| The subbing of Freeman. 17:12 - Dec 23 with 8444 views | Snipper |
If Freeman wasn’t injured, what the holy fcuk was Holloway taking him off for?
I honestly can’t stick up for him anymore if Freeman wasn’t injured.
I know we have no bloody money, but we have decent bloody players here, but they just need some proper organisation.
Man for man, Bristol City are no better than us. But before today, they were third in the league and just deservedly beat Man Utd.
It just goes to show what proper organisation can lead to.
Rant over. |  | | |  |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:18 - Dec 23 with 5056 views | 2Thomas2Bowles |
Yeah fancy letting the ref give a dodgy pen |  |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:18 - Dec 23 with 5049 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
He truly can’t fcking win can he?
If he left him on there is very little doubt in my mind that people would be whining that he never brought a defender on, as has happened previously.
That game didn’t hinge on the Freeman substitution. [Post edited 23 Dec 2017 17:19]
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:22 - Dec 23 with 5018 views | Mistication92 |
Good point, did well to get out with it. Was in the School End, couldn't see WTF the penalty was for but TBH even if it hadn't been given I don't think we'd've kept the lead. It was one way traffic in the last half hour.
No outlet in the second half and couldn't keep the ball at all. Great stuff in the first hall though. 4 points against Ipswich and Millwall and it'll be happy days for a bit. |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:43 - Dec 23 with 4912 views | baldyhoop |
I thought the red mist had descended and he was close to a sending off. Perhaps it was that... | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:43 - Dec 23 with 4904 views | BlackCrowe |
Completely agree with the OP re Freeman subbing. The only player in the team that can hold up play and give others a breather and stretch the oppo is subbed. Madness (unless he was injured).
Same goes for Washington on for Sylla. Washington barely touched the ball, whereas before Sylla's hold up play was excellent (admittedly less so in the 2nd half). Think we dropped 2 points today through subs and shape change. |  |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:12 - Dec 23 with 4690 views | Hunterhoop |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 17:43 - Dec 23 by BlackCrowe |
Completely agree with the OP re Freeman subbing. The only player in the team that can hold up play and give others a breather and stretch the oppo is subbed. Madness (unless he was injured).
Same goes for Washington on for Sylla. Washington barely touched the ball, whereas before Sylla's hold up play was excellent (admittedly less so in the 2nd half). Think we dropped 2 points today through subs and shape change. |
Mate, I like Sylla, but his hold up play wS not excellent. It was terrible. He was beaten to everything all afternoon. Didn't look up for the fight against a big physical defence.
Admittedly Smith only fared marginally better.
Washington was woeful. Subbing Samuel was the issue. He was playing well, had pace to stretch the game, was involved and used his body well to hold it up. He also had very quick feet. Very impressive. Washington came on and played like a lost child. He's not even aware of the basics. Why did he keep standing 20 yards away from Smith from our goal kicks. Be near him in case of the flick ons. You can see his brain struggling to read the game as it goes on.
On the plus side the back 3 were excellent (swear it was a back 4 for the last 20 of th first half with Pavel pushed up and Baptiste at RB), and Bidwell and Pavel did very well.
Thought Luongo battled bravely all game with little from Scowen, who looks out of sorts, and Freeman not being able to get on the ball much.
A draw was fair on the balance, but that ref.... |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:20 - Dec 23 with 4642 views | E17hoop |
Probably taking into account there are 4 games in 10 days. |  |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:20 - Dec 23 with 4642 views | 1MoreBrightonR |
Funny mix of feeling hard done by yet also knowing they could have scored quite a few. Really enjoyed today though...was a good atmosphere, a lot of aggression on the pitch and i felt we played pretty well. Our midfield really pressed them and our defense looked good.Pav isnt back to his best but he looks better than he has recently....he wanted to take people on again. | | | |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:48 - Dec 23 with 4503 views | BostonR |
I am getting irritated by Holloway's rank game management. Taking off Sylla and Samuel gifted the play to Bristol. Yes, they pushed Flint up but he should have been brave and looked to open their defence with Samuel's pace - instead we got woefull Washington and Smith who was a makeshift centre-halve. We did not deserve to lose and the penalty decision was shambolic but someone has to get a message to the whole coaching team to stop fecking it up! |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:49 - Dec 23 with 4497 views | Esox_Lucius |
All three substitutions today were to the detriment of our chances to win. I thought Sylla did well against their backs today, and certainly better than either Washington or Smith when they came on. It was over 15 minutes before Conor had a meaningful touch of the ball and only two touches before that, both momentary , ineffective ones. If we had carried on pushing for a second we wouldn't have lost, we may not have scored but we wouldn't have lost IMO. Bad subs today. |  |
| The grass is always greener. |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:55 - Dec 23 with 4462 views | BostonR |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:49 - Dec 23 by Esox_Lucius |
All three substitutions today were to the detriment of our chances to win. I thought Sylla did well against their backs today, and certainly better than either Washington or Smith when they came on. It was over 15 minutes before Conor had a meaningful touch of the ball and only two touches before that, both momentary , ineffective ones. If we had carried on pushing for a second we wouldn't have lost, we may not have scored but we wouldn't have lost IMO. Bad subs today. |
Spot-on. Really poor game management by Holloway. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:58 - Dec 23 with 4447 views | oldmisery |
I thought all three substitutions weakened the team.
We were the better side for about 65 -70 minutes and perhaps some of our players were tiring but Smith was poor, Washington was pathetic and if Hall was supposed to be protecting the defence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought he did ok coming on with about 10 minutes remaining two weeks ago and assumed he might be a little fitter today but he wasn't at the races at all. He was right off the pace, didn't tackle, didn't win anything in the air and couldn't find a blue and white shirt with the ball.
We probably wouldn't have kept our lead even if Holloway had left the starting eleven on the field because that referee seemed determined to give them something (and what a something) but we'll never know. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:00 - Dec 23 with 4427 views | Hunterhoop |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 18:49 - Dec 23 by Esox_Lucius |
All three substitutions today were to the detriment of our chances to win. I thought Sylla did well against their backs today, and certainly better than either Washington or Smith when they came on. It was over 15 minutes before Conor had a meaningful touch of the ball and only two touches before that, both momentary , ineffective ones. If we had carried on pushing for a second we wouldn't have lost, we may not have scored but we wouldn't have lost IMO. Bad subs today. |
I just do not understand how you can think Sylla did well against their backs. He got out fought and won nothing in the air. Twice he brought it down on his chest and laid it off. That was it.
I like Sylla, I do. I'd start him. I just thought he was very poor compared to usual. I don't think he suits a physical match.
The sub that didn't work was Washington for Samuel. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:05 - Dec 23 with 4403 views | flynnbo |
Just what was Holloway thinking pairing up yet again the prolific scoring partnership of Dumb and Dumber? Sylla can hold up the ball provided it's played to his chest but only Crouch would have fared better in the air against the big centre backs one of whom went to play up front. Samuel did well and both he and Sylla looked more of a threat than their replacements ever did. They should have been given more game time together then maybe put Smith on for the last 15 minutes. |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:11 - Dec 23 with 4360 views | Esox_Lucius |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:00 - Dec 23 by Hunterhoop |
I just do not understand how you can think Sylla did well against their backs. He got out fought and won nothing in the air. Twice he brought it down on his chest and laid it off. That was it.
I like Sylla, I do. I'd start him. I just thought he was very poor compared to usual. I don't think he suits a physical match.
The sub that didn't work was Washington for Samuel. |
He was never going to win headers outright against the two defenders posted on him but his harrying, interplay with other hoops, distribution and, as you say the balls he chested down and twisted and turned his way away from his opposition were far in excess of anything Smith or Washington have done in ages. Conor did well chasing two balls in succession but only put their defence under pressure rather than cause a goalscoring chance. I had hopes that he might have come good but after al this time it is looking a forlorn hope. I bought a ticket for the Cup game in January before the match in the hope that I will be mostly watching the U23's stars given a run out and see if they can give a good account of themselves. I DO worry however, that they will be given an alien, to them, game plan which will enfeeble their regular game and make them look poor to the fans. From the games I have seen on the Offish they play a far more expansive, attacking game but I doubt this will be as evident if they are picked for the MK Dons game. | |
| The grass is always greener. |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:19 - Dec 23 with 4308 views | DesertBoot |
I think the subbing of Samuel for the out of form and ineffective Washington was a bigger blunder. It made no sense at all. |  |
| Wish I could be like David Watts |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:01 - Dec 23 with 4192 views | stevec |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:19 - Dec 23 by DesertBoot |
I think the subbing of Samuel for the out of form and ineffective Washington was a bigger blunder. It made no sense at all. |
The one advantage of Samuel and Sylla, although neither ever looked anywhere near a goal or able to bother Bristol back line, they did at least pass to their own side and whilst we have the ball they don’t. There was some nice passing movements involving Samuel in particular.
The dilemma Ollie has is no matter how he mixes and matches none of them are any real goal threat. It’s a crying shame as the midfield 3 are working their nuts off and to no avail.
Burton and Bolton winning was unexpected and I really think we must do something in Jan transfers. It’s a dangerous game hoping those 3 at the bottom carry on being crap. |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:22 - Dec 23 with 4114 views | TripleR |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:19 - Dec 23 by DesertBoot |
I think the subbing of Samuel for the out of form and ineffective Washington was a bigger blunder. It made no sense at all. |
Agreed, most disappointed to see him subbed for Washington. |  | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:25 - Dec 23 with 4100 views | bosh67 |
I'm not sure why Ollie didn't put Samuel wide left rather than take him off. As soon as we did we conceded the pressing game which the kid did really well. Washington isn't a left winger or left sided or a footballer at the moment. Taking Sylla off also broke the high pressing game and then the Freeman substitution meant we didn't have any attacking element with a left foot.
Basically the substitutions killed our pressing game, which was working, lost any left sided threat which meant they doubled up on Pav and that killed the threat down the right.
Essentially it allowed City onto the front foot having been pretty well contained.
So the subs didn't work sadly and they let them in. City in contrast made substitutions that got them back into the game and they capitalised on us retiring our pressing front two.
We reverted to hoofing and being far too narrow. No real change there.
The bigger problem is that City are one of a number of teams that have found an extra gear at Loftus Road and we can't really cope with that. |  |
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| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:27 - Dec 23 with 4092 views | flynnbo |
Some of our play down the right side in the first half was outstanding, | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:33 - Dec 23 with 4059 views | Hunterhoop |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:19 - Dec 23 by DesertBoot |
I think the subbing of Samuel for the out of form and ineffective Washington was a bigger blunder. It made no sense at all. |
Agree. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:40 - Dec 23 with 4028 views | Hunterhoop |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:11 - Dec 23 by Esox_Lucius |
He was never going to win headers outright against the two defenders posted on him but his harrying, interplay with other hoops, distribution and, as you say the balls he chested down and twisted and turned his way away from his opposition were far in excess of anything Smith or Washington have done in ages. Conor did well chasing two balls in succession but only put their defence under pressure rather than cause a goalscoring chance. I had hopes that he might have come good but after al this time it is looking a forlorn hope. I bought a ticket for the Cup game in January before the match in the hope that I will be mostly watching the U23's stars given a run out and see if they can give a good account of themselves. I DO worry however, that they will be given an alien, to them, game plan which will enfeeble their regular game and make them look poor to the fans. From the games I have seen on the Offish they play a far more expansive, attacking game but I doubt this will be as evident if they are picked for the MK Dons game. |
But Sylla could fight. Be physical with them. Try to win a few free kicks or put them off.
We put a lot of crosses into the box in the first half and their centre halves won everything...even our goal!
Often centre forwards come up against taller defenders. Sylla was only giving away a couple of inches. He's 3 inches taller than Sir Les.
I like Sylla. I'm not jumping in the guys back. I just think he could have done a LOT more in the first half. Make life harder for the defenders, be more physical and beat someone to a ball into the box.
Even though it went wide, Smith did that in his cameo. He attacked that cross he had no right to win and headed it wide. But he got their through force, something Sylla didn't show today.
I like Sylla. I'd start with him. But I don't he played at all well today.
As I said, and as Desert said, the bigger mistake, by far, was removing Samuel.
I think if you asked City's defence who they found the most difficult to defend against they'd have said Samuel by some way, then Smith because he won some headers and they didn't have it all their own way, then Sylla....and then they'd forget they had a 4th forward to judge. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:43 - Dec 23 with 4004 views | Hunterhoop |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:27 - Dec 23 by flynnbo |
Some of our play down the right side in the first half was outstanding, |
I thought Pavel looked back to his best today. Got to the byline a fair bit. Willing to go at his man and put him some decent balls. And his defending was fine too. | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 20:43 - Dec 23 with 4000 views | QPR_John |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 19:19 - Dec 23 by DesertBoot |
I think the subbing of Samuel for the out of form and ineffective Washington was a bigger blunder. It made no sense at all. |
100% | | | |
| The subbing of Freeman. on 21:11 - Dec 23 with 3909 views | VancouverHoop |
As it goes I thought the match turned on City's subs more than ours. Putting an ugly great bugger like Flint in the middle of our defence was a good move for them, and one we didn't, or couldn't counter.
I wondered about the Freeman sub at the time, but as someone said upthread, we've got a lot of games coming up and, right now, he has more positive touches in the attacking zone than anyone else in our squad. We simply can't afford to have him go off the boil. | | | |
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