BFTG WBA

[windermereROYAL]

Don`t agree West brom pen was nailed on, Looks very much like Ejaria got a touch on the ball, really didn`t need to dive in though, looked like Moore had him covered.

[paultheroyal]

Rafael - 7: Solid

Moore/Miazga/Morrison - 6: There were times tonight where we were under heavy pressure and you could tell a bit of miscommunication is occurring, but it's a brand new system and they have all performed admirably for the last 2 games. I love the Morrison signing. The guy is a leader and vocal on the pitch. Something we have been desperately lacking.

Yiadom - 5: Some heavy touches tonight, looked tired. Kind of concerned about depth at wing back now that the full backs are playing a more demanding role. Rino may have to fill in occasionally.

Richards - 6: Above average, he is figuring his role out quickly. Definitely our first choice LB

Pele - 6: Alright. I'm sure as his fitness goes up he'll improve. Good player.

Ejaria - 8: Despite the pen he deserves MOTM, brilliant again at creating space, played some brilliant passes (Puscas would've been 1-on-1 with a better touch), well taken goal. Ace. Just don't slide in the box next time

Swift - 6: Got a little worn out as the game progressed but still playing with confidence. Brum did a good job closing him down.

Boye - 7: Good movement, good first touch, looked good in the new system

Puscas - 5: An average performance from an unfit player who played almost 2 full games in 5 days. Should've come off instead of Boye. Just to clarify he is still God's gift to football but he's not yet ready to do 3 full games in a week. Will score and recieve a 9 at Huddersfield.

Joao/Rinomhota - 6: Did their jobs effectively

Adam - 3: What is the point of him

Gomes - 7: Good game plan, conceding was more on the players than the manager. Please play the academy off the bench and leave Charlie at home, thanks

We will beat Huddersfield. Ejaria will net us 30 million in two years.

Hope you slept well last night. Give your head a wobble, get a coffee, sit down and now come back with your real ratings.

[CountryRoyal]

Does anyone else cringe when they see Charlie Adam come on?

[stealthpapes]

Good game that, very similar to Cardiff in the first half but WBA stepped up a gear in the second and we were under the cosh for long spells.

"Keep the shape, track your man" was the mantra of those spells. Very disciplined, for the most part, and not riding into silly tackles, for the most part.

Front two a bit isolated. Said at Wycombe that a decent Champ defence will pop them two in his pocket and so it proved.

But an away draw against one of the bigger boys and some winnable games coming up the next few weeks. Yeah, plenty to be optimistic about.

PreMatch Desi pub - no naans

[stealthpapes]

Also, from the Cardiff game

yeah, it was just so much fun to watch.

sure, we'll not reproduce it every week, sure, sometimes it won't come off but that level and style of performance will just be so much more more enjoyable to watch, win lose or draw.

Can't help but think the atmosphere and the offering on display are linked. Leicester supporting mate came along - he was genuinely impressed by the away following.

"Is it like this every away game"
"yeah, sure "

[RoyalBlue]

I suspect some of the player ratings may have ended up getting subconsciously downgraded due to disappointment with the final result.

I thought it was another great team performance, playing classy, attractive football. Given that, some of the ratings appear slightly low IMO.

Pundits, neutrals and supporters of other teams will be starting to take note of this team/squad and its performances.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Does anyone else cringe when they see Charlie Adam come on?

Lol
At least we've got this seasons scapegoat sorted out at an early stage

[CountryRoyal]

Does anyone else cringe when they see Charlie Adam come on?

Lol
At least we've got this seasons scapegoat sorted out at an early stage

You can’t deny that he’s our weakest midfield option? Reckless.

[Hound]

Pundits, neutrals and supporters of other teams will be starting to take note of this team/squad and its performances.

yeah was thinking this a little bit regarding Ejaria specifically. If you were a lower prem scout and coming to check on maybe Swift or Moore for example, the name you'd be going back with is Ovie. Noticed both oppo fans from the last two games have praised him, and the likes of Sky Sports Twitter are calling him a 'baller' etc

I'm a little concerned about how watertight that agreement is. The last two appearances he looks like a Prem player, young English and 3m an absolute bargain price. He has added so much to his game so far this season - winning headers, tackles, scoring goals etc.

[Sanguine]

Does anyone else cringe when they see Charlie Adam come on?

Lol
At least we've got this seasons scapegoat sorted out at an early stage

You can’t deny that he’s our weakest midfield option? Reckless.

Maybe he's just a little different to our other midfield options but can probably do a job for us at some point during the season? As said, let's no scapegoat him just yet.

We've got 4 points from Cardiff and West Brom, and you want to call out a weak link.

[Sanguine]

An on negativity in general, I particularly like the assertion in the opening post that Gomes' substitutions caused our best player to give away a penalty.

[Hendo]

Really enjoyable game. Started a bit slow but then took control, they were always going to have a spell at the end as they were always going to flood players forward. I'm almost glad that the goal came from a penalty, as there were no mistakes from the defenders which led to the goal.

Thought we matched one of the better teams in the league and that gives me a lot of optimism going forward. This is quite an exciting team and hopefully they are building something great.

Ovie will learn from that, I think people forget that he is only 21! Looks so accomplished and if we are buying him for £3m at the end of the year, then that is an amazing piece of business.

I can see GP being rested for the Huddersfield game with Joao replacing him, he's played pretty much 3 games in a week.

[Hendo]

An on negativity in general, I particularly like the assertion in the opening post that Gomes' substitutions caused our best player to give away a penalty.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure how that happens either.

[Gunny Fishcake]

I thought we played really well and with a bit of luck should have taken the three points. Every good side starts at the back and our defence is looking very solid. Work in progress and genuine feeling of excitement slowly coming back to the club. It's been a long time since I've felt so optimistic about the future where hopefully we can creep under the radar and move up the league. I'm that confident I've lumped on us finishing top half at 5/2

[URZZZZ]

An on negativity in general, I particularly like the assertion in the opening post that Gomes' substitutions caused our best player to give away a penalty.

Simple really. Throughout the game we had a 5-3-2 and were pressing fairly high. The Rino for Puscas sub changed it to 5-4-1

Firstly, we had no real outlet when doing this. We weren’t keeping the ball up the pitch because Joao had no options whenever he received the ball because he didn’t have anyone near him

Secondly, it meant we were dropping deeper and deeper. We were letting West Brom play around our box and obviously when they have the quality of players like Sawyers, Pereira etc the chances are they’ll be able to break through. Which they did

I get we want to hold onto the lead but Gomes did this several times last season too. Rotherham (H), Norwich (A), Preston (H) are all examples of us dropping back too deep. Obviously the players can’t run around the pitch for 90 minutes but I think a better sub would have been Loader for Puscas. Still, it was a very good point and we did very well to even get that far

[CountryRoyal]

An on negativity in general, I particularly like the assertion in the opening post that Gomes' substitutions caused our best player to give away a penalty.

It was a rash tackle but they were building pressure as we lost our shape and were sitting deeper and deeper inviting those little through balls. IF* we had a bit more control of the game in the latter stages then they’d have less chances to be in dangerous areas. Big IF though, a team like WBA and the quality they have you’re always going to be under it a bit at the end.

[Sanguine]

Right, but a penalty is something that doesn't occur if the prior 15 seconds played out differently. It's just one of those things. Every manager in the history of the game tries to protect a lead, not least when you've been relegation favourites and you're winning at a promotion contender. It is what it is. I hate the way commentary so often takes a negative view, not least when this team is progressing.

[LWJ]

Rafael - 7: Solid

Moore/Miazga/Morrison - 6: There were times tonight where we were under heavy pressure and you could tell a bit of miscommunication is occurring, but it's a brand new system and they have all performed admirably for the last 2 games. I love the Morrison signing. The guy is a leader and vocal on the pitch. Something we have been desperately lacking.

They were bloody solid all evening. A 6 is very harsh!

[Sanguine]

Morrison is fast becoming one of my favourite players. He's got a bit of the Upsons about him, a 'proper' centre back.

[CountryRoyal]

Right, but a penalty is something that doesn't occur if the prior 15 seconds played out differently. It's just one of those things. Every manager in the history of the game tries to protect a lead, not least when you've been relegation favourites and you're winning at a promotion contender. It is what it is. I hate the way commentary so often takes a negative view, not least when this team is progressing.

Losing a lead is frustrating but I don’t see anything to be negative about. It’s still a very good result and performance but there’s nothing wrong with objective analysis. That being said think a lot of the ratings have been very harsh on here.