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Post by luke45 on Oct 2, 2011 19:57:21 GMT
I'm sure this depressing statistic has already been aired on here tonight. It really doesn't read well does it?  The reality is, unless we start approaching away games more positively, and playing with more intensity and pressing higher up the field, we can forget about a top 10 finish. We are the masters of intense pressing off the ball at home ( even Gary Neville compared our pressing to Barcelona's !!! ) we are pressing the opposition from their own penalty area at home, whereas away from home we don't start pressing until the opposition are half way inside our half! It's totally baffling why Pulis doesn't believe a method of approach that has served us so well at home can't serve us well away from home. Why show Swansea so much respect away from home, and teams like Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal such little respect at home? The frustrating thing is I genuinely believe we are good enough to compete for 7th place if we started approaching away games in a more positive manner. Tone's post-match interview was fairly cringeworthy, moaning about the referee is straw clutching of the highest order, especially when we have had the rub of the green on a number of occasions this season so far. Europe has nothing to do with it either. Eight out of the 11 players who started at Sunderland didn't start on the previous Thursday, and Six of the 11 players who started today didn't start on the previous Thursday. Today's defeat is just another example of the problems with the away approach from the last 3 seasons, and I hope Pulis realises it soon and address's it. We have a good enough team to finish in the top 10 even with the busy fixture schedule, it would be a great shame to sacrifice that by continuing to approach most away games with a mentality of damage limitation. |
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