kirsikka
UTC Legend
Desperate times got even more desperate with the news that Brooks was out which, on top of everything else, meant the sub bench featured four academy players. Not academy graduates, far from that, merely students hoping for the future. It meant there were no wide option available to come on for AI at his usual 60 or 70 minutes mark, so we’d need to see something a little different.
Meanwhile, they were pretty much close to full strength with a stacked bench. Which has seemed to be the case every week during this run. Urgh.
This was your classic game of two halves.
Apart from an opening flurry, we were all over them for them in the first forty-five. Pressing high, full of energy, creating chances, forcing mistakes. Pure AI-ball.
The goal, when it came, was controversial. We broke upfield from their corner with Tavs steaming down the left and then trying to pick out the run of Adli in the middle. However, his passing cross into the middle pass was a smidgeon too close to the keeper. Adli got their first, took a heavy touch and then went down from the keepers challenge.
The ref immediately booked the Moroccan for simulation only for VAR to step in and ask him to take another look.
I’ve called out reffing and VAR and horrible decisions that have gone against us this season so I’m not going to defend it when one goes in our favour. Yes, there was a slight touch on Adli by the keeper. I don’t think it was anything like a clear and obvious mistake though. It definitely wasn’t a booking but I don’t really think it was a penalty either.
We’ve seen enough from the Stockley Park Tombola to know that doesn’t really mean anything and there we go again. For once, we were the lucky winners with our prize a spot kick.
Up stepped Marcus, cool as a Tavcumber, and almost rolled it into the net.
It’s incredible to note that the VAR was Jarred Gillett, a man who has spent almost his whole career in England screwing us. Is this a New Year change of heart from him? Or does he despise Brighton as much as he does us for some reason?
We spent the rest of the half creating chances but not quite taking them. Eva had one dink hit the post with the keeper beaten after a great move (although it would have been disallowed for offside), another had his header go just wide after a Truffert cross.
It was nearly but not quite stuff. Jiminez and Tavernier the driving force behind a lot of our good stuff, but fair to say there were excellent contributions across the whole pitch.
So ended a superb half where we were more than good value for the lead, maybe even worthy of two. Looking at the respective benches and the way AI has tried to deal with this situation over the past few weeks I think we all knew what was coming.
Exactly, a contained approach trying to conserve energy to see if we could nurse players through as late in the game as possible before being forced into playing centre backs in midfield and other such nonsense because there are no other options.
It played out precisely as imagined, with Brighton pinning us back and with us trying to see it out. It wasn’t pretty but boy did the team put everything on the line once again.
If I’m honest, we looked gassed out from about 65 minutes and that’s an awful long time from the end of the match. AI made the moves he had to from the bench. The line up we ended up with was a bit of a joke, not at the expense of anyone on the pitch though who never gave up and all did their best.
We actually mostly held them at arms length with very little for Petrovic to do, despite them have eleventy-one corners in a row at one point. Normally our kryptonite.
Still, the pressure and the fresh legs finally told just after the clock ticked over the ninety minute mark. Yet another ball was lumped into the box, they won the first header ball and it bounced to their striker in a pocket of space. He took a touch and had time to get an acrobatic effort into the net.
I’d have to see the lost first header again but fair to say Senesi wasn’t tight enough on the striker. However, after the incredible efforts of the match across the whole team, I think this is one where he maybe gets a little more leeway.
That was it. We scrapped our way to that point. I don’t mean in the manner that it was scrappy, but that we fought for everything and gave up on nothing. Respect to the team.
Selected Player Watch
----- Jiminez -----
I’m starting to get worried he’ll be sold before he’s signed. That’s the kind of impact he’s having. Total commitment, strong, skillful and a never-say-die attitude you can’t help but love.
----- Adli -----
A good first half where he harried and hassled. Fortunate to win the penalty, although it wasn’t a booking either. Faded badly in the second half. To be honest, given the amount of minutes he’s played this season I was hoping he’d be able to manage the full match. I guess he understands the pace of the PL now.
----- Truffert -----
He won his battle for about 60 minutes but when Brighton turned to the bench he simply didn’t have the energy for the final round and was exposed. Still kept going but he’s one who I think could be in danger of blowing up if we aren’t careful.
----- Hill -----
He had a good game out there. His shirt to lose.
----- Senesi -----
Another who did well until an injury time lapse which cost the goal. Hard to be too harsh given how much the team put on the line out there.
----- Tavernier -----
At the moment he’s having one of his brilliant patches and is the heartbeat of the team. You could see he had nothing left to give when he trudged off. Wrap him in cotton wool.
AI and Tactics Watch
Those of you who played youth football will have been drilled in different scenarios in training. Stress testing different situations and how you handle them. AI is giving us a masterclass in that right now. Almost every match is first half go at them and attack, second half sit back and conserve energy because we simply don’t have anyone to bring on in the positions that will need replacing if we keep the pace up.
It’s almost a pisstake. You shouldn’t be able to do something like that at PL level, especially when the team you’re forced to field ends up with a midfield containing two defenders – not because of a defensive outlook but because there’s nobody else. Or you end a game with four centre backs on the pitch for similar reasons.
Top teams and top level managers should be able to manoeuvre their way through such a setup. It’s a mark of how well AI has drilled them and the commitment from the players to the cause that we’ve been able to keep this up for so many games and only get destroyed once.
You need a little luck in such scenarios. I’m guessing someone left a ladder behind at the new training and we keep walking under it every week because, it’s fair to say, we’ve had some really unfortunate outcomes. There’s another to add to the list tonight.
Some of you will think I’m off my Rocha Toth ink this, but I’m keeping the same thought as last time out and my massive rant. If we’d made more playing resources available to the manager, we would have beaten Newcastle. Same again against Brighton. Being forced to go into our shell because he doesn’t have players to play the game he wants isn’t the manager's fault. Not winning tonight isn’t on him, although earning a point is.
With players available, when has AI ever tried to shut up shop at half time? Never. However, now we see it every week due to his complete lack of options on the bench.
The Christie sub was a huge frustration. Hasn’t been match fit for nine months but he was still the one player we had on the bench who might have been able to add energy and drive to the pitch where we needed it. Instead, a few minutes later we had to shunt him out wide as our only remaining winger had to come off. It was either that or put a centre back on the wing. (Incidentally, where was Soler?)
It’s desperate stuff. I know there are players supposedly on the verge of signing. That’s a good thing and I’m delighted to hear all the noise about how promising they are. They’ll still be at least two games too late.
Last January, we put in a super-human effort with nobody fit, picked up a load of points, and put ourselves in an amazing position, only for burnout to catch up with us. This January, we’re putting in the same kind of effort with the same kind of resources. Hopefully, the new arrivals mean we’ll have a better final third of the season.
That’s the thing, it's still close enough that a run of results and we’d be back in the fight further up the table. There’s still plenty of cause for optimism for the team this year!
In fact, there are a huge number of positives to take from that match. A first half that showcased what AI and his team can do when the numbers are even. A second half where their bench strengthened them again and again whilst ours was bare, showed desire and heart. Along with multiple excellent individual performances.
Unfortunate not to get the three points. You can’t say we would have deserved them over the ninety, but we were definitely good value for one. And if we’d had some fit players to bring on, I think we’d have buried them in that second period.
Well done to the coaching team and the players who were able to play. I’m still glaring with dissatisfaction at the back office team. I really hope the recruits prove worth the wait as not making strong and early moves in the market has cost us on the pitch again tonight.
Next one is a weird one. A Liverpool team that are supposed to be all over the place this season. However, they sit in fourth place and haven’t lost any of their last twelve matches. Anything from that would be a good result.
Meanwhile, they were pretty much close to full strength with a stacked bench. Which has seemed to be the case every week during this run. Urgh.
This was your classic game of two halves.
Apart from an opening flurry, we were all over them for them in the first forty-five. Pressing high, full of energy, creating chances, forcing mistakes. Pure AI-ball.
The goal, when it came, was controversial. We broke upfield from their corner with Tavs steaming down the left and then trying to pick out the run of Adli in the middle. However, his passing cross into the middle pass was a smidgeon too close to the keeper. Adli got their first, took a heavy touch and then went down from the keepers challenge.
The ref immediately booked the Moroccan for simulation only for VAR to step in and ask him to take another look.
I’ve called out reffing and VAR and horrible decisions that have gone against us this season so I’m not going to defend it when one goes in our favour. Yes, there was a slight touch on Adli by the keeper. I don’t think it was anything like a clear and obvious mistake though. It definitely wasn’t a booking but I don’t really think it was a penalty either.
We’ve seen enough from the Stockley Park Tombola to know that doesn’t really mean anything and there we go again. For once, we were the lucky winners with our prize a spot kick.
Up stepped Marcus, cool as a Tavcumber, and almost rolled it into the net.
It’s incredible to note that the VAR was Jarred Gillett, a man who has spent almost his whole career in England screwing us. Is this a New Year change of heart from him? Or does he despise Brighton as much as he does us for some reason?
We spent the rest of the half creating chances but not quite taking them. Eva had one dink hit the post with the keeper beaten after a great move (although it would have been disallowed for offside), another had his header go just wide after a Truffert cross.
It was nearly but not quite stuff. Jiminez and Tavernier the driving force behind a lot of our good stuff, but fair to say there were excellent contributions across the whole pitch.
So ended a superb half where we were more than good value for the lead, maybe even worthy of two. Looking at the respective benches and the way AI has tried to deal with this situation over the past few weeks I think we all knew what was coming.
Exactly, a contained approach trying to conserve energy to see if we could nurse players through as late in the game as possible before being forced into playing centre backs in midfield and other such nonsense because there are no other options.
It played out precisely as imagined, with Brighton pinning us back and with us trying to see it out. It wasn’t pretty but boy did the team put everything on the line once again.
If I’m honest, we looked gassed out from about 65 minutes and that’s an awful long time from the end of the match. AI made the moves he had to from the bench. The line up we ended up with was a bit of a joke, not at the expense of anyone on the pitch though who never gave up and all did their best.
We actually mostly held them at arms length with very little for Petrovic to do, despite them have eleventy-one corners in a row at one point. Normally our kryptonite.
Still, the pressure and the fresh legs finally told just after the clock ticked over the ninety minute mark. Yet another ball was lumped into the box, they won the first header ball and it bounced to their striker in a pocket of space. He took a touch and had time to get an acrobatic effort into the net.
I’d have to see the lost first header again but fair to say Senesi wasn’t tight enough on the striker. However, after the incredible efforts of the match across the whole team, I think this is one where he maybe gets a little more leeway.
That was it. We scrapped our way to that point. I don’t mean in the manner that it was scrappy, but that we fought for everything and gave up on nothing. Respect to the team.
Selected Player Watch
----- Jiminez -----
I’m starting to get worried he’ll be sold before he’s signed. That’s the kind of impact he’s having. Total commitment, strong, skillful and a never-say-die attitude you can’t help but love.
----- Adli -----
A good first half where he harried and hassled. Fortunate to win the penalty, although it wasn’t a booking either. Faded badly in the second half. To be honest, given the amount of minutes he’s played this season I was hoping he’d be able to manage the full match. I guess he understands the pace of the PL now.
----- Truffert -----
He won his battle for about 60 minutes but when Brighton turned to the bench he simply didn’t have the energy for the final round and was exposed. Still kept going but he’s one who I think could be in danger of blowing up if we aren’t careful.
----- Hill -----
He had a good game out there. His shirt to lose.
----- Senesi -----
Another who did well until an injury time lapse which cost the goal. Hard to be too harsh given how much the team put on the line out there.
----- Tavernier -----
At the moment he’s having one of his brilliant patches and is the heartbeat of the team. You could see he had nothing left to give when he trudged off. Wrap him in cotton wool.
AI and Tactics Watch
Those of you who played youth football will have been drilled in different scenarios in training. Stress testing different situations and how you handle them. AI is giving us a masterclass in that right now. Almost every match is first half go at them and attack, second half sit back and conserve energy because we simply don’t have anyone to bring on in the positions that will need replacing if we keep the pace up.
It’s almost a pisstake. You shouldn’t be able to do something like that at PL level, especially when the team you’re forced to field ends up with a midfield containing two defenders – not because of a defensive outlook but because there’s nobody else. Or you end a game with four centre backs on the pitch for similar reasons.
Top teams and top level managers should be able to manoeuvre their way through such a setup. It’s a mark of how well AI has drilled them and the commitment from the players to the cause that we’ve been able to keep this up for so many games and only get destroyed once.
You need a little luck in such scenarios. I’m guessing someone left a ladder behind at the new training and we keep walking under it every week because, it’s fair to say, we’ve had some really unfortunate outcomes. There’s another to add to the list tonight.
Some of you will think I’m off my Rocha Toth ink this, but I’m keeping the same thought as last time out and my massive rant. If we’d made more playing resources available to the manager, we would have beaten Newcastle. Same again against Brighton. Being forced to go into our shell because he doesn’t have players to play the game he wants isn’t the manager's fault. Not winning tonight isn’t on him, although earning a point is.
With players available, when has AI ever tried to shut up shop at half time? Never. However, now we see it every week due to his complete lack of options on the bench.
The Christie sub was a huge frustration. Hasn’t been match fit for nine months but he was still the one player we had on the bench who might have been able to add energy and drive to the pitch where we needed it. Instead, a few minutes later we had to shunt him out wide as our only remaining winger had to come off. It was either that or put a centre back on the wing. (Incidentally, where was Soler?)
It’s desperate stuff. I know there are players supposedly on the verge of signing. That’s a good thing and I’m delighted to hear all the noise about how promising they are. They’ll still be at least two games too late.
Last January, we put in a super-human effort with nobody fit, picked up a load of points, and put ourselves in an amazing position, only for burnout to catch up with us. This January, we’re putting in the same kind of effort with the same kind of resources. Hopefully, the new arrivals mean we’ll have a better final third of the season.
That’s the thing, it's still close enough that a run of results and we’d be back in the fight further up the table. There’s still plenty of cause for optimism for the team this year!
In fact, there are a huge number of positives to take from that match. A first half that showcased what AI and his team can do when the numbers are even. A second half where their bench strengthened them again and again whilst ours was bare, showed desire and heart. Along with multiple excellent individual performances.
Unfortunate not to get the three points. You can’t say we would have deserved them over the ninety, but we were definitely good value for one. And if we’d had some fit players to bring on, I think we’d have buried them in that second period.
Well done to the coaching team and the players who were able to play. I’m still glaring with dissatisfaction at the back office team. I really hope the recruits prove worth the wait as not making strong and early moves in the market has cost us on the pitch again tonight.
Next one is a weird one. A Liverpool team that are supposed to be all over the place this season. However, they sit in fourth place and haven’t lost any of their last twelve matches. Anything from that would be a good result.
