How did Jon Russell do today?

Interested in your opinions, not seen the game or heard anything.

 

Played well

 

I thought he played well for the majority of time on pitch. Was much higher up the pitch.

 

In what way?

 

Agreed!

 

I said last season hes too like lackadaisical and ponderous to play as a sitting midfielder, slow to react defensively at times and that we should play him further up because he has some good technical ability on the ball, especially when in space.

So depending on your view of Clarke, I'm either an idiot or genius...

One of his best games for us. Looked comfortable all game and could have had another assist too. Well done lad

 

Other than laying pass on for first goal was poor gave ball away several times then had chance to break away n he looked like he didn't know what to do. Thiught gent was outstanding today

 

I thought he was good. Wasted a couple of balls but also put some lovely through balls in. Seemed to be a bit more positive in terms of the passes too.

Said it before that I don’t think we should play both Connell and Craig as they are too similar and I would’ve thought had Benson not got injured, he would’ve come in to the side. He is injured though and Russell took his chance today I thought. Should start again on Tuesday.

 

Thought he did ok. Seemed to play a bit more advanced than normal. Moved the ball reasonably with a few stray passes which could have been costly on a different day.

 

Was my MOM tbh looked our most creative midfielder surprisingly, got an assist and got stuck in thought bringing him off was a bad decision and they scored immediately after (although more likely a coincidence)

 

Definitely a coincidence in my opinion mate. It was a freakish goal to concede. A bit of a meh goal. Dont think it would have had any impact at all had subs not been changed

 

My Motm. But a great team effort. Can't remember the last time we got more than a couple of players in the box when attacking.
On one occasion x5. Racing to get in there.

 

Thought Russell played well but to be honest everyone did their jobs today. Showed some character too after Blackpool equalised and then put us under 10/15 minutes of heavy pressure.
Big differences today were that the press was back to a degree and the front two actually made intelligent runs and kept the ball which allowed us to get more runners into the box.

 

Must have watched a different game then. In the one I watched Russell was excellent.

 

Playing further up the pitch seemed to bring the best out of him and he was a big part of our win today, hopefully we can find a settled team and let them all grow into their roles.

 

Played well, I like him. Gave the ball away a few times, which is to be expected as he tried to play forward.

Also played a huge role in us going in front with a lovely ball out wide.

 

Very good performance.

I’m happy to read praise for him on here as there was a bloke behind me who spent most of the game criticising Russell. I was beginning to think I was cracking up.

He can be a frustrating player but I’ve always felt the team functions better with him in it. Never loses him composure & he’s a huge help at set pieces. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we conceded from one immediately after he went off.

We also seemed to get worse at defending them last season when Connell returned from illness & took Russell’s spot.

 

I think this is very harsh. It was a freak-ish goal, mate. He wouldn't have been near the ball in the first place. It's just come off someones leg. Russell would have been in the mix and nowhere near it.

Thankfully, Connell was there last minute to defend that free kick

I definitely wouldn't have him starting over Connell, not a chance. Personally, I wouldn't start him over Craig either in that defensive position. If he plays further up like he did I'd be fine with that. His positioning and movement is tepid in deeper role. Players just run through him and then he just jogs behind them, not always obviously, but a lot more than I'd like to see from an apparently defensive midfielder.
Agree with you about his composure though, I really like his passing, especially when in space, has a bit of 'swazz' (or whatever its called) about him at times. I'll try check the stats to see whether we concede at higher rates from corners/dead balls with Connell in the team rather than Russell

COYR