[The last couple games weren't televised here, so I don't blog on them. My comments are sufficiently uninformed after seeing the games.]
Not good enough. The three points were a relief, yes, but we required a man of the match performance from Cech (and some Toffee incompetence in front of goal) to secure them. (More about the linesman's contribution below.) The defensive fragility has to be the main concern for Emery. I am still mystified about Chambers's loan to Fulham. I like Sokratis, and I'm not as down on Mustafi as everyone else seems to be, but I think Holding-Chambers would do as well as they do. And if they go down injured, it's Holding and who? Bellerin is looking increasingly beatable, and Monreal is slowing down a trifle. Behind them, it's 34 year old Lichtsteiner and a banjaxed Kolasinac, whose healthy defensive prowess is suspect.
Our terrible start unfortunately coincided with Torreira's debut as a starter. I thought he was very good today. Xhaka, however, gave the ball away too many times for my liking. Ramsey didn't do enough, Ozil seemed to avoid anything resembling a challenge, and Auba was off his game. I don't fault Lacazette, whose winning goal was magnificent, and whose industry all over the field was appreciated.
Everton was surprisingly lively today, so credit to them for making this a very uncomfortable game for us. But they have to feel hard done by, with the misses from all three of their strikers, the brilliant curler from Laca, and the offside goal. That pretty much killed their spirit, and it was a horrible miss from the linesman. I was happy that the good, beautiful strike stood as the winner.
If we play like this against Watford, we're going to lose.
No comments:
Post a Comment