Yesterday’s game was not the greatest but to pick up a point isn’t that bad for us. After going a goal up, it’s a shame we couldn’t hold on and get the win as we are now really in a position where points at home are not going to be enough to keep us up. Despite getting a point, Martinez stated that he was happy with the performance and to a small degree; I agree with him, it was much better than previous games. Having said that, I felt it was a poor match. We created no real clear cut chances and Tim Howard was never really tested.
Once the ridiculous goal went in, the players seemed to have a little bit of confidence back. The big chance was when Victor Moses saw the headlines and decided to do all the hard work after being sent through on goal. When it is a 3v3 situation and Albert Crusat and Hugo Rodallega are both in great positions, a simple pass to either of them could have wrapped up 3 vital points. Too many times this season, Moses has kept hold of the ball for too long. Many national pundits have stated how Victor is the shining light this campaign but I disagree, for me, he’s not been at his best. He has massive potential but still has an awful lot to learn in terms of picking the right pass at the right time. Some of his decision making this season has not been the best but that will come I’m sure. I’m not picking on Moses because he’s had some good moments this season and maybe, after Charles N’Zogbia left, too much pressure was placed on his shoulders.
Martinez decided to go with the 5-2-3 or the 5-4-1, whichever you prefer, yesterday with Franco Di Santo the lone front man. When you’re playing at home, what you want to see is chances being created, shots testing the opposition goalkeeper and good attacking play but this was lacking throughout yesterday. The 5 at the back has worked well in the past but with the 14 games coming up, we need to start scoring goals. 21 goals in 24 games is awful, especially considering we have conceded 49 goals. If we had scored as many as we have but had a tighter defence then it may not be an issue. It’s an old and repetitive topic but playing 2 strikers up front instead of the lone striker and 2 supporting wingers might give us a better chance for the rest of the season. I doubt this will happen though as Martinez seems to have major issues with a 4-4-2. Yesterday’s line up looked like this.
Al Habsi
Boyce Caldwell Figueroa
Stam Beausejour
McCarthy McArthur
Moses Gomez
Di Santo
All too often Di Santo is left up front on his own with Moses and Gomez sitting too deep to offer any decent support. Beausejour and Stam did well to try and join the attack but failed to really have much of an impact. If we were to go with a 4-4-2 for the rest of the season, I believe our strongest team would be;
Al Habsi
Stam Boyce Caldwell Figueroa
Moses McCarthy Diame Beausejour
Rodallega Di Santo
With us being rock bottom of the league with the lowest goals in the division I ask why not take a gamble and ditch the 5 at the back. At this moment in time we have nothing to lose. If we are going to go down, let's go down fighting! If it fails then at least we can say we tried something different to give ourselves a chance.
This is only the views of a fan, I very much doubt that this will happen but after watching a toothless attack yesterday I had to offer a viewpoint on the game.
Source: FOOTYMAD
