Written by kirsikka
The suspension of Antoine Semenyo and the surprise news Lewis Cook was missing with a muscle problem, meant Tyler Adams got a chance to show what he could do in his role with Ryan Christie in front of him, along with a hen’s teeth start for David Brooks.
Man of the match against Wolves
Evanilson
Kluivert
Tavernier
Adams
Kerkez
Zabarnyi
Brooks
Senesi
Christie
Someone else
Games often settle into a pattern at the start as the two teams feel each other out and probe for weaknesses, analysing the different tactical setups. Sometimes one or the other will have a fast start as they try and put the other team under pressure. And very occasionally, the ref’s whistle is an invitation for the Gods of Chaos to enter the arena and start duking it out to discover who’s the most batshit. Today was the latter.
It felt like a relentless gym workout keeping up with the action and trying to make a few paltry notes so I’d have something to share. I know I missed details at times, so feel free to fill in some of the blanks or make corrections.
One starter for you, though, before we dissect the action. In a quiz with some people from this site a couple of years back, I once asked the question as to when was the last time someone scored a hat trick of penalties in the top tier of English football. The answer was sometime in the 60s.
That’s another record rewritten by the AI revolution. I’m sure the statto services are all over this one but this was a “I know, I know, I know” swot moment for me in the Statistics classroom.
The action… right…
Inside the first minute a long ball was played from the back (was it Senesi?) and Evanilson had the run of his defender onto it. Unable to get back properly, just as the Brazilian was lining up his shot a desperate lunge took him out. The only question was whether it came off Evanilson’s arm in the buildup but it was quickly and obviously cleared up as hitting his shoulder, and we all know what that’s meant to mean after what happened before…
Kluivert duly despatched the spot kick and we were off to a flyer!
I was still getting my bearings on that when a Wolves cross came in from left and a free header in the middle gave away the equaliser. I need to see it again as I noted Adams and Kerkez both standing off the player. One of them was covering a runner so whichever that was was ok but the other gave way too much time and space to allow the perfect cross to come in.
Not sure what was happening with the marking in the middle but strikers will spin off players and gain a yard sometimes. If there’s pressure on the cross then it is less likely to be pinpoint, giving the defender a chance to make up the ground.
If it is Adams at fault then I don’t want to sound like I’m hammering the guy every week, but it was poor. If it was Kerkez, then he needs to learn from that.
I was still trying to play that back in my mind when some fantastic Christie and Evanilson interplay opened up the pitch, and the ball came across to Adams, who laid on the ball for Kerkez’s overlap. He mullered it into the top corner, via a deflection. The two of them made up for the earlier mistake in no time!
It was breathless stuff and I was struggling to keep up with it. Our high press was causing pandemonium in their half as we tore into them time and again. Christie had a shot saved and then Evanilson should have scored from a Kluivert cross but his effort was weak.
11 minutes in and we’d had 5 efforts on target.
So much of this was coming from the livewire darting runs of Evanilson and his partner in anarchy Kluivert. The Wolves defenders had saucer eyes every time they saw them closing in at pace, panicking and giving the ball back to us repeatedly.
Fortunately, the misses didn’t cost us as shortly after Evanilson was again sharp as a dagger to pounce on the ball, with the keeper dithering, only to be taken out by the goalie’s kick. Clear penalty but it needed VAR to be awarded. Kluivert clinical again to blast this one home, mixing it up from the first.
I now felt like I was riding the wave of the match rather than trying to tame it as the pace was so unstoppable.
Their supporters were howling for penalties on every challenge in the box, feeling the ref owed them one despite the two against being stonewall. Nothing in either of them, unless you were wearing old gold or smoking something that isn’t old gold.
We did finally start to tone it down a touch and saw things through to the break and a much-needed breather without too much to worry about.
The second half saw Evanilson continue to wreak havoc and Wolves looked dead. And then, from nothing, they were back in it.
Sub Dango was unfortunate to lose the ball on a mazy dribble and Kerkez was out of position up the pitch so when the ball came over the top their player had masses of space to run into. Senesi missed his attempt at an interception and the ball was played to the striker who lashed in a goal.
Was Kepa weak on this? Here’s another where I need help as I only saw it one time but that was my impression on the initial viewing. I’ll add that in the first half he was nearly caught out with some poor distribution that gave them a chance and also had a clearance blocked when he was too slow but got lucky when it bounced away safely.
And yes, like Adams right now he is under the microscope. This isn’t scapegoating but instead focusing on where the current battle for places in the XI are taking place. Or, perhaps, should be in the case of Kepa.
Before I could get down a diatribe about wastefulness and letting them back into the match we had another penalty. A poor backpass was leapt on yet again by Evanilson and the keeper took him out yet again. Cool Hand Justin did the business yet again, completing his triple and racking up a curate’s egg of a stat.
After that we totally killed the game, never giving them a sniff or a chance to build up a head of steam. If anything, we looked the team far more likely to score another.
Three very good points and some breathless play during that first twenty minutes followed by an incredibly professional second period. Excellent. What a day.
Selected Player Watch
— Adams —
You can play the same role in a team in a different way. Cook has an explosive element to his covering that Adams hasn’t shown yet. However, he was mostly solid out there in a match where we bossed the midfield battle. His best showing yet.
— Brooks —
I’m not sure what to make of it. At times I felt like the pace of it was passing him by, but then he’d play a clever slide rule pass to open up space. For a first PL start since I don’t know when he was good.
— Evanilson —
Do you get assists for winning penalties? He should for today. Plus one of the match balls since he got a hattrick of them. Absolutely terrorised the opposition.
— Kluivert —
Like an annoying wasp for them when pressing. Back to his best. Who needs Patrick Kluivert when we’ve got Hattrick Kluivert?
— Kerkez —
They did seem to be targeting the space he leaves sometimes but if they think he’s still defensively frail then they haven’t seen his Pokemon-style evolution in recent weeks to a much more powerful version of himself. What an engine.
AI and Tactics Watch
He’s absolutely took his opposite number to the cleaners with that first twenty minutes. After some sloppy results, I think he’s given the players a bit of verbal kicking and told them it isn’t acceptable and my word, how they responded.
Coped incredibly well with missing some key personnel, although I think Christie knitting it all together in the middle of the park once again shows how crucial he is for us. It’s said a lot but it needs to be said repeatedly until we have a viable option to replace him in the squad.
If I were going to be picky and criticise something it would be that we, again, only took one of our open-play chances. And we had plenty of them. That’s a theme that isn’t going away, and today it wasn’t because they were all difficult openings. There were some gilt-edged ones in there that we spurned. But on a day you win by other means, that’s simply something to note rather than complain about.
They didn’t have an answer to the mobility of our front line which was interesting considering one of them was less pacey and more tricky. However, it worked out very well as a combination.
There are days watching football that you’ll always remember and I think today is one of those. There was an incredible record but, also, that first twenty minutes was like football on fast forward. I’m knackered from just watching it.
It was a joy, and not only because we won but because we barely gave them a sniff. They scored two but, if I’m honest, that flattered them by about three from what they deserved from that game.
Next up it’s Spurs and the return of Dom, a player some said we’d never, ever be able to replace. Except we did, with Eva. Still waiting on us to sign Neva, maybe that’s for January? Given their attacking mindset, it should be fun!
Your say…
DangerousDave said…
Very good summary, agree with most of it! The only hole to pick is that it was Tavernier with the assist for Kerkez’s goal.
My thoughts:
Zaba was uncharacteristically poor today, was nowhere near JSL for the first and tried to play offside for the second when it just wasn’t on. We have to remember that he’s still young though so he will have these kinds of days from time to time.
Adams was poor again for the first goal, making little to no effort to block the cross. It’s becoming a bit of a theme now. Having said that he was much improved for the rest of the game, covering a lot of ground and generally winning his duals in the middle of the park.
Ryan Christie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we can only function as a team under Iraola with this man in the middle of the park. The difference with and without him in the engine room is night and day. Cook has been brilliant but I actually think that him being unavailable worked in our favour today, purely because I think that Iraola would have played him in a midfield two with Adams if he had been. He needs to make the brave decision between the two, it can’t be both of them because we need Christie in the centre of the park.
Evanilson is a pressing monster. It’s ironic that Spurs signed Solanke due to his ability to press, yet we have ended up with the best pressing forward in the league. I’m not for one minute saying that Eva is a better player, but I’ve never seen a forward press like he can. The amount of short-back passes he picks up and penalties that he wins is ridiculous.
Brooks was good I felt, a bit rusty on the ball but most pleasing was that he seemed comfortable playing the pressing game. He was surprisingly competitive and energetic in his duels.
One negative, I’m fed up of sticking up for Dango at this point. There is only so long that he can live off of his first-season impact. He was woeful again today, I’ve never known a winger to take so long to shift the ball onto his preferred foot. I’d be surprised if he completed a single pass today. I’d keep him as an emergency left-back back up (until we sign another) but I don’t want to see him on the wing again, I’d rather have a player like Brooks who is actually capable of retaining the ball every so often. I’d seriously consider loaning Dango back to Lorient if possible. – To join the conversation, click here.
