Holmes_and_Watson

Not sure how much fiath I was having in Baz coming out for that one. Cleared anyway >whew<

Eeeps! Free kick!

Mobility for whichever one is "Mr useless". AA has offerend lots of work, closing them down as we drop back. Mara did for a while, when he came on too. I think at this stage. we're working with scraps to mobile attackers, rather than being able to lump up to a target man. Not that we couldn;t just hoof the thing, it's just not something we've had an option for for such a long time.

Hey! look everyone! We;re up the park!

Mara not quite pressing as quickly as AA. If you're going to be dropping back, you need to get at them.

yay! poor from Maddison. Good to see another sub. We need some extra work out there. Sulemana not been that noticeable this half. Mara and AA not pressing so high now either, allowing Leicester more movement.

enegy dropping a bit. Getting scrappy.

Hmmm. Lavia offered nothing leading to us giving it away with a riskier pass.

Oh dears AA. But then, he was looking for it to go across to him first time, which was the better option.

Mara putting in an AA level of work rate. Good to see.

He lost it, but a direct AA run. Weirdly I'd have liked to have seen what he'd offer in JM's direct, pressing tactic.

Baz does deserve credit for taking Janny B's calamatous error per game off him this week (I hope)

"He could easily have ahd a hat trick today" says the commentator. More about just quite how effective saints containment is. But he didn;t, so today it's been effective enough so far.

hecks! Baz!

theo and Che did well for us today, making the most of what we got out from the back of Leicester's possession.

One given away by JWP. That's a few unforced errors in quick succession. Che got booked on the way off? Attacking switches.

Ely got into good space to pick up a pass and he'd hav espace. We choose to give it away, inviting an attack.

thought goal machine Adam Armstrong would be the replacement. Ely's record of helping us mroe defensively when we're in the lead, might have just got him the nod.

jeez. Lavia clearance. gifted a corner.

Ah. Adams gave that away after lots of good work by the others to close them down.

ooft. Another good chance for them. Silly Alcaraz. nice goal, hopefully fit for next time, and won;t be doing that again I hope.

Commentator said "they can;t afford a passenger out there" as we watch Ely get ready. 🙂 Sorry Ely.

Great. Alcaraz clattered right away. >sigh<

I think that was one of the Ralphball 2.0 set ups. Stay tight, absorb pressure and take advantage of the space an attacking team leaves. Selles would have been part of setting that up. Today's line-up tombola added a couple of wrinkles to it. Sulemana offers soem actually width, in what can be a narrow formation (can still work when KWP gets forward, if he cuts in) and Alcaraz on the otehr flank. But that became fluid as Walcott worked that whole area, allowing Alcara to operate in the centre when needed. So, a bit of fluidity in there. AMN is what is probably his best spot, offering a bit of physicality too when needed. But we do have to watch opponents try their hand at getting through us. And Leciester were starting to get close, after getting lots of possession. The crowd really boosted things when we did finally get to use some space. Boosted even more after the penalty miss. And that seemed galvanise the players. Can only hope Alcaraz hasn't crocked himself doing that celebration. He's not been shy at going for goal, and that's something we really need in the weeks to come. Che doing lots of little things well, when given the chance. Walcott, so long frozen out, has made a bit of a difference today. Offers a lot of options with the others, and smart enough to know which spaces to pick up, to support the others. While Sky talk about Alcaraz nearly getting a red, I'll take a deep breath so that I don;t let too much hope in for the second half.

Adams doing a couple of little tricks. Just stopping Leicester getting going as quickly. Nice to see.