Their goal was a double ricochet. Free kick came in, bounced, hit the shin of MDG (iirc), then hit the shin of their lad Casey and trickled into the bottom corner. Can't really fault anyone for it. MDG was the right side of his man, just one of them things, luckily it didn't matter, although a clean sheet would've been welcome.
I think they may have found his roll centrally high up where he an accept the ball and pop passes off. In that position his physical attributes of been big and strong means he can look after the ball and more importantly he doesn't have to do too much running. Work in progress I would say but suits who he is much better than any other position' in my opinion.
You watched a different game to me. He was outstanding ,on and off the ball. But the whole team were much better without the ball. Closed down ,pressed well and won many second balls. Well done Russell and the rest of the team
I was more meaning with Russell going off straight before a set piece they probably had different people marking different players. I imagine he was marking their second biggest aerial threat with Roberts marking the first. I agree I wouldn’t have him starting over Connell. I think we had to go with Connell, Kane & Phillips last season. All three were too good to leave out when fit but his height was a big loss when we had a pretty small defence (especially in the first half of last season). I also quite like him in that role a bit further forward. I think he did well in that role against Mansfield when he came on too & I’ll hold my hands up & admit I saw more chance of him becoming a centre back than an attack minded midfielder a couple of months back.