| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland 13:38 - Feb 11 with 1607 views | Antti_Heinola |
Ooh, it's nice to write these when we win...
1. The Ramsey Effect. Interesting to hear Ramsey talking in his relaxed but firm style about players doing their jobs, following their men, running sensibly, covering each other etc after Saturday, because that was clearly the major message last night - not just defensively but offensively too. What a refreshing delight to see players go forward and for others to cover them, to see us have options around the opponent's box rather than the usual scenario of one player marked by about 4 defenders. Yun goes forward, Barton slips into full back. Zamora drops back to collect the ball, Phillips takes it upon himself to get into a centre forward area. High pressing, high tempo, refusing to allow Sunderland to settle. Really great stuff and extremely impressive for that to have been instilled so quickly.
2. Matty Phillips. I said after the Southampton game that for his faults, one thing Phillips does better than almost anyone in the league - I know that sounds hyperbolic, but I believe it's true - is sling a great, whipped, dangerous cross into the box. There were three or four of them last night, and the one for Fer in particular was an absolute beauty. Incredible that we've been crying out for a proper wide man for so long and Redknapp discarded him so readily. Let's hope he continues to gain confidence and improve.
3. Leroy Fer. Ah, so play a player in his proper position and you get a better performance? I see how this works now. Looked tobe his best display in a QPR shirt, topped with a superb header. So of course, he gets what appears to be a serious injury - classic. Wish him well, but great to see him closing down and harrying like everyone else.
4. Rob Green. I like Greeno. I think he's a good keeper. But I've never been blown away by him, whether it was with Norwich, West Ham, England or with us. Those who claim his reputation for silly errors comes solely from a poor mistake for England haven't really followed his career in any detail, because he's been prone to them wherever he's gone - the really silly ones I mean. And he also has a worrying propensity to be beaten from distance (especially with low shots), which is odd for a keeper with such incredible reflexes as demonstrated with his saves from Defoe and Wickham last night in an all-round stellar display. This was Green at his absolute best - great saves, looking confident, making correct decisions. Thought the Alvarez save was also superb. Very well done - McCarthy will be bench-warming a while longer.
5. Clean slate. The players seem pleased, too, to have a clean slate. Traore, Phillips, Taarabt, Zarate, Rio, Doughty, even SWP have all been welcomed into the fold after being almost completely bombed out by the previous management. In Rio's case, it may have been enforced, of course, but it was testament to him that he didn't sulk about it and just carried on being professional. A lot of nonsense has been spoken about team spirit this season - last night's team display seems to prove how hollow some of those words were.
6. Ohh Bobby. Said many times it was a mistake to re-sign him and that we should have been after a striker who could stay fit and play 90 minutes more regularly instead, but that doesn't mean I don't believe he has some value and that he can turn in either a good cameo or even a good full game. Ran out of steam, like a lot of players - but that was because of how hard they all worked. But he was a great focal point and also scored a tremendous, instinctive goal. It's all hands to the pump now, and the one tiny silver lining was that if the worst is the case with Fer, then that no.10 slot could also be filled by Adel or Zarate in that kind of formation. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 14:13 - Feb 11 with 1486 views | adhoc_qpr |
The thing that impressed with Fer was his ability to hold up the ball under pressure, really helped us to actually start attack from dangerous positions.
Really hope he's not seriously crocked, but suspect he is from his reaction!
Also what happened to Phillips, i assume he was injured too?
Great to see Doughty involved and acquit himself well, i hope more youngsters earn themselves the chance to get involved with the first team squad and contribute. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 14:32 - Feb 11 with 1428 views | terryb |
Thank you anti.
Agree with every single word. | | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 15:00 - Feb 11 with 1374 views | Cornish_oooRRRR |
Yes, all good stuff. And as far as running out of steam is concerned, unless we are playing in a cup tie which might have extra time, I expect every player to be dead on their feet if they've played the full 90 (goalkeeper excepted). It does mean players have to know how to pace themselves but this should be an integral part of training. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:19 - Feb 12 with 1127 views | onlyrinmoray |
No need to play Nedum at RB now out of position Doughty gets the job looked very good when he came on |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:27 - Feb 12 with 1107 views | Match82 |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:19 - Feb 12 by onlyrinmoray |
No need to play Nedum at RB now out of position Doughty gets the job looked very good when he came on |
Looked like he was playing much further forward to me and that SWP slipped in at right back once Doughty came on.
There was even one occasion where the two of them had the ball on the right hand side, holding up play. SWP played the ball to Doughty, then immediately jogged back towards the right back spot - looked like it was a deliberate tactic that they had been told to execute. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:41 - Feb 12 with 1082 views | onlyrinmoray |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:27 - Feb 12 by Match82 |
Looked like he was playing much further forward to me and that SWP slipped in at right back once Doughty came on.
There was even one occasion where the two of them had the ball on the right hand side, holding up play. SWP played the ball to Doughty, then immediately jogged back towards the right back spot - looked like it was a deliberate tactic that they had been told to execute. |
Even better then if he can fill in in midfield adding some pace I assume he has some as hes just a young lad
Was it him who played at Liverpool a few years ago in an end of season game ? | | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 17:31 - Feb 12 with 1055 views | Match82 |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 16:41 - Feb 12 by onlyrinmoray |
Even better then if he can fill in in midfield adding some pace I assume he has some as hes just a young lad
Was it him who played at Liverpool a few years ago in an end of season game ? |
No, that was Harriman. Who also played well in his debut. | | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 17:47 - Feb 12 with 1038 views | CamberleyR |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - Sunderland on 17:31 - Feb 12 by Match82 |
No, that was Harriman. Who also played well in his debut. |
As did Ehmer, as did Hitchcock. But we all know Harold didn't do youth. |  |
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