Was the Howson goal our 'turning point' moment of the season? 

1 hour ago, Uwe said:

Had a family get together yesterday so missed the game. Far too lazy/hungover to read 49 pages (DS will be happy) 

could someone please give me a condensed rundown of the game please 🙏 

Chris are you around for the Coventry game?

Imagine Sorba Thomas in our team. His stats would go through the roof imo.

Buy him buy him BUY HIM.

29 minutes ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

Extended Highlights:

Looking back at Izzy's miss and it really is less of a blooper and more an unfortunate bobble causing the mis-kick. If he'd chested it instead it would have been a goal.

I think Greenwood could have made the same error lol!

12 minutes ago, Downsouth said:

I think Greenwood could have made the same error lol!

Greenwood would have managed to simultaneously leather it against the crossbar whilst two footing their centre back out of frustration for missing the chance.

Because of the spin on the ball, Izzy gets a pass from me. Not in the same league as Fletch putting it over the bar from the same distance, Britt's orbiting penalty, Watmore's backheel clearance, Billy Dishcloth against Orient, Dave Currie (shudder) or Kanu. I might have had a different opinion if we had lost but despite his faults, he can produce moments that turn games and his presence in the team forces opponents to double up on him and that is one of the reasons we have success in attack when our first eleven is on the pitch. He can be frustrating but so can the other ten and the effort he puts into his defensive work now is evidence that he can still improve at this level.     

1 hour ago, Old Codger said:

Because of the spin on the ball, Izzy gets a pass from me.

Same here. He screwed up because he's not an instinctive striker. The ball spins up off the keeper, backspin means it goes backwards relative to him and he is off-balance and not sure what to do. It's a hilarious miss and will undoubtedly end up in various top 10 misses of the season but it's by no means the worst miss in 30 years or whatever.

18 hours ago, Pork Slops said:

Didn't think I'd ever be saying this if you'd have asked in mid-September, but I'm hoping Rogers is finally coming good following this recent run in the side.

He's either scored or assisted in 4 of his last 5 games and that would be 5 in 5 if it wasn't for a finger tip save from Mcgree's shot onto the post at Rotherham.

His goal involvements in league and cup have been impressive for a young lad in his first season with us. Some of his passes have been sublime, his work rate to turnover is also impressive. Could finish the season with better stats than akpom's first season. If Carrick can develop him and can cut out the inconsistency we have a real gem.

Jones really is an enigma, I don't think he can actually kick the ball with good technique, you never see him play a lofted/long pass and he mostly passes his shots along the floor at the keeper. Yesterday his initial finish wasn't bad, actually lifted it a bit and I think he thought he'd scored, then the spin on the bounce made him look daft as he was already in celebration mode.

But, he needs to learn to interact with the ball in different ways so when he's presented with a chance he has more options. So not the training we see of all the tippy-tappy, get him smashing cross field balls all day long, crossing and shooting from range or something, he needs to develop some new muscle memories to be able to develop as a player. 

Harsh to single out  just Jones though, it's very challenging to find form and confidence in the current first 11 when the pretty triangles aren't working well.

I feel one quality striker or number 10 would make a real difference though. If more chances start going in it will have a knock-on affect. Chances we've been missing are nothing less than phenomenal. 

Mcgree provided something different in his brief comebacks so far, absolutely totally and completely gutted he looks as good or better than I remember and just back from injury then to be losing him to Australia. He will come back injured undoubtedly and we'll have had most of the season without him... Ffs

Getting good players is one thing, keeping them fit clearly an equally tough problem these days.

 

Edited December 30, 20232 yr by HolgateHero

Sorry it was an awful miss, the kind of thing I’d do in 5 a side. I don’t see the need for mental gymnastics and analysing the physics of the ball just say it how it is. He was where he was because he was already celebrating, there was no other reason for him to be next to the ball rather than behind it.

8 hours ago, SmogDane said:

I see your points here, Young Sheldon - But don't forget that he plays in a very poor side. What I saw from him yesterday was more than enough to convince me, that he could thrive in a better team and his driving is so direct and "creative" (I lack words) that it would for sure create a lot of space for other players .. He is a handful and will draw a lot of attention from the opponent defense .. And oh boy could he hit a ball .. It was offside but that strike was phenomenal and you will NEVER se a Jones even getting close to something like that. 

We don't have many, if any, direct players and that is needed to create the space and keep the denders busy .. 

On a sidenote: 
When we play in small triangles over and over again, like was it a training ground drill between four cones, we need to take the long range shots once in a while to spice it all up .. It's far tooo easy to defend against, if the opponent knows for sure, that we won't take the odd shot .. 

What you saw was someone having a decent game whilst some of ours didn't.  Our players have had far better games than that so you aren't comparing like with like.  The strike was great, however he's also only scored 5 goals in his entire career so let's assume that most of his strikes aren't that good shall we?  Again, you are looking at one single thing as if that's who he is.

We have direct players but I don't believe they are asked to play directly.  Rogers, Silvera and Jones are all direct players, they like running with the ball.  I think you might be able to add Latte Lath to that, and I feel like Engel and Bangura probably qualify in terms of fullbacks.  The small triangles you're seeing, that looked like a training ground drill, will be because that's what they work on in training.  So if you have an issue with that then it's not the players you need to change but the manager.  Personally I mostly like what we do with the ball.  At times we probably do overdo it I agree, and sometimes I think we are too slow.  Yesterday though, when Huddersfield were on top it was our midfield that was the issue as much as anything.  The ball didn't seem to be getting forward to our attacking players much, Huddersfield pushed right on top of us, and we couldn't cope with the pressure.  As soon as we were able to manage that more effectively the game began to go more in our favour, we were able to get the ball into attacking positions, and that's what lead to our second goal.

If I've understood most of the moaning on here recently then our players play in a very poor side as well, at least I assume they do because they are all apparently not good enough and need to be replaced.  

5 hours ago, Bruce said:

Same here. He screwed up because he's not an instinctive striker. The ball spins up off the keeper, backspin means it goes backwards relative to him and he is off-balance and not sure what to do. It's a hilarious miss and will undoubtedly end up in various top 10 misses of the season but it's by no means the worst miss in 30 years or whatever.

I still think it's down to him trying to rush it or perhaps hit the ball too hard.  If he'd just focused on making some contact then even his lack of balance shouldn't be an issue, and it's the goal that it should have been.

Edited December 30, 20232 yr by Changing Times

9 hours ago, smogsterking the Inspirati said:

Was the Howson goal our 'turning point' moment of the season? 

He's already got that accolade - his winner against Southampton. A penalty ironically enough.

Just now, Bosco's Tuft said:

9 hours ago, smogsterking the Inspirati said:

Was the Howson goal our 'turning point' moment of the season? 

He's already got that accolade - his winner against Southampton. A penalty ironically enough.

We've had so many turning points this season that it made poor Isaiah dizzy when he tried to score last night 😵

Dizzy Izzy ❤️