Blackpool (Away)

[Romey 1878]

Well I missed the first half an hour of the game so I have no idea how were playing up until that point! Of the game that I did see we totally dominated and looked very good. That was until the last 10-15 minutes of the game when our legs had totally gone and it went from a game that we should have been easily winning to a game that we were lucky to take a point from tbh!

 

 

Howard - Barely had a thing to do for most of the game but when he was called upon he was up to the job.

 

 

Neville - His constant backing off when we were under the cosh was terrifying, but up until that point I thought he'd had a very good game and worked well with Coleman down our right flank.

 

 

Jagielka - Good game.

 

 

Distin - He sometimes wanted a bit too much time on the ball but other than that he had a solid game.

 

 

Baines - He wasn't really tested defensively (that I can remember) and he was OK going forward.

 

 

Coleman - Of what I seen of the first-half he played extremely well and looked a constant threat, the same applied for the first chunk of the second half too. He could have scored a cracker of goal and the goal he did score was lucky. Faded towards the end of the game but he got my MOTM vote because he was a stand out performer.

 

 

Heitinga - Shackled Adam well but he was sloppy in possession on numerous occasions.

 

 

Arteta - For the most of the game I was very pleased with Arteta. I thought he got involved again and made quite a few forward runs with the ball. However, I thought he was one of our poorest players when we were getting hammered at the end - sitting too deep and he gave the ball away too many times.

 

 

Pienaar - He was the player you wanted involved in the middle of attacks because his movement and trickery were brilliant. But, when he was involved in the final play of the ball he was pretty poor.

 

 

Cahill - Great in the bit of the first-half I seen and at the beginning of the second half - he battled for everything and I thought he used the ball really intelligently. Totally anonymous when we were under pressure at the end of the game, his legs had clearly gone and he should have been subbed IMO.

 

 

Yakubu - Not the best of games at all for the Yak IMO. His ball control let him down too often and I didn't really feel he got involved in the game as effectively as he has been doing in recent games.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

That is fucking lucky... dont know why its been chalked off but they scored a good goal. Piss poor tactics from Moyes when it comes to subs again!

 

 

The "goal" was chalked off for a push by Harewood on Jags I think it was. I had a perfect view of it as I was sat right in line with it

 

Dont know wether or not you were aware but Piennar was injured and had signalled to the bench to come off.

 

Hietenga was a passenger for the entire game and Yak wasnt having any joy so I didnt really think the subs were a bad call myself

[Bill]

Heitinga and Bilyaletdinov ought to be sold to get some money in for a striker.

[Noddy]

I only saw the highlights, but by all accounts Coleman had a good game. His goal was lucky, but he worked hard to create the chance. The defence was very poor for Blackpool's second. From the highlights I saw, Jagielka was all over the place for the high ball in.

Holloway is doing a good job with Blackpool, but this game should be a bit of a wakeup call.

[inertia8]

Pienaar was sick with stomach problems according to one of the commentators.. therefore should not be an injury worry next week.. probably needed to take a crap real bad etc.

[Memmaclub]

Saha again brings nothing glad to see yak back as first choice

[inertia8]

True, Saha has looked timid since his return.. then again isn't he always like that when he injures himself? takes a while to get stuck in again?

[marcopaulo]

not good enough...that's all i have to say

[Bailey]

The "goal" was chalked off for a push by Harewood on Jags I think it was. I had a perfect view of it as I was sat right in line with it

 

Dont know wether or not you were aware but Piennar was injured and had signalled to the bench to come off.

 

Hietenga was a passenger for the entire game and Yak wasnt having any joy so I didnt really think the subs were a bad call myself

 

Push is a very loose term for the offense. He got a mild nudge that Jags exaggerated thats two debatable decisions go for us in the last couple of weeks which makes a change!

 

I realise Pienaar had to come off (although it took a good 5+mins from him signaling to come off to when he did. My gripe is that he took of Yakubu, who may not have been having his best game but he was still linking the play up far better than Cahill who was anonymous for most of the game yesterday. Instead of removing Cahill for Saha straight away, he could have kept Heitinga on who also wasnt playing great but he was completely shutting Adam down. Cahill wouldnt have needed to drop deeper (where he is very average), Arteta wouldnt have needed to drop deeper and you still get 2 quality strikers up front. Yakubu and Heitinga may not have had great personal performances but they were doing a job for the team. IMO Cahill wasnt really bringing anything to the team, mainly the second half.

 

We were shat on by Blackpool in those last 10-15mins. Our midfield was dominated by Adam and we couldnt get on the ball properly and instead we just hoofed it. For me thats not good enough and a large part of that rests on the structure and balance of the team when we made the subs. At 2-2 we should have looked to win the game, yet we go like for like up front. It disappoints me greatly that every time these crunch games come along where we have a chance to catch up a lot of ground we bottle it, or make the same silly decisions time and time again. Its not good enough.