by Esteban »
09 Feb 2014 13:13
sandman Victor Meldrew A disappointing result and the clueless Pearce got caught out-at the time I thought it was a definite penalty but seeing the incident on TV from just the one angle it might not have been so clear cut however Pearce allowed the striker to get ahead of him which happens so much but we aren't often punished at this level.
I thought Adkins would have gone with 3 at the back but it all looked disorganised.
I can't agree with those that say the players gave everything-some players did such as MCCleary, Williams, Pog and Alf but unfortunately there was so often such a huge gap between midfield and the 2 strikers.
With Wednesday mainly having 4 at the back there should have been at least one midfielder joining in but I can only remember Williams doing that a couple of times and Akpan once.
As for Jobi.....at a time when we needed a captain on the pitch his was the first head to go down and it was left to Williams to do everything in midfield.
Obita has done better than expected filling in at left-back but his defensive frailties were there for all to see today.
I didn't like his attitude when things weren''t going his way with too much arm-flapping and pointing at others-I hope the lad is not too cocky to think that he has already made it when in reality he still has a very long way to go.
The regular subs Kanu and our £1million striker had a chance to impress but failed miserably even if they were only on for about 20 minutes-have they ever heard of "busting a gut"?
Adkins said the other week that most of the injured would be back by the end of January or the beginning of February-so where are Bridge and Morrison who are badly needed?
He didn't "allow the striker to get ahead of him" he was fouled by the striker.
There is a clear flaw in Pearce's game, in that he gets too tight to strikers. If the ball is in the air, or the striker can be bullied, then Pearce usually comes out on top. But put him up against a forward with good movement and they've got him on toast. There was a warning a minute or two before the penalty, where their striker got round Pearce too easily, but he passed when he was in behind, instead of shooting. He learnt his lesson though and the next time it happened, he rolled Pearce, then waited for the challenge before going to ground.
Now, I completely agree that in this instance there was a foul on Pearce, but that situation has been coming for a while.
However, people shouldn't get on his back too much, he's generally been good for us this season. That said, with Morrison coming back and Gorkss rolling back the years, he might find that he's the one who makes way.