Kuszczak 6 - frustratingly indecisive when we were trying to push for an equaliser
Bruno 6 - some lovely interplay but some frustratingly predictable passes that were intercepted
Greer 6.5 - Frustratingly unnotable
Upson 6 - frustratingly pointless ball that got intercepted giving them the game
Ward 6 - Frustratingly ineffective going forward
Lopez 7 - Put in some lovely balls that were frustratingly wasted by Ulloa
Ince 6 - Frustratingly kept getting the ball caught under his feet
Stephens 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Orlandi 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Ulloa 4 - Frustratingly terrible first touch, lack of desire to attack any of the three fantastic chances to score, yes, that 4 takes his goal into account
Rodriguez 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Buckley 5 - Frustratingly embarrassing dive to win a penalty, should have been booked for that
Lualua 5.5 - Frustratingly didn't use his pace (did put in one of the lovely crosses that Ulloa pulled his head away from to avoid heading it into the goal)
Obika 5 - Frustratingly didn't get that goal Stat Brother predicted, but otherwise a decent performance
In case it's not clear, I'm a little frustrated by the match at the moment. I might adjust my marks later.
Bad game from ulloa, terrible first touch (bar one notable exception), at least three glorious opportunities to score (including one from lualua where he seemed to pull out of heading it) that he just show no desire to take, as if he was afraid tha ball might hurt if it touches him - apparently he is playing injured (which is how he got hurt earlier this season), is it worth the risk?
I know I sound negative. However, I thought we started well, controlled the match but didn't really press Wigan the way we did with Leeds and Doncaster where it was essentially an onslaught, their goal came against the run of play. Continued to control for a while, but it felt like an end of season, nothing on the line type of game with several wasted chances. It was mostly the second half that really soured me on the match.
Conceding early (this season's equivalent of conceding in the last five minutes) cost us. It allowed Wigan to spend the rest of the game just packing out their penalty box to stop us. It was so clear what they were doing and we had no answer for it, we just kept doing the same thing. It seemed like when we won the ball the Wigan attack were more interested in getting into the Wigan box than our attack was. They'd have 11 men in the box for our corners, we'd have a couple back on the half way line, a few on the edge of the box, two in the corner to take it. When you're trying t pick out 3-4 players out of a box packed full of the defending team, it is going to take something special, or some sort of mistake to get a goal. When it was just a general attack, our midfield and defence seemed to hang back until the wigan players had packed out the box, meanwhile our wingers are trying to get the ball to Ulloa in the middle of the ten black shirts. Which is perhaps the sort of tactic you can try when you only need one goal, but when you need two just to draw level, it's not good enough. You need to attack quicker, you need to get more men in the box, you need to not float every cross in (try pinging some across the goal in the hopes of a nick or OG).
Al Habsi played the time wasting to perfection. Pushed it as far as he could, after the warning take the first couple quickly to make it seem like you've listened then gradually take a bit longer. I hate time wasting, but he played it perfectly.
I thought other than not clamping down on the time wasting, the ref got most things right.
Seems a lot of our fans need an anatomy lesson:
This is an arm.
When there is a handball in football, it occurs because there has been (usually deliberate) contact between this appendage and the ball.
It is not handball if a cross hits a player in the groin. No need to get angry at the ref for not giving a penalty for handball when it hits someone in the testicular region.
It is not handball if a cross hits a player in the chest, either.
This is why the referee gave a handball against Bruno in the dying moments of the game.
Bruno 6 - some lovely interplay but some frustratingly predictable passes that were intercepted
Greer 6.5 - Frustratingly unnotable
Upson 6 - frustratingly pointless ball that got intercepted giving them the game
Ward 6 - Frustratingly ineffective going forward
Lopez 7 - Put in some lovely balls that were frustratingly wasted by Ulloa
Ince 6 - Frustratingly kept getting the ball caught under his feet
Stephens 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Orlandi 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Ulloa 4 - Frustratingly terrible first touch, lack of desire to attack any of the three fantastic chances to score, yes, that 4 takes his goal into account
Rodriguez 6 - Frustratingly unremarkable
Buckley 5 - Frustratingly embarrassing dive to win a penalty, should have been booked for that
Lualua 5.5 - Frustratingly didn't use his pace (did put in one of the lovely crosses that Ulloa pulled his head away from to avoid heading it into the goal)
Obika 5 - Frustratingly didn't get that goal Stat Brother predicted, but otherwise a decent performance
In case it's not clear, I'm a little frustrated by the match at the moment. I might adjust my marks later.
Bad game from ulloa, terrible first touch (bar one notable exception), at least three glorious opportunities to score (including one from lualua where he seemed to pull out of heading it) that he just show no desire to take, as if he was afraid tha ball might hurt if it touches him - apparently he is playing injured (which is how he got hurt earlier this season), is it worth the risk?
I know I sound negative. However, I thought we started well, controlled the match but didn't really press Wigan the way we did with Leeds and Doncaster where it was essentially an onslaught, their goal came against the run of play. Continued to control for a while, but it felt like an end of season, nothing on the line type of game with several wasted chances. It was mostly the second half that really soured me on the match.
Conceding early (this season's equivalent of conceding in the last five minutes) cost us. It allowed Wigan to spend the rest of the game just packing out their penalty box to stop us. It was so clear what they were doing and we had no answer for it, we just kept doing the same thing. It seemed like when we won the ball the Wigan attack were more interested in getting into the Wigan box than our attack was. They'd have 11 men in the box for our corners, we'd have a couple back on the half way line, a few on the edge of the box, two in the corner to take it. When you're trying t pick out 3-4 players out of a box packed full of the defending team, it is going to take something special, or some sort of mistake to get a goal. When it was just a general attack, our midfield and defence seemed to hang back until the wigan players had packed out the box, meanwhile our wingers are trying to get the ball to Ulloa in the middle of the ten black shirts. Which is perhaps the sort of tactic you can try when you only need one goal, but when you need two just to draw level, it's not good enough. You need to attack quicker, you need to get more men in the box, you need to not float every cross in (try pinging some across the goal in the hopes of a nick or OG).
Al Habsi played the time wasting to perfection. Pushed it as far as he could, after the warning take the first couple quickly to make it seem like you've listened then gradually take a bit longer. I hate time wasting, but he played it perfectly.
I thought other than not clamping down on the time wasting, the ref got most things right.
Seems a lot of our fans need an anatomy lesson:
This is an arm.
When there is a handball in football, it occurs because there has been (usually deliberate) contact between this appendage and the ball.
It is not handball if a cross hits a player in the groin. No need to get angry at the ref for not giving a penalty for handball when it hits someone in the testicular region.
It is not handball if a cross hits a player in the chest, either.
This is why the referee gave a handball against Bruno in the dying moments of the game.