MATCHWATCH : Blackpool (h)

[South Coast Royal]

Casadei was pretty good. Useful game

Yes, did you notice that rarity in football , he is two-footed?
Don't agree with Ian that Meite had some kind of fantastic performance-he was just ok IMHO.
Also re-Mbengue at times he looked all at sea playing right-back but at times he looks all at sea wherever he plays.
There is some talent there which hopefully we will benefit from when he finds and settles into his right position.

A great sense of relief that we are now safe-if Blackpool could shoot we might still be a bit worried but they can't and look very likely to go down.

Tom Ince-you get the feeling that if we hadn't had him this season we could well have been much closer to relegation and if ever a player were way ahead as player of the season it is him.

Had Husband on toast all game, beating him with ease repeatedly

Set up Ince for goal 1
Won the penalty for goal 2 and probably would have scored if not fouled
Beat his man and played the ball across the goal that was cleared to Ince to score goal 3

Bullet header in the first half, just wide I think.

Fair enough-Ince's pass that gave him a free run on goal?
Ince scored the 1st goal, albeit deflected
Ince passing the ball in the net from the badly cleared Meite cross.

So, for me Ince was his usual MOM but I will upgrade Meite's performance to good but don't expect (like Hound) that he will do much against the better teams that we play soon.

Great if he does but he has been a shadow of his former self this season.

[South Coast Royal]

Casadei was pretty good. Useful game

Yes, did you notice that rarity in football , he is two-footed?
Don't agree with Ian that Meite had some kind of fantastic performance-he was just ok IMHO.
Also re-Mbengue at times he looked all at sea playing right-back but at times he looks all at sea wherever he plays.
There is some talent there which hopefully we will benefit from when he finds and settles into his right position.

A great sense of relief that we are now safe-if Blackpool could shoot we might still be a bit worried but they can't and look very likely to go down.

Tom Ince-you get the feeling that if we hadn't had him this season we could well have been much closer to relegation and if ever a player were way ahead as player of the season it is him.

This always puzzles me. Why aren't all professional footballers two footed? You'll always have a natural preference to one foot over the other but surely you just practice using the non preferred foot and get better at it? It's so much of an advantage to be able to switch from one side to the other. Just saying..

Same here but the counter argument is probably that it is better to have one really good foot than two moderate ones (Bobby Moore and Messi come to mind).
Currently the bang in form Rashford and Saka are both hopeless with the other foot.

[Snowflake Royal]

Played the way he always did out on the right.

He's always been dangerous facing goal running at the fullback. And he's usually poor playing with his back to goal against two CBs.

If Ince continues to use him properly on the right he'll be a threat. If he reverts to playing him as a striker, he won’t.

[South Coast Royal]

Played the way he always did out on the right.

He's always been dangerous facing goal running at the fullback. And he's usually poor playing with his back to goal against two CBs.

If Ince continues to use him properly on the right he'll be a threat. If he reverts to playing him as a striker, he won’t.

Agreed.

[SCIAG]

Yes, did you notice that rarity in football , he is two-footed?
Don't agree with Ian that Meite had some kind of fantastic performance-he was just ok IMHO.
Also re-Mbengue at times he looked all at sea playing right-back but at times he looks all at sea wherever he plays.
There is some talent there which hopefully we will benefit from when he finds and settles into his right position.

A great sense of relief that we are now safe-if Blackpool could shoot we might still be a bit worried but they can't and look very likely to go down.

Tom Ince-you get the feeling that if we hadn't had him this season we could well have been much closer to relegation and if ever a player were way ahead as player of the season it is him.

This always puzzles me. Why aren't all professional footballers two footed? You'll always have a natural preference to one foot over the other but surely you just practice using the non preferred foot and get better at it? It's so much of an advantage to be able to switch from one side to the other. Just saying..

Same here but the counter argument is probably that it is better to have one really good foot than two moderate ones (Bobby Moore and Messi come to mind).
Currently the bang in form Rashford and Saka are both hopeless with the other foot.

Messi has scored over 100 goals with his right foot. He’s not Ferenc Puskas.

But in general I think you’re right. Most players will seek to be reasonable on their weaker foot and excellent with their stronger foot. The benefits of being genuinely two-footed, particularly at dead-ball situations, are slim.

Dave Kitson is the most two-footed player I can remember us having but it’s not one of the things people tend to bring up when reminiscing about him.

[South Coast Royal]

This always puzzles me. Why aren't all professional footballers two footed? You'll always have a natural preference to one foot over the other but surely you just practice using the non preferred foot and get better at it? It's so much of an advantage to be able to switch from one side to the other. Just saying..

Same here but the counter argument is probably that it is better to have one really good foot than two moderate ones (Bobby Moore and Messi come to mind).
Currently the bang in form Rashford and Saka are both hopeless with the other foot.

Messi has scored over 100 goals with his right foot. He’s not Ferenc Puskas.

But in general I think you’re right. Most players will seek to be reasonable on their weaker foot and excellent with their stronger foot. The benefits of being genuinely two-footed, particularly at dead-ball situations, are slim.

Dave Kitson is the most two-footed player I can remember us having but it’s not one of the things people tend to bring up when reminiscing about him.

Good shout with Kitson-what a player he was for us.
Talking of Kitson I did say to my brother yesterday, as he headed yet another ball away (Carroll not my brother) that Andy Carroll is the best defender we have had for set-pieces since Dave Kitson

[Royal_jimmy]

Same here but the counter argument is probably that it is better to have one really good foot than two moderate ones (Bobby Moore and Messi come to mind).
Currently the bang in form Rashford and Saka are both hopeless with the other foot.

Messi has scored over 100 goals with his right foot. He’s not Ferenc Puskas.

But in general I think you’re right. Most players will seek to be reasonable on their weaker foot and excellent with their stronger foot. The benefits of being genuinely two-footed, particularly at dead-ball situations, are slim.

Dave Kitson is the most two-footed player I can remember us having but it’s not one of the things people tend to bring up when reminiscing about him.

Good shout with Kitson-what a player he was for us.
Talking of Kitson I did say to my brother yesterday, as he headed yet another ball away (Carroll not my brother) that Andy Carroll is the best defender we have had for set-pieces since Dave Kitson

Yann Kermorgant was one who helped defend leads at the end of games

[South Coast Royal]

Messi has scored over 100 goals with his right foot. He’s not Ferenc Puskas.

But in general I think you’re right. Most players will seek to be reasonable on their weaker foot and excellent with their stronger foot. The benefits of being genuinely two-footed, particularly at dead-ball situations, are slim.

Dave Kitson is the most two-footed player I can remember us having but it’s not one of the things people tend to bring up when reminiscing about him.

Good shout with Kitson-what a player he was for us.
Talking of Kitson I did say to my brother yesterday, as he headed yet another ball away (Carroll not my brother) that Andy Carroll is the best defender we have had for set-pieces since Dave Kitson

Yann Kermorgant was one who helped defend leads at the end of games

He did but I still think of him as a loan player from Bournemouth who didn't play very much.

[TiagoIlori]

Textbook win really, getting the first half goal and killing the game off when given the chance too. Blackpool just as poor as I expected them to be.

[South Coast Royal]

Good shout with Kitson-what a player he was for us.
Talking of Kitson I did say to my brother yesterday, as he headed yet another ball away (Carroll not my brother) that Andy Carroll is the best defender we have had for set-pieces since Dave Kitson

Yann Kermorgant was one who helped defend leads at the end of games

He did but I still think of him as a loan player from Bournemouth who didn't play very much.

Just checked-he did actually play more games for us than any other club (apart from Charlton where he played just 5 more).
It just feels to me that he wasn't with us for long.

[Hound]

Could be harsh with Meite and say he should have scored before he got fouled, looked like he didn’t know what to do with it. Fantastic pass from ince though

Third goal was a poor cross when he should have picked someone out. First goal was all about Mbengue winning the ball, Meite’s assist was just a straightforward pass

But that would be petty . He did have a much better game, and agree if he plays it has to be that right wing position

[SWLR]

Played the way he always did out on the right.

He's always been dangerous facing goal running at the fullback. And he's usually poor playing with his back to goal against two CBs.

If Ince continues to use him properly on the right he'll be a threat. If he reverts to playing him as a striker, he won’t.

Agreed.

Double Agreed - it's his best position, been waiting all season.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Deserved the win and I'm glad to see we changed shape a little bit and we got our just rewards from it, Meite's just had his best game this season for us, Casadei looked good in and out of possession and the rest of the team did well, obviously Ince with his goal threat as well.

It probably just about puts us to safety all things considered as well, but obviously a really important win and nice to see that everyone who started yesterday below us lost as well. A couple more wins should do it and I expect we will get that between now and and the end of the season comfortably, just about seeing how high we can finish now, no reason as to why we can't push for a top half finish and obviously players will be working to earn a contract for next season as well, so the stakes are still high for some.

[Ark Royal]

Enjoyed the change of shape yesterday to a 433 and at times looking like a 4141 with Hendrick doing a good unspectacular job in front of the back four. Pleased for Meite as well, who obviously loves playing to his strengths and on that form is pretty much unplayable at times. For me, jury still out on Casadei as he started slowly, grew in to the game and then faded again, but still early days for him. Great movement from him in the first half that got him on the end of a long ball into the box that could have resulted in a chance if not for a poor touch.

[paultheroyal]

Staggered why it wasn`t a red for the pen, last man and no attempt to play the ball, shocking game of football but 3 priceless points.

Maybe because he didn't really have control of the ball at that point.

Only mistake the referee made was not award a yellow card. Law has changed. So unless you take a mad swipe at defenders legs, grab his shirt, pull his arm, rugby tackle him then the punishment is only a penalty kick. Not the triple punishment from a couple of years ago. If you attempt to play the ball, it will not be a red card despite through on goal.

[Hendo]

Staggered why it wasn`t a red for the pen, last man and no attempt to play the ball, shocking game of football but 3 priceless points.

Maybe because he didn't really have control of the ball at that point.

Only mistake the referee made was not award a yellow card. Law has changed. So unless you take a mad swipe at defenders legs, grab his shirt, pull his arm, rugby tackle him then the punishment is only a penalty kick. Not the triple punishment from a couple of years ago. If you attempt to play the ball, it will not be a red card despite through on goal.

Yes, I was surprised it wasn't a yellow. Didn't think it was a red at all.

Thought the ref also missed a blatant yellow in the first half, when we started to break out from our box and the Blackpool player just totally blocked off whoever it was that was breaking (maybe Ince?). Made zero attempt to play the ball, just because it happens in the first 10-15 mins doesn't mean it shouldn't be a booking.

Also missed a lot of fouls on AC2.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

No it wasn't a red but certainly worthy of a yellow. No drama though as we scored anyway.

Something to build on now though and a free hit basically in these next couple of games to see if we can take anything from them.

[tidus_mi2]

No it wasn't a red but certainly worthy of a yellow. No drama though as we scored anyway.

Something to build on now though and a free hit basically in these next couple of games to see if we can take anything from them.

By the letter of the law I am under the impression it has to be a red card the moment the referee gave a penalty, there was no genuine attempt to play the ball from my view.

[Snowflake Royal]

Maybe because he didn't really have control of the ball at that point.

Only mistake the referee made was not award a yellow card. Law has changed. So unless you take a mad swipe at defenders legs, grab his shirt, pull his arm, rugby tackle him then the punishment is only a penalty kick. Not the triple punishment from a couple of years ago. If you attempt to play the ball, it will not be a red card despite through on goal.

Yes, I was surprised it wasn't a yellow. Didn't think it was a red at all.

Thought the ref also missed a blatant yellow in the first half, when we started to break out from our box and the Blackpool player just totally blocked off whoever it was that was breaking (maybe Ince?). Made zero attempt to play the ball, just because it happens in the first 10-15 mins doesn't mean it shouldn't be a booking.

Also missed a lot of fouls on AC2.

Isn't the rule its a red if it isn't a legitimate attempt to play the ball, (stopping a clear goal scoring opportunity) or has that wording since been revised?

Because one of them may have made an attempt but the other certainly didn’t, he just deliberately tangled himself Meite's legs from behind.

[Snowflake Royal]

No it wasn't a red but certainly worthy of a yellow. No drama though as we scored anyway.

Something to build on now though and a free hit basically in these next couple of games to see if we can take anything from them.

By the letter of the law I am under the impression it has to be a red card the moment the referee gave a penalty, there was no genuine attempt to play the ball from my view.

Yes, that's my thoughts. Possibly not a clear goalscoring opportunity because of the other defender, but then they both seemed to foul Meite and the second could only get there because of the first fouling.