Ticked that one off 37 years ago!
I thought Abbott had really bulked out since the Newcastle game - one of my previous concerns whether he’d be strong enough to play at this level. But I think it’s telling that there were a few occasions in the first half when he was in lots of space down the right - suspect that the other 21 on the pitch knew he wasn’t going to be doing much with the ball at his feet.
Yes, we said that. They really didn’t want to give him the ball at times, which seemed harsh.
Anyway I’m hanging a bit here at work this morning but slightly thankful it was Carling piss being served in the ground as I’d feel a lot worse if it had been anything of actual strength.
Our train was cancelled from Peterborough which was not what I needed after a long day on the beer. I got in smashed 8 slices of toast and Bovril along with 2 pints of milk. I woke up this morning and did a monster shit.
File under: “too much detail.”
Paging Norris McWhirter;
Claim for 8 slices of toast and bovril in one sitting. Please verify.You want proof?!
Exactly. He was a major competition debut player, out of position, without the skillset to play the role at this level. He was run around, needed extra help to defend his corner, and his teammates didn't fully trust him with the ball.
Which doesn't mean he didn't do well. He did, and it was a big step in his development.
He's just not at the level to be first choice backup right back.
Which he isn't. If Aina isn't fit for Thursday (and I think he was on the pitch after the game and didn't look to be walking easily) it will be Williams and Moreno or Toffolo. But Abbot looked more comfortable than Dominguez and must be worth considering if we want to start with a three (which is very unlikely) because he looked like the mobile right-sided centre back we need. (I think going to a 5 to see out the game has different demands to starting with a 3/5.)
Abbott will be in the European squad next season. He might need to step up at some point. He's had some experience. It wasn't a disaster. We have better options.
Fella in front of me came back from the concourse at half-time and said he'd seen Joe Worrall with a 'Chettle' shirt on.
There's pictures of him on stage at the Boxpark with that shirt on.
Both Abbott & Toff did well defensively, but neither of them has the pace or attacking ability to do anything going the other way. In no way a criticism of Abbott; he’s a centre back (& looks to have considerable potential as such) but the skill set / attributes required to do the Aina / Neco stuff is very different.
We know from past experience that Toff has an excellent cross on him, but again he lacks the raw pace to be a wing back at this elevated level - they may have had a poor season by their standards, but this was City we were up against, not Southampton or Leicester.
I’m glad to come on here this morning & find an absence of the “this is on Nuno; we should have gone at them from the start” narrative I’m reading elsewhere. It’s bloody easy now, with hindsight, to say “he should have started Sangaré instead of Danilo” (Sangaré did more good things in 20 minutes than Danny did in a whole half)… but can you imagine the wailing & melting down that would have gone on if Nuno had actually done that?
And we’ve seen what they do to us with both wingers on the pitch leaving us light in central midfield… it ain’t pretty.
To beat teams like City you need:
a) the plan to work to perfection (which it didn’t; doesn’t make it a bad plan, it just means we didn’t execute it right);
b) to get a little luck (some 50:50 bounces of the ball in key moments to go your way, or maybe at least one of the shots to bounce in off the woodwork instead of all 3 out); &
c) to be ruthless in taking your limited chances (which we mostly have been this season but were not yesterday).All 3 of a), b) & c) didn’t go our way yesterday, but there’s no shame in that.
After 10 minutes I thought we could be facing another 5- or 6-0. On another day we win that game 3-1 or 4-2. Equally, on a different other day Sels has a bad afternoon & we lose 0-4.
In the circumstances - notably the absence of Ola, Neco & Yatesey - I was actually pretty proud of the way they fought back. The key moment was Elanga’s miss. He scores that & we win, & 19 times out of 20 he scores.
I’m not downcast at all. That game will not define our season, and particularly so if we win on Thursday.
To no-one’s surprise, City are a club & a fan base that it’s very hard to like. Comic Sans shirts, only one song, couldn’t sell their allocation & whining to ref about everything. I hope Palace stuff them.
Even I'm not too down about yesterday. Given Neco, Yates and Aina missing I was frankly expecting a loss - and slightly concerned it could be a heavy one. What actually happened was, although we didn't have much of the ball, with a tiny bit more luck we'd have taken them to extra time.
I am much more interested in Thursday. It's another huge game and 'must win'.
I'm just out of shot in that video. Worrall was good value, lots of love for Yatesy and Forest. Reid, Jemson and Norman also went on stage. Neil Webb in the crowd as well. Was a good couple of hours - but would have been a lot better if I'd been able to have a few beers (I was driving).
