Thought payne was poor and midfield in general not up to it. We neither kept the ball under pressure, nor were prepared to be available to receive in middle of the park. Hence, had v little structured possession in their half, and relied on break outs and loose ball going forward. We also really missed wood's ability to hold the ball up and win some headers when we lumped it forward, and we didn't have a proper goal scorer on the pitch either.
Boxall played really well, rojas (despite a couple of wayward balls) was decent and involved in most our best moments. He can be flighty but is still incisive. Roux was solid. I can't remember too much of thomas.
A fair bit of this.
We looked exciting once we broke the press, but we were awful in transition most of the time, especially through the last twenty minutes of the first half when we backed off too much. We didn't seem to have much of a plan for building the attack, but I think that has more to do with a lack of familiarity between some of the players and Emblem spent the week working on defensive shape, which paid off in the end.
Payne was given a role where he could not stand out unless he was poor, and well, yeah. And that tackle, fucking hell.
Thomas looked to get on the ball and beat his man, but their right back was up to the task and it meant he missed a few easy passes that made more sense than running with the ball. I remember one point in the first half when he had someone in acres of space on the overlap and he ran into traffic on the edge of the area.
It all looked promising to me, especially when I think about how much stronger we will be with Reid, Smith, and Wood. The biggest problem area we have now against top sides is central midfield. I think the calls on here for Tuiloma as the ball-winner are decent shouts, but who would slot in at full-back?