If I was overcritical of Aiden and Jan then I think you’re perhaps giving them too much praise rocko.
I recognise that McGeady scored and had a good shot where we scored from the resulting corner but still I maintain that he lost the ball cheaply far too many times, possibly every second time he received it.
As for Jan he tried hard as I said but I expect more from somebody with his pedigree than toiling away and breaking even with the likes of Rob Jones over the course of the 90 minutes. I don’t blame him for the chance he missed on the stretch at 2-1 and he did well for the first goal but there were other occasions where he was fairly ponderous. He had a great chance in the first half and had someone outside him (can’t recall who) but he cut in and had a shot blocked. He could have done better at 2-2 when he took advantage of a defensive slip, flicked it over the prone defender and scuffed his shot into the ground. We owned the ball and he got an awful lot of possession in and around the box and we made fook all from it. I expect him to be stronger and more purposeful on the ball.
I didn’t think McGeady lost the ball much at all today. Really thought he kept it well actually and he played some clever passes.
Jan more than broke even up there. He drifted onto Hogg all the time and really killed him in the air. That was a decent chance in the first half alright but it fell onto his left foot which is why he brought it inside. That was the on;y time I thought he looked ponderous. The one at 2-2 was entirely of his own making where he flicked the ball over the defender (who was on his feet) and then as he was swinging for it their left back just got a leg in to disrupt his kicking motion so he scuffed the shot somewhat. I sometimes think he can look a little tardy and disillusioned up there but I didn’t think that was the case at all today. And I thought he looked dangerous anytime we got the ball up to him and he is unquestionably out best finisher at the club - no doubt he’d have scored McDonald’s chances because he hits the ball much cleaner.
I disagree very much. I think Jan broke even at best. I expect him to dominate the likes of Hogg and Jones in all aspects of the game but I definitely don’t think he did. I expect him to take the ball into feet, shrug these no marks off and crack in a few shots but he toiled all day. It’s alright saying he’d have put McDonald’s chances away but he didn’t get into the positions to do so.
Yeah but he got into decent positions a couple of times but McDonald didn’t give it to him. He was there primarily in a creating role today anyway. He made the first goal with 2 interventions and then he held the ball up in and around the box very well most of the time.
I’m not arguing that he was sensational or anything but I thought he caused them no end of problems and I think they found it very hard to cope with him. That said we went a bit similar at the end and I’d have brought on Riordan or Magic up front to play alongside him once McDonald tired.
Strachan said afterwards that we played very well and he’s scratching his head as to how we lost. Causing a bit of a furore with the fans that comment is but I tend to agree. We played them off the park but made silly errors and that’s what cost us. We scored two and to be honest that should be enough in any game. We lost because of highly unusual and uncharacteristic errors by Boruc. Nothing we could do about that.
I think to say we lost purely because of two uncharacteristic errors by Boruc is simplifying matters. Sure his two howlers were the difference between the teams per se but equally I was seriously pissed off with our application at times. Our defending was bordering on ridiculous and other than Boruc’s fook ups they often drifted into dangerous positions in the channels without any bother. I accept we played nicely at times but I still maintain that we were too slow with our passing and should have penetrated far more considering the possession we had. If Strachan’s completely satisfied with that then I’m quite worried.
My last post on this and I think you should leave it there too so I have the last word.
Our passing wasn’t electric for the entire match and we didn’t put away our chances. We probably should have created more and our tracking back was poor. That said it was a better performance than Falkirk away and probably Aberdeen away. It was just that as well as our defence gifting them one goal, Boruc gifted them two and that was abnormal.
I thought both the Falkirk and Aberdeen performances were better. I thought we were excellent in the second half up in Aberdeen. There, I have the last word now.
Didnt see the game yesterday but you all seem quite annoyed at the performance, yet Strachan said after the game that yesterday was the best they had played in Edinburgh since he took over and that if they got a point it would have been an injustice but to get nothing was just ridiculous.
I agree with Strachan Baby. Thought we looked the part and deserved to win handily enough. I’m not too bothered about the result because you get freak results from time to time at any level of the game - look at our beloved astro team losing 3-0 last week.
I think there’s several underlying causes for concern. Sure we could and probably should have won but our defending was rank at times and we’re not taking our chances. I do believe there’s a few things that need sorting out straight away or we’ll get torn apart in Europe, specifically the full back area and how open our midfield is. We haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home in a year now too. That isn’t good enough and it demands improvement. No way I am happy with yesterday, far from it in fact.
The truth lies somewhere between the two positions that you’ve both stated. We played decent in spells and there were some poor individual performances. Even more worrying though was the poor application of certain players (Donati in particular). Certainly don’t think we played as well in Aberdeen as we did there. Having said that I wouldn’t say it was a disaster. There you have the voice of reason.
I think there’s several underlying causes for concern. Sure we could and probably should have won but our defending was rank at times and we’re not taking our chances. I do believe there’s a few things that need sorting out straight away or we’ll get torn apart in Europe, specifically the full back area and how open our midfield is. We haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home in a year now too. That isn’t good enough and it demands improvement. No way I am happy with yesterday, far from it in fact.
We’re not taking our chances? We scored five in our last 3 games. We didn’t miss anything in Donetsk apart from Killen’s late effort.
The full backs is a concern alright though Doumb was excellent yesterday. Made some cracking interceptions, used the ball quite well and they never got behind him. Naylor was poor but he did make one covering track back that showed a glimpse of last season.
Very balanced from Larry. I’d say the truth lies somewhere between his statement and my original assessment.
I knew people would be ready with stats on that subject and it is a fact, he said. But if you could let me list my own facts from the last two yearstwo SPL titles, one won with six weeks to go and one won with four weeks to go.
Weve won two domestic cups and reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. We played the eventual winners in AC Milan and they didnt score in two 90 minutes against us.
This season, after seven games, weve scored 24 SPL goals and conceded six. If you take away Arturs howlers against Hibs, it would be four against. So, I quite like my facts.
My job when I came here was to win titles and play in an attractive manner. Weve now given ourselves a chance to play in an attractive manner. These are facts as well as the other facts.
I enjoy my facts, Im happy with the way my team is playing and I enjoy watching them. We were a bit unfortunate against Hibs but thats life. We are okay with ourselves and the group.
[quote]I knew people would be ready with stats on that subject and it is a fact, he said. But if you could let me list my own facts from the last two yearstwo SPL titles, one won with six weeks to go and one won with four weeks to go.
Weve won two domestic cups and reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. We played the eventual winners in AC Milan and they didnt score in two 90 minutes against us.
This season, after seven games, weve scored 24 SPL goals and conceded six. If you take away Arturs howlers against Hibs, it would be four against. So, I quite like my facts.
My job when I came here was to win titles and play in an attractive manner. Weve now given ourselves a chance to play in an attractive manner. These are facts as well as the other facts.
I enjoy my facts, Im happy with the way my team is playing and I enjoy watching them. We were a bit unfortunate against Hibs but thats life. We are okay with ourselves and the group.
[/quote]
That’s quality by Strachan - I like his facts too !!!
[quote]I knew people would be ready with stats on that subject and it is a fact, he said. But if you could let me list my own facts from the last two yearstwo SPL titles, one won with six weeks to go and one won with four weeks to go.
Weve won two domestic cups and reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. We played the eventual winners in AC Milan and they didnt score in two 90 minutes against us.
This season, after seven games, weve scored 24 SPL goals and conceded six. If you take away Arturs howlers against Hibs, it would be four against. So, I quite like my facts.
My job when I came here was to win titles and play in an attractive manner. Weve now given ourselves a chance to play in an attractive manner. These are facts as well as the other facts.
I enjoy my facts, Im happy with the way my team is playing and I enjoy watching them. We were a bit unfortunate against Hibs but thats life. We are okay with ourselves and the group.
[/quote]
That’s quality by Strachan - I like his facts too !!!