Gomez was ace against City but he isn't someone you can rely on for consistency - this is clear, look great one game then shocking the next.....only solidified the doubts I've always had about him.....especially at CB.
Just hope we don't lose too many more points in Ibou's absence.
The game against City was much easier than against Newcastle.
We would have still struggled with Konate in defence at Newcastle. Virgil was directly in front of Isak when he scored. There was little Virgil could do. For their second, Grav didn't pick up the runner in midfield, who as a result was able to play the ball through to Gordon to score (though Kelleher could (should) have done better. And the third, free kick from 50 yards out which Kelleher misreads and leaves, allowing them to score.
The two CB were not the issue. The issue was the flaky midfield getting overrun. Winning midfield, which Newcastle (with Tonali and the two Brazilians) did up to about 60, means more chances created. They had 17 shots to our 16. In the City game with Joe we faced 9 shots, as we gave their nonexistant midfield the runaround. We had the legs/energy of Dom agaunst City, we didn't for an hour at Newcastle, and it showed.
If there is one thing that should have been learned from the 2022-23 season it is that the midfield is the most influential area on the field. If it crumbles, as ours did with the over the hill Fabinho/Hendo, the defence (no matter who is there) have no chance. To go further back, the first half in Istanbul, we had the CB pairing of Hyypia and Carra who in the previous three knockout rounds vs Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea had conceded 3 goals in 6 games. After 45 minutes in Istanbul, with the midfield getting carved open with no Hamann at DM to cut out their runs/passes, that same CB pairing had conceded 3 goals.
To ram home the significance of the midfield, the 2020-21 season, when we lost all our senior CB (and inexplicably didn't act in the transfer window), JĆ¼rgen moved Fabinho and Hendo (both then performing to a high level) out of midfield into defence, and we went on a 6 game home losing streak. JĆ¼rgen put them back in midfield, and we went on title winning form, with Rhys Williams (now of 4th tier Morecambe) and Nat Phillips (now of 2nd tier Derby) as the CB pairing.
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