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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Bristol City

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There has been a raising of expectations on this Forum and indeed in the conversations I''ve had in the local pub but my own sense of where we are at remains one of cautious optimism. My own forecast for today was for a draw but as usual I was hoping to be wrong. It was a pleasant fine afternoon with very light wind so hopes were high for a decent game. There was the usual Farke re-shuffle but no more than we''ve come to expect although I thought Alex Tetty rather unfortunate to be only on the bench.City attacked their usual Barclay End and the was a chance for Jerome early on as the big man cut into the area on the left only for his shot to fly a yard wide of the far post. Bristol looked busy in midfield but apart from winning a couple of corners the City rearguard looked to have the upper hand.Murphy broke away from the City box in the sixth minute and set off on a sixty yard run that might have led to an opening goal had he chosen the right option for the pass unfortunately Pinto was driven out the left and it came to nothing. By the twenty minute mark it was even Steven with lots of effort from both sides but no real quality when it came to the danger area. At the other end a wild twenty yarder that flew well wide was the best that the Robins could muster.Midway through the half came the first real chance and a gilt edged one it was. Jerome beat his man on the right of the box and teed up nicely for Vrancic on the edge of the six yard line. I was already out of my seat as the low shot seemed to have beaten the keeper only to come off the foot of the post. It was a bad miss but we thought we had made up for it when Jerome netted a couple of minutes later only for the flag to be raised when Reed headed the ball forward.In the 35th minute we were treated to an even worse miss when Vrancic found Jerome in space on the left. The cross seemed to lay it on for Stieperman to slide home only for the big man to somehow scuff it right across goal from no more than three yards. It was thus extremely disappointing to traipse in at the half with the scoresheet still blank.The second period opened with a prolonged spell of Bristol possession that came to nothing before Murphy eventually spurred the home side into action. There were several sweeping moves that promised much but delivered very little and it was not unexpected when the ineffective  MarleyWatkins was replaced by Wild shut. Again it seemed to spur things on for a bit but despite increasing the tempo a goal seemed as far away as ever. Murphy managed one run down the left and unleashed a shot that may have clipped the face of the bar. In any event a pass inside to Jerome might have been a better option but you could see it was going to be one of those days from a long way out.The visitors defence bent a couple of times but never really looked like breaking. Indeed midway through the half they began to come forward again and Gunn had to make his first real save on 65 minutes when turning an on target effort over the bar. Wes came on with twenty minutes left but was mostly crowded out by the robust Bristol defence while Wildshut and Murphy rarely looked like getting beyond their markers. Sad to say Murphy looked a spent force when he trotted off to be replaced by Husband for the last five minutes.It all began to peter out quit frustratingly despite masses of effort and in a final flourish as City won a last minute corner, Trybul had a clear sight of goal only for his on target effort to ping off a couple of Bristol defenders without falling to a yellow shirt.It might have been a different game had one of those first half gilt edged chances been put away but they were never to come again and in the end it was hard to grudge Bristol their hard earned point. On the stroll my son and I usually discuss the game and we both came out with the same phrase at the same time. "Hard work", yes everything seems like hard work searching for a spark to set things off. How long we will have to wait for that spark is anyone''s guess.Top marks, Klose and Zimmerman. They looked impregnable today.

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Ta again ricardo.

I don''t think we looked in any real danger at any point; Farke''s obviously drilled defence, defence, defence into the squad with the inevitable consequence that we create less.

But that''s reasonable, as you pointed out we created some excellent chances - more than enough really - so perhaps the problem really lies in our poor finishing?

In fact I would say that''s been our problem for a few years now. We''ve masked it by going gung-ho & all out attack, often creating many chances but not converting that many of them. So I think the solution lies in keeping our new found defensive capability & sharpen up in attack; it''s a more sustainable solution long term.

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Can''t remember their keeper having to make a decent save or come for any crosses in 90 plus minutes

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Thanks for the report Ricardo, a fair reflection.

I agree with Ron, we are very much a work in progress but yet again a very good defensive performance.

My impression was that we were bullied a little bit and went into our shell, that may just be me but thats how it felt.

Maybe a little bit unlucky, hitting the post and the point blank miss on another day could have given us the points.

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[quote user="daly"]Can''t remember their keeper having to make a decent save or come for any crosses in 90 plus minutes[/quote]

He didn’t make one save all game, the stats said 1 shot out of 13 on target says it all really

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Thanks Ricardo.I''m actually on of the optimistic ones. If we can keep the defence sorted - and next week will give a good indication of this - we have got a decent chance of a play off place imo.Whilst it didn''t always look like it today, we have got goals in us - especially when Pritchard returns. If the defence stands up we should be very competitive, home and away.

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Thanks again for your report Ricardo.

This was my first game of the season as I had an accident breaking my collar bone in several places a day before the start of the season. I was unable to get a refund on the tickets for the Fulham which made it even more painful!

Your reports have helped me keep up with what has been truly going on in the home games. I found your report today as always similar to how I see the game. I did find myself needing to ask everyone around who some of the new players were as I couldn''t recognise them all.

It seems to me that we were left with no option after the Millwall debacle to tighten up the defence and it certainly looks like we have. I got the impression today as a newbie that players were reluctant to join in with the attack to keep their shape and be in position to defend a counter attack.

However, we still had two v presentable chances to win the game and Farke seems to think that the disallowed goal was onside but live it looks the right call.

Add Nelson O and Alex P to that team today and we would almost certainly have won. Negatively it looks mid table at best, positively we could be sniffing around the play off positions by Feb/March.

In general the team seem to be gelling and the defence is a definite positive. Now need to add the goals.

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Badger

I''m certainly much happier now that the defence is looking stronger. A bit uninspiring today but the game could and should have been won. There never looked any danger of losing it.

I think cautious optimism is the best description of the current position.

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Thanks for the report.

The Norwich seesaw seems to have swung again, as from Hughton''s defensive style that tuned into a goal drought we moved to Alex Neil''s free scoring stuff that turned into defensive catastrophe, we seem to be swinging back again to defensive solidity coupled with a lack of goals....

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Yes the elusive elixir- which Lambert discovered- was achieving both a strong attack and strong defence. I am cautiously optimistic, since the revival, we might just do it again.....confidence is worth a goal a game in football....though the pessimist in me slightly laments our current forward options. When we were promoted we had several who could start- now we seem to have Oliviera who guarantees goals. That is it.

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Thanks Ricardo good as always to get the match perspective of someone

who was there. I enjoyed the match on one level - and that was the fact

that it was closely fought and I thought Bristol looked well organised

and composed.  That we didn''t score, as with the Burton match, was down

to poor finishing and that was the frustrating part.  The

defence looks so much better and it is good to see individuals doing

well in the team.  I thought Reed and Trybull were good yesterday,

always right on the heels of any Bristol player near them who had the

ball. Klose is being more dominant and that is helping Zimmermann who I

thought was excellent again.  Pinto is always good value and I like

Stiepermann at left back. Gunn had little to do but still made a great

save when needed. Vrancic was unlucky not to score - the shot

that hit the post was with his less favoured foot of course - and he has

that extra something in his play that we should always try and have in

the team - someone with a bit of vision that can deliver unexpected

passes with accuracy - much like Ian Crook used to. The front

three were not at the races. Murphy was poor - every good thing he did

was more than cancelled out by the bad things he did, a good run

followed by a terrible pass or shot, getting caught in possession way

too many times.  Watkins, who was good at Sheffield and apparently

midweek was less effective yesterday - I''m not sure why, maybe their

left side of defence was just too good. Jerome missed an excellent

chance early on and his confidence must be a bit low - he needs a goal! I

presume selecion for Tuesday would have been in the back of Farke''s

mind and I hope Maddison will be back for that one, he puts himself

about so much we miss his energy and spark imo.

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Good report as per usual Ricardo. I sit near the home dug out and Farke was certainly very animated yesterday. He is very driven and he got very angry several times much more than some of our previous managers. When Stiepermann missed his chance he exploded and kicked water bottles so hard they sprayed and covered an old guy on the front row (probably woke him up!) but showed a nice touch of humility by apologising several times afterwards. Overall I''m quite impressed by Farke and the way he has changed the approach after it was clearly failing. You can''t shut the back door without affecting the front door.

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Was always going to be hard work when Jerome, Murphy and Vrancic all decided to have an off day together. Watkins struggled to get into the game as well so the result wasn''t surprising.

I know our options were extremely limited but I don''t think our pace caused them much trouble today, I think if we had Hoolahan and Maddison (and Oliviera, if possible) playing instead of Vrancic and Murphy we would have had a lot more joy. We played a bit like an away team today and it just didn''t really come off. We got in behind a lot, but never tried anything clever.

We really should have won though even so. Just some individual poor finishing that''s cost us in the end, not the game plan or personnel chosen.

Trybull is a hell of a player as well! Always makes the right decision, always knows where the second ball''s going to land and what the oppo are planning and works extremely hard. If only we could somehow transplant his brain into Murphy''s head :P

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Away for the weekend so in the dark about the game.

Obviously disappointed about the result as we all expect to win at home and not to score is always upsetting.

But reading Ricardo''s report it seems that we are still very much work in progress.

The early season tactics have been changed to try ensure we don''t lose and hope to win.

Very hard to argue with that after the awful start but the real tests begin with the next six league matches. 10 points would be a dream and a measure of progress.

Can do nothing but cross the fingers.

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No team is the finished article, so are all ''progressing''As to our form then the last four League games (since Millwall) have given us 8 points ie 2 points a gamewhich over the season is 92 points... Champions !However that does mean a draw and a win against Boro/Reading

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Still 80% of the season to go but a least things look steadier at the back. With a strong base there is still plenty of time make this a more than average season. Tight games need to start going our way more often than not though.

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[quote user="Dean Coneys boots"]Yes the elusive elixir- which Lambert discovered- was achieving both a strong attack and strong defence. I am cautiously optimistic, since the revival, we might just do it again.....confidence is worth a goal a game in football....though the pessimist in me slightly laments our current forward options. When we were promoted we had several who could start- now we seem to have Oliviera who guarantees goals. That is it.[/quote]

1. I think of the Lambert era as more of the "we''ll score more than the opposition" philosophy, am I wrong?

2. Several threads on here recently have included stats that show that in no way does Oliviera "guarantee" goals. He''s a decent striker, probably our best, but he''s not the messiah. And sometimes he''s a very naughty boy.

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I''m confused as to what stats those could be Nuff said. Nobody guarantees goals but he''s still scored 50% of our league goals this season.

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Having just watched the highlights, at the precise moment the ball leaves Reed''s head Jerome looks in line with their last defender to me. Difficult to tell with the angle, but it was a damn close run thing.

Stiepperman''s effort wasn''t that easy really, the goalie may well have stopped it given the acuteness of the angle, but it was a horrendous miscue. What also struck me was that, had Watkins been more predatory, he would have been rushing in on goal to latch on to any miscue or parried save. But he isn''t, & he didn''t.

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Jerome also completely fluffed a header where he''d stayed onside with the whole Bristol defence stepping up. Not the easiest but he should have made something of it.

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Jerome had a poor second half but then again the entire attack did. I''m not sure Oliveira would have made a massive difference, half of those opportunities in the first half wouldn''t have existed as he''d probably have opted to shoot with his left foot from 30 yards instead.

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Just out of interest, apologies if it has been discussed, who thought Jerome was onside?

Couldn''t really tell from where we were, but Farke seemed to think it should have stood?

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[quote user="AJ"]Just out of interest, apologies if it has been discussed, who thought Jerome was onside?

Couldn''t really tell from where we were, but Farke seemed to think it should have stood?[/quote]He looked pretty level when the ball was kicked. The linesmen are supposed to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacker, but it rarely happens - they need to be looking at two places at exactly the same moment - at the person passing the ball and looking along the line of defence - which is impossible when the ball is kicked forward from halfway.  

 

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From my seat I thought it was off but replays seem to suggest it was level. It was so tight it''s not one you can really kill the lino for.

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Its difficult to take a linesman/ref seriously if they allow a free kick for offside to be taken in the opponent''s half, which happened in the 2nd half!

I was at the other end, but it looked offside from where I sat. But, as has been said, we ought to have been 2 up by half time.

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Thanks Ricardo, good report as always.

 

I''m comfortable at the moment because we were looking all at sea defensively, Farke has focused on that and got things looking solid, which AN never achieved consistently.

 

From Saturday it sounds like we created a reasonable number of good clear chances, & like many games it comes down to one of your players actually taking one of them.  If we carry on in the same vein, especially when Oliveira is back, it will get better.

 

So cautious optimism from me.

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