Guys (and gals?),
Have I fallen off the list, or are you all stunned into digital silence by yesterday's events? Not a single email about the Millwall game? Anyway, thanks to the official site's streaming offer, I was able to watch this game as I have all of the other league games this season. I thought it was the first game where Christiansen got his team selection completely wrong. I've mentioned before that I thought we looked a little lightweight going forward this season, Wood/Lasogga aside, and this game underlined the point. Going into the Den with Hernandez, Saiz and Alioski in the first XI was a mistake. This was exactly the sort of game in which Hernandez went missing last season, and so it proved again. Our midfield were second to every loose ball and, when they did have it at their feet, were muscled off it too easily (as has frequently been the case this season). You have to earn the right to play against teams like Millwall, and we played like this information came as a shock. It should not have been. A better team selection would have seen us go 4-5-1 with the feisty Berardi replacing Anita, who had a shocking game, Ronaldo Vieira adding bite and steel in the center of midfield, and Dallas on the wing, with Hernandez and Alioski on the bench. I'd have been tempted to put Klich on the field in place of Saiz as well. Once we've held our own in midfield and the Millwall battlers start to tire, then bring on Alioski and Saiz on in the second half to start to exploit the space that might have started to appear. Christiansen's decision to make just the one enforced change (Shaughnessy for the injured Cooper) meant we were facing a very physical game with a first XI that was going into what was sure to be a very physical game less than four days after ten of them had ground out a difficult win in a very tiring game. Predictably, they looked exhausted long before the final whistle. There's no point in bringing in 16 players over the summer if we don't use the strength in depth that the squad now has. Nonetheless, it didn't help that Cooper's injury from Birmingham game kept him out of the squad. Shaughnessy didn't do too much wrong (although getting booked for dissent in the first half was stupid, and presumably forced him to temper his challenges in the second half), but the defence this season has looked calmer with Captain Coops in command. Jansson's injury meant that we were forced to chase the game in the last ten minutes a man down. We can only hope it's not a serious injury (looked like a hamstring) and that Pennington and Cooper recover quickly. Christiansen and various players have said they have learned from the game. I hope so. This was a needless three points to give away. Cheers! Sean _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] FLAME WARS 'R US
