Saints 1-3 Arsenal - Match Thread

[trousers]

Just about sums it up...

 

[JRM]

20 minutes ago, trousers said:

Bit of a 'perfect storm' this game... 

- Arsenal playing at the top of their game with an intensive press that I doubt they've played all season

- us missing key players (today's game highlights how important the full backs are to our system)

- us having a bad day at the office overall (bit of fatigue from Saturday?)

Hopefully more of a dip than a sign of things to come...

#glasshalffull

 

Whilst I agree with some of that we are now on a run of 1 league win in the last 7. Our squad just doesn't have the depth to compete with the top sides over a season. Finishing 11th or 12th would still be good for us, hopefully with a cup run .

Fingers crossed for a few players back at the weekend to start turning around our poor run. We don't look like scoring many so going to rely on getting Bertrand and Walker Peters back. 

Arsenal looked in control for most of the game, no complaints at the scoreline, shame few jokers on here had a pop at Cedric in the build up, he played well. 

[kyle04]

Expected to struggle with such a poor back up squad,  defensively a shambles and toothless going forward. Arsenal are improving but were quite average. RH conceded after 80 minutes taking Ings and Walcott off I think. Totally disheartening performance, we looked tired, sloppy and disjointed. We have absolutely no quality outside the first team, and why we kept trying to play out (unsuccessfully) from our own 6 yard box all evening baffled me.

[saint77]

12 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Trying to be rational not emotional like you.

Why not articulate your views why you think our much depleted side can avoid defeat tonight rather than resort to mindless expletives.

Address the problem not the writer.

Hands up you weren’t far wrong 😀

[cloggy saint]

After the heady days of top four we've probably found our natural and realistic level more or less. Hovering between 8th and 12th is a damn sight better than where we usually are and once everyone is back a push for Europe is a long shot but not out of the question.

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

Since when did Arsenal turn into an intense high pressing team? Was that just to counteract us this evening or is that how they're going to play for the rest of the season..? 

who cares? Whenever teams get abut us like that we ain't good enough to cope with it, although having said that we worked out of tight positions well in the second half, but once we did there wasn't a great deal of threat. We really could do with Redmond finding his feet quickly and giving us some options and a few more tricks up front. 

Diallo is a talent. Not sure Vokins is.

[whelk]

Cheer up lads. We always beat Villa

[trousers]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

who cares?

Bobby Davro. He asked me to pose the question 

[Toussaint]

4 minutes ago, Chez said:

who cares? Whenever teams get abut us like that we ain't good enough to cope with it, although having said that we worked out of tight positions well in the second half, but once we did there wasn't a great deal of threat. We really could do with Redmond finding his feet quickly and giving us some options and a few more tricks up front. 

Diallo is a talent. Not sure Vokins is.

Me neither, but it’s hard to judge being thrown into a game like that, he definitely was breathing hard from early on, but then I can’t see much in any of our younger fringe players.

Edited 26 January, 2021 by Toussaint

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

I think tonight we looked somewhere between we are down to the bare bones and we've been figured out going forward (hence the lack of goals recently). Missing Jannik, Bertrand & KWP at the back is massive as Stephens, Valery and Vokins are significant downgrades. Going forward, Armstrong aside, there seems to be less zip. Theo has gone off the boil a little and could probably have done with a breather in the past few games had Moussa or Redmond been fit. Danny doesn't look as on it since his injury & illness and it might take a while for him to hit top form again. Che's link up play remains good but he looks like he's having one of those droughts and we have no genuine options if we wanted to take him out of the firing line. It would be nice to think we could bring in a couple of bodies (on loan) so we don't let our excellent start drift too much but I guess that will be hampered by finances and maybe why we're now releasing fringe players who aren't going to cut it like Johnson, Slattery, Sims and Robise.

On to Villa and let's hope a few of the walking wounded can return.

 

Edited 26 January, 2021 by Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

[Ex Lion Tamer]

8 minutes ago, kyle04 said:

Expected to struggle with such a poor back up squad,  defensively a shambles and toothless going forward. Arsenal are improving but were quite average. RH conceded after 80 minutes taking Ings and Walcott off I think. Totally disheartening performance, we looked tired, sloppy and disjointed. We have absolutely no quality outside the first team, and why we kept trying to play out (unsuccessfully) from our own 6 yard box all evening baffled me.

The whole point of our system is to draw the opposition out of position and then hit them fast on the break. If we don't try to do that then we're back to Pellegrino/Hughes football

[Toussaint]

2 minutes ago, Ivan Katalinic's 'tache said:

I think tonight we looked somewhere between a bit like we were down to the bare bones and we've been figured out going forward (hence the lack of goals recently). Missing Jannik, Bertrand & KWP at the back is massive as Stephens, Valery and Vokins are significant downgrades. Going forward, Armstrong aside, there seems to be less zip. Theo has gone off the boil a little and could probably have done with a breather in the past few games had Moussa or Redmond be fit. Danny doesn't look as on it since his injury & illness and it might take a while for him to hit top form again. Che's link up play remains good but he looks like he's having one of those droughts and we have no genuine options if we wanted to take him out of the firing line. It would be nice to think we could bring in a couple of bodies (on loan) so we don't let our excellent start drift too much but I guess that will be hampered by finances and maybe why we're now releasing fringe players who aren't going to cut it like Johnson, Slattery, Sims and Robise).

On to Villa and let's hope a few of the walking wounded can return.

 

Theo “Off the boil” is being very gracious 

Edited 26 January, 2021 by Toussaint

[kyle04]

I get that but we

2 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

The whole point of our system is to draw the opposition out of position and then hit them fast on the break. If we don't try to do that then we're back to Pellegrino/Hughes football

Yes but we couldn't do it, not once, and kept gifting the ball to Arsenal on our own third on the front foot, so why persist ?

[Appy]

Very flat from the fist whistle, that early Lacazette chance set the tone. 
 

It’s such a shame we just have no backing at all from the owner to give Ralph a bit of help, not talking millions and millions, but even just enough to get a couple in, but no chance. 

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Didn't expect anything tonight after beating them on Saturday. Just couldn't see us beating them twice in 4 days, particularly with KWP and RB missing. 

Thought we looked very poor tonight. Tired. Lack of any real creativity. Ings doesn't look himself. Adams needs to find his scoring shoes again. Not sure what Walcott gives us at the moment?
We desperately need 2 or 3 players back to full fitness. Like others have said. It's hard to see where the next points are going to come from at the moment. 😕

A couple of players on loan would help, but i very much doubt that will happen. There's been a lot of youngsters chucked in at the deep end and they don't really look like the solution. 

[beatlesaint]

Can we now finally accept that Jack Stephens is and should never be more than cover? 
He can come in for a few games and do well, really well sometimes but there will always be that game where he reverts to type just around the corner. That basic error, lack of concentration , lack of nouse is never far away.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

20 minutes ago, whelk said:

Cheer up lads. We always beat Villa

I bet you a cheese sandwich that we don't this weekend. 😕

[Sheaf Saint]

Entirely predictable result that. Even after we took the lead. Arsenal are in really good league form and totally deserved what they got tonight. No complaints.

We have a very competitive first 11, but there's just no way a club like ours with the lean squad we have can absorb as many injuries as we have at the moment and still maintain decent form.

Ralph mentioned that we can't use our recovery facilities at the moment (cryo-chamber, sauna etc...) due to Covid. On top of that we've got massive fixture congestion because of the condensed season, meaning the fit players we have will be blowing out their arses with the amount of games they are expected to play.

I'm really starting to question the wisdom of even continuing with the season now.* When clubs like us aren't allowed to use the facilities that we have and need to use in order to compete with clubs that can afford to have massive squads and benches filled with seasoned internationals, it just gives those richer clubs even more of an unfair advantage than they normally have.

* - Of course, if we had had the same luck with injuries that Leicester had in their title-winning season, and we had maintained our form from October/November, then I obviously wouldn't be saying that.

[Dusic]

Simple summary: the PL is ruthless and players who are not good enough will be exposed.

This is what happened tonight. We are a good team when our best players in each position are available and fresh, but we don't have the depth to handle 4 or 5 starters missing at the same time.

No disgrace but its probably what sets our ceiling as being a top half finish rather than potential to perhaps do a little better.

[maysie]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/55816017

Ralph sounds irritated 

Edited 26 January, 2021 by maysie

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Think it's a case of just too many injuries at once. We got away with a few results through sheer grit and determination, unfortunately today was just one game too many. Losing both full backs for the same match was a huge blow, although it probably brought to the fore that Vokins and Valery are not good enough. Walcott, hugely disappointing of late, the romantic in me wanted him to be a huge success, just not working out at the moment. 

Not sure where we go with Ings. I know he has had an injury and the Covid thing, but to me he just looks like he is going through the motions at the moment. His body language is all wrong and he isn't playing with that smile on his face he had earlier on in the season. I think he's off at the end of the season.

[qwertyell]

Harsh to pin the result on the full backs - when inexperienced players come into the team, you need the senior guys to step up and lead the way but aside from Armstrong, pretty much everyone else went missing.

So many mistakes in possession - in defence and attack - and sloppy touches. We were way off the required standard.

I'm reminded of the poor run we were on when lockdown started. We looked a team that had run its race, but a couple of months break allowed us to refresh and finish the season strong. It doesn't seem like we're going to get the same break this year, which makes the second half of our season look like it's going to be a real struggle, physically. We've been all but out on our feet after 45 minutes for weeks. I'm not optimistic that we'll do more than just limp to the finish.

1 win in 7. Stopped scoring. Squad depth exposed. Absolutely skint. Ings off. Happy new year.

 

[Ekelund]

23 minutes ago, maysie said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/55816017

Ralph sounds irritated 

Good. Valerys half arsed attempt for the second goal summed it up

[Suhari]

A few decent moments, but really shows up the lack of depth in the squad.

Disappointing in the end.

Hope the season doesn't fall away now: would be great to find some freshness and secure a top 8.

[austsaint]

5 minutes ago, Suhari said:

A few decent moments, but really shows up the lack of depth in the squad.

Disappointing in the end.

Hope the season doesn't fall away now: would be great to find some freshness and secure a top 8.

I don't think the season will fall away, although as you and others observe, the lack of depth in the squad to cover injuries was graphically shown up tonight.    Arsenal just had their way down both flanks and pressed our defence effectively most of the night.  One of the best games I've seen Armstrong play, particularly 1st half and Diallo once again showed his composed talent.     Be nice to get something from Villa.

[washsaint]

All the slagging off of Valery and Vokins is bang out of order but then this forum has to have its scapegoats all the time.

Every media report stated that both Valery and Vokins played well and got forward well but were let down with lack of cover in fornt of them.

The lovefest with Walcott is baffling - he has been appalling for many games now and couldn't hit a barn door.  He would definitely be one I would bench.

Would not be surprised to see Forster in goal against Villa.

Ings has been very poor for some time and Che does not look like scoring.

We are still having an impressive season, still in the Cup and on for a top half finish.  That would be good progress.

[John Boy Saint]

Think Ralph’s comment about not filling the gap between the centre back and full back, the cause, Jan and Jack spent time looking out for the green players on the outside of them, when you have Kyle and Ryan out there the 2 in the middle know pretty much where the outer 2 are and their capabilities. With Valery and Vokins you had 2 youngsters holding a box of matches each, in Valerys case one of those big cooks boxes: looking at him tonight it’s hard to believe it’s the same player who showed no respect to Paul Pogba at OT and rifled in a cracker of a goal. He doesn’t seem to believe in himself, which is a shame, “Im going to try this, hope it works” “blimey it did work how about that” “bugger while I was thinking how good that was the ball has gone”.

At the end of the day we are playing Championship weekend, midweek football, our style of play does not fit that frequency of games, especially with a squad so paper thin due to injuries. 
 

Game pretty much summed up by Pepes goal, for weeks the bloke has been spraying chances everywhere except at the goal, tonight he gets a chance and pretty much mis kicks  the ball past Alex into the net. 
 

Bizarrely I feel a bit “ah well, hey-ho” about the result.

[skintsaint]

Wanky result but not unexpected. Arsenal sussed us out 2nd half at the weekend and just carried that on, combined with our weak line up and tired experienced pros. 

Would have rather won the FAC game than the league game if had the choice beforehand of only winning one.

Hope we don't go out meekly to Wolves in the cup and then endure a long boring mid table run in to the end of the season. 

[benjii]

Here are my ratings:

Ralph Hasenhuttl: 3. Prepared the team well but in match decision making was a complete mess. The Redmond sub and moving Diallo and Armstrong simultaneously made us weaker at left back, left mid and centre mid.  Absolute brain fart of a sub/shuffle and also quite unfair on Diallo. Redmond should have come on as a straight swap for Walcott, who was terrible.  Throwing the towel in when they scored the third was pretty lame. If JWP had put away that free-kick it would have looked negligent (by the way, thanks Kevin for that free-kick, you were typically awful).

McCarthy: 3. Only really had one save to make, which he did in the first minute, but ultimately contributed largely to the defeat with his keeping for the second goal. 

Valery: 6. Grew into it quite well and looked good on the ball without making a telling contribution. People will probably say he was out of position for the first goal but that's only because Bednarek gave it away cheaply. Valery was doing what he was supposed to be doing and taking up a position further forward.

Bednarek: 4. Generally did ok but messed up for the first goal. No attacking threat in the opposition box. Struggles with direct runners and movement.

Stephens: 5. As above.

Vokins: 6. Reminded me of Targett. Neat and tidy and played some good passes but probably lacks the dynamism to excel in the PL. Would get roasted by some of the top players but I'd still rather he covers for Bertrand than forcing someone else to play out of position.

Diallo: 7. Very good again in midfield. I hope Ralph doesn't view him as a jack-of-all trades as that's unfair on him. After the first 20 minutes or so, we started to get a foothold.

JWP: 7. As above.  It's a shame he couldn't put that free kick away. Probably should have gone over the wall as Leno was way across to the left of the goal.

Armstrong: 7.5. Our best player on the night. Tireless, picked up the ball lots and glides past players. Great goal - it was lovely to see a bit of innovation on corners, as we have very limited aerial threat without Vestergaard.

Walcott: 3. Great at finding pockets of space and tracking back. Terrible at dribbling, passing and shooting.

Adams: 6. Battled gamely and played a couple of lovely passes and touches. 

Ings: 5. Not in the game. Not necessarily his fault but can't really justify a higher rating.

 

Edited 27 January, 2021 by benjii

[hasper57saint]

Not impressed with Arsenal because in my humble opinion they are not very good. We have been exposed for a considerable time now in not having sufficient back up in times of multi injuries. We just couldn’t repeat our Saturday performance because we lost two more key players. Mistakes galore and some players believing that the ball belonged to Arsenal and kept giving it back to them at every opportunity. When will someone have the courage to kick Theo’s arse.? At present he’s only a nuisance to Saints. As for Stevens? Why can’t he use his left foot? Far too many errors last night. If the owner won’t spend on a couple of better players than we have at present then we have to accept that we’re not going to progress. How Kevin Friend is seen by the powers that be to be a Senior Referee is beyond me. Anyone see the ‘non-pen’ he gave on Saturday? His favours to Arsenal last night were typical. 
Should we be able to get a little improvement we may just get a draw with Villa. 

[Toussaint]

8 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Think it's a case of just too many injuries at once. We got away with a few results through sheer grit and determination, unfortunately today was just one game too many. Losing both full backs for the same match was a huge blow, although it probably brought to the fore that Vokins and Valery are not good enough. Walcott, hugely disappointing of late, the romantic in me wanted him to be a huge success, just not working out at the moment. 

Not sure where we go with Ings. I know he has had an injury and the Covid thing, but to me he just looks like he is going through the motions at the moment. His body language is all wrong and he isn't playing with that smile on his face he had earlier on in the season. I think he's off at the end of the season.

It's possible Ings body language is"wrong" because he is getting absolutely nothing to work with, our attacking play has been poor for a long time, the goals we do get are generally out of nothing or a JWP free kick. We, in my opinion, need our injured players back (obviously) but a decent wide player who can deliver a decent cross or a creative defence splitting pass. People also say Adams is of the boil, but I think he is suffering the same way, he is trying to create and score his own opportunities. His strike rate isn't fantastic which makes it more noticeable when he fluffs his one and only chance / half chance in a game. It maybe that Diallo can be that player when Oriel returns, but I'm pretty certain it won't be be Theo or Redmond.

[Shroppie]

10 hours ago, wessex saint said:

9? 
 Vestergaard, Romeu, Djenopo. Anyone else ?

 

Vestergaard, Romeu, Bertrand, Walker-Peters, Salisu, Obafemi, Tella, Smallbone, Djenepo.

[rallyboy]

Every team would struggle if you took out three of the back four and the guy who sits in front of them.

I see no crisis, we simply need to get players back - and establish more squad depth. 

 

[beatlesaint]

2 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

Every team would struggle if you took out three of the back four and the guy who sits in front of them.

I see no crisis, we simply need to get players back - and establish more squad depth. 

 

You won’t get very far with that reasoned logic 🤣

[East Kent Saint]

Ings may be suffering from after effects of Cov19 plus mental pressure due to contract negotiations and transfer speculation as well as lack of service up front. Players seem to struggle on the pitch when in the thick of contract talks esp if there is a chance they may leave at some point .

[Saint86]

Some fans needs to remember that we've faced some of our toughest fixtures in a period of high congestion, all coupled with widespread injuries (+ the odd suspension).

Last night is the low point for squad availability:

We were missing 3 of our back 4 (KWP, Bertrand, Vest) - and the first goal was directly Stephen's fault with that needless pass giving away possession from which they scored.

No Romeu - The heart of our midfield has been a JWP/Diallo pairing that will struggle to be as fresh as teams that are rotating (although great engine on diallo tbf - looks a proper player).

No Redmond, Djenpo for several matches now - Meaning that Armstrong (what a goal and engine) and Theo must be struggling for freshness.

Ings and Che Adams have missed games with Covid and concussions!

Even our younger squad players have been out injured in Tella and Smallbone.

Some perspective needed for some of our fans i think. We've been on a run that included Arsenal (twice), liverpool, city (Top and on form), United (went top and on form), Leicester (were top and on form). For a squad as stretched as ours, this was the perfect storm - and despite all that we've knocked Arsenal out of the cup and beaten liverpool. And we are still very much still in the running because our players will gradually come back - and despite all of the above, we have still given a very good account of ourselves in the above games!

COYR!

Edited 27 January, 2021 by Saint86

[CWD]

10 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Can we now finally accept that Jack Stephens is and should never be more than cover? 
He can come in for a few games and do well, really well sometimes but there will always be that game where he reverts to type just around the corner. That basic error, lack of concentration , lack of nouse is never far away.

To be fair, he IS cover. As a third choice CB he’s fine. He’ll never be a world beater, and he’s prone to the odd mistake, but he’s playing against the top attacking players in the world every week. If they weren’t getting the better of him every now and again he wouldn’t be playing for us!
 

JS is a decent PL player. Nothing more, nothing less. I think people need to get off his back.

[Toussaint]

13 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Ings may be suffering from after effects of Cov19 plus mental pressure due to contract negotiations and transfer speculation as well as lack of service up front. Players seem to struggle on the pitch when in the thick of contract talks esp if there is a chance they may leave at some point .

Did he even have any symptoms? Could be the contract, but he has missed a lot of game time and the attacking play has been slow and predictable for a long time now, may be just frustration? Its not like he's fluffing his lines, there just haven't been the opportunities. We have also badly missed Vestas incisive through balls which created a bit of havoc.

Edited 27 January, 2021 by Toussaint

[Saint_Jonny]

Still enjoying what is a great season and great Saints team - we've just been very unfortunate with injuries. Top ten and a good cup run will do me  

[badgerx16]

It is all well and good some saying Valery and Vokins ard not up to the job, but how likely are we to be getting a replacement for one, let alone both ? Whoever might come in is hardly going to be a first team starter.

[AlexLaw76]

25 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Ings may be suffering from after effects of Cov19 plus mental pressure due to contract negotiations and transfer speculation as well as lack of service up front. Players seem to struggle on the pitch when in the thick of contract talks esp if there is a chance they may leave at some point .

What effects? Did he even have any?

if the club deem him fit to play, as well as the player himself, we have to assume C19 is not an issue

[itchen]

We came up against a team who have been consistently improving for a few weeks at a time when many of our regular starters were injured and others (Ings and Walcott, for example) are not playing as well as they were.  

We need to do better and i'm sure we will when we get key players back. While there were individual mistakes that led to Arsenal goals, there is no point in scapegoating those responsible. The real problem is that we rarely look a threat in open play in and around the opposition box.  We are either too ponderous or reduced to speculative, badly executed long range shots when a pass would have been better, if only someone had got themselves into a position to receive it.

Earlier in the season, Adams or Ings got into those positions and players were able to pick them out.  I'm not sure why that has stopped happening.

But, as I started out saying, we can't just blame our own players. We came up against a team bang in form.

 

[gordonToo]

35 minutes ago, CWD said:

To be fair, he IS cover. As a third choice CB he’s fine. He’ll never be a world beater, and he’s prone to the odd mistake, but he’s playing against the top attacking players in the world every week. If they weren’t getting the better of him every now and again he wouldn’t be playing for us!
 

JS is a decent PL player. Nothing more, nothing less. I think people need to get off his back.

JS passes straight to an Arsenal player and it's 0-1. David Luiz does the same at the other end and we make nothing of it. Sums up the state of play really.

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, gordonToo said:

JS passes straight to an Arsenal player and it's 0-1. David Luiz does the same at the other end and we make nothing of it. Sums up the state of play really.

Bednarek does the same thing in the first minute and Macca saves his bacon.

[warsash saint]

3 hours ago, benjii said:

Here are my ratings:

 

Bednarek: 4. Generally did ok but messed up for the first goal. No attacking threat in the opposition box. Struggles with direct runners and movement.

JWP: 7. As above.  It's a shame he couldn't put that free kick away. Probably should have gone over the wall as Leno was way across to the left of the goal.

 

 

Bizarre ratings ... how many times did Bednarek make interceptions, last ditch tackles??

Apart from the corner, I thought JWP was largely anonymous ... 7 very generous! 

[Convict Colony]

If I dont look at the score it never really happened.

 

 

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

It is all well and good some saying Valery and Vokins ard not up to the job, but how likely are we to be getting a replacement for one, let alone both ? Whoever might come in is hardly going to be a first team starter.

Sounds like we are still very interested in Brandon Williams on a loan deal. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible either, Man Utd can't give him game time.

They've got Wan Bissaka, Telles, Shaw. The only question you'd ask is if they have a backup right back, and Williams can also play there.

It's probably up to Williams to force the move if he wants to be first choice somewhere else.

[John Boy Saint]

45 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

Bizarre ratings ... how many times did Bednarek make interceptions, last ditch tackles??

Apart from the corner, I thought JWP was largely anonymous ... 7 very generous! 

Just like anyone trying to do everything because they are good at it no one ever notices because they are use to it having been done already. Even last night when an attack broke down he was outside the Arsenal box, but then suddenly appears between or behind Jan and Jack as if he has been there all along. I've noted that of him in a few games where he is on one side of the pitch then almost in the blink of an eye he is over on the other side of the pitch breaking up play. 

I think if he gets broken everyone will realise what he does in games, because a big black hole will appear in midfield. 

[Saint86]

20 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Sounds like we are still very interested in Brandon Williams on a loan deal. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible either, Man Utd can't give him game time.

They've got Wan Bissaka, Telles, Shaw. The only question you'd ask is if they have a backup right back, and Williams can also play there.

It's probably up to Williams to force the move if he wants to be first choice somewhere else.

I would have thought that the reality is he'd be benched for weeks until Ralph has him drilled. Which would give him a few games to earn a transfer (similar to KWP). Any loan deal the club would make is likely to have an option to buy in. Whether United and Brandon would accept all of that is anyone's guess. Ditto whether we can realistically afford a reasonably priced player right now?

It is a shame we weren't able to get him last summer, as he'd have had a full pre season with us and certainly have been part of the action given all the congestion, injuries and suspensions.

Edited 27 January, 2021 by Saint86

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, itchen said:

Earlier in the season, Adams or Ings got into those positions and players were able to pick them out.  I'm not sure why that has stopped happening.

 

 

Adams has been playing in the No 10 position for several weeks now. His work rate and success at holding up the ball and beating defenders cannot be faulted but that means he is never in the box when it matters. In effect we are playing with Ings as a lone striker where he is usually marked closely by the two centre backs thus stifling his play.