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Post by Olgrligm on Aug 16, 2008 18:55:34 GMT
Ratings first:
Sorensen - 5 - No chance on the first, disappointing on the second and should have come to claim the third.
Griffin - 4 - Absolutely diabolical. If this guy from Southampton signs, he should have one last chance at left back or resign as captain.
Cort - 5 - Lost his man for the third
Shawcross - 5 - Didn't look up to it today. Badly cocked up the marking for the second goal.
Wilkinson - 4 - Played today for one reason: To kick Davies up in the air and stop him winning the ball. That is, after all, their only tactic - get it to Davies to head down. He failed miserably.
Delap - 6 - Not suited to the wing at all.
Olofinjana - 6
Whelan - 5 - Didn't get stuck in at all.
Cresswell - 5 - Touched the ball maybe twice in the whole game.
Sidibe - 5 - Off day, not as active, mobile or dominant as usual.
Kitson - 6 - Won everything but nothing could really come off for him.
Subs:
Lawrence - 6
Fuller - 7
Dickinson - 6
Two things cost us today: creativity and defending. The defending for the second and third goals was absolutely laughable. We played Wilkinson today to keep an eye on Davies, whose game is to play off the full back and win the ball in the air. Wilkinson was chosen over Dickinson because he's the more versatile player and would be able to play either side and kick Davies about. Nice idea, but Wilkinson wasn't up to the job. I was watching Davies as the players prepared for the free kick that shouldn't have been. Wilkinson was supposed to be marking him and followed him into the box. Davies drifted to the centre and Shawcross noticed him and also decided to pick him up. They both got confused and Davies had a free, easy header. As for the third goal, another free header as Cort lost his man. I hope that this Faye has some leadership and experience because our defenders are going to need talking through every game this season. Griffin has to go - he played long balls in the direction of where his team mates weren't (usually out for a throw on the halfway line) and was beaten time after time in defence.
The real shame is that for huge chunks of the game, we outplayed this Premiership outfit and pinned them back. That jammy goal in the 30th minute just knocked the stuffing clean out of us after we'd been toiling at 100% to absolutely no avail. We had a mad 10 minutes until half time then and we needed seriously calming down. Heads had dropped and body language was bad.
Why hadn't we capitalised on our pressure though? I'll tell you. Creativity. That first half team didn't have the slightest bit of creativity in them. We got the ball and set pieces in the Bolton half, but there was no Lawrence to accurately deliver them and no Fuller to beat his man and tear the defences apart. Just like last year, without these two catalysts in our side we cannot score. In the second half, Bolton were just the same as in the first half and were no great shakes. We had the pressure but no cutting edge. We couldn't win the ball in the centre of the park.
Two Bolton players ran the game - Cahill and Davies. Davies was everywhere on the pitch, kind of like Sidibe last season for us but far, far better. He did absolutely everything. Cahill, meanwhile, was unbeatable in the air and the primary reason that we struggled in the box. If we swapped, say, Shawcross and Sidibe for Davies and Cahill, I imagine that it was very likely indeed that the result would have been reversed.
As for Bolton though - the free programme was a nice touch and the ground is pretty nice, but everything else was pretty amateurish. Is this really how the Premiership is? Half empty grounds, pathetic PA announcer who couldn't manage to co-ordinate himself enough to announce our substitutes or half time scores, silent supporters and referees who fall for effeminacy? Is that really what the Premier League is all about, what we've just moved into?
Oh well. I'm tired now.
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Post by ashbournepotter on Aug 16, 2008 19:00:06 GMT
fantastic post
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Post by stokeboy44 on Aug 16, 2008 19:03:40 GMT
Completely agree, but i didnt think Kitson was that good
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Post by Fred Ferret on Aug 16, 2008 19:08:22 GMT
Thought the Bolton support was absolutely crap - they didn't start singing until the 72 nd minute!
Their first goal was the flookiest fluke of a flooky type goal I am unlikely to see for a long time. Thought we deserved a goal or no more than 0-2 on the first half showing. At least we took the game to them more in the second half.
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Post by tigger68 on Aug 16, 2008 19:12:07 GMT
sorenson to blame for the second and third......must admit i thought there were too many players between the keeper and the ball for both ???see better on motd....but think its harsh to blame him......
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Post by Bick on Aug 16, 2008 19:15:54 GMT
I agree, but I also thought Kitson wasn't even a 6 today.
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Post by goodjobson on Aug 16, 2008 19:19:33 GMT
sorenson to blame for the second and third......must admit i thought there were too many players between the keeper and the ball for both ???see better on motd....but think its harsh to blame him...... I am not sure about Sorensen yet. I wonder if Simmo would have conceaded three....... |
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Post by pottersrule on Aug 16, 2008 19:20:01 GMT
Thanks for putting in the effort to summarize today mystic.An informative,high quality post.
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Post by Olgrligm on Aug 16, 2008 19:41:52 GMT
I'm not sure if I put it in there, but Sorensen was most definitely at fault for the third goal. He should have come and claimed it. Not so sure about the second, mostly a marking cock up. No chance on the first, flew right into the top corner.
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Post by bunnyscfc on Aug 16, 2008 21:01:16 GMT
imho the keeper wasn't at fault. Two players completely free 10 yards out. Free kick had too much pace on it for the keeper to come.
Wilko lost his man for the first and Cort for the second by the looks of what I've seen on t'internet.
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Post by scfc147 on Aug 16, 2008 21:05:33 GMT
sorenson to blame for the second and third......must admit i thought there were too many players between the keeper and the ball for both ???see better on motd....but think its harsh to blame him...... I am not sure about Sorensen yet. I wonder if Simmo would have conceaded three....... Simmo wouldn't of saved the 1st for sure, as it was from distance!  |
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Hammo
Youth Player
Posts: 278
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Post by Hammo on Aug 16, 2008 21:10:31 GMT
I was dissapointed with kitson today.
His judgement was shocking.
He looked better when Fuller came on imo.
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Post by Beardy200 on Aug 16, 2008 21:29:01 GMT
Great post mystic. The positives are we did cause them a few problems at the back and Fuller looked lively when he came on. Being direct is fine but Kitson & Sidibe are both pretty static and with nobody to feed off the scraps as there's little pace in midfield. Personally i'm a big Rici fan and when you go direct you need someone with pace up front, as well as height to run the channels and feed off the scraps. Rici can do all of that but he's also got that little bit of 'something special' that can open the game up. At pompey he was often the loan man up on his own and that doesn't suit him in in my opinion. This time when he plays he'll always have Dave or Mama with him to support and create some space for him to use as we all know he can do. Add to that the bite, confidence and quality delivery of Lawrence and i can see us worrying a lot of defences over the next few months. The big concern though, as we all knew it would be, was the defence. They're too slow, immobile and obviously lacked a lot of concentration today in those mad 10 minutes. That being said we should hopefully get 2 out of the 4 replaced this week, maybe more later with loan signings aswell and things will look a lot better. Aby Faye is strong but also very sharp and that can make up for so much if you switch off occasionally. Just look at Sol Cambell for instance, forever being caught out of position but he was so quick (in his prime) he could often recover and get away with it. Looks like he's going to be a pivotal player for our season, but if he's as good as the Newcastle fans say he is and we can get 'anybody' (almost literally) in to replace Griffin we'll look a lot more solid. So in my eyes - not the end of the world and i'm still very hopeful |
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Post by imallstokedup on Aug 16, 2008 22:01:07 GMT
Can't believe they have a singing stand !! WTF ?
Q beating beer tokens for half time is a good idea and something we need to promote.
I was sat 30 yards up the pitch from the Stoke end ( in the Bolton end ), Stoke fans sounded brilliant.
Quite a few empty seats in the Stoke end ?
Bad mistakes in the centre of defence for goals 2 and 3.
Distribution out of defence was poor, gave away the ball too cheap.
Long punts to Sidibe were fruitless as midfield were sat too deep to support.
Olofinjana had a decent game, but again played deep and didn't push up.
Why were there boos when Whelan come off ?
Kitson was frustrated with lack of service for most of game, didn't win that much in the air.
A couple of times Cresswell "dinked" balls into their box, where their killer balls were delivered with pace.
Muamba ( not mentioned ), I thought played well for them.
You could tell Fuller enjoyed his moment and he looked alive and dangerous. He will get goals in this league. Good delivery from Dickinson and good to see a full back up the pitch.
We knew before the game we are weak in the full back areas, need creativity in midfield, pace and delivery from the left and attacking options.
We need to create more chances from open play.
We were missing our two best and most influential players for most of the game, have two new signings who were not on the park and others in the pipe-line.
All is not lost !!
We'll be better for the experience, but the support has got to be 100% for everybody in the shirt.
Griffin, Wilkinson, Cresswell didn't pick themselves in their positions.
..........and Pullis is no idiot, he got us here, deserves his chance and knows what areas need strengthening without re-mortgaging the club.
I'm still very hopeful too, it was never going to be a walk in the park was it ?
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Post by TheWiseMaster on Aug 16, 2008 23:07:36 GMT
Yes this is the Premier League but the relegation section of course
We lost to one of our competitors for one of those slots
What was most galling was that we failed in our one strong area - in the air! Missed an open goal and then two headed goals conceded by our centrebacks
Pulis was just as gutted as us but he knows we need more quality if we are to drag ourselves out
I thought Seyi had a decent game though like much of the side he did get dragged too deep at times. Kitson slightly disappointing but needs better service
Disappointed we lost though not surprised. pleased that we lost to our own mistakes and a fluke - thankfully the class gap at our end of the table is not yet out of reach
Oh - and they weren't booing Whelan - they were booing Whelan going off rather than Cresswell
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Post by mumf14 on Aug 16, 2008 23:09:52 GMT
Bolton have spent more on one player than we have on the whole team.
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Post by Fred Zeppelin on Aug 16, 2008 23:15:58 GMT
Ratings first: Sorensen - 5 - No chance on the first, disappointing on the second and should have come to claim the third. Griffin - 4 - Absolutely diabolical. If this guy from Southampton signs, he should have one last chance at left back or resign as captain. Cort - 5 - Lost his man for the third Shawcross - 5 - Didn't look up to it today. Badly cocked up the marking for the second goal. Wilkinson - 4 - Played today for one reason: To kick Davies up in the air and stop him winning the ball. That is, after all, their only tactic - get it to Davies to head down. He failed miserably. Delap - 6 - Not suited to the wing at all. Olofinjana - 6 Whelan - 5 - Didn't get stuck in at all. Cresswell - 5 - Touched the ball maybe twice in the whole game. Sidibe - 5 - Off day, not as active, mobile or dominant as usual. Kitson - 6 - Won everything but nothing could really come off for him. Subs: Lawrence - 6 Fuller - 7 Dickinson - 6 Two things cost us today: creativity and defending. The defending for the second and third goals was absolutely laughable. We played Wilkinson today to keep an eye on Davies, whose game is to play off the full back and win the ball in the air. Wilkinson was chosen over Dickinson because he's the more versatile player and would be able to play either side and kick Davies about. Nice idea, but Wilkinson wasn't up to the job. I was watching Davies as the players prepared for the free kick that shouldn't have been. Wilkinson was supposed to be marking him and followed him into the box. Davies drifted to the centre and Shawcross noticed him and also decided to pick him up. They both got confused and Davies had a free, easy header. As for the third goal, another free header as Cort lost his man. I hope that this Faye has some leadership and experience because our defenders are going to need talking through every game this season. Griffin has to go - he played long balls in the direction of where his team mates weren't (usually out for a throw on the halfway line) and was beaten time after time in defence. The real shame is that for huge chunks of the game, we outplayed this Premiership outfit and pinned them back. That jammy goal in the 30th minute just knocked the stuffing clean out of us after we'd been toiling at 100% to absolutely no avail. We had a mad 10 minutes until half time then and we needed seriously calming down. Heads had dropped and body language was bad. Why hadn't we capitalised on our pressure though? I'll tell you. Creativity. That first half team didn't have the slightest bit of creativity in them. We got the ball and set pieces in the Bolton half, but there was no Lawrence to accurately deliver them and no Fuller to beat his man and tear the defences apart. Just like last year, without these two catalysts in our side we cannot score. In the second half, Bolton were just the same as in the first half and were no great shakes. We had the pressure but no cutting edge. We couldn't win the ball in the centre of the park. Two Bolton players ran the game - Cahill and Davies. Davies was everywhere on the pitch, kind of like Sidibe last season for us but far, far better. He did absolutely everything. Cahill, meanwhile, was unbeatable in the air and the primary reason that we struggled in the box. If we swapped, say, Shawcross and Sidibe for Davies and Cahill, I imagine that it was very likely indeed that the result would have been reversed. As for Bolton though - the free programme was a nice touch and the ground is pretty nice, but everything else was pretty amateurish. Is this really how the Premiership is? Half empty grounds, pathetic PA announcer who couldn't manage to co-ordinate himself enough to announce our substitutes or half time scores, silent supporters and referees who fall for effeminacy? Is that really what the Premier League is all about, what we've just moved into? Oh well. I'm tired now. Reading that gave me a headache. Good post though. |
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Post by cousindupree on Aug 17, 2008 10:10:54 GMT
To be brutal I thought there was a much bigger gap in quality than I expected. I thought we might be close to Bolton but to be honest we got blown away...gave the ball away so often and schoolyard defensive mistakes.The second half wasn't as much as us improving but a team coasting at 3 up.It was very much a championship team playing champs football......start praying for 1) Faye to be a defensive saviour and 2) Kitson Fuller and lawrence can all play 30 odd games and are injury free
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Post by imallstokedup on Aug 17, 2008 19:52:36 GMT
I was surprised that we didn't play with a bit more pace ( cup tie tempo ), however I do feel Lawrence and Fuller bring that to the party.
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Post by robin1302 on Aug 17, 2008 20:09:02 GMT
Why were there boos when Whelan come off ? Because many felt he was one of our better players and that Delap should have been replaced instead |
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Post by Stokie-Jiggz on Aug 17, 2008 20:12:53 GMT
Fantastic thread this is guys. An excellent read  |
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