(18-08-2021, 07:36 AM)bluetagagain Wrote: What I liked was we tried things and if they didn’t come off they weren’t down hearted or put off from trying again. Bags of potential, the young lad Ahadme looks very calm and skilled on the ball. The ref was awful , I don’t think we got one 50/50 decision. Yes a few more goals would’ve helped but we didn’t get many chances in the 2 nd half as they closed us down.
Can’t understand this new found adoration of John Marquis though, yes he puts a shift in but looks anything but a striker.

(18-08-2021, 07:36 AM)bluetagagain Wrote: What I liked was we tried things and if they didn’t come off they weren’t down hearted or put off from trying again. Bags of potential, the young lad Ahadme looks very calm and skilled on the ball. The ref was awful , I don’t think we got one 50/50 decision. Yes a few more goals would’ve helped but we didn’t get many chances in the 2 nd half as they closed us down.
Can’t understand this new found adoration of John Marquis though, yes he puts a shift in but looks anything but a striker.

(18-08-2021, 08:49 AM)bluetagagain Wrote: Needs to go on a diet the fat coont ( and I speak as one fat coont to another).

(18-08-2021, 01:32 PM)Wightblue Wrote: I think we saw the shape of things to come last evening, the opposition clearly know all about Pompey’s high press, play out from the back tactics and will set up accordingly, those who are able will adopt a physical, bullying approach allied to their own pressing game and we stand a good chance of our tactics being nullified.

Our problem won’t be helped by us not having anyone upfront who can regularly unlock L1 defences and we remain bereft of a genuine, predatory striker (this may well come to haunt us in tight games when chances may be few).

I thought we played a game of two halves, the first half we got onto the front foot, Williams, Tunnicliffe and Harness created space and some chances all but one of which were wasted.
The second half increasingly resembled Jacketball and by the end we didn’t even try to bring the ball out, we just lumped it as long as we could……and waited for it to come straight back.

Our cause wasn’t helped by an indifferent referee and injuries but there’s no disguising that we are very much a work in progress and, in my view, in need of somebody who can replace Marquis whose lack of goals is a liability and whose inept pass in his own box came close to undoing Pompey’s do or die defending (his decent strike against Crewe remains something of a collectors item)

The positives I thought were Bazunu, the centre of the defence which stood firm as the pressure mounted, Tunnicliffe who worked his socks off and, fleetingly, Harness and Curtis.

Rochdale and Wigan will be good tests of our defensive mettle and ability to change tactics to something other than Jacketball when Plan A isn’t working.