I know Iraola is highly regarded, but their tactics from the very start were clearly about time-wasting, suffocating the crowd and killing the game. It was exactly the sort of thing Moyes has done in our away games. The full-back rolling the ball onto the pitch instead of just picking it up and taking the throw summed it up. It’s killing football, it really is.
That said, no sour grapes. I’m not going to get too down about it after the unexpected win at the weekend. I do feel for the kids though – another night that started with excitement and ended with a late finish. They’d better be good in the morning!
I’ll leave the tactics to others, but a few minor observations:
- Ndiaye made very little effort to stop the cross. He has to get there quicker.
- Gueye moved the ball too slowly for me, went to ground too often, and Bournemouth kept breaking because of it.
- Barry just has to score one of those two chances and it’s a completely different game.
- Mykolenko was getting slaughtered as usual, but the first goal was simply a very good header. He had a runner on him and the lad really attacked it. The problem was further up the pitch with the cross. I was right in line with it in the North Stand.
- Branthwaite’s distribution was dire in the first half but excellent in the second. Defensively, I actually thought he looked a little shaky overall.
- George took risks, which was good to see. Promising performance, I thought.
- KDH and Garner both gave absolutely everything with 10 men. I’d like to see them alongside each other more, and on the ball more.
Oh and they messed up z cars again.
Anyway, that’s all.
Bloody Bournemouth.
