McccccccGggggrrrreeeeeggggoooorrrrrrr
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That was relatively comfortable in the end. They never looked like threatening and we didn’t concede stupid set pieces or anything.
Still lots of improving to do on the attacking side but hopefully have Giakoumakis back soon to add to our attacking options and I wonder if Karamoko will be added to the rotation now. He might be a useful addition for the remainder of the season.
Not sure what the best midfield is just now. It may be we’re better off with Bitton than Hatate at the moment - and then swapping O’Riley and Rogic as required. Again Guchi might be another option there. And Hatate will get some form back I’m sure but I thought he struggled for most of that game tonight.
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CCV goal came from just about the first freekick/corner in ages that was played in directly.
I actually think hatate was playing himself out of his slight dip. Played well in the second half. Jota is absolutely fantastic. No shirking, no diving, 100% all the time. He can do it on a wet Tuesday night in stoke.
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I only saw the second half tonight and was happy enough with it. Still not flowing like early in the year, albeit tricky to create space against a team sitting in like that. I thought Starfelt had a strong game. I know they weren’t very adventurous but he was decisive and won everything cleanly. No rash interventions or needless freekick concessions and he brought the ball out well.
I’d also be tempted to start Bitton on Sunday. Hatate, Rogic and O’Riley have all dropped off to different extents. McGregor got the goal tonight when he’d moved into the more advanced role too. I think I’d have Bitton deep with McGregor and O’Riley ahead of him.
What do you make of Maeda? He works very hard but he seems a little bit headless. He does an awful lot of inefficient running, e.g. pressing like a mad cunt when nobody’s backing him up and they can just suck him in and play around him. He’s probably suffering a bit from the creative players behind him having a collective dip in form. He could be useful haring around on a plastic pitch though, but maybe on the wing. I presume Giakoumakis had Covid but I’d be starting him on Sunday. We could also do with Jota getting back to top form, he’s not really been involved in any goals or assists in a while?
Yeah Ange said Giakoumakis should be back for Sunday so depends on his fitness I guess whether he should start. I thought Maeda had a better first half than second half tonight. He robbed the ball a couple of times with his pressing and won a few headers in their box but they were all awkward crosses which he did well to connect with as opposed to real chances.
Yeah Jota hasn’t had many “goal contributions” recently. Possibly none since the Aberdeen goal. As I said at half time, when we’re getting the full back forward and Hatate moving out wide too I’d like to see Jota coming inside more off the ball. He carries the ball inside well but we can get him to take up those positions off the ball and feed him there where he’ll be dangerous. That’s something Abada does well actually but he’s not going to go past players as easily as Jota would.
Yeah thought Starfelt had a good game alright. He carried it upfield well a couple of times to break their formation and it gave us good angles. But he was decisive in his tackling too. That winger they brought on actually seemed to cause Taylor a couple of problems but Starfelt read it. And they had one half opportunity in the first half with a low cross from that flank but Starfelt covered it well.
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