I think this is a bit of, to use a weird Norwegian expression, "shooting the baker for the blacksmiths mistake". It was Sissoko who was unable to contain that hunk of burning love, and thus exposed our central defenders. He got replaced by PEH, although he stayed on the pitch as right back.
And I think we could see immediately why, the first thing PEH did was to almost break the Wycombe-players neck in a headlock while wrestling him to the ground.
Just to kind of let him know who just entered the arena. Sissoko never managed to impose that kind of physical threat to them, weirdly enough.
After that we managed much better to get PEH to take the duel, and Toby to win the ball, thus moving the duel much further away from our goal.
Winks' role in this was never to be the battler of the pair. I thought Winks performed his role and duty very good, and think he was a natural candidate for the MoM.
As for Tanguy being MoM, I'd agree 400% if he had been on for a bit longer. And normally anyone who scores twice would be a natural MoM. His last goal alone merit a MoM 7 days a week. And his candidacy is undisputed.
But. We battled a very physical side for 60 minutes before we managed to create some serious dents in their armour. Once we managed that, it was just a matter of time and how much.
If the roles were reversed, and Tanguy played the first 60, and Lamela the last 30, scoring two goals, I think the resistance against awarding Lamela MoM would have been way fiercer than what Ndombele gets now.
Bale was a bit of a condundrum, as I thought he looked way too serious and wondered a bit if he had gone away already.
But then he started to show those burst of speed, better ball control, and created chances. So I guess the glum face was just pure determination, and thank f**k for that. Now just push on, and kick it up a notch!
Excellent to get through 90 minutes, gain fitness, and get ready for the last half of the season! Plenty of games left, plenty of goalkeepers to annihilate!
I'm still exited about this. I still think we have plenty more to come. I'd love to see a fully fit and working combination of PEH, Ndombele and Lo Celso, if that could be done, and I think Winks holds his own as a rotation player in that trio.