sacreblueits442

....perhaps that was not the problem he was alluding to!!!

...probably mindful of his yellow card situation!!! There's no point going into challenges half-cocked, you tend to come off worse in these scenarios, and we really cannot afford to have him on the treatment table for 10 weeks.

...I think he needs to realise his contribution to the team lies with linking and supplying,(playing as a #10) goal scoring should be secondary!!! The goals will naturally come, hanging on to the ball looking for his next goal, does not help the team, use the players around you.

...perhaps one of Vestergaard's best game for us was against Manchester City!!! Sitting deep and defending seems to work for him as well as for his country. Wout Faes has a unexpected tendency to rush out to when a ball that is not there to be won, instilling some form of discipline to his game, would make him a much better player. The problem is, we are all sitting there waiting for a crazy decision to manifest, and as such he is not going to be viewed as reliable.

.. Daka has 3 more years on his contract with us!!! Nacho's instinct is to take up the #10 position, so he is to all intents playing as a false #9. He shouldn't have to drop so deep to get hold of the ball, but he wants the play in the last third to go through him, that is not how we are set up, hence part of his problem.

...did we let him (Barnes) down as a club!!! Had he stayed he would have been under the tutelage of Maresca and his game may have expanded along with his work rate. I do not believe we saw the best of Barnes, there was more to his game than he showed. He has an exquisite touch but was not confident enough to bring it into his play whilst here and perhaps he may have been encouraged to express himself more under Maresca. He did have a problem with being taken to the outside, which he struggled to come to terms with.

...that will be when he comes to terms with the fact that he has nothing to lose and takes the fear and panic out of his game!!!

...it would be interesting to see how this team operates without KDH, Yunus seems more creative and with more awareness!!! We will miss his energy in the team, but would that be tempered with better decisions? In 2 games this season, KDH came through in the final quarter and seemed to grow stronger, Braybrroke gives us that and for me, is a feature in his game. Watching from the sides, he must be eager to play in this setup.

...where the perception of another gear will be echoed will be when we can overcome our poor last-third play!!! There are little things, such as where Mavididi's crosses in the box are lazy and inaccurate, twice now Ndidi has got into the box and dinked a ball to a man, this is from a player deemed unable to make easy 5-yard layoffs. He (Mavididi) has to be more creative and have better control in those situations where he can pick a man out. We butcher too many counterattacks even when we have better numbers, do we have to get more intelligent players in or can we coach these players to make better decisions? Fatawu is going to be a frustrating player, he seems to have everything but is going to show little end product, he takes too many touches when he comes inside, you either get the shot off or you play the pass. When he finally scores it will most likely be a worldie, but he does put in a shift defensively, just need to stop collecting yellow cards.

...it is always a case of how long can they maintain that tempo, without it having a detrimental effect later on!!! We wrestled back control after long periods of sustained pressure, our conditioning is a big factor in the way we play.

...with Iheanacho not firing and Vardy coming to grips with the system, Daka has to be an option with a tweak to his game!!! We brought him in to replicate Vardy, but sitting on the shoulder of the Centrback is not all that Vardy brings, he has created a lot of his goals himself and Daka needs to drop a few yards and become more involved in games. He should be looking to be taking balls on the half term rather than relying on being played in, as we fall down on our accuracy in this department. I watched Gift Orban come on for Gent and he spent all his time on the pitch, level with the opponent's backline and not getting a touch on the ball. He attempted to make a run but was never found and his body language is pure frustration as he is not kicking on as I believe he thought that he would be. He is not getting much game time and zero minutes on the ball, I cannot see him being there for much longer. Like Daka, I think he needs to drop deeper to get on the ball and get a feel of the play. He has the pace and skill to beat defenders but he is killing his own game with the way he is playing at this moment.

...it was like the Liverpool game, relentless pressure and we had no answer on how to slow the game down or take the sting out of the game!!! I was looking for Winks to be more involved, where his control on the ball could get us out of trouble and allow us to counter, and force them to sit a bit deeper to take the pressure off us. For a team that passes the ball so well, it seemed we had no control when we gained possession and defensively we were just clearing our lines anyhow, as opposed to someone transitioning the play themself, we lost composure in these periods.

...a learning curve for Maresca!!! There are questions being asked and he has to find solutions and he gains that insight from the problems he encounters. Passing around at the back as we do is reliant on our players making decisions and they are not always going to make the right ones. Conceding a goal due to a misplaced pass on our own doorstep is something that you would deem to be a risk too far, and before Maresca came, we were in no way at this level in retaining possession as a fundamental part of our play. There will always be the extra pass that is not warranted and a poor touch that allows the individual to be closed down, but it is the system our manager has put in place, we just need to make better decisions whilst in possession, if it needs to be sent long, then do so, as long as the pass has a purpose.

...yes he is a Right Winger, he played that position 27 times last season!!! He seems to be the midfield schemer that we need.

...the style does work, it is only the quality of the players and a tweak of the system that is required!!! I think we really missed Doyle today as a left-footer who could have fed Mavididi with an out ball. We are going to be missing opportunities without a natural left-footed defender.

...this season is not over yet, so let us do what we have to do to get out!!! The process of loaning players to get you out of the Championship is a big gamble, as the team that takes you up becomes dismantled and although you may bring in better players with the extra money it does not guarantee a better team dynamic. Should we get out of this league, this season, let us hope we retain the essential players that got us back up.

...we had the counterattacks and were butchering them as usual, this game should have had us in the ascendency early on!!! Like the Coventry game, KDH came to life late in the second half and was influential in breaking forward with threats on goal.

...unfortunately, that scenario means nothing!!! Ricardo played on when he got the first injury, and Doyle was willing to continue, players do seem to give the impression that it is not as bad as you think.

...no self-belief!!!

...to relinquish goals when you are leading repeatedly, means that there is an underlying problem which has not been diagnosed, or we are aware of it and do not know how to put it right!!! You have to be there watching the games to clearly evaluate what is happening, but some people do not like to be chased and some people enjoy being front runners. Rodgers had the knack of undermining the team by disrupting the backline in order to protect a lead. He became too negative in his actions and that fed back to the team who then became more cautious in their play. Sometimes sitting off and inviting teams on to us, is not the best way to preserve a lead, all you are doing is giving encouragement to the opposition, who by now had started to just go through the motions. You have now given them a lifeline. It could also just be, that our strength in depth, is not as deep as we would like it to be.

...it would have been the same players playing the game, however it would have meant there were no outside pressures that would impact him performing!!! Sufficient proof that he is a player who needs to be confident, not too long to think, as he does play on instincts but the system that we play is very structured and requires certain things from his game, that does not allow going too far off script.

...he seems to have added composure to his game!!!

...strange that most of the academy lads making the first team, only improved when going on loan!!!

...he is 20 years old, last season he was at Reading!!! He is not a 16 year old coming through, if anything you can give him a pass due to the style of play is not what he has been playing, but he looks lacklustre, at best.

...I believe Maresca said that he was not fully fit, and he looks unfit on the pitch!!! With the accolades that he won in the U20 tournament, you would expect to have someone who is up for pushing on with their career.