Antti Heinola reflects on Saturday’s win against Leeds with his usual six talking points featuring praise for Junior Hoilett and Sandro among others.
I looked at the team, smiled at some things, gasped at others. Lovely to see Petrasso get a start. Good to see Yun keep his place. But two wide players starting up front, an unfit striker on the bench and no sign of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, let alone Polter? It seemed far too cautious, especially against what is a mid-table side at best - managed by a modern-day Barry Fry, just without the charm.
This is a game we should have won, and did win. But had Wood not been quite so useless when missing a very presentable chance after our back four went to sleep and Green had his customary rush of blood, we'd have been one-down at half time with a half-fit Austin our only real hope of a goal. Such are the margins in football. Unless injured, JET should have been at least on the bench and probably starting. I can't really fathom that one. In the end, we were easily the better side and could and should have won by more, but it was an unusual selection from Warnock to say the least.
But the great thing about Warnock is that he does tend to make the changes you want him to make, and he's not afraid of a gamble. If he was overly cautious before the game, by the fifty fifth minute he could see the win was there for the taking - and he had Charlie itching to get on and take advantage of some very decent balls that had been put into the box without anyone looking remotely like taking advantage.
Removing the injured Yun for Charlie was a no-brainer, but it was brilliant to see Warnock show his gambling side as he also withdrew the willing Petrasso for the more dangerous Chery at the same time. That seemed to bamboozle Leeds immediately and for much of the rest of the game. They didn't bother marking Austin from Ale's subsequent corner and then left him free again moments later for the goal. It was flabbergasting. I don't think I've ever seen a corner before where I genuinely thought we were going to score before the corner-kicker even struck the ball. I saw Austin's run and thought 'if Ale gets this near post, it's in.' And there it was. And you thought we'd been bad at defending set pieces this season.
In that respect, Warnock showed his experience and confidence with such a bold change - the kind we rarely saw from Ramsey.
Won't dwell on Ale for too long, because enough has been written and I said as much in my Boro Jerks, but it is lovely to see him playing like this again. He looked a bit fitter and quicker on Saturday, but that may have been because Leeds really gave him the freedom of the midfield. Plus he was ably supported by Sandro, who probably had his best game for us. No, that doesn't say a lot, but still, it's nice to see. He was fast, biting into tackles, covering ground, helping his defence and also, remarkably, pretty clean too - gone were the silly fouls we've seen so much of over the last year. That allowed Ale to really dictate the game and do what he does best. If we didn't quite see a pass of the exquisiteness that we saw in the Boro game when his chip played Phillips in, we still saw his full range - plus a dead-on corner for the goal.
A midfield that feels a far cry from the staid Henry-Toszer partnership. Ale must still be protected though - it sounds odd, but if Sandro is fit and well I'd consider resting Ale v Reading and play Luongo in there. Really pleased with how Ale's doing, but we can't get carried away, we have no idea how strong or weak those knees are.
I've seen some unfair things about Phillips, some even accusing him of not trying, but attitude is not something I'd level against him. I think he works really hard, but he is inconsistent and perhaps prone to loss of confidence. For the last two games I think he's worked done adequately in an unfamiliar position that, actually, he should be suited to. He has all the attributes to be a striker - pace, power, a trick and a fearsome shot, but he hasn't quite got the experience or know-how or killer instinct to really make it work just yet.
Once he was moved wide he seemed much happier and really became a genuine threat. A front four of Phillips, Chery, an in-form Hoilett and a fit Austin should have plenty of goals in it.
We have, of course, seen all this before. Several times Hoilett has come into the side and threatened to be a consistently good player, but it never usually lasts very long, either due to a just-as-swift loss of form, or yet another injury. But Saturday was about as good as it's ever been from him. He showed for the ball, he moved it quickly, he had a good understanding with Phillips and he threatened. Playing more centrally meant we didn't see his generally-poor crossing, but even when moved wide to accommodate Chery he continued to be a thorn in Leeds' side. Only criticism really was that he didn't quite get close to testing the keeper himself, but if he does get a goal soon, maybe we'll have a new player on our hands.
The back four is finally starting to work together a bit better. Defence is less about individuals and more about the teamwork between them. Dixon-Adams-Bould-Winterburn were not individually the best four defenders in the country, but they were the best, by far, for years, as a unit. I suspect Blackwell has been working hard on this lot - already we've seen a bigger emphasis on a higher line and utilising the offside trap better since he's been at the club. It was noticeable at the end that several of them, and Sandro, hugged - pleased, no doubt, with another clean sheet.
But still there are issues. A poor line almost let Wood in for a goal in the first half and Perch, who was very decent before the break and was fine for most of the second half, then blotted his copy book when he decided to duck under a long diagonal to let their winger in. His cross was swift and low. We were very lucky to get away with it. Perch is not a bad player, but it has not gone well for him here so far. Sometimes players take time to settle for whatever reason and there were signs he was doing that on Saturday (admittedly under minimal pressure) until that dreadful error. Most teams wouldn't have let us get away with that.
Pictures — Action Images