I will publicly admit that Kakay did better than I expected. Smyth was impressive and a constant thorn in Cardiff's side. Armstrong also did well and delighted he got his first (hopefully of many) Champion goal - even though his head cannot seem to connect with a high ball. Cook & Fox were a 'steady ship' at the back, and Field was able to do his job without distractions, as was Chair. Even Dozzell seemed to get the memo and got stuck in. I still feel more crosses could have been blocked, but perhaps Ainsworth tells Kakay & Paal to not commit themselves if possible to tackles??? There is a worry though in that our subs are not as good as other sides it seems, which means we are more vulnerable when regular starters are replaced.
It was important that we didnt take a second heavy defeat in a row,we actually looked like a different team from last week I think Steve cook made a huge difference at the back and Armstrong now scoring will hopefully ignite the kid we’ve been waiting to see up front This team isn’t great but it’s more than capable of staying up if it plays like that every week
Post by northwesthoop on Aug 12, 2023 18:38:04 GMT
Everything we all said last week was accurate - we were beyond embarrassing and the season looked bleak.
But today's turnaround performance bodes well and suggests the players are sticking with Ainsworth.
Clearly Willock isn't, we need to get him out and sign 2 rapid wingers in his place to help us maintain our press and energy when Smith/Chair/Armstrong get tired.
Bloody hell I got one right. Just had a feeling we'd be a very different side today, wish I'd said it on the preview show now
Ainsworth got it badly wrong last week but got it right today, the gameplan worked so well, no space for Cardiff to play in, pressing them high up the pitch and in their faces, Bowler was basically bulled out of the game by Paal. Armstrong was very good in his hold up play, Smyth outstanding on the right and so many other good performances. Last 25 minutes was terrifying but we held on and well deserved win
I will publicly admit that Kakay did better than I expected. Smyth was impressive and a constant thorn in Cardiff's side. Armstrong also did well and delighted he got his first (hopefully of many) Champion goal - even though his head cannot seem to connect with a high ball. Cook & Fox were a 'steady ship' at the back, and Field was able to do his job without distractions, as was Chair. Even Dozzell seemed to get the memo and got stuck in. I still feel more crosses could have been blocked, but perhaps Ainsworth tells Kakay & Paal to not commit themselves if possible to tackles??? There is a worry though in that our subs are not as good as other sides it seems, which means we are more vulnerable when regular starters are replaced.
We seemed to play a 3-4-2-1 formation and I thought the performance of Smyth was significant because he was getting up and down that right hand side which allowed Kakay to play alongside Cooke and Fox rather than as a right back. In respect of Paal he seemed to play more as a left wing back and at times he seemed to be playing alongside Chair.
The starting line up when Colback is fit should be a lot more aggressive and he will give us a bit more experience when we play better teams than Cardiff. As you suggest kingfisher the worry is our very weak bench that is lacking in any real quality.
Sometimes it still felt like 4 at the back because of how high up Smyth kept getting it was a superb display from him. Kakay just kept things simple and defended whereas Paal got forward on the other side.
Dykes playing deeper rather than at the head of the attack worked so well. He was winning most challenges, and had Chair, Smyth and Armstrong around him as options to flick it on to/lay it off too. He would then sprint into the box. That made a difference as usually he's in the box on his own.
Play like that each week, add Colback into the mix, JCS if he can ever get fit and one or two other new signings and we will have a half decent season and give most sides a game. Anything less, like we saw last week, and we get pulverised. Yesterday needs to be the minimum standard.
As I said before though the drop off when Armstrong and Smyth went off was alarming and that needs addressing.
Last Edit: Aug 13, 2023 6:14:40 GMT by northwesthoop
The stoke manager said he hadn’t seen a better side pass and move the ball around even better than Burnley when they were beaten by Ipswich yesterday That’s going to be a tough game now
The stoke manager said he hadn’t seen a better side pass and move the ball around even better than Burnley when they were beaten by Ipswich yesterday That’s going to be a tough game now
Indeed. They look a good side. Interesting to see how we step up at home. Yesterday was a really good away performance. But this season, we need to be a hell of a lot better at Loftus Road than we were last year. We have look nervous at home under Ainsworth.
They may fizzle out as the season goes on Look at what happened to the front runners last year at the start of the season,reading and us Reading league one and we nearly were
It certainly projected one certain - this season is going to be a rollercoaster ride! Fair play to Ainsworth that he changed the way we played - and we really did play differently. I watched the game as it was on early in Australia - and the shape of the side seemed far more confident when keeping the ball. Of course my mate took great glee in telling me Cardiff were terrible so we looked better... pwah! I'd expect no more from a Spurs fan!
It was good to hear Ainsworth admit he'd got the set up wrong against Watford although how he couldn't see that after the Oxford game I don't know. Anyway at least he did realise and made the required changes in game two rather than do a Warburton and persist in playing the wrong team until Christmas.
We know that we are still way short of where we need to be but getting 3 points against a team who along with us are expected to struggle was a huge boost.
It's great that Sinclair has now got his first Championship goal and Smyth's energy getting up and down that right hand side was impressive. If both Smyth and Armstrong can continue to play with such energy in future games we could surprise a few teams.
