It all started so well, so to end at 1-3 seems a bit harsh. If we'd defended the set pieces better and kept it to 1-2 I think we'd be looking at the last two performances and the 3 points thinking "What a change, now we have a chance".
I know I am.
Boro looked a strong side I thought. Good balance across the side and got some excellent deliveries into the box.
I don’t think we did too much wrong. Soft defending of set pieces and Mehmeti losing the ball in bad areas on a few occasions. Otherwise a decent display.
Ikpeazu looks absolutely fantastic. Consistently made the ball stick and brought others into play. Plus an excellent goal to go with it. Keeping him fit will be critical.
Really good game. Just couldn't quite find that equaliser when we were on top. Boro were certainly one of the best sides we've played this season, so not too disappointed by the defeat. We looked a threat and created chances all afternoon and we can take great heart from that against a side that don't concede many. Our defending from corners was poor though, we need to work on that if Stewart is out for a while.
IMO ( am.a qualified referee ).he make some bad decisions on pulling back Fed back twice for non existing fouls, I am of gone on ove the top to say diabolical however I expected so much for from refs in this league
On a positive note, a lot of Boro fans got stuck with our commentary and several of them said how much better @bluntphil and the other chap (sorry, did not hear his name) were compared to the usual, even saying "can we sign them up?"
The ref bought a few dives from players from both sides. JJ clearly dived after turning their player on the edge of the box which earnt the Boro player a booking. Don't think either side could have any particular complaints about him though.
they were a very good side and have so much squad depth, they really hurt us on the wings (more on the right which was surprising) no.complains with the result, Mehetti looks good on the ball but needs to be careful when he is close to our box !
Thought we started superbly, then sat back a little too much after Uche's goal and paid the price, exacerbated by our central midfield being too light and a couple of mistakes by Mehmeti. That seemed to cause our heads to drop and we totally lost our shape and cohesion defensively all of which led to their second.
Clearly words were had at half time and we looked a lot better at the start of the second half but another defensive cock up led to their third.
Overall we battled and generally attacked pretty well, but disappointingly our defence was at 6s & 7s for spells throughout both halves, perhaps due to the lack of midfield cover, caused by only having one man in there.
The ref was decent enough and overall didn't affect the result or miss anything that might have changed the course of the game.
We need to dust ourselves off, sort out the defence and especially resolve Knight's loan and prepare for the next one.
We're not going to win every game and even if we'd played with a better formation this is one we'd probably have lost in the end. But the midfield set-up was all wrong today. There was no one in the middle able to spray the balls to the wingers to allow them to run at the box. Mehmeti was too high up, even if he'd been playing well he would have only been able to distribute sideways by which time our wide men would have already run into congestion.
It was back to the bad days at the start of the season where we weren't going to win anything in the middle - then it was because we were relying on players without enough quality, now we have a man of quality in Thompson but expect him to do far too much (especially if he's still carrying an injury). Freeman alongside him would have helped defensively and given us a creative outlet in the middle, but he's been dropped for whatever reason. Adeniran could have done the job though and not playing him from the start was a mistake.
Still, Wheeler, Tafazolli and Ikpeazu were all excellent. With just a few tweaks we can go into the second half of the season with renewed confidence.
It's harsh to put that Boro goal down to Mehmeti, bearing in mind his bad pass was still well inside their half. But the truth is that set us on the way to throwing the lead away.
Can't complain about the result, but can complain about two lousy set piece efforts.
I think we all got a bit giddy at the last win - expectedly so having only won 3 in half a season.
Still, cup next week, and a chance to dream of a little run. I can't imagine anyone would want us to go our early to "concentrate on the league" this season!
One of our more entertaining defeats. Uche was magnificent, reminded me of Tino Asprilla in that he often didn’t look to be even vaguely in control of the ball but turned out to know exactly what he was doing.
Felt a bit like we killed the game with our own subs though. We were on top and close to scoring when we took Mehmeti off, then spent 10 minutes trying to get to grips with our new shape, then made a double sub and had to do it again.
Mehmeti lost the ball well into our half for their first goal. About on the halfway line for the second. Well, that’s how I saw it but I’m probably well wide of the mark.
Beaten by a better side so no shame. The pleasing thing for me was that having looked second best for much of the first half, second half I thought we really looked good and more than matched them for a good 20 minutes or so
Still, cup next week, and a chance to dream of a little run. I can't imagine anyone would want us to go our early to "concentrate on the league" this season!
I don't think there's any chance of that, we have to go for it against a beatable PNE side and then I think we'd have a very good chance of a TV game next round, whether it be against a top-flight team or vs a minnow. Either way, I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory this time round than rest players and the like.
@micra said:
Mehmeti lost the ball well into our half for their first goal. About on the halfway line for the second. Well, that’s how I saw it but I’m probably well wide of the mark.
Still, cup next week, and a chance to dream of a little run. I can't imagine anyone would want us to go our early to "concentrate on the league" this season!
I don't think there's any chance of that, we have to go for it against a beatable PNE side and then I think we'd have a very good chance of a TV game next round, whether it be against a top-flight team or vs a minnow. Either way, I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory this time round than rest players and the like.
Very definitely.
We might well only have this one opportunity of cruising straight in to round 3 - so we need to give it a full on go. And no chance we won't. Especially as the midweek games stop until 19th Jan now.
@micra said:
Mehmeti lost the ball well into our half for their first goal. About on the halfway line for the second. Well, that’s how I saw it but I’m probably well wide of the mark.
First goal came from a corner
But after Mehmeti lost the ball trying some trickery not that far from our penalty area.
I think!
Agreed I think we are now going to have to go a bit more gun ho at opposition. We are realistically going to need at least 9 more victories plus a few draws to stay up.
Let me hastily say that I have been one of his greatest admirers and I did say a couple of weeks ago that I’d be happy to see him in the starting lineup. Today was an object lesson which I am sure he will have taken on board. He is an attacking midfielder and should have licence to play well forward in front of a couple of more defensive midfielders.
First goal has to be keepers ball though, second a cracking finish and the third I think came off the post from the corner, so not much to be done there
Comments
It all started so well, so to end at 1-3 seems a bit harsh. If we'd defended the set pieces better and kept it to 1-2 I think we'd be looking at the last two performances and the 3 points thinking "What a change, now we have a chance".
I know I am.
Boro looked a strong side I thought. Good balance across the side and got some excellent deliveries into the box.
I don’t think we did too much wrong. Soft defending of set pieces and Mehmeti losing the ball in bad areas on a few occasions. Otherwise a decent display.
Ikpeazu looks absolutely fantastic. Consistently made the ball stick and brought others into play. Plus an excellent goal to go with it. Keeping him fit will be critical.
That Tavernier looked a very good player, always involved.
Really good game. Just couldn't quite find that equaliser when we were on top. Boro were certainly one of the best sides we've played this season, so not too disappointed by the defeat. We looked a threat and created chances all afternoon and we can take great heart from that against a side that don't concede many. Our defending from corners was poor though, we need to work on that if Stewart is out for a while.
IMO ( am.a qualified referee ).he make some bad decisions on pulling back Fed back twice for non existing fouls, I am of gone on ove the top to say diabolical however I expected so much for from refs in this league
On a positive note, a lot of Boro fans got stuck with our commentary and several of them said how much better @bluntphil and the other chap (sorry, did not hear his name) were compared to the usual, even saying "can we sign them up?"
The ref did OK. We were just beaten by a better team today and defensively we were poor.
Not sure anyone else feels the same but we need a lot mire from Horgan. He huffed and puffed but no end product today.
They were strong in midfield, which you expect from a Warnock team.
Onto the next game!
Sam Avery.
The ref bought a few dives from players from both sides. JJ clearly dived after turning their player on the edge of the box which earnt the Boro player a booking. Don't think either side could have any particular complaints about him though.
I personally thought Horgan did a lot more today than McCleary and Wheeler, I was surprised he went off instead of one of those two
they were a very good side and have so much squad depth, they really hurt us on the wings (more on the right which was surprising) no.complains with the result, Mehetti looks good on the ball but needs to be careful when he is close to our box !
Thought we started superbly, then sat back a little too much after Uche's goal and paid the price, exacerbated by our central midfield being too light and a couple of mistakes by Mehmeti. That seemed to cause our heads to drop and we totally lost our shape and cohesion defensively all of which led to their second.
Clearly words were had at half time and we looked a lot better at the start of the second half but another defensive cock up led to their third.
Overall we battled and generally attacked pretty well, but disappointingly our defence was at 6s & 7s for spells throughout both halves, perhaps due to the lack of midfield cover, caused by only having one man in there.
The ref was decent enough and overall didn't affect the result or miss anything that might have changed the course of the game.
We need to dust ourselves off, sort out the defence and especially resolve Knight's loan and prepare for the next one.
Uche looks some player....Bayo with pace
We're not going to win every game and even if we'd played with a better formation this is one we'd probably have lost in the end. But the midfield set-up was all wrong today. There was no one in the middle able to spray the balls to the wingers to allow them to run at the box. Mehmeti was too high up, even if he'd been playing well he would have only been able to distribute sideways by which time our wide men would have already run into congestion.
It was back to the bad days at the start of the season where we weren't going to win anything in the middle - then it was because we were relying on players without enough quality, now we have a man of quality in Thompson but expect him to do far too much (especially if he's still carrying an injury). Freeman alongside him would have helped defensively and given us a creative outlet in the middle, but he's been dropped for whatever reason. Adeniran could have done the job though and not playing him from the start was a mistake.
Still, Wheeler, Tafazolli and Ikpeazu were all excellent. With just a few tweaks we can go into the second half of the season with renewed confidence.
It's harsh to put that Boro goal down to Mehmeti, bearing in mind his bad pass was still well inside their half. But the truth is that set us on the way to throwing the lead away.
Can't complain about the result, but can complain about two lousy set piece efforts.
I think we all got a bit giddy at the last win - expectedly so having only won 3 in half a season.
Still, cup next week, and a chance to dream of a little run. I can't imagine anyone would want us to go our early to "concentrate on the league" this season!
One of our more entertaining defeats. Uche was magnificent, reminded me of Tino Asprilla in that he often didn’t look to be even vaguely in control of the ball but turned out to know exactly what he was doing.
Felt a bit like we killed the game with our own subs though. We were on top and close to scoring when we took Mehmeti off, then spent 10 minutes trying to get to grips with our new shape, then made a double sub and had to do it again.
Beaten by a decent side today. Boro looked goid going forward and fired in some excellent corners.
Thought the ref was falling for the same stuff all the others did but didn't have a big decision to get wrong and the game flowed.
Needed one of those Tafazolli headers to go in to stand any chance bit thought we lost too much mobility with the Uche/Horgan change.
Beaten by a better side. Forget and move on. After the cup , we have a run of fixtures we need to win .
Mehmeti lost the ball well into our half for their first goal. About on the halfway line for the second. Well, that’s how I saw it but I’m probably well wide of the mark.
Beaten by a better side so no shame. The pleasing thing for me was that having looked second best for much of the first half, second half I thought we really looked good and more than matched them for a good 20 minutes or so
A few of which (or a couple of which) we need to win.
Cup fun then we really do have critical fixtures.
QPR, Sheff Wed, Millwall.
I don't think there's any chance of that, we have to go for it against a beatable PNE side and then I think we'd have a very good chance of a TV game next round, whether it be against a top-flight team or vs a minnow. Either way, I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory this time round than rest players and the like.
First goal came from a corner
Very definitely.
We might well only have this one opportunity of cruising straight in to round 3 - so we need to give it a full on go. And no chance we won't. Especially as the midweek games stop until 19th Jan now.
But after Mehmeti lost the ball trying some trickery not that far from our penalty area.
I think!
Agreed I think we are now going to have to go a bit more gun ho at opposition. We are realistically going to need at least 9 more victories plus a few draws to stay up.
Let me hastily say that I have been one of his greatest admirers and I did say a couple of weeks ago that I’d be happy to see him in the starting lineup. Today was an object lesson which I am sure he will have taken on board. He is an attacking midfielder and should have licence to play well forward in front of a couple of more defensive midfielders.
Not too much activity on here today but most conspicuous by his absence is @chairboyscentral . Hope he’s ok.
Came up against a decent side today.
First goal has to be keepers ball though, second a cracking finish and the third I think came off the post from the corner, so not much to be done there