Today

[MancBaggie]

Hugely enjoyable today.  Nice that an away team turned up to attack instead of the usual chess match. Of course it helped and the keeper mistakes were also overdue. We took more risks in possession - esp with the inside diagonal to Grady but ultimately our quality told

AP. 6.5. Poor early distribution and very casual late on.  Took some crosses when it counted at 1 and 2 nil

Furlong. 7. Got forward more than usual and solid. Did well against Murphy who was surprisingly sub

Styles. 8. Excellent in his work. Won his battles at 0-0 and often made the extra man in midfield. Few runners got behind him at 0-0

Heggem 7.5. Some uneasy moments first 20 and some needless corners.  Got more solid and used the ball well

Holgate. 7.5  Some errors and passes left short but played well and great assist

Mowatt. 7.5. Dropped into similar positions as under CC and used it well. Big credit for what was an excellent strike (despite mistake) 

Swift 7.  Some loose passes and a slow start but switched it well and finally made that penalty spot run and struck it well. 

Grady 9. Strategy of low balls into him was risky at times but put his body in and showed real appreciation of where his runner was. Needed more protection from a lax ref

MJ 8. Another who didn’t get into the game for 25 mins. Some great runs before and after HT. deserved his assists

Jed 8. Genuinely couldn’t believe his selection but was v tidy as a linkman, accurate with lay offs and a great goal from his 1-2. He showed shades of this last season

Tom 7. Was out of the game for long periods but our main outlet 2nd half. Really needs to improve his finishing

Diakite. 8. Game was done but won possession numerous times and never gave it away. Useful option 

Cole 6.Started ok with lay offs and movement but some poor touches and no real threat.  Was the perfect game for him as sub 

Grant 7. Touch not great and looked tired but still stood up a great cross for Racic and a good cutback. 

Price 7. Tidy in possession and worked hard out of it. Forward passes were a mixed bag - but the subs weakened his attacking targets 

Racic 6.5 Poor volley at back stick but in fairness improved and popped passes/ spread the play well. Just needs more quality in last third

[albion_pigeon]

Sounds about fair MB

[Tom Joad]

Bang on Manc. pretty much agree with all that. Particularly re the ref. The challenge that injured Grady was an all out assault.

[yeoman lai]

Yep, pretty much agree manc.

[Squid]

Bang on Manc. pretty much agree with all that. Particularly re the ref. The challenge that injured Grady was an all out assault.

Agreed. Looked like a purposeful match-finisher of a tackle. Nasty.

[Cuzer]

Spot on Manc I’d give Jed a 7 not an 8 personally but can’t argue with any of the others

Cuzer

[Lurker#3]

Had a quick nosey at the stats now my hangover has subsided.

Interesting reading.

We played the joint 5th lowest amount of passes into the final third of any game this season. We also had the most touches in our defensive third all season. This goes against the general feeling that Tony has "taken the shackles off" in general play and we were keeping safe possession for the most part.

What was interesting though that we made the joint 2nd highest number of entries into their penalty area this year. So whilst we didn't attack much, when we did we tried to impact the penalty area by either passing into or carrying into that space.

The other thing which I like is we played the 5th lowest number of crosses this season. Which shows he is trying to get our players to attack the penalty area rather than swing in aimless crosses which I don't like.

Will be interesting to see what patterns develop in the data over the coming weeks as we see ToMos philosophy get embedded.

[Tom Joad]

Had a quick nosey at the stats now my hangover has subsided.

Interesting reading.

We played the joint 5th lowest amount of passes into the final third of any game this season. We also had the most touches in our defensive third all season. This goes against the general feeling that Tony has "taken the shackles off" in general play and we were keeping safe possession for the most part.

What was interesting though that we made the joint 2nd highest number of entries into their penalty area this year. So whilst we didn't attack much, when we did we tried to impact the penalty area by either passing into or carrying into that space.

The other thing which I like is we played the 5th lowest number of crosses this season. Which shows he is trying to get our players to attack the penalty area rather than swing in aimless crosses which I don't like.

Will be interesting to see what patterns develop in the data over the coming weeks as we see ToMos philosophy get embedded.

Yes, there were fewer crosses yesterday although I put much of that down to there was no one to cross to. It will be interesting to see how that pans out when Maja returns.

[albion_pigeon]

Had a quick nosey at the stats now my hangover has subsided.

Interesting reading.

We played the joint 5th lowest amount of passes into the final third of any game this season. We also had the most touches in our defensive third all season. This goes against the general feeling that Tony has "taken the shackles off" in general play and we were keeping safe possession for the most part.

What was interesting though that we made the joint 2nd highest number of entries into their penalty area this year. So whilst we didn't attack much, when we did we tried to impact the penalty area by either passing into or carrying into that space.

The other thing which I like is we played the 5th lowest number of crosses this season. Which shows he is trying to get our players to attack the penalty area rather than swing in aimless crosses which I don't like.

Will be interesting to see what patterns develop in the data over the coming weeks as we see ToMos philosophy get embedded.

Interesting, cheers Lurker.

[SW4Baggie]

Had a quick nosey at the stats now my hangover has subsided.

Interesting reading.

We played the joint 5th lowest amount of passes into the final third of any game this season. We also had the most touches in our defensive third all season. This goes against the general feeling that Tony has "taken the shackles off" in general play and we were keeping safe possession for the most part.

What was interesting though that we made the joint 2nd highest number of entries into their penalty area this year. So whilst we didn't attack much, when we did we tried to impact the penalty area by either passing into or carrying into that space.

The other thing which I like is we played the 5th lowest number of crosses this season. Which shows he is trying to get our players to attack the penalty area rather than swing in aimless crosses which I don't like.

Will be interesting to see what patterns develop in the data over the coming weeks as we see ToMos philosophy get embedded.

One of the frustrations was how we used to so rarely see players making a run into the box, and if teams shut down our threat from wide positions we had no plan B. Nice to see we are proving the whole pitch.