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Not to start off with a negative, but, first half until he scored I'd again found him a hard watch. Nothing sticking at all.
That's obviously not his strength granted, but I thought it actually improved in the second half after the goal - noticed him use his shoulder on the defender a bit, held up 2 or 3 and battled more.
The goals were crucial of course, and the main point, but would love to see some continued improvement on him being able to keep it. Helps everyone.
Not to start off with a negative, but, first half until he scored I'd again found him a hard watch. Nothing sticking at all.
That's obviously not his strength granted, but I thought it actually improved in the second half after the goal - noticed him use his shoulder on the defender a bit, held up 2 or 3 and battled more.
The goals were crucial of course, and the main point, but would love to see some continued improvement on him being able to keep it. Helps everyone.
Probably linked. That lack of goals had to be weighing on him so heavily, it's going to affect all his game. Not to say it's an excuse not to be giving 100%, but mentally your head being in the right place just gives you that little bit extra belief to fully commit to that tackle, or chase down that lost cause.
Hopefully this opens the floodgates not just for goals, but for a better all round performance too
Not to start off with a negative, but, first half until he scored I'd again found him a hard watch. Nothing sticking at all.
That's obviously not his strength granted, but I thought it actually improved in the second half after the goal - noticed him use his shoulder on the defender a bit, held up 2 or 3 and battled more.
The goals were crucial of course, and the main point, but would love to see some continued improvement on him being able to keep it. Helps everyone.
Probably linked. That lack of goals had to be weighing on him so heavily, it's going to affect all his game. Not to say it's an excuse not to be giving 100%, but mentally your head being in the right place just gives you that little bit extra belief to fully commit to that tackle, or chase down that lost cause.
Hopefully this opens the floodgates not just for goals, but for a better all round performance too
Absolutely. It also seemed to help Madsen too - I am very behind on getting my eyes tested but am sure I saw him waving Smyth forward to press along side him at one point during the second half.
Think Madsen has shown an improvement in the last game or two. Noticed Andy S mentioned the 'shift' he'd put in covering gaps - he sounded suitably surprised in his own understated way.
Last night Smyth took two shots at quite tight angles when squaring it to Celar or Field would have been better options. Maybe now he has a couple of goals they'll provide the passes he needs?
Probably linked. That lack of goals had to be weighing on him so heavily, it's going to affect all his game. Not to say it's an excuse not to be giving 100%, but mentally your head being in the right place just gives you that little bit extra belief to fully commit to that tackle, or chase down that lost cause.
Hopefully this opens the floodgates not just for goals, but for a better all round performance too
It's not like he good too much worse over the course of the season before Wednesday though. He started off for us without being able to hit the target, chase down defenders or anything else. That's not down to confidence being ground down
His first few months have shown us what he can't do. He is clearly not a 'bustling, chase everything down, hold the ball up' attacker. His team-mates - who were delighted for him at Cardiff - steered by the boss, need to think about how he can be deployed most effectively. There have been lots of prolific goalscorers who have been successful without roughing up defenders - Phillips, Keane, Defoe come to mind.
Fair play to the lad, but the defending was absolutely poor (Should never had been allowed to turn to shoot for the first, defender should have done so much better), the 2nd was shambolic defending by the CB.
Overall, apart from the goals I thought that his performance was not much different that what have seen of him. Lets hope the goals help his future performances.