Wow, the word "might" is in there of course, but that is as close as we are ever going to get to the egomaniac putting his hands up and saying, "Blame me because I cocked up".
And he did of course. He got it wrong either by starting with Maynard instead of Cole if he wanted to play 4-3-3 at home, or he got it wrong by opting for 4-3-3 in the first place rather than playing Maynard and Cole together from the start. Maynard looked totally lost from the very first minute. Time and again the ball was played up to him with his back to goal but he lacked the skill and strength to take it, control it and play it with a lump of a defender up his arse. Taking the ball off Maynard was like taking sweets off a baby. Fans criticise Cole, but the tribulations of Maynard should give them pause for thought - leading the line alone aint easy!
What I found intriguing was the apparent plan to send on Cole when Tomkins took the knock on the head. We hadn't even reached the half way point of the first half, but Allardyce was already considering replacing his holding midfielder with a striker. The trouble is, when Tomkins recovered, Allardyce prevaricated and waited until half time before making the change.
Once we switched to 4-4-2, we looked so much more effective. Where Palace over ran us in the first half, cutting through our midfield at will, and suffocating any attempts we made to get the ball forward by closing down the lightweight Maynard, we now controlled the ball and found a shape. Our football still wasn't great, but it was a hell of a lot better!
So Allardyce should have left out that word "might". He did make a mistake. He picked the wrong team and employed the wrong tactics and a rookie manager out thought him. Palace looked by far the better team to me, not because they have better players, although Zaha looks useful, but because their manager organised them better. Allardyce then compounded that mistake because of his safety first mentality. The plan to replace Tomkins with Cole shows that he knew what was wrong, but once necessity relented, Allardyce vacillated and waited for half time before making the change, wasting a quarter of the game. He then left Maynard on for more than half of the second period, even though it was obvious that the guy was having a complete mare.
The guy I really feel sorry for in all this is Baldock. He has been treated in a shoddy way since his arrival at Upton Park and Allardyce deflected criticism of himself yesterday by pointing the finger of blame cruelly at the young striker when he said, "We had probably the two best chances with Sam, but we couldn't convert them." So, in the end it wasn't Big Sam's fault after all, Little Sam has to carry the can. Never mind that the guy has been sat on the bench since his return from injury and never mind that he made his chances by finding space that didn't exist when Maynard was on the pitch, he is fingered as the ultimate reason why we didn't win. I'll tell you what, if I was Baldock I would be pretty pissed off reading those comments! Crucify yourself for your own mistakes Allardyce, don't pass your cross to others!
5 comments:
Good try HF. You nearly got something right but unfortunately there is a typo in your opening headline.
You need to replace the word Allardyce with "HF", or alternatively correct the word "HE" (in capitals) to "HF".
i will leave it to you.
Anony-mouse says,
Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing. I don't think Allardyce got it wrong as such- who can blame him for not wanting to tinker with the team that out-played Blackpool? He couldn't really win as if he had made changes and got the same result, or worse he'd have been given a kicking for it.
Glad we've now got a week off- hopefully the players can rest up before Cardiff (who I hope knacker themselves chasing shadows today so that they are creamed for next week. Extra time would be nice).
New rumor floating around is that Baldock will be loaned to Sheffield Wednesday til the end of the season. God I hope not.
Anony-mouse says,
USA Dave- I can't believe that will happen. I can understand if we set up as a 4 3 3 as Sam calls it (or a 4 5 1 to the rest of us), against Cardiff but we need to go 4 4 2 for most games in the next two months. That means Cole as the target/ hold up player and another. Maynard's a good player but i'd go with Baldock. We look a more cohesive side when he's out there. His movement is excellent and gives options to our midfield. He buzzes around keeping defenders occupied, making it harder for them to join the attack as Palace's full-backs were constantly able to do in the first half. Yes, he should have scored but he still showed terrific anticipation to read Cole's intentions.
We need to take the game to both Watford and Doncaster. Baldock means that opposition defenders have to play further back than they want to. Maynard will be vital for us, but I really hope it's Baldock who gets a consistent run from now on.
I tend to agree with you A-Mouse in that I dont expect the rumor to be true. With 13 games to go there is no reason to risk the ultimate prize, and giving up an option like Baldock is a risk.
I also agree that Cole/Baldock look like a good tandem. But Maynard has scored goals at this level, and in some instances he may be a better choice. The one thing we never get to see is what happens in training, and I assume what Sam sees there determines the 11 he chooses. But with Cardiff taken to the limit today, I expect them to have a letdown. Cole and Baldock could profit from that. I hope.
Post a Comment