Back on track

After consecutive defeats, we got back on track yesterday with a 3-1 win over Palace but the game wasn’t the routine win the scoreline reflects.

First half I thought we were poor to be honest. We started brightly but as is a recurring theme, we continued to struggle to create clear chances, while Palace grew into the game and looked dangerous, forcing Alisson into a number of top saves.

The deadlock was eventually broken from a set piece, delivered by Szoboszlai and headed home by the resurgent Mac Allister, who’s excellent form this season continued and we went in 1-0 up at the break.

Many of us weren’t confident after our first half display though, so it was something of a relief when we scored the second, early in the second half. The once again disappointing Barcola raced up our right side and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he meant to pick out Wirtz with the cross, which the German gratefully slotted home, before picking up an assist of his own later in the half, unselfishly cushioning the ball onto Isak, who showed great composure to sit his defender down and finish, to wrap up the three points.

Their consolation came from a very soft penalty I thought and it was really unfair on Alisson not to get a clean sheet, after his McMOTM winning performance but I’ll take the three points.

Speaking of Alisson, he’s come out today saying he wants to sign a new deal and for me, that’s a no brainer as he’s still probably the best all round keeper in the league. Mamardashvili is a world class shot stopper but his all round game leaves a lot to be desired and having just spent big money on the giant Belgian, I personally think it makes more sense to sell Mama, recoup what we spent on him and then keep Alisson for another couple of years, with the new lad serving as his understudy, while preparing him to take over from Ali in due course.

A win’s a win then and we’re now starting to see last season’s big money signings in Wirtz and Isak, now regularly making a game changing impact in games. We’re not dominating teams as we’d like and the quality we’re seeing from both is still coming more in moments, than sustained periods in matches but we bought them to consistently score and assist and they’re now doing that regularly, which can only be a good thing. Barcola still very much blows hot and cold but Munoz continues to impress and I really hope Andoni will pick our forward players on form, rather than price, as right now it’s very difficult to make a case for Barcola starting ahead of Munoz and Rio.

Questions remain about whether Dom and Wirtz can play in the same midfield and I thought Nyoni was excellent again when he came on and we looked a lot more balanced with him in the side. I’m not saying either Dom or Wirtz should be picked ahead of the other, I’m just not sure they can play in the same midfield without causing an imbalance in the team. Doubts also remain on whether Kerkez is the long term answer at LB.

International break again then and there’s nothing worse than going into an international break on the back of a defeat, so at least we don’t have to contend with that but we must admit we’re still far from the finished article. We’re inconsistent and the gaffer needs to find a way to make us a more fluid attacking unit, rather than relying on set pieces or a piece of individual quality to score our goals. Overall, I’d probably score yesterday’s performance a 6/10. We got the job done but there’s still big room for improvement. Walk on!