Man of the match - Middlesbrough

[Guest Bulgaria]

Missed out Palmer, who I thought had a very good game also, especially first half.

[A E Neuman NYowl]

Thought Shaw had a great first half but was quite in the second.

 

Lees Dunkley and Palmer were very good

 

Bannan MoM for me he worked tirelessly in midfield and supplemented his passing with a lot of good tackling and hassling, something that is normally missing from his game.

[FreshOwl]

12 hours ago, jimbo10179 said:

Very harsh on JP there pal. I thought he was very good 1st half, broke up a lot of their attacks, used the ball well 7.5/10

Perhaps a little. He put us in a few precarious positions at times with the ball at his feet. Granted that’s not his job, and maybe I overlooked his defence duties a bit because of that. 

 

I thought the defence were at sea a number of times in the 2nd half. Boro carved through at will, and better finishing would have seen us defeated IMO. Palmer and Odubjao were all over the place. 

 

But huge credit as we rode it out in the end. Dunkley was superb. 

[frastheowl]

 

Westwood - 7 - Made a smart save in the 1st half to deny Johnson (?), and commanded the box well after that. Not really been called into too much work despite Boro's onslaught.

 

Odubajo - 7 - Did well again. He's a fit lad who'll run all day. Defended well, and generally stuck to his task well. Just gets caught following the ball on too many occasions, which makes us susceptible to the ball in behind him.

 

Lees - 8 - Another good performance. Put his body on the line, and defended solidly throughout. Gave Assomobolonga little change. 

 

Dunkley - 8 - Man of the Match - Superb...again. He's a winner. Looks getting involved in one-to-one battles, and rarely comes off second best. After a frustrating start, he's starting to look like a real asset.

 

Palmer - 7 - Lovely assist for Paterson's goal, but his lack of application and concentration cost us for Boro's goal after the break. Did well on the whole however.

 

Harris - 6 - Huffed and puffed...kept plugging away but with little reward or quality. Defended well enough, up against a good player in Dijksteel.

 

Pelupessy - 7 - His technical limitations hindered us on occasions, caught on the ball a couple of times which led to dangerous turnovers. But, defensively, he did his job. Intercepted, and generally protected well.

 

Bannan - 7 - Another piece of quality which decided the match in our favour. We're so reliant on him in that aspect. Worked hard, covered a lot of ground, but again at times, just felt we needed him to step up above the rest and show composure to settle things down.

 

Shaw - 8 - Boy did he work hard. In the 1st half, I had no idea where he was playing. He was covering every blade of grass, chasing down both full backs and going box-to-box. He'll be feeling it this morning. Great moment for him to get his goal in front of the Kop. Techincally, he's not great, but we'll need that level of committed work-rate and endeavour over the next few months if we're to stay up.

 

Paterson - 8 - Probably his best game for us. Thought he provided a real focal point, and a good foil for Windass. Took his goal well, and defended from the front. Really missed that when he was replaced.

 

Windass - 7 - Looked better to have somebody closer to him, and ran the channels well without too much joy. He's our best striker, and if we're to stay up without any new introductions, the task will be to get the best out of him. 

 

Overall...

 

It wasn't great...by any stretch of the imagination.It was marginally better. We worked so hard. We dug deep, and stuck together. But that's nothing new... you haven't been able to fault these players for that. But we got the rub of the green, and show a couple moments of quality in attacking areas that we haven't been able to do often enough recently.

 

I didn't see a completely different approach that seems to be applied over social media. We still lined up with a back five and two holding midfielders. We still lacked composure on the ball. And we were still far too passive defensively. But, Thompson wouldn't have had a lot of time to address those issues. And the problem going forward, will be the same issue we've had for years...can we find a way of playing with more freedom, but kept our solidity at the back?

 

But, last night wasn't about changing trends in performance, or trying a new system...it was about the result. And the lads dug deep into their reserves and ensured we came out of the game with a win. That'll stand us in good stead, but it won't be enough to keep us up. We have to find a way of playing that allows us to gain some form of control when we're in possession. 

 

After the Forest game, I thought we'd need a minimum of seven points from the four games before we had the opportunity to freshen up the squad (HA!), and we've managed to get those seven from three games. We've got a great opportunity to give ourselves a fighting chance on Saturday against Derby. A win there, and you just never know. But the key factor is, we haven't relegated ourselves before January arrived...which was looking like a real poosibility after Forest.

[Striggy]

29 minutes ago, frastheowl said:

 

Westwood - 7 - Made a smart save in the 1st half to deny Johnson (?), and commanded the box well after that. Not really been called into too much work despite Boro's onslaught.

 

Odubajo - 7 - Did well again. He's a fit lad who'll run all day. Defended well, and generally stuck to his task well. Just gets caught following the ball on too many occasions, which makes us susceptible to the ball in behind him.

 

Lees - 8 - Another good performance. Put his body on the line, and defended solidly throughout. Gave Assomobolonga little change. 

 

Dunkley - 8 - Man of the Match - Superb...again. He's a winner. Looks getting involved in one-to-one battles, and rarely comes off second best. After a frustrating start, he's starting to look like a real asset.

 

Palmer - 7 - Lovely assist for Paterson's goal, but his lack of application and concentration cost us for Boro's goal after the break. Did well on the whole however.

 

Harris - 6 - Huffed and puffed...kept plugging away but with little reward or quality. Defended well enough, up against a good player in Dijksteel.

 

Pelupessy - 7 - His technical limitations hindered us on occasions, caught on the ball a couple of times which led to dangerous turnovers. But, defensively, he did his job. Intercepted, and generally protected well.

 

Bannan - 7 - Another piece of quality which decided the match in our favour. We're so reliant on him in that aspect. Worked hard, covered a lot of ground, but again at times, just felt we needed him to step up above the rest and show composure to settle things down.

 

Shaw - 8 - Boy did he work hard. In the 1st half, I had no idea where he was playing. He was covering every blade of grass, chasing down both full backs and going box-to-box. He'll be feeling it this morning. Great moment for him to get his goal in front of the Kop. Techincally, he's not great, but we'll need that level of committed work-rate and endeavour over the next few months if we're to stay up.

 

Paterson - 8 - Probably his best game for us. Thought he provided a real focal point, and a good foil for Windass. Took his goal well, and defended from the front. Really missed that when he was replaced.

 

Windass - 7 - Looked better to have somebody closer to him, and ran the channels well without too much joy. He's our best striker, and if we're to stay up without any new introductions, the task will be to get the best out of him. 

 

Overall...

 

It wasn't great...by any stretch of the imagination.It was marginally better. We worked so hard. We dug deep, and stuck together. But that's nothing new... you haven't been able to fault these players for that. But we got the rub of the green, and show a couple moments of quality in attacking areas that we haven't been able to do often enough recently.

 

I didn't see a completely different approach that seems to be applied over social media. We still lined up with a back five and two holding midfielders. We still lacked composure on the ball. And we were still far too passive defensively. But, Thompson wouldn't have had a lot of time to address those issues. And the problem going forward, will be the same issue we've had for years...can we find a way of playing with more freedom, but kept our solidity at the back?

 

But, last night wasn't about changing trends in performance, or trying a new system...it was about the result. And the lads dug deep into their reserves and ensured we came out of the game with a win. That'll stand us in good stead, but it won't be enough to keep us up. We have to find a way of playing that allows us to gain some form of control when we're in possession. 

 

After the Forest game, I thought we'd need a minimum of seven points from the four games before we had the opportunity to freshen up the squad (HA!), and we've managed to get those seven from three games. We've got a great opportunity to give ourselves a fighting chance on Saturday against Derby. A win there, and you just never know. But the key factor is, we haven't relegated ourselves before January arrived...which was looking like a real poosibility after Forest.

Are we not playing Derby on Friday?

[Blatter]

Shaw for me and not just for the goal. A midfielder going box to box and at last a young player coming through the academy and starting to look comfortable against some good teams in the Championship. 

[frastheowl]

18 minutes ago, Striggy said:

Are we not playing Derby on Friday?

Saturday according my calendar. 
 

5.30pm kick off on Sky 

[wiltonowl]

Friday 17:30 ko on sky

 

Ps Shaw man of match

[Striggy]

48 minutes ago, frastheowl said:

Saturday according my calendar. 
 

5.30pm kick off on Sky 

I have Friday 17:30 according to my calendar?

[Holmowl]

Gave it to Dunkley who was aggressive and dominant. He’s safety first and doesn’t pretend there’s more to his game than defending. Like him a lot and that was his best game. Love his passion. Seems to rub off.

 

Shaw, Palmer, Lees and Westwood were excellent.

 

Bannan, Joey, Harris and Moses were very good.

 

Thought Windass and Paterson were good.
 

Considering what kicked-off this week the team and temporary management deserve massive respect.

[Holmowl]

1 hour ago, frastheowl said:

Saturday according my calendar. 
 

5.30pm kick off on Sky 

It’s Friday.

[the_vinyl_frontier]

I was quite impressed with Pelupessy, and have been recently. Considering he has looked dreadful pretty much the whole time he has been with us, he's starting to come good. Fair play to him

[frastheowl]

1 hour ago, Holmowl said:

It’s Friday.

So it is. 
 

Obviously my calendar hasn’t updated the fixture amendment. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by frastheowl

[CrosbyKitchens]

7 hours ago, Yorksowl said:

Its about opinions. My opinion is that he brings zero to this team. So on your basis, he must have brought something to the table last night or any other game je as been in. By the way Im not a player basher either, I dont get personal but if I think that a player is poor I'll say it. You obvioulsy see it diffrent to me., 

He won the ball back about 4 times in the first five minutes he was on the pitch.

[@owlstalk]

14 minutes ago, Yorksowl said:

Ok. Not on the TV I was watching.  What I did see was that on 3 occasions, Boro players ran past him and he didnt even break wind to try and stop them. If you are happy with that then fine. By the way, what did he do with the ball he won back 4 times in the first 5 minutes he was on the pitch? Genuine question. 

 

The commentators on I-Follow pointed it out every time he did it

[Incognito Owl]

I went with Shaw, other stand out players were Westwood, the back 3, Bannan, Odubajo and Paterson.

 

Westwood - 8  Looked cool/calm all night and made some good saves and catches.

 

Palmer - 7  Great pass/assist for Paterson's goal, saved us a few times and solid defending. Played better again on the left haha, I feel more confident in him when he's on the left too.

 

Dunkley - 8  Solid and calm.

 

Lees - 7  Some good defending, but got caught a few times playing on the right (not his fault/game though.) I would prefer him playing in the middle at the moment.

 

Harris - 6  Poor really, some good runs and maybe crosses. I would prefer Penney.  

 

Bannan - 7  Great play/cross for Shaw's goal, played well, but made some stray/poor passes at times.  

 

Pelupessy - 7  Did alright, made a great tackle, but had to do too much/got outnumbered in midfield playing alongside only Bannan. 

 

Odubajo - 7  Did good, some good runs ect. and after recent events he showed determination ect.

 

Shaw - 9 MOTM  Fantastic performance, was in the right position for the goal and finished well, worked all night, was always available, great pressing, good passes and great tackles (one especially in our penalty area.) 

 

Windass - 7  Did good, worked well with Paterson, good pressing and could have scored within the first 5 minutes.

 

Paterson - 8  Great performance, great run, calmness and finish for the goal. Good pressing and could have scored 1-2 more. Also the same determination as Odubajo with what has happened in recent weeks in a way. 

 

Brown - 6  Came on to do a job that isn't his style, but wasn't really busting a gut when he got moved upfront. His position is Shaw's position in the match really, which is as a CAM.

 

Penney - N/A or 6  Did his job.

 

Referee -  Alright/good.

 

Overall it was an amazing performance really in the circumstances. The subs I didn't really agree with and we sat a bit deep ect. after Boro scored, but defended well/were a little lucky. It was amazing seeing around 2-3 players upfront and in the box and that we actually played 3 at the back and not 5. I predicted we would draw or get a sneaky win and I was right haha, we would have lost that under pulis. If you play further up, press and aren't restricted you create chances, score goals and win matches. A big well done Sheffield Wednesday, the coaches ect. and the players. The 2nd goal celebrations were great. Hopefully this is a turning point with the new manager/head coach too. Hopefully he's in for tomorrow's match, but I don't think so now. Finally, maybe I'm too optimistic here, but I don't care haha we have too many depressing times so you have to enjoy these times and hope.