pommpey
THE FUTURE ... AS IT USED TO BE
- Banned
- #1
First up, all the best to John Fleck. For all his dip in output recently and fall from grace with many United fans, watching the poor bloke tonight in a right fucking tangle sent chills of horror through me. However it happened and wherever he is, I hope he is okay and makes a full recovery. So glad to hear he left the stadium for hospital conscious and in as good a condition as can be expected. I doubt we'll see him again in a United shirt.
The game? Another hit-miss-hit-dodge match but thank fucking God we came away from it with a win. Well fucking done United. Typical start for us - looks like we are gonna muller the opposition, Gibbs White strikes the crossbar with a great free kick and then we fall inwards like an underdone shit pie. The worst part about that is that for at least thirty minutes of that first half, Reading looked actually worse than us. Swift and Puskas aside, no one was on their game for them and our own frailties exposed us more than their guile, skill and footballing ability. The setup, more 5-4-1 gave us the traditional Bogle to Stevens flat five with Didsy and the lively MGW outflanking Fleck and Norwood but that left a vast chasm between the retracted CMs and the two outside midfielders and the lonely but active Brewster. As usual there were no shots on target from either side and they boos which rang out I feel were deserved. It was a shit first half.
Second half we come out boxing again but we are still punch shy. We look unlikely to do anything let alone get one in that their keeper has to struggle to keep out until out of fucking nowhere, Didsy clips a far post cross to find Bogle in the Keiran Freeman spot to crash into the roof of the net. It was a superb goal to be honest but how many on here actually thought we'd hang onto it? Me neither. Yes, we dug in. Yes we defended and yes they threw on some horsepower even with Andy Carroll and we survived but how many times do we get the ball in the danger area in the opposition's area and end up making that one extra pass which fucks up the opportunity? Had we come away from the Titsqueeze Stadium (or whatever it's called these days) with anything less than three points - or less - I wouldn't have been shocked. our ongoing inability to kill oppositions and keep killing is legendary. It's almost as if at one stage we were apologetic for having the temerity to take the lead and had our bollocks out ready to kick at free will.
Aside from that there were positive moments.
Foderingham 6/10: His distribution at times is left wanting but he does come for and get to crosses and make a decent stop from Carroll at range
Bogle 7.5/10: Very good match for him. Battled hard and won with his winger and got up the flank and inside to areas to support the attack. Well taken goal to win it
Basham 6.5/10: Good, determined outing from Bash. Always seems to know 'the right thing to do' and is generally risk free. A couple of shit passes so loses a mark.
Egan 6/10: Not as involved as I'd like him to be but on balance didn't hide even when Carroll (who can be both bully and diver at the same time) came on
Davies 5/10: Pretty normative but steady match for him
Stevens 3/10: Regressing fast, although in his defence, every time he gets the ball out wide there aren't any passing options inside or forward so his only options are behind him. He generally epitomises why we are where we are at the moment
Gibbs-White 7/10: Typically busy, active but sometimes frustrating night for him. At times he is streaking away from defenders or has them on their heels and at others is so readable and predictable. Cracking free kick against the crossbar
Norwood 5/10: Has started to stop his Hollywood balls unless absolutely necessary but still is a bit invisible at times
Fleck: Not gonna mark him. Just get well Flecky. That's all.
McGoldrick 5.5/10: He has great skill but is starting to flag. Deservedly subbed in the end
Brewster 6.5/10: Doesn't get more because he did not get the service he deserved but worked very hard trying to create run opportunities and making their central defenders work hard. A better game for him
Hourihane 5/10: Slightly better for him. Some decent corners. But still a blue cross Norwood for me. Why did we not bring Berge on instead?
Osborn 5/10: Immediately tried to get involved down the left. But with no outcome
Sharp 5/10: A typical industrial outing for Billy. I think Reading were more frightened of him than we were of Carroll, TBH
Slav 7/10: Well done. Now make it better by beating Brizzle on Sunday
pommpey
The game? Another hit-miss-hit-dodge match but thank fucking God we came away from it with a win. Well fucking done United. Typical start for us - looks like we are gonna muller the opposition, Gibbs White strikes the crossbar with a great free kick and then we fall inwards like an underdone shit pie. The worst part about that is that for at least thirty minutes of that first half, Reading looked actually worse than us. Swift and Puskas aside, no one was on their game for them and our own frailties exposed us more than their guile, skill and footballing ability. The setup, more 5-4-1 gave us the traditional Bogle to Stevens flat five with Didsy and the lively MGW outflanking Fleck and Norwood but that left a vast chasm between the retracted CMs and the two outside midfielders and the lonely but active Brewster. As usual there were no shots on target from either side and they boos which rang out I feel were deserved. It was a shit first half.
Second half we come out boxing again but we are still punch shy. We look unlikely to do anything let alone get one in that their keeper has to struggle to keep out until out of fucking nowhere, Didsy clips a far post cross to find Bogle in the Keiran Freeman spot to crash into the roof of the net. It was a superb goal to be honest but how many on here actually thought we'd hang onto it? Me neither. Yes, we dug in. Yes we defended and yes they threw on some horsepower even with Andy Carroll and we survived but how many times do we get the ball in the danger area in the opposition's area and end up making that one extra pass which fucks up the opportunity? Had we come away from the Titsqueeze Stadium (or whatever it's called these days) with anything less than three points - or less - I wouldn't have been shocked. our ongoing inability to kill oppositions and keep killing is legendary. It's almost as if at one stage we were apologetic for having the temerity to take the lead and had our bollocks out ready to kick at free will.
Aside from that there were positive moments.
Foderingham 6/10: His distribution at times is left wanting but he does come for and get to crosses and make a decent stop from Carroll at range
Bogle 7.5/10: Very good match for him. Battled hard and won with his winger and got up the flank and inside to areas to support the attack. Well taken goal to win it
Basham 6.5/10: Good, determined outing from Bash. Always seems to know 'the right thing to do' and is generally risk free. A couple of shit passes so loses a mark.
Egan 6/10: Not as involved as I'd like him to be but on balance didn't hide even when Carroll (who can be both bully and diver at the same time) came on
Davies 5/10: Pretty normative but steady match for him
Stevens 3/10: Regressing fast, although in his defence, every time he gets the ball out wide there aren't any passing options inside or forward so his only options are behind him. He generally epitomises why we are where we are at the moment
Gibbs-White 7/10: Typically busy, active but sometimes frustrating night for him. At times he is streaking away from defenders or has them on their heels and at others is so readable and predictable. Cracking free kick against the crossbar
Norwood 5/10: Has started to stop his Hollywood balls unless absolutely necessary but still is a bit invisible at times
Fleck: Not gonna mark him. Just get well Flecky. That's all.
McGoldrick 5.5/10: He has great skill but is starting to flag. Deservedly subbed in the end
Brewster 6.5/10: Doesn't get more because he did not get the service he deserved but worked very hard trying to create run opportunities and making their central defenders work hard. A better game for him
Hourihane 5/10: Slightly better for him. Some decent corners. But still a blue cross Norwood for me. Why did we not bring Berge on instead?
Osborn 5/10: Immediately tried to get involved down the left. But with no outcome
Sharp 5/10: A typical industrial outing for Billy. I think Reading were more frightened of him than we were of Carroll, TBH
Slav 7/10: Well done. Now make it better by beating Brizzle on Sunday
pommpey