[Albion] Did anyone who watched the Manchester City game...

[Napier's Knee]

From the TV:
1. If we deserved a penalty then so did City for Knocky''s handball in the first half. Referee got both wrong.
2. The second goal could - as CH said - have been stopped at the very beginning if Dunk and Propper had made semi-effective tackles. Propper's tackling yesterday was 'languid'
3. Dunk is worrying me. Once again he was turned by a player going to his left, and once again he slipped. He is getting caught out of position.
4. Kayal gives us more bite and forward momentum than Stephens
4. Lay off Locadia - yesterday even Harry Kane playing for us would have done no better
5. I know we've had hard games but I'm getting just a little bit concerned that we are becoming 'too good to go down'

 

[boik]

For a team like us, playing a team like city is a bit like juggling a chainsaw. You have to take the utmost care all of the time, and if you get too ambitious you suffer. Both of their goals originated from us losing the ball in their half and being slightly out of position. Every time we were careful and in position they found it hard to break us down. A striker like Vardy would give us more of a threat without losing shape, but those sort are very rare.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

It was a good result as far as goal difference goes, but for about the 4th time already this season, I’m struggling to remember a shot on target. All very well defending and keeping our shape but at some point surely we need to have some attacking intent.


Can we all please put this ridiculous notion to bed that games can be judged on preserving goal difference. It means diddly squat. We spent 6 months last season all wetting ourselves with excitement when we only lost 2-0 to the better teams and thinking that all the hard work was really paying off. Then Chelsea and Liverpool rode into town and bang....an extra minus eight on the GD in 180 minutes and if it had been that important and close going into the last game v Liverpool, well guess what, we would have dipped out big time. ITS WINNING GAMES OF FOOTBALL IN THE PL THAT COUNT. We are always going to cop one or two maulings, its inevitable. We are not good enough to defend for long periods. We are a spirited, hard working but error prone side. The manager sets us up to defend deep against the stronger/better teams but we always have a mistake in us. The list is already pretty long this season. Knocky giving a cheap ball away on the edge of his box v Watford ( goal ) Bissouma closed down and caught in possession just outside his own box v Liverpool ( goal ) Dunk gifting Mitrovic a free run on goal v Fulham ( goal ) Propper gifting the ball to Southampton and then not tracking back ( goal ) Bong, criminally charging into a Saints player ( penalty...goal ) Murray, inexplicably flinging out an arm ( penalty...goal ) Knocky giving the ball away when we were attacking v City ( 10 seconds...goal ) Aguerro running past three BHA players and Propper deciding to pull out of a challenge ( result....goal )

We all expect mistakes but this catalogue ( and this is by no means the extent of it ) shows that all the " muck and bullets, backs to the wall" heroic defending counts for nothing if you regularly make mistakes. Unfortunately, we don't show enough attacking ambition, particularly away from home, to give us a chance to negate these errors and pick up points.

Are we comfortable with still " writing off " certain games or should we be trying to win all 38 PL games? CH indicated post match that it was all about damage limitation and that is sending out a message, loud and clear, that we expected to come here and lose. Most of us thought that but do we want to hear it publicly and surely it sends out a subliminal message to the players. Are we spending too long worrying about the opposition? Do we pay too much respect? We have good players who have shown that, given the freedom, they can cause problems to anyone at this level. But the shackles go on too often for my liking.

CH is clearly putting most of his faith in piling up home points again but this creates pressure if very few are being garnered away. Where are we going to win away this season, set up as we are? West Ham and Wolves are difficult home games but fans are relaxing as if these are gimmees. The upside is that two of the hardest away games are gone. Starting at Newcastle ( devoid of confidence at home ) we have to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Even if we lose, lets lose by trying to win the game.

 

[southstandandy]

Considering I predicted that we would go down this season with Cardiff and Huddersfield, I'm really pleased to be out of the bottom 3 after these first 7 games. 5 points from these games is far more than I expected. Definitely think we could now survive this season although I think it will be close and as others have said, goal difference might be vital. Can't see us getting anything from West Ham next week but for me our season really starts at Newcastle. Will be making the long trip up there for a cracking weekend.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

It was a good result as far as goal difference goes, but for about the 4th time already this season, I’m struggling to remember a shot on target. All very well defending and keeping our shape but at some point surely we need to have some attacking intent.


Can we all please put this ridiculous notion to bed that games can be judged on preserving goal difference. It means diddly squat. We spent 6 months last season all wetting ourselves with excitement when we only lost 2-0 to the better teams and thinking that all the hard work was really paying off. Then Chelsea and Liverpool rode into town and bang....an extra minus eight on the GD in 180 minutes and if it had been that important and close going into the last game v Liverpool, well guess what, we would have dipped out big time. ITS WINNING GAMES OF FOOTBALL IN THE PL THAT COUNT. We are always going to cop one or two maulings, its inevitable. We are not good enough to defend for long periods. We are a spirited, hard working but error prone side. The manager sets us up to defend deep against the stronger/better teams but we always have a mistake in us. The list is already pretty long this season. Knocky giving a cheap ball away on the edge of his box v Watford ( goal ) Bissouma closed down and caught in possession just outside his own box v Liverpool ( goal ) Dunk gifting Mitrovic a free run on goal v Fulham ( goal ) Propper gifting the ball to Southampton and then not tracking back ( goal ) Bong, criminally charging into a Saints player ( penalty...goal ) Murray, inexplicably flinging out an arm ( penalty...goal ) Knocky giving the ball away when we were attacking v City ( 10 seconds...goal ) Aguerro running past three BHA players and Propper deciding to pull out of a challenge ( result....goal )
We all expect mistakes but this catalogue ( and this is by no means the extent of it ) shows that all the " muck and bullets, backs to the wall" heroic defending counts for nothing if you regularly make mistakes. Unfortunately, we don't show enough attacking ambition, particularly away from home, to give us a chance to negate these errors and pick up points.
Are we comfortable with still " writing off " certain games or should we be trying to win all 38 PL games? CH indicated post match that it was all about damage limitation and that is sending out a message, loud and clear, that we expected to come here and lose. Most of us thought that but do we want to hear it publicly and surely it sends out a subliminal message to the players. Are we spending too long worrying about the opposition? Do we pay too much respect? We have good players who have shown that, given the freedom, they can cause problems to anyone at this level. But the shackles go on too often for my liking.
CH is clearly putting most of his faith in piling up home points again but this creates pressure if very few are being garnered away. Where are we going to win away this season, set up as we are? West Ham and Wolves are difficult home games but fans are relaxing as if these are gimmees. The upside is that two of the hardest away games are gone. Starting at Newcastle ( devoid of confidence at home ) we have to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Even if we lose, lets lose by trying to win the game.

Yes. Defend for your life against *these*, and attack because we know we should win against *those*. I can accept the former all the while we have the latter. Bring on *those* for a dose of the latter. Next.

 

[LamieRobertson]

It was a good result as far as goal difference goes, but for about the 4th time already this season, I’m struggling to remember a shot on target. All very well defending and keeping our shape but at some point surely we need to have some attacking intent.


Can we all please put this ridiculous notion to bed that games can be judged on preserving goal difference. It means diddly squat. We spent 6 months last season all wetting ourselves with excitement when we only lost 2-0 to the better teams and thinking that all the hard work was really paying off. Then Chelsea and Liverpool rode into town and bang....an extra minus eight on the GD in 180 minutes and if it had been that important and close going into the last game v Liverpool, well guess what, we would have dipped out big time. ITS WINNING GAMES OF FOOTBALL IN THE PL THAT COUNT. We are always going to cop one or two maulings, its inevitable. We are not good enough to defend for long periods. We are a spirited, hard working but error prone side. The manager sets us up to defend deep against the stronger/better teams but we always have a mistake in us. The list is already pretty long this season. Knocky giving a cheap ball away on the edge of his box v Watford ( goal ) Bissouma closed down and caught in possession just outside his own box v Liverpool ( goal ) Dunk gifting Mitrovic a free run on goal v Fulham ( goal ) Propper gifting the ball to Southampton and then not tracking back ( goal ) Bong, criminally charging into a Saints player ( penalty...goal ) Murray, inexplicably flinging out an arm ( penalty...goal ) Knocky giving the ball away when we were attacking v City ( 10 seconds...goal ) Aguerro running past three BHA players and Propper deciding to pull out of a challenge ( result....goal )
We all expect mistakes but this catalogue ( and this is by no means the extent of it ) shows that all the " muck and bullets, backs to the wall" heroic defending counts for nothing if you regularly make mistakes. Unfortunately, we don't show enough attacking ambition, particularly away from home, to give us a chance to negate these errors and pick up points.
Are we comfortable with still " writing off " certain games or should we be trying to win all 38 PL games? CH indicated post match that it was all about damage limitation and that is sending out a message, loud and clear, that we expected to come here and lose. Most of us thought that but do we want to hear it publicly and surely it sends out a subliminal message to the players. Are we spending too long worrying about the opposition? Do we pay too much respect? We have good players who have shown that, given the freedom, they can cause problems to anyone at this level. But the shackles go on too often for my liking.
CH is clearly putting most of his faith in piling up home points again but this creates pressure if very few are being garnered away. Where are we going to win away this season, set up as we are? West Ham and Wolves are difficult home games but fans are relaxing as if these are gimmees. The upside is that two of the hardest away games are gone. Starting at Newcastle ( devoid of confidence at home ) we have to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Even if we lose, lets lose by trying to win the game.

Yes and no

 

[LamieRobertson]

From the TV:
1. If we deserved a penalty then so did City for Knocky''s handball in the first half. Referee got both wrong.
2. The second goal could - as CH said - have been stopped at the very beginning if Dunk and Propper had made semi-effective tackles. Propper's tackling yesterday was 'languid'
3. Dunk is worrying me. Once again he was turned by a player going to his left, and once again he slipped. He is getting caught out of position.
4. Kayal gives us more bite and forward momentum than Stephens
4. Lay off Locadia - yesterday even Harry Kane playing for us would have done no better
5. I know we've had hard games but I'm getting just a little bit concerned that we are becoming 'too good to go down'

 

[pocketseagull]

Can we all please put this ridiculous notion to bed that games can be judged on preserving goal difference. It means diddly squat. .

i'm surprised anyone supporting albion would think that goal difference doesn't matter. you don't have to go too far back to know different.

 

[LamieRobertson]

My observations from yesterday, the ref was a complete homer (although he did miss what looked like a handball and nailed on penalty in the first half, haven’t seen the game on tv so I could be wrong). It wasn’t a dirty game but it seemed every strong challenge was followed by a yellow card as a City player went down and stayed down like he’d been shot. The ref gave us absolutely nothing.

We started well and had a couple of half chances which came to nothing, once they went ahead it was damage limitation, although I’m not sure City got out of second gear.

Seeing as we always struggle against teams that press us and with the quality and work rate City have we had absolutely no chance of sneaking anything from the game. They hardly made a bad pass until they were 2-0 up and when we did get the ball they closed us down in numbers and we weren’t good enough to cope with it.

When we can out for the second half the body language was one of a beaten team BUT although we looked shell shocked at times we never gave up and heads did not drop. We were pulled all over the place and did really well to keep our shape. The second goal was pure quality from Aguero wriggling past three defenders and laying off and receiving the ball back to slot away easily.

Maty Ryan was an absolute star, the string of saves quickly followed by a world class save in the space of a few seconds was amazing.

Duffy was also magnificent and helped keep the score down.

No shame in that result, we were completely outclassed but kept ourselves from being embarrased by a great team effort.

The very loud and long rendition of “We want you to stay, we want you to stay, Jose Mourhino we want you to stay” brought a smile to a game in which we were lambs to the slaughter.

Thank feck we have that game out of the way.

Having said all the above I was proud of the Albion players and look forward to us playing teams that don’t have the sheer quality of City for a while now.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Yep accuited ourselves well as blue and white training cones. They hardly got out of first gear and didn't really need to.

I didn't expect to win obviously but can't see why the same shit tactics that has produced a pathetic points tally in the premiership are used every away game. Let's not fall into the bullshit trap about well it wasn't a spanking, the odd 3 points are far better than the plus or minus goals column.

Not necessarily the right game to judge our away form at the beginning of only our second season

 

[Milano]

We have 3 definite first 11 starters out - Gross, Stephens and Izzy.
Izzy's pace was vital last season even if he did miss the odd good chance along the way.
Gross is the glue for us going forward and the only real no 10 in our squad, I like Bissouma but he is not a no 10.
Stephens let's the others play. No way does Lamela get that run into our box v Spurs if Dale was on the pitch.
Need all 3 back ASAP.

 

[LamieRobertson]

We have 3 definite first 11 starters out - Gross, Stephens and Izzy.
Izzy's pace was vital last season even if he did miss the odd good chance along the way.
Gross is the glue for us going forward and the only real no 10 in our squad, I like Bissouma but he is not a no 10.
Stephens let's the others play. No way does Lamela get that run into our box v Spurs if Dale was on the pitch.
Need all 3 back ASAP.

Spot on

 

[Icy Gull]

Bissouma will make a difference in games where we attack more, he has the pace and skill to beat a player and lay off passes. It’s all a bit hit and miss at the moment and he needs to improve his defensive skills but he will be immense for us when we are playing teams at the same level as us. Hope he’s a quick learner because even yesterday he looked like the player most likely to make things happen.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Was the performance the best we are capable of?

 

[John Byrnes Mullet]

I thought we were awful. The only plus was on minus two of the goals conceded which could mean a lot in the relegation dog fight at the end of season.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

I know that in reality it is obviously not a bad performance to only lose 2.0 away to the best ever premier league side but I can’t help being a little disappointed by the negativity and predictability of the performance.

One of the things I love about going to football is that you usually don’t know what is going to happen and being entertained but I felt yesterday was completely predictable and really very dull.

This isn’t meant to be a dig at Hughton at all (though I appreciate it probably come across that way) as I think he has and is doing an incredible job for us to be where we are and he is clearly doing the right thing with our resources available, but I do feel a bit conflicted about the whole thing.

 

[Surf's Up]

The kind of game we play away from home looks like it is rapidly being left behind. Its an old skool game based on damage limitation rather than on trying to win a game. The modern game seems to be increasingly about far less rigid tactical formations, having fast, athletic, mobile, skilful players in all outfield positions, the creative use of space, constant movement off the ball, consistent closing down all over the pitch when you dont have the ball to get it back, high pressing, and moving forward quickly and assertively when you do have the ball etc etc etc. We seem to be far more static in our approach and thus vulnerable to the increasing number of teams playing like this (eg Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Watford, Leicester, Tottenham, Arsenal, Wolves, Bournemouth, Fulham and even Huddersfield although they lack the quality players to pull it off, except when they play us at home!). Is this where the much vaunted "next level" is and if so will our manager and the current roster of players be able (and willing?) to make the transition? And if they don't/can't how much longer can we survive going down the current approach? Just wondering.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

We are also without Stephens & Groß who are vital to our game.

Not necessarily the right game to judge our away form at the beginning of only our second season

We have 3 definite first 11 starters out - Gross, Stephens and Izzy.
Izzy's pace was vital last season even if he did miss the odd good chance along the way.
Gross is the glue for us going forward and the only real no 10 in our squad, I like Bissouma but he is not a no 10.
Stephens let's the others play. No way does Lamela get that run into our box v Spurs if Dale was on the pitch.
Need all 3 back ASAP.

Was the performance the best we are capable of?

Yes, with the players who are fit and available to play.

 

[Prettyboyshaw]

Not necessarily the right game to judge our away form at the beginning of only our second season

Well I've been to nearly all since the last win and can't say I've seen us look like getting 3 points very often. The odd 3 is better than non but only a few in the goals against column.

 

[theboybilly]

Bissouma will make a difference in games where we attack more, he has the pace and skill to beat a player and lay off passes. It’s all a bit hit and miss at the moment and he needs to improve his defensive skills but he will be immense for us when we are playing teams at the same level as us. Hope he’s a quick learner because even yesterday he looked like the player most likely to make things happen.

Bissouma certainly didn't look out of place in that company that's for sure. He is improving all the time I think. Yesterday was much better than I expected but I think there may be a case for resting Dunk and bringing Balogan in