it's not like we ever looked like keeping a clean sheet. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooponthewing 1,139 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 5 minutes ago, Doc said: If we really we just playing for a replay at 0-0 then that's worse in my eyes. That's just gutless. And it's not like we ever looked like keeping a clean sheet. I have tbh Doc and I was thinking this with 35 mins on the clock. They didn't want to be there and looked disinterested. If you had offered me a replay then I would have bitten your hand off! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc 280 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Rousseau said: They are not mistakes -- other than Barker, I'd say, and the [early] loanees. The profiles are good: youngsters with potential; solid, experienced Premier League players. Where I agree, is that we've got our priorities wrong: squad players instead of quality first team players. Agree up to a point but we have probably been hoping for too much from some of those experienced players. Davis blows hot and cold, and especially cold if opposition midfielders harry him and don't give him space. Defoe is excellent and looks like he genuinely cares. He still offers a real threat but too often we are lumping balls in to him rather than looking for something whipped in low from wide positions for him to run on to. His injury hasn't helped us at a critical time. McCauley was a fucking disaster and a complete waste of time and money. We should not be relying so much on players at the fag end of their careers. They can do it in the odd game but over a whole season they are going to give you quite a few games like yesterday. Other than Defoe I don't think these veterans have necessarily improved the younger players as much as we would have hoped they would. Maybe I'm wrong but I would rather have taken players 4-5 years younger and with more energy because in the league we're in you can't carry passengers and too often the likes of Davis are passengers. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,330 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 42 minutes ago, Doc said: Well we did in the form of Helander but his long term injury has probably cost us more than any of us realised at the time. Edmundson was expected to be 4th choice centre back behind Goldson, Katic and Helander so we can't blame him too much. Nobody foresaw how Goldson and Katic would turn into headless chickens since the turn of the year. We should not be getting caught out with long balls as often as we have been. That's just basic defending and it's not like we are up against Messi or Ronaldo week in week out. I don't think that Helander is really the type that I'm thinking of. I'm suggesting a player in his early thirties who would not be first choice. He wouldn't need to be a great defender either. He just needs to be a guy who we can bring in to a high pressure situation without shattering his confidence. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,330 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 41 minutes ago, Doc said: If we really we just playing for a replay at 0-0 then that's worse in my eyes. That's just gutless. And it's not like we ever looked like keeping a clean sheet. Quite, but given the situation with Morelos it might well have been enough to live to fight on another day. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,640 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 30 minutes ago, Doc said: Agree up to a point but we have probably been hoping for too much from some of those experienced players. Davis blows hot and cold, and especially cold if opposition midfielders harry him and don't give him space. Defoe is excellent and looks like he genuinely cares. He still offers a real threat but too often we are lumping balls in to him rather than looking for something whipped in low from wide positions for him to run on to. His injury hasn't helped us at a critical time. McCauley was a fucking disaster and a complete waste of time and money. We should not be relying so much on players at the fag end of their careers. They can do it in the odd game but over a whole season they are going to give you quite a few games like yesterday. Other than Defoe I don't think these veterans have necessarily improved the younger players as much as we would have hoped they would. Maybe I'm wrong but I would rather have taken players 4-5 years younger and with more energy because in the league we're in you can't carry passengers and too often the likes of Davis are passengers. Davis has been tremendous, but has fallen off a cliff since the break. I don't understand it? Defoe and McAuley were from last season - the post I responded to specifically said this season's transfers. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,724 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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