Half time thoughts.
Stevens looks rusty, he's been very easily beaten on a few occasions down that left hand side. He's up against the game's best player - Saint Maximum but he needs to do better.
Egan too, looks slow. He had a poor first half against Villa too.
The whole left hand side has been anonymous offensively, we're missing O'Connell today.
Norwood is having an absolute stinker. He does occasionally have these, but against Newcastle this is a lot more dangerous. They're a poor side, but they're good at transitioning & have a lot of pace in behind.
We do not have pace in behind. Sharp & McBurnie up front don't threaten. Everything is in front. Everything is slow. Its too easy for defenders. I can't fault their industry, but it's not enough.
I always beat this drum, but without McGoldrick we're a fraction of the side. He's so good at slowing play down in the final third, allowing our overlaps & overloads. We don't have individual brilliance so rely on getting numbers into the box to score goals. Forget his finishing, he's so important to our play.
If he isn't available, we need to have someone that can fill the void. We might already have that player in Luke Freeman. I've seen him boss games for QPR playing in a free roaming position. I really can't work out why Wilder doesn't fancy him.
If we're not going to replace McGoldrick's role & are going to go more direct then we need to at least pick Mousset. He's fast, he scares people, he gives defenders something else to think about. Defenders drop deep when he's on the park. It gives us a better chance of winning second balls higher up the field.
Basham, Baldock & Berge much better on the right hand side. Berge much better today. His movement is still a little lacking, I can see Baldock's frustration with him - but he's in the game. He does tend to panic when he gets in down the side, choosing to put a cross in without lifting his head. But this can be worked on.
Overall, we're still nowhere near the pre-lockdown levels. Offensively we're struggling, but we're still hard to breakdown which means we'll continue to be competitive in tight games.
v. 
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