Was the performance at Plymouth that bad? Was there lack of effort? I only saw the highlights but it looked like we created a few chances ourselves. It can't have been that bad surely?
I didn’t go to the game neither have I seen the highlights or the goal but for me it’s the worst performance I’ve ever not seen. It’s up there with the other worstest performances I’ve not seen.
I'm as one-eyed towards the Reds when I'm at a game as anyone but even I thought that if we'd lost 5-1 or 6-2 nobody could have grumbled. The days in between haven't changed my view. It could turn out that Plymouth are world-beaters and we aren't that bad I suppose - they certainly had some good players (even though they were missing a couple) notably the excellent Ryan Hardie, Danny Mayor and a wide player they had loaned from Norwich. We had little or nothing up front or in midfield for much of the game. The defence invariably launched long balls (apparently against orders) over the top for our two slow strikers to chase. I gave Benson -60, Cole -70 and Kitching -100 out of 10, they really were that bad imo. Vague positives for me were that Cadden put a few good balls in and Wolfe, Marsh and Norwood put themselves about a bit more when they came on. Aitchison clearly has a football brain but unfortunately suffers from the Barnsley forward syndrome of being blessed neither with physical strength nor pace.
Spot on. I think I was guilty of one of Jurgen Klopp's over reactions at the weekend and throughout this week.
I watched the full game earlier this week and we weren't great. That said, we could have ended with 3 goals with just some average finishing and a braver referee/linesman. As someone else said, we could however have ended up conceding 5 or 6 really easily too and had no cause for complaint. The most concerning thing for me was just how easy we were to play against. Our defence looked very shaky. Even when doing basic things. Our midfield looked pretty ineffectual and was guilty of laziness when it came to tracking. Our forwards didn't have a great deal to work off at all, though we still managed to fashion a few chances. Aitchison looked quite bright. Collins was Collins. That's about it really. Our performance felt like more of a pre season run out for large parts. I'd hope we can get better than that, even given we've lost some of our better players from last season.
I was disappointed with how few players we committed forward yet still managed to look poor at the back. Hopefully we're a bit braver at home to Cheltenham.
I didn't go, nor have i seen the highlights but @Bossman told me we were worse than i had expected and that one day we might score this season which is better than many expected. But i already said we should set our expectations accordingly so ill wait for his majority report before i comment on Saturdays ‘challenge’. I expect he will be writing one.
I watched the game, at times we looked very good with some great bits of play and should have scored a few. Cundy Benson Styles and Cole had poor first games of the season and due to so many subs having to be made we looked a bit disjointed. Nothing to worry about though, I am expecting tough games over the next few weeks before things start to fall in to place when we will be a good side.