Was disappointed with our performance yesterday. I thought we set up wrong, first half it worked ok because Stein seemed to drop deeper to receive the ball and pressure the WSW midfielders while in the second half both forwards stayed high up the pitch giving WSW numerical advantage in midfield, making it hard for us to play out (they could press us with a man spare and follow the midfield rotations deep) and when we pressed we again lacked the numbers in midfield, if our forwards and wingers pressed onto the WSW defence and our midfielders pressed we would normally be leaving one free WSW midfielder free, a lot of the time a player free in the whole between midfield and defence.
In that regard the changes Ricki made did not help us get more in the game, he didn't make any tactical changes just straight swaps for fresh legs. I would have like to have seen either Brockie or Stein coming off for Smith, even though Lia had probably his worst game this season, to give us numerical parity in midfield and help us play out and our pressing defence.
Also, individual performances in that second half were poor and noticeably see heads drop after conceding, arguably the lowest I have seen the team - morale/confidence must be really shaky and turning things around seems along way away. Not convinced with Cam Lindsay so far.
And to add, nice save from Paston but his lack of skill with the ball at his feet is making it so hard for us to play out. He does not suite the new style of play and thought he lost his confidence with that mix up in the first half trying to play out. From then on he was very reluctant to play short and hit a lot of long balls.