Andros was allowed to use his left foot which we know is good, Glasner is right, Mitchell should have shown him outside, if he passed back to the full back unlikely such as good cross would have come in.

It's a lesson,

Should have, could have didn't

It may seem to you that OG had Mitchell in mind but not to me. There were two Luton attackers threatening down the RH side with two Palace Players, TM and Ebs in attendance. What ensued was a situation we've seen countless times in matches and if we have, then TM and Ebs have too:

The winger overlaps in order to draw the LB out wide, leaving space for Andros. The full back must go with the winger, and he assumes that the other defender, Ebs, will then take Andros: it's simple.

What followed was a clear case, imo, of Ebs not doing his defensive duty. Instead of seeing the wide player and anticipating that he will need to close Andros down, he remains where he is. By the time Andros receives the ball, he has all the time in the world to decide what he wants to do and we all know what that is going to be: get the ball on his left and cross into the area.

Ebs not only didn't respond quickly enough and close him down but, when Andros did make the cross, he made that silly, half-hearted attempt to block the cross by doing that sort of balletic, one leg in the air while I turn my back job: defensively non-existent.

In short, there were two attackers vs two defenders and it should have been dealt with if both had done their job.

Mitchell did, Ebs didn't.

Can you imagine the cartloads of crap Tyrick would've taken on here if he'd let the attacker go without tracking him?

I love Ebs but in the modern game, when we defend, we all should be doing the job to defend in all areas of the pitch until we regain possession.

All the best teams do it and managers expect it, or else they find someone who will.

As has been said, if Pep saw one of his hugely talented players not carrying out their responsibilities, he'd drop them for someone who does.

We don't have that luxury, sure, but that doesn't mean Ebs is immune to his duties, does it?

Just my opinion, the way I saw it, PA.

Edited by Glazier#1 (10 Mar 2024 10.42am)

I think Glasner’s late substitutions have been odd in last two games and seem to boil down to “let’s get some fresh legs on”. which is a worrying red flag and shows a lack of guile. They could almost have been decided on before the match started.

A very good Manager will react to what he sees happening on the pitch in real time. Southgate is also bad at that.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but with our terrible track record towards the end of games, Ayew and Wharton should have stayed as both looked solid. Bring on the more experienced Schlupp replacing Mitchell who looked shaky again yesterday and has issues with reading the game, passing and confidence.

What else should Glasner be doing over the next 3 weeks?. Here’s another obvious thing. Work on bl@@dy corners!!!!! Try scoring off a few in training. Our approach to corners is truly pathetic.

Moan over.

Eze hardly broke sweat running back to counter the threat and then made a token effort in trying to stop the cross.

Yet another late goal, I was 'Spitting feathers' and in a hissy fit.

Edited by Willo (10 Mar 2024 11.55am)