tommysvr
Vedran Corluka
It was 2-1 until the 94th minute. It really should have been 2-2. We absolutely coped with it. We gave up chances, but that would have happened no matter what. So if that's what's going to happen, why would you give up on your principles and change your approach? What's the point?I don't think at any point I said I wasn't backing him nor not proud of him n the team last night, as said - we should have buried them.
But I do think when your CB options are unable, at top speed, to quickly catch an ailing pensioner on a zimmer frame - you need to have them a touch deeper than standard to give them a fighting chance of smelling the tinkle.
I don't want us sitting back etc, we've had too much of that recently, but I do believe you need to account for a players ability. And if they ain't speedy then you need to give them a hand.
Tbf, they managed fairly well for about 15-20mins.
Even at 1-1 with 9 men, I was so impressed with how well we kept the ball at times. There were some really nice moves, which all resulted in free kicks that led to major chances. We also saw how PEH, Dier and Royal cope in very different roles in strange circumstances and they coped very well.
We learnt so much more losing 4-1 playing this way than we would have if we got a 1-1 playing with 9 players in the box. Like Ange said after the Cup loss to Fulham, we're not just going to be looking at singular results -- we're looking at the progression of the team as we build something for next season and the season after. This is a long-term thing and fudge I was happy with what I saw from everyone bar Romero yesterday.