he creates so many chances for himself - if he finished more he’d be at a ridiculous high level. I’m surprised a lower end premier team didn’t grab him - he’s the best player outside the premier league for us by a mile
Palmer great again. His weight of passing and link up has been fantastic all season but his work rate and fitness has really been impressive recently. 9 tonight.
Gyok is the most unconventionally effective player I’ve ever seen for us. Great performance and incredible goal. 9 too.
Well he's a million miles better than simms who started for Everton last nightHow many teams in the EPL don't improve with Vik in their side?
Got to be at least half of them
Vik - 8 Goal belongs on pornhub
Wilson 5
BNC 2
Mcnally 7
Fadz 8
Doyle 7
Bidwell 9
Hamer 7
Eccles 5
Allen 12
Palmer 1
Gyokeres 8
/Grendel
Grendel or Vik?
Shirt pull is a cynical foul and should be punished with a yellowWilson 8
Clean sheet and a couple of decent saves and game management gets him an 8. What he also does well is move around the box to be on hand to receive the back passes from our defenders when they get under pressure. He follows the play in that regard, defender being pressed? Along comes Ben to offer an outlet. Can’t remember Moore or Marosi doing that so much. Couple of poor kicks but overall good.
McNally 6
This is our best back 3 and overall he did ok. Couple of poor clearances and a telegraphed ball which lead to an easy cut out (and a booking for our player?) stops him getting a 7. That said, adds height and ability to the back line.
Fadz 8
We’ve missed him. Solid, vocal, organised. Can’t remember him being caught out much or doing anything wrong.
Doyle 7
Better when playing alongside Fadz. Couple of great passes and then a couple of poor ones. What’s with him trying to be Hamer with the long passes though? You’re a centre back and need to keeping an eye on who you are marking at all times.
Nutted-Cuffs 8
Had some coffee today that man. Much improved. Cut in and drove in like a 2020 Fanky Dabo at times and had a much more confident look about him. Not sure he actually did anything to get booked and then had to temper his play a little. That’s what we want from our wing backs - cut and drive in as well as hit the by-line. It stretches the opposition because they don’t know who is marking who, especially when you’ve got Vik who could appear absolutely anywhere (I mean, how do you put a marker on Vik and still have cover for marauding wing backs?)
Bidwell 6
Just looks off his game and as though his confidence has gone a bit. Ok defensively but just ran into traffic going forwards. It’s as though our wing backs were told to drive inwards against Millwall, BNC has the power and pace, Bidwell not. Been ok most of the season though.
Eccles 6
Was he told to play deep midfield on the right and cover BNC going forward? Nearly scored him a 5 because of a few poor passes and tackles but we won and had a clean sheet.
Hamer 7
A bit quieter than of late but he’s still class. Arguably deserved an 8 but wasted a couple of free kicks. His defensive covering and calmness under pressure at the back is notable. He’s also difficult to knock off the ball despite his size. Take note Jamie Allen. No booking - good.
Allen 5
Again, some positives which stop him getting a 4 or a big fat zero: covers ground and gets into positions that stop opponents passing. Good at short give-and-go, can get into positions that pulls markers away….but….
He’s outmuscled every time, can’t tight-control a ball and gets it taken off him, shooting is poor, final ball poor.
Palmer 8
Contrast the tight control of Palmer to Allen’s. Palmer will receive a ball in a melee and come away with it more often than not. Plays these really short - slow passes and runs away into space taking his marker with him to leave our onrushing attackers to run on to the (almost placed) ball. I can see Hamer hammering some of those home in the coming weeks. Sublime skills and running and even showed some physicality in mixing it up with their players.
Gyok 9
Plus one for that screamer. Runs all game and generally terrorised their back line. Unlucky not to get another. He’s got to be in our top 10 strikers of modern times, maybe even top 5. Can we design some kind of Lycra breathable shirt that can’t get grabbed for him? Never known a player so shirt-pulled.
Subs:
Worryingly late especially when we have players on yellows and want to play down the clock. Wilson-Esbrand got a second yellow at the weekend meaning that we were hanging on for a draw rather than pressing for our late winner.
Shout out for Kelly who showed the value of experience by booting the ball to Radford whenever necessary.
Why not Maguire for Allen or Palmer?
Anyway. 3 points. Onwards.
The 4's and 5's for Allen are ridiculous. Every single player played their part yesterday. If any of our players had been a 4 or a 5 we wouldn't have won the match. It was a great team performance.
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I don’t care if I get pelters for saying this:The 4's and 5's for Allen are ridiculous. Every single player played their part yesterday. If any of our players had been a 4 or a 5 we wouldn't have won the match. It was a great team performance.
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I don’t usually hold much candle to stats (that’s philoseraptor) but that really is glaring.Allen attempted just 22 passes, fewer than everyone including Wilson. He completed only 13 passes, joint lowest with Wilson.
He made a total of 34 yards of forward passes. Yes, total. Really.
For comparison Palmer made 237 yards of forward passes.
He has been poor for a few weeks and in truth his attributes for the team are mainly defensively as he harrasses forwards from the front. It's under rated and I think Robins likes that kind of press. But it really means our attacks are far less effective. If onky we had COH fit.I don’t care if I get pelters for saying this:
We played well and ONLY won 1-0. We were under pressure at the back for the final 20 and was a mistake / Ref error / fluke away from dropping 2 points.
Allen has been out of his depth for a while, maybe it’s the set up and where we ask him to play but he can’t keep hold of the ball if pressed and moves break down.
This “there’s always a whipping boy and look at what a hero I am for standing up for them” ballax is just that. Ballax.
Jamie Allen isn’t playing well enough and doesn’t offer much. As I said earlier he has some positives but his performance yesterday did not deserve higher than 5 (nor does it very often).
I apologise if this offends your sense of “standing up for justice”
I was at the game thanks.You didn’t watch the game then?
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You're ignoring his role in the team. He's a box to box player. His role is to get up and down, trigger the press, make runs in behind, to create space for others, and to get back into shape blocking passing lines when we lose the ball. That's his role. He's not there to be a ball playing midfielder.Allen attempted just 22 passes, fewer than everyone including Wilson. He completed only 13 passes, joint lowest with Wilson.
He made a total of 34 yards of forward passes. Yes, total. Really.
For comparison Palmer made 237 yards of forward passes.
You're ignoring his role in the team. He's a box to box player. His role is to get up and down, trigger the press, make runs in behind, to create space for others, and to get back into shape blocking passing lines when we lose the ball. That's his role. He's not there to be a ball playing midfielder.
Of course running is important.
But at this level you need more than just running and pressing. That should be a given, you still need to provide more than that.
30 yards of forward passes and 20 yards of progressive carries (both the lowest in the team) is simply not acceptable for an attacking midfielder in my opinion and no amount of pressing is going to change my mind.
Injuries and lack of funds mean he has to start, I get that. But if O'Hare was fit right now then Allen would be on the bench.
As I've said before, I'm not hating on the guy. He does some things really well and I cannot fault his effort and commitment, and he has a role to play, but we need more than that and unfortunately he's just not technically good enough to be a starting attacking midfielder in a team that has playoff ambitions.
He was really poorThe 4's and 5's for Allen are ridiculous. Every single player played their part yesterday. If any of our players had been a 4 or a 5 we wouldn't have won the match. It was a great team performance.
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Robins disagreesHe was really poor
Robins is perhaps defending his team selection. He’s got King Doug paying close attention and might want a pay rise.Robins disagrees
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Allen isn’t quick. His legs move quick because he’s little. He’s often caught up with in the charge and is beaten in a ball chase.All this slating with Allen, shows how little we all know about the game. Allen is one of the quicker players we have, in reserve, and he is currently sitting in for O'Hare. It is not his normal position and with all the crap he has to take I ask the question, who should MR play in that position without affecting the style of play?
I have seen so many players, over the years, who have been slaughtered by the fans for not doing enough, being slow, not able to do this or that, however, they were playing out of position.
If we are truly supporters of the club, and team, then we should start supporting ALL players and stop being sissies and having our favourites and villians.
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