Squeaked it.
The optimist in me would say that there were plenty of positives to take from the game. Yossi continued his excellent start to the season, Torres looked more lively and back to his best. We actually scored from a corner! We struggled defensively, but our match-winners stepped up to the mark and took the chances that won us the game. Four wins on the trot, and looking in far better shape in the Premiership.
The pessimist would say that defensively we were shambolic at best. Individual errors proved costly yet again this season, and could easily have left us with just one or no points from this game. Every set piece we look more and more vulnerable. Surely we can't put up a proper title challenge whilst leaking a couple of goals against every team who has an average or better attacking line-up? Our luck will run out.
Trying to be reasonable then, obviously the three points were the most important factor, we're climbing the table and closing the gap at the top.
However, surely we need to consider putting a player on each post when defending set pieces? This isn't a knee-jerk reaction, just an opinion based on the many occasions not just this season but for the last few where it could have been the difference between a goal or a clearance off the line. I hardly think it would make us less effective in our zonal defending - three men were surrounding Cole when he scored the header just before half time, and jumped with him, but he beat them all to it.
Some shocking stuff at the back. Discounting the individual error from Carra as a one-off that will hopefully never be repeated (since when did Carra start day dreaming during a match?
), we were poorly organised. I don't know if I buy the idea that changing the defensive line-up has destabilised Carra either. He's played with Skrtel long enough to form a proven partnership with him, and Insua has plenty of first-team games under his belt, too. Maybe the defence is more exposed since we have started playing with more attacking full backs like Johnson, and teams are using this to exploit Carra's lack of pace?
I am hopeful that once the team has enough matches under their belts, they will fully adapt one another and the defence will settle. I just hope this will happen sooner rather than later, 5 goal thrillers are great to watch, though I prefer the kind we dealt out to Villa at Anfield last season.
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