Luton Town v AFC Bournemouth

Waz afcb said:
Very very disappointing that. Losing to an opponent due to quality is one thing, losing because they want it more than you do is unacceptable in my eyes. Judging by the look on Iraola’s face he feel the same.

Both goals resulted in a series of duels in which they just wanted it more. Kelly shows again that he’s elite level when defending a ball over his head, but he’s as shaky as they come when he actually has to stand up and defend his own area. Got to be stronger with that tackle on the edge of the box that led to the first, especially considering he left his position to make it. Fed up of seeing him linked to every club going and then watching him cost us goals with his poor penalty area defending.

Zaba I won’t be so hard on because he is a young player and the reality is that mistakes will happen now and then, he’s actually made very few of them since the Everton away debacle. He really has to be stronger in that moment though.

The game was lost the moment we bought Billing on for Kluivert. Billing just doesn’t have the attributes needed to play the number ten role in this team. His lack of intensity out to of possession was infuriating as well. This team needs Kluivert and if he has to go off then it needs Unal supported by Solanke. The moment the forward becomes isolated when we play in this direct style we just can’t get out of our own half. Billing, Scott, Christie, it doesn’t matter. None of them should be playing as the second attacker, they just don’t have the natural attacking instincts to get close enough to or to get beyond the centre forward.

Christie was poor today too, I don’t know if he wasn’t fully fit but he was chasing shadows and was so poor on the ball, why was he attempting so many silly flicks all of a sudden?

You have to mention Solanke too, he did not seem up for the fight at all today and didn’t really manage to hold the ball up at all against their centre backs. He was very ineffective. At least Unal put himself about and attempted to battle with them. I think Dom’s hold up play is the biggest (and perhaps only) weakness to his game. Today we needed him to be strong and he wasn’t.

I know Luton needed it more than us today, but to lose in the manner that we did is still very disappointing.
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Very harsh …Give more credit to a team battling to stay up .
 
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But the key point really is that if there was ever an example of how badly this team needs Kluivert in it then that was it, we lost the moment he was taken off for Billing. We lost any support to our central striker, the dynamism he provides drifting across the line, the raw pace he threatens teams with etc. Billing just came on and jogged around like he was playing with his kids in the park.
 
I feel sorry for Phil Bill. He just doesn't seem to suit the Areola style. When Kluivert, Sinistera, Semenyo or Django get the ball they know it's head down and run. Phil Bill wants a touch and to look up, which slows us down.
He's a quality player, unfortunately not part of our system.
 
afcb_rednblack said:
This. The subs negatively impacted on the game, we lost width and let Luton back in.

Well done Luton, like others have said, I hope they stay up.
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Reality check for us too. We weren't that great against Palace either. We're doing well this season, but we're not as good as we think we are, and Andoni's silly subs today show that he's still young and not perfect either. On MOTD they said our conversion rate is the same as last season, which us concerning. Another thing that concerns me a bit is Billing, Brooks etc. seemingly not fitting into Andoni's style of play and suggestions we should just move them on. How long will Andoni be with us for? There's a good chance he'll get snapped up by another club in a season or two, and then another manager will come in with a different style and we'll have sold players suited to that style. I suppose I'm saying that it's all well and good having a successful style, but a bit of flexibility is important too otherwise teams find you out. I personally wonder if Andoni should adapt his style based on the players we have. Billing was our top scorer last season and before this season has generally been a very good number 10 for us. He doesn't have Kluivert's pressing ability, but he played well v Palace. His confidence has been shot too due to not being in the side. So, when people say he isn't goid enough, it's important to remember that it's hard for players who have been out of the team to just come in and fit in well. Brooksy may lack defensive skills, but he knows how to score. If players were looking to move on anyway or their attitudes are poor, then fair enough, sell them, but these are good players. I'm not sure we would have got promoted or stayed up last season had it not been for Billing, so a bit of recognition of that would be good.
 
Did anyone else feel Ref and Lino were poor - I was there and the amount of off ball incidents , balls coming off Luton players and going out and decisions went Luton's way - time wasting buy Luton - players taking throw in long way from where ball went out and officials did nothing - plus Ref was allowing Luton to foul us off the pitch.
 
Cherriess said:
Reality check for us too. We weren't that great against Palace either. We're doing well this season, but we're not as good as we think we are, and Andoni's silly subs today show that he's still young and not perfect either. On MOTD they said our conversion rate is the same as last season, which us concerning. Another thing that concerns me a bit is Billing, Brooks etc. seemingly not fitting into Andoni's style of play and suggestions we should just move them on. How long will Andoni be with us for? There's a good chance he'll get snapped up by another club in a season or two, and then another manager will come in with a different style and we'll have sold players suited to that style. I suppose I'm saying that it's all well and good having a successful style, but a bit of flexibility is important too otherwise teams find you out. I personally wonder if Andoni should adapt his style based on the players we have. Billing was our top scorer last season and before this season has generally been a very good number 10 for us. He doesn't have Kluivert's pressing ability, but he played well v Palace. His confidence has been shot too due to not being in the side. So, when people say he isn't goid enough, it's important to remember that it's hard for players who have been out of the team to just come in and fit in well. Brooksy may lack defensive skills, but he knows how to score. If players were looking to move on anyway or their attitudes are poor, then fair enough, sell them, but these are good players. I'm not sure we would have got promoted or stayed up last season had it not been for Billing, so a bit of recognition of that would be good.
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The subs didn't help us but they weren't 'silly' subs.....Cook and Christie were poor today .....Cook particularly so....bringing Billing and Scott was supposed to help us regain a bit of control....The Semenyo sub was the only strange one....must have had a knock.
 
boxmoor123 said:
Did anyone else feel Ref and Lino were poor - I was there and the amount of off ball incidents , balls coming off Luton players and going out and decisions went Luton's way - time wasting buy Luton - players taking throw in long way from where ball went out and officials did nothing - plus Ref was allowing Luton to foul us off the pitch.
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Thought they were OK tbf.
 
Topfarrier said:
The subs didn't help us but they weren't 'silly' subs.....Cook and Christie were poor today .....Cook particularly so....bringing Billing and Scott was supposed to help us regain a bit of control....The Semenyo sub was the only strange one....must have had a knock.
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Have I missed where you said what a good game Neto had?
 
Topfarrier said:
The subs didn't help us but they weren't 'silly' subs.....Cook and Christie were poor today .....Cook particularly so....bringing Billing and Scott was supposed to help us regain a bit of control....The Semenyo sub was the only strange one....must have had a knock.
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Difficult to control a game when you continue to play direct but then leave the centre forward isolated. Feel bad for Unal, he held the ball up pretty well but didn’t have any support. We’re not a side that looks to control, we rarely look to have periods of possession and are instead always looking to hit long direct passes to gain territory. The subs were the reason we completely lost control. We lost the ability to gain any sustained territory.
 
fritter said:
Billing was our top scorer last season....

7 goals.
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He’s very good at making late runs into the box. Playing as a ten in this team he can rarely do that as with him in that role we struggle to progress the ball into the final third in the first place.
 
Obviously they wanted and needed it more but for me subbing Semenyo and Kluivert when Christie looked dead on his feet and gave the ball away so many times was a mistake. With those two on the pitch we were always a threat so maybe Adams or Scott on for Christie? Exciting game but that just made it so much more disappointing in the end. Feeling very flat and imagine the players will be feeling the same which is a bit worrying for the next game.
 
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