Not our best performance, had a bit of a raw feel to it, you can tell the players have ability but are still getting used to and are working out how to play with each other at this level. Ultimately though I don’t think we can have too many complaints about getting 4 points from 2 games, average that for the whole season we’ll win the league. I think we have to allow the team a few games, probably at least until the transfer window’s shut, to get settled and used to the way we’re going to play this season. The fact we’re picking up points while we’re in this little transitional period is a good sign. Preston are no slouches by any means at all either, not a bad point.
A few things I took from the game:
The penalty decision was ridiculous, yes Skipp has his hands on him but you can tell by the way their player falls there was no contact. How that is seen as a penalty but Aarons being wiped out in the box last week wasn’t is ridiculous.
Pukki looked much more like his old self. Got a bit of luck with the goal but even just his passing and movement looks so much better than it did in the 2nd half of last season, which is brilliant to see. Idah also has really impressed me both times he’s come off the bench this season.
Xavi’s delivery is a big asset. Maybe not quite as solid defensively as we would like but hopefully that’s something he can improve.
Awful miss aside (still not sure how he managed it) there looks to be a player in Placheta. Superb finish for the goal and some great flashes of skill and pace. Still very raw and needs to adapt to the physical side of the league, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him come in for Onel next game, I think a run in the team would do him a lot of good.
As I said, I think for the first few games at least players should be allowed some wriggle room as there’s a lot of adapting and settling in going on, but there were some performances today that didn’t overly impress me. Most notably Cantwell, who knowing how good he is and how if he’s on his game is one of the best players in the league, was so disappointing today.
Kenny McLean was another one. Played a few sloppy passes and just in general didn’t really offer us anything in an attacking sense, and the defensive side of his game isn’t the strongest. Yet with no Vrancic on the bench, and Tettey and Rupp more defensive players we don’t have the option to change that.
What was the point of signing Hugill if we’re not going to bring him on until the 89th minute. We were 2-1 down for pretty much the whole of the second half, yet he’s bought on with no time left to do anything. Wasn’t this game a prime example of the exact sort of scenario we would need him for, and why we bought him. If he’s not going to get on the pitch when we’re desperate for a goal in a home game against his former club then when is he?
But yeah, all in all not a brilliant performance, not a bad one though either. I thought we showed a lot of commitment and urgency to try and get a result, which is something we just didn’t do after lockdown last season. At the moment there’s definitely more positives than negatives for me so far. Two tricky games up next against Bournemouth and Derby, going to be interesting to see how we get on. We undoubtedly need to improve aspects of our game but the early signs are decent.