Away - March 1 - Columbus (Postmatch)

I still thought we looked better than anticipated given being down a man, which makes me optimistic. Probably due to our talent level, but we could have had a goal or two in this game if passing was a bit more crisp.
 
just watched the replay again. not sure how you mean he was out of position? it was a clean through ball and velarayan was quick to turn Ring and get the shot off. could mata have possibly stuck a foot out to block the pass and maybe tried a bit harder to make a tackle before the shot? sure. but no doubt he was tired as was everyone at that point. it was coming and this particular goal wasn't a direct result of his play. mitri could have tracked back to put pressure on afful before he made the pass. lots of things could have happened, but i think at that point we were pretty tired and maybe switched off a bit.
Can Mitri actually track back tho?
 
He’s not known for putting in defensive effort and somehow gets a pass for it.

who here is giving him a pass for it? i'm certainly not. his lack of work ethic on the defensive side and winning back balls that he lost are one of the biggest things i dislike about him as a player.

i just wondered if christopher jee was asking sarcastically referring to his lack of defensive effort or if he noticed something in the play that would have made it a poor decision for mitri to track back and pressure afful.
 
i just wondered if christopher jee was asking sarcastically referring to his lack of defensive effort or if he noticed something in the play that would have made it a poor decision for mitri to track back and pressure afful.
Lol, yeah. You said:
mitri could have tracked back to put pressure on afful before he made the pass.
I knew you didn’t mean “could” as in “has the ability to”, but I was trying to flip it that way to gripe about Mitri’s defensive effort in a broader sense than just that play. There were countless times during the game where Maxi was yelling at him and gesticulating wildly to try and get him into the right spaces defensively. Exasperated by a defensive shape that invited pressure, combined with a lack of coordination on our counterattacks, I was able to find this more comical than frustrating.

RE: defensive shape that invites pressure + an abundance of coordination on our counterattacks, Michael Cox described Watford’s preparatory master-class well, I thought, in their victory over Liverpool: https://theathletic.com/1645925/2020/03/02/watford-liverpool-sarr-michael-cox-how-tactics/
 
  • Like
Reactions: moogoo
who here is giving him a pass for it? i'm certainly not. his lack of work ethic on the defensive side and winning back balls that he lost are one of the biggest things i dislike about him as a player.

i just wondered if christopher jee was asking sarcastically referring to his lack of defensive effort or if he noticed something in the play that would have made it a poor decision for mitri to track back and pressure afful.
The coaching staff.

If he was a young domestic player failing to play defense, or even show consistent effort at it, he'd have already been traded.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jock
Stupid title and concept, but the breakdown of our breakdown that led to the red card is solid, featuring a nice video using the advanced player tracking system. Callens got pulled far out of position, Chanot drifts away from his man to cover Zardes who got behind Sands, and Room sees the opening and hits a perfect long pass.