Hello! Well, it could have been infinitely worse. I'm genuinely not sure what to make of the game today, although I do think on balance a Draw is the fair result. It was actually a pretty good derby, the First-Half was weird in that we looked like a team low on confidence- but at the same time Brentford were only getting chances when we made mistakes. Then in the 2nd Half the game opened up, almost too much and either team could have snatched it late on. I'm genuinely surprised given how much the game had opened up that we didn't lose it late, so I suppose that's one positive of the game today. At least it wasn't another 4-1.
Before we fully get onto the game today, there's another name to discuss in relation to the Head Coach search. I put my Preview up discussing Jokanovic and Oscar Garcia, and then pretty much as I put the Preview up the stories about Garry Monk came out. Garry Monk is someone I can see a lot of people getting behind the appointment of, and of course should he be appointed I'll back him fully. With that said, I REALLY don't want him. It's not that I don't respect what Garry Monk did last season at Swansea, but he basically did a longer version of what Kit did with us. If Garry Monk wasn't, well Garry Monk he'd have been gone long before he actually was at Swansea. I won't fully write him off before he's begun, but I'd much rather bringing someone in with more experience- both in the Championship and just in general.
Right then, the Goals. I think the two First-Half goals perfectly summed up the Half as a whole. I wasn't in a good position to determined whether it was a Penalty or not, but looking at the Highlights it's a hard one to call. My initial gut reaction was Penalty, and even looking at the Highlights it's a tricky one. I'm not surprised that it's been given, but at the same time the Ref wouldn't have necessarily got it "wrong" had he not given it. It's a harsh one in that Jazz Richards does get a bit of the ball, but he gets a bit of Bidwell as well- combined with the debate as to whether it was in the Box or not. Then our first goal was, definitely something. We needed a bit of luck in the First-Half to get a goal, because we were just generally quite flat in it- and for once we actually did. I have no idea if Button had called for it, if the Centre-Back had called for it- or whatever the hell happened. Either way, I don't really care. The Dembele goal was the first proper bit of quality there'd been all game, and as it turned out the only. It was a great bit of play, and then McCormack got it into Dembele and Dembele did what he's done so many times this season.
I'm debating how harsh I'm going to be on us for conceding from ANOTHER CORNER. The issue is such a long-standing one that Stuart Gray wasn't going to fix it in a week. With that said, even if Brentford were going to get an Equaliser I wish it hadn't have been from one just to get some confidence back when we're defending Set-Pieces. It's not as simple as a height issue for us which some people seem to be suggesting as a reason for Dan Burn to start. In working out how I was going frame the argument I was weirdly reminded of Mariappa's goal in "that" Kasami game where the 5'11 Mariappa outjumped the 6'5 Hangeland. In short, height isn't everything. Even if it were, Dan Burn isn't some blanket heading machine who covers every ball that goes in the box- nor has every Header we've conceded been either Ream or Stearman's fault.
The main issue in-terms of defending Set-Pieces to me are positional awareness and physicality. It came to nothing, but out our lack of positional awareness from Corners astounds me- and was perfectly summed up when Alan Judge had tonnes of space at the back post from one. Physicality is different to height, there's too many of our players that simply aren't strong enough to hold their man and that creates more free headers- and in turn more goals conceded. These issues can't be solved in such a short period of time, and it'll take extended work- and dare I say a whole Pre-Season to properly fix the issue.
A definitive positive today was Andy Lonergan's return. It's annoying in a way, because I don't know why we can't be more clear with Team News heading into a game. I realise we didn't rule out Lonergan (and Jazz Richards) but at the same time the general lack of news is annoying. Anyway, back to the pitch and I thought Lonergan was really good today. He made a number of key saves, one in particular in the 2nd Half from (I think) Vibe that I was convinced was in. While sacking Kit was definitely the right move, he did get a bit unlucky with a number of injuries coming at once. Lonergan being back is a difference maker, and as shown today he can be the difference between 0 and 1 Points- and hopefully in the future 1 and 3.
Jazz Richards was another player returning today, and in general I thought he did reasonably well. He did give away the Penalty of course, but apart from that I don't think he did a lot wrong throughout the game. Between Richards and Fredericks they had a fairly good handle on the Right-Hand side of the Pitch I thought, and with a few exceptions not a lot came from that side. I thought today was Luke Garbutt's best game in a Fulham shirt so far- although that isn't really saying much. He wasn't perfect today by a long way, but he was getting up and down the line a lot better- and he actually showed signs of being a capable Left-Back. Garbutt can take a lot of positives from his game today, and hopefully use today as a means to get "back on the Horse" and kick on for the second half of the season.
Tim Ream's 1st Half performance pretty much summed up the entire teams. He just looked really shaky and generally low on confidence. There was one moment in particular where Ream completely misplaced a pass to Stearman and almost gave Brentford a clear opportunity. After that I noticed Stearman having a few words with Ream, and the message from him- and Lonergan on a few occasions was basically just calm down and focus. That's all we have to do, but I acknowledge that's a lot easier said than down given our general instability as a Club at present. I thought Stearman did reasonably well today, he made a number of key tackles and blocks, and he went on the best solo run I've seen at Craven Cottage in at least 3 or 4 Seasons. I only wish Stearman had shot when he got the ball back after making that run, it was his time to shine.
I realise Scott Parker in particular is a very "Stuart Gray" player, but a Centre-Mid pairing of Jamie O'Hara and Scott Parker isn't exactly going to pull up any trees. It's just so ridiculously one-dimensional. Especially in the 1st Half, we were just so flat- and there wasn't any energy in the middle of the pitch to push us forward nor was there much creativity. I realise there wasn't much movement off the ball, and in the 1st Half all Brentford really had to do to stop us was hold their defensive shape- but the middle of the pitch is such a key area that we're losing the battle in. It's not even that Parker and O'Hara played "badly" today, it's that they're Scott Parker and Jamie O'Hara. My expectations for them aren't realistic, we all know the sort of players they are- it's just a fact that having both in the same team as a Centre-Mid pairing isn't going to work. It may well be because we're missing Tunnicliffe, but the Centre of the Pitch from our perspective just looks so flat without him. I'm also fairly certain we haven't in fact won a (league) game this season without Tunnicliffe, which of course goes back to the point I've made throughout with him that he's key to the balance of the whole team.
The Parker and O'Hara pairing is especially frustrating given we not only weren't playing Tom Cairney centrally, we started him ON THE LEFT. I've given praise for Ryan Fredericks and Jazz Richards on the right-hand side, but even so- this selection was the one that baffled me this week. There always has to be one. It was far from Tom Cairney's best game for us, but even in the game today he was still performing reasonably well- and crucially causing problems for the defence. As I've said already said with Fredericks, I thought him and Jazz Richards did well from a defensive standpoint on the Right- but going forward I thought Fredericks was pretty ineffective before his eventual substitution.
Moussa Dembele got another goal today, and I thought generally did really well. Dembele's a weird player, in that at this stage of his career- understandably he struggles to create his own chances. That meant, especially in the 1st Half with the game being particularly scrappy he was quite limited in his contribution to the game. Once the game opened up in the 2nd Half Dembele saw more of the ball, obviously got his goal- and were it not for a great last ditch tackle Dembele would have probably gotten another goal when the ball was just taken away from him late on inside the 6 Yard Box. Broken record time, Ross McCormack wasn't in fact at his best. I've been saying that so many times I'm starting to consider lowering my expectations for him. However, even with McCormack not at his best I really liked his performance today. He got the 2 Assists, and he was one of the players for us actually playing like it was a derby. McCormack's the sort of player who'll play with his heart on his sleeve and is always fully committed- and we needed that sort of performance today.
I thought Stuart Gray was supposed to be a defensive manager?! His Subs today definitely didn't have any emphasis on defence. I realise it was a Home game, and it turned out alright- but bringing on Smith, Kacaniklic and Woodrow and basically playing a 4-2-4 with Kacaniklic as one of the two by the end was almost too attacking for my liking. I think given the season we've had so far we're allowed to be pessimistic and generally nervous, but with the Subs we made I was terrified of Brentford hitting us on the Counter.
Heading into the game, if you'd offered me a generally positive 2-2 Draw- especially with Brentford's form at present I'd have definitely taken it. Coming out of the game I'll still take it, but it's one of those weird games where both teams will argue they should have taken all three. I do think today's performance is a step in the right direction though. Of course it's disappointing Stuart Gray didn't start with a win, but there was definite positives from the game that we can hopefully build on. Although, I'm dreading Ipswich given some of the players they've got for set-pieces. In fact I'll predict a Christophe Berra goal on Tuesday right now.
Thanks for reading as always, there's a really quick turnaround of games for pretty much the rest of the month now- so hopefully you're going to keep coming back for all the Previews and Reviews. The Ipswich Preview will be up on Monday, so hopefully you'll stay tuned for that- where as I've already said we can hopefully build on today's game. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the rest of your Weekend. Thanks again for reading, and remember- at least it wasn't 4-1.
No comments:
Post a Comment