Boyerboy
New Member
The extraordinary thing about Mbokani is that he played very much like Jerome. I commented during the game that they were interchangeable and it would be hard to spot the difference. He held the ball well, linked well, had the occasional heavy touch, dribbled well, ran into a few blind alleys, kept chasing and was always available. The fact they look the same being same height, build and hair length added to the comparison.
Mbokani is stronger in the air and beat Olssen several times. He is less predatory than Jerome in terms of getting into the keeper's face on crosses. He played more like Hooper in the box - moving to the side and looking for the second ball rather than attacking the crosses.
He he will be ok or better. Joking aside, the interchangeability with Jerome means we can mix them up and play the same way for 90 minutes rather than changing tactics when Jerome goes off. I would not envy a defence facing both of them if we were chasing a game.
Otherwise, it was good performances all round. Highlights for me were Dorrans long passing, O'Neill ran the game from start to finish and was my man of the match. The back four were superb and Rudd was excellent. His kicking to the touch lines landing straight on the chest of Jarvis and Bennett did put Ruddy to shame. Jarvis again totally justified the decision to let Bradley go.
the substitutes made a huge difference. Howson gets better every game and awes is having a halcyon season. Lafferty was just excellent. The roar when the ball was played to him by O'Neill was huge and he outpaced the defender in front of him and scored an excellent finish.
Much to be happy with last night.
we have seen so many cup game in the last eight years when fringe players have come in and we've gone along expecting at least some of them to shine and take the chance to show what they can do. Time after time we've been disappointed and frustrated that the opportunities have been spurned and we've fallen meekly to ignominious defeat. Last night was the change. Last night we saw them all do well and a reasonably strong Albion team was brushed aside quite comprehensively.
Mbokani is stronger in the air and beat Olssen several times. He is less predatory than Jerome in terms of getting into the keeper's face on crosses. He played more like Hooper in the box - moving to the side and looking for the second ball rather than attacking the crosses.
He he will be ok or better. Joking aside, the interchangeability with Jerome means we can mix them up and play the same way for 90 minutes rather than changing tactics when Jerome goes off. I would not envy a defence facing both of them if we were chasing a game.
Otherwise, it was good performances all round. Highlights for me were Dorrans long passing, O'Neill ran the game from start to finish and was my man of the match. The back four were superb and Rudd was excellent. His kicking to the touch lines landing straight on the chest of Jarvis and Bennett did put Ruddy to shame. Jarvis again totally justified the decision to let Bradley go.
the substitutes made a huge difference. Howson gets better every game and awes is having a halcyon season. Lafferty was just excellent. The roar when the ball was played to him by O'Neill was huge and he outpaced the defender in front of him and scored an excellent finish.
Much to be happy with last night.
we have seen so many cup game in the last eight years when fringe players have come in and we've gone along expecting at least some of them to shine and take the chance to show what they can do. Time after time we've been disappointed and frustrated that the opportunities have been spurned and we've fallen meekly to ignominious defeat. Last night was the change. Last night we saw them all do well and a reasonably strong Albion team was brushed aside quite comprehensively.
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