[Atomic]

Johnstone  - 8 - Thought he made some strong saves early in the game and had a hand 2 of the goals with his quick release of the ball. couldn't do much with the goals conceded.

Dawson - 6.5-7 - Surprised to see him captain, didn't do too much wrong.

Hegazi - 6.5/7 - See above, gave the ball away a couple of times but won a lot in the air and some timely blocks in the second half.

Bartley 6 - Thought he was the worst of the 3.

Gibbs - 6 - didn't offer too much going forward and at times their right winger had the beating of him.

Phillips - 6 - Kept a lot quiter compared to recent weeks.

Barry - 7 - Brought composure and calmness when on the ball.

Livermore - 7 - Good pressing, set up the attack for the penalty.

Barnes - 9 - 2 assists and a goal. Kid really is a special talent, enjoy him whilst he is here.

Gayle - 7 - Won the penalty and also took his goal well with a tidy finish. Had a quiet second half other than winning the ball back for Barnes goal/

JRod - 7 - 2 goals, but cant really recall him doing much more in the game.


Subs -

Wes - 7 - tidy in possession, looks like he will contribute to us going forward and keeping the ball.
Field - 6.5 - helped to keep the ball and keep us ticking over, glad to see him get some gametime.
HRK - 6 - other than giving away a few fouls and helping run the clock down, didn't do too much else.

Not a bad assessment at all. Personally given Johnstone 8.5 (his best game for us) Dawson 6, Livermore 6.5 and Robson Kanu 5.5. (I used .5's as that's what you're doing).

Other than that I agree with you pretty much completely.

[hardtobeat]

Playing out from the back seem to be the current in vogue buzz words, the principle is fine in theory but needs players that are able to pass accurately consistently to be effective over a lengthy period. We need at the moment our back 3 to remember they are their primarily there to stop the opposition scoring or having chances to score. This is why teams have coaching staff to get these defenders doing the day job on a consistent and repetitive basis or find a system which enables the players we have to do this and not to tell them they are the Championship equivalent of Beckenbauer, do this and we are well on the way to promotion with the attacking ability we have

[SmethDan]

Oh well, at least the end of season DVD should provide better viewing than some of the more recent efforts.

COYB  .

[marky]

Interesting to note that the second and third goals were created by Johnstone completely bypassing the defence and rolling it out to Barnes for the second, and throwing it out to him for the third.

[boinging_along]

Gibb's ball for the 3rd is superb too, brilliant one-two.

[Mister AT]

They should I agree, but if they consistently can't you have to question why keeping asking them to do it. The best managers adapt. Plenty of managers fail because they blindly stick to a principle. Klopp has had to spend a fortune to replace much better defenders than ours who were not up to it albeit at a different level.

The current back 3 have only played 2/3 games together, if these problems are still happening 2-3 months down the line and we haven't changed it, then ill question DM's ability to adapt.

To play devils advocate, if you would have asked me at the start of the season, after 8 games we will be 3rd in the league with the most goals scored and haven't really 'clicked' yet, I would have snapped your hand off.

[Atomic]

This defence has got us to third place in the league. There is way too much being made of these frailties. If our defence is bad what is Bristol City's? We haven't conceded four in a game this season and it's not as if we're conceding two's and three's every game.

[DaveWBA]

This defence has got us to third place in the league. There is way too much being made of these frailties. If our defence is bad what is Bristol City's? We haven't conceded four in a game this season and it's not as if we're conceding two's and three's every game.

We're conceding 20 chances a game at the moment. Those numbers aren't conducive to winning the league. Are we really basing our defensive strategy around other teams missing chances. No one is after a return to the Pulis days. I just don't want us to look like we're going to concede every time the opposition are in our half.

[Oldbury24]

I've noticed that on many posts, including some of mine, we seem to be talking about the defence and attacking parts of our side separately as if they are not part of the same team.  Attack = good.  Defence = Bad.

However, its been the way we set up to play from defence that opens up the pitch for our attackers to go at pace. If our defenders just pushed towards half way awaiting the keepers hoof then the pitch would be squeezed and leave no space for our attackers to run.   It is our defenders dropping deep that helps create the opportunities for our attackers, pulling the opposition forward s they try and press. 

We do need to find a better balance between playing it short and occasionally just relieving pressure, but as my young lad noticed last night when we did go long "we need some taller players upfront" all that happens is that invariably it will just come back.  It was interesting that a few times Johnstone kicked the ball straight out of play much to the frustration of one or two individuals around me as he "can't even kick a ball!!" but the reason for this is that he was trying to find Phillips on the line who has much more chance of winning the ball than if it goes up the middle to our comparatively small forward line.

Without the old hoof it to Rondon option we are reliant on our defenders to move the ball between the back three, creating the angle to release and stretching the game to draw the press before passing through the lines to create attacks.   This is a tough ask for a centre back and at times they struggle, but if we stop to wait for defenders of the required quality to arrive before we play like this....it might be a long wait.

So I hope that over time both the defensive unit AND the crowd lose some of the anxiety that tends to build around those periods when the opposition really press hard and cause mistakes, as we know that if only takes 30 seconds for us to break the press and score (3 touches and in!!).   The more confident they get, the more dangerous we are!

I should add, that I have said for a few weeks that somebody will probably give us a good tumping at some point with the way we set up.  Both Blues and Bristol could have been 3 up within 15 minutes.  So be ready for that one, and don't knee jerk too much as hopefully it will be part of the learning curve for the team. 

[Atomic]

We're conceding 20 chances a game at the moment. Those numbers aren't conducive to winning the league. Are we really basing our defensive strategy around other teams missing chances. No one is after a return to the Pulis days. I just don't want us to look like we're going to concede every time the opposition are in our half.

No we're not. What do you define as a chance? As well as Blues played they didn't have 20 chances and Bristol City may have had 23 attempts at goal but some of them were nowhere near being genuine "chances".

[Hull Baggie]

Well it certainly is exciting!

Midfield looked better (at least Barry is a CM plus his ball retentionand passing was superior to Brunt and he can tackle) but we are still being over run as the wing backs don't tuck in when we lose possession and Barnes doesn't often track back.

Defensively something needs to worked on as it's not quite right. I noticed a few times last night that all 3 of then swapped positions as if trying to work out where was best for them. Bartley for me is the one that gives me the most nerves and I'd be tempted to bring in Adabarioyo against Millwall and play him right hand side with Dawson in the middle and Hegazi left, but Hegazi and Dawson don't inspire much confidence either.
 On the bright side, as Atomic has said, this defence has helped us get to 3rd and we aren't shipping 3 or 4 per game but we are giving away goals that are sloppy: Hegazi should have made a better challenge on the Bristol No9 instead of allowing him inside to shoot.

Barnes was very good last night and I thought Johnstone looked more assured. Gibbs was getting into good positions but was often over looked, he also looked tired towards the end but maybe that was due to what ever illness he had last week.

Gayle and Rodriguez were always looking for space and closed down well, they also took their goals well. In Rodriguez we have a penalty taker who looks confident every time he steps up and Gayle is just a natural finisher.

It was good to see Field get some minutes but I'd have brought him on sooner and I would have kept Gayle on and subbed Rodriguez for Hoolihan.

[sammyg]

Thought their number 11 was top drawer. Callum O’Dowda I think it was, thought he is exactly the kind of player that we need, reminded me of Tom Cairney for Fulham in many ways.

[Atomic]

Thought their number 11 was top drawer. Callum O’Dowda I think it was, thought he is exactly the kind of player that we need, reminded me of Tom Cairney for Fulham in many ways.

Their number nine weren't bad either. Caused us no end of problems when he came on.

[boinging_along]

This defence has got us to third place in the league. There is way too much being made of these frailties. If our defence is bad what is Bristol City's? We haven't conceded four in a game this season and it's not as if we're conceding two's and three's every game.

Our attacking line up has got us to 3rd in the league.   
Highest scorers in the league.
Have conceded most goals in the top half.

The attack is papering over the cracks that look like they're getting bigger, not smaller.

[Atomic]

Our attacking line up has got us to 3rd in the league.   
Highest scorers in the league.
Have conceded most goals in the top half.

The attack is papering over the cracks that look like they're getting bigger, not smaller.

It's a team it's not attack vs defence. We may have conceded more goals than a lot of teams but they don't play the expansive football that we do. We score more goals. The "balance" so far isn't bad as we're third and we are still adjusting to a completely different way of playing.

[DaveWBA]

No we're not. What do you define as a chance? As well as Blues played they didn't have 20 chances and Bristol City may have had 23 attempts at goal but some of them were nowhere near being genuine "chances".

Bolton managed 11 attempts on our goal.
Forest had twenty attempts on our goal.
Norwich had twenty attempts on our goal.
Stoke had 16 attempts on our goal.
Blues could only muster 13.

Fact remains we're far too open. Over 46 games there are going to be occasions where we need to win when playing poorly. The way we set up at the moment means when we play poorly our best chance of a result is to pray the opposition don't take their chances. We shouldn't be relying on that, especially when playing the likes of Birmingham.

[chippyclarke]

Some of us remember the first few matches when Johnny Giles came as player/manager and our style of play changed to what we are seeing now. We were all over the place in defence and midfield but eventually things came together and we got promoted.
Give it a bit more time.

[westbrom3wolves0]

All that matters this early in the season is the results, especially given the recent changes at the club. We are third, scoring goals and conceding goals. I'd take that over being mid-table, looking more well-rounded and solid with less conceded. Time will heal the weaknesses, it's clear to see that we are conceding too many and the shakiness of the defence is concerning.

But if we can keep on stringing results together, this will increase the confidence and I have a feeling the defence side of things will start to fall into place as this team moulds together.

How good does it feel to be excited about a game? How good does it feel to win on a Saturday and not have your weekend ruined by another depressing Albion performance where our best chance of scoring is from a corner?

In Big Dave we trust, COYB.

[LiamTheBaggie]

Johnstone - 8 - probably his best game for us. Quick thinking with his distribution helped produce goals

Dawson - 6 - Average.

Hegazi - 6 - Few iffy moments but by and large ok.

Bartley - 6 - does not ooze confidence and a lot of Hegazi's recovery work is via a Bartley mistake

Phillips - 6 - Quieter performance but provides the neccesary width

Barry - 8 - Good use of the ball. Controlled the tempo. Provides angles for possession

Livermore - 7 - Much more suited to pressing and chasing the ball

Barnes - 9 - Excellent performance. The stand out.

Gibbs - 6 - Didn't really do too much worthy of note

Rodriguez - 6 - Took the penalty well but largely ineffective

Gayle - 7 - Goal scorer. Good finish but again similar to Rodriguez

-

Field - 5 - Quiet and did not make the impact I hoped

HRK - 5 - Non existent

Hoolahan - 6 - tidy in possession and someone I think we might see more of

[kc56wba]

Some of us remember the first few matches when Johnny Giles came as player/manager and our style of play changed to what we are seeing now. We were all over the place in defence and midfield but eventually things came together and we got promoted.
Give it a bit more time.

Oh yes the Johnny Giles era, just imagine if social media had been about then, fans would have been calling for his head, when he first joined us it was just one win in 10 league games.

[Jimmy]

Mad game really, didn't play all that great and ended up scoring some great goals. That suits me. Great win.

Can see some pretty simple solutions to our problems though, instead of hegazi/Dawson/Bartley starting the attack just have the nearest midfielders go deep and collect. Then play on from there. The shortest amount of time them three are on the ball the better.

O'hoolahan looked good when he came on. Good atmosphere and its so good to see us exciting again.

[Albionic]

Oh yes the Johnny Giles era, just imagine if social media had been about then, fans would have been calling for his head, when he first joined us it was just one win in 10 league games.

Paddy Mulligan / Mick Martin / Ray Treacey / Jonny Giles,   so much for old pals acts not working.

[baggieboyfred]

an excellent performance going forward, but defensively very poor , 9 out of the 11 starters have premiership experience of one degree or another, to be honest I cannot understand how Heghazi and Dawson have gone from decent premiership defenders to championship also rans, this 3 at the back although we seemed to switch to 4 at the back at times needs to be changed to a permanent 4 , because the players just have not got the hang of it and although we scored 4 could have been 6 with the right pass picked City had to much possession and to much space on the flanks and we were being out numbered on both flanks towards the end , if city had got to 3 I am sure they would have got 4,obviously exciting stuff to watch , but with seemingly no outstanding team in the division we need to get this defence sorted sooner rather than later , we have enough firepower to keep us in top 6 with a tighter defence we can go all the way.
incidentally talking of firepower how come Tyler Roberts is on loan to one of our rivals , comes on and nets twice, hope its the first and last goals he gets for them we don't want another Kemar Roofe going under the radar 

[Oldbury24]

an excellent performance going forward, but defensively very poor , 9 out of the 11 starters have premiership experience of one degree or another, to be honest I cannot understand how Heghazi and Dawson have gone from decent premiership defenders to championship also rans, this 3 at the back although we seemed to switch to 4 at the back at times needs to be changed to a permanent 4 , because the players just have not got the hang of it and although we scored 4 could have been 6 with the right pass picked City had to much possession and to much space on the flanks and we were being out numbered on both flanks towards the end , if city had got to 3 I am sure they would have got 4,obviously exciting stuff to watch , but with seemingly no outstanding team in the division we need to get this defence sorted sooner rather than later , we have enough firepower to keep us in top 6 with a tighter defence we can go all the way.
incidentally talking of firepower how come Tyler Roberts is on loan to one of our rivals , comes on and nets twice, hope its the first and last goals he gets for them we don't want another Kemar Roofe going under the radar

Tyler Roberts wanted out and was sold to Leeds for £2m down up to £4m with add-ons.

[Adamstv]

Thought their number 11 was top drawer. Callum O’Dowda I think it was, thought he is exactly the kind of player that we need, reminded me of Tom Cairney for Fulham in many ways.

I said that to my lad and the guys around me. Looked quality