How can you take positives out of a game in which you were battered for the first 45 minutes and the result was all but confirmed by half-time?
Well, it’s a struggle but, this is as close as we’ll get.
Ryan Jack‘s back
He was the best player on the park in the second half by a country mile, incredible when you consider how long he has been out for and the type of injury he has had. This wasn’t a stroll in the park outing against lower league opposition to get him up to speed either.
Not only did he provide the key link to break Celtic’s press but he was instrumental in getting us up the park, three times he nearly played team-mates through on goal, a matter of centimetres being the difference. He wasn’t just aggressive out of possession but he showed courage when he had the ball, looking to break the lines by passing through them, too many times in the first half our midfield and full-backs would take the easy option either immediately or after taking a few touches – he could be essential for what Giovanni van Bronckhorst is trying to achieve.
Leon Balogun added a composure to our defence that has been missing, for all that Calvin Bassey has been doing ok at centre-half, you realise just how big a gap there is when someone of the Nigerian international’s ability comes on and instantly makes the team look more solid – the side effect being that Bassey improved our left-hand side going forwards too, Borna Barisic hasn’t had a poorer performance in a Light Blue shirt.
The other positive is one that we’ve known about for some time, Fashion Sakala.
What does he have to do to get a run in the team? He doesn’t get it right every time but he causes more problems than any other player we have and that includes Ryan Kent.
Kent got a lot of stick for his performance but he was far from the worst, he was also up against one of their best players in Josip Juranovic, he’s a Croatian international for a reason – at least Kent was trying to make things happen.
The one thing that Jack, Balogun and Sakala have in common is that they are positive players, they have courage, they are aggressive and they lift others around them, hopefully they can drag the rest of the team up to their level – those that get another chance that is.
The only positive for me is that, after saying for 3 years that Tavernier and Barisic are hopeless defenders…..when did you see Barisic make a face on, one to one tackle (never)……it’s now clear and out in the open!
Tavernier is excellent going forward but GvB wants him to hold his defence position? That’s like arming Ukraine with a popgun to face the Russians!!
Bassey should play at left back and with Ryan Jack back, this will help cover Tavernier’s defence frailty and allow him to go forward more.
I’ve also been saying for 3 years that Stevie G’s obsession with signing mid-fielders, at the expense of getting a really good “bang ’em in” striker in to help Morelos, would hurt us? Early this season, we had 12 midfielders for 5 spots? Ridiculous1
Roofe, Itten and Sakala are lightweights! If Morelos is away, or suspended, we don’t have much striking power.
All this had been coming for a long time…recently a lucky win at Hibs a struggling result against Hearts and a struggling second half against Ross County(?) showed the problems in defence and attack.
Thank goodness there is still time for GvB to fix things, by leaving out those who have no bottle for the fight, and the return of Jack and maybe Davis. Morelos needs to be fit and avoid suspensions, if we’re going to get back on top.