Today was not a technical masterclass in football and I don't think many people expected it to be. How many derby matches in recent memory have been? Even the 4-1 away from home a few seasons back was a scrappy affair, as was the 3-2 home fixture in the same season. For me, derby day is a tense experience for both sides where the match is played in a very different atmosphere and a weight of expectation is thrust onto the shoulders of the players. Making mistakes can ruin reputations, while excellent performances can create new heroes.
The unchanged formation is a nice show of stability but I still feel there are cracks being papered over and at least two players in the starting eleven can be considered virtual passengers. While he contributed the fantastic cross, for Michael Owen's opener, Geremi actually does very little. From the dead ball situation he is quite simple a dud. He can't beat the first man and hasn't shown any sign of adapting his technique to change that fact. We are getting plenty of corners at the moment and 9/10 don't yield an opportunity for anyone as the ball never gets into the 'danger zone'. Worse, Geremi really doesn't have the legs. He plunders around on the right hand side of midfield and never really gets forward. Habib Beye often has to play the ball into Geremi and continue on by him down the touchline. When Geremi offers support it is always from around 30 yards out as a backwards pass. The only real positive is that he's always available to defend because he rarely ventures forward enough to go missing. It's sort of like Beckham in a way, but without the final ball or set play ability. We desperately need to look at another option before we start getting caught out. Perhaps, in the short term, Milner?
The other man who I feel needs to be highlighted is Mark Viduka. I admit that I like the Aussie and I'm an admirer of his quick feet and ability to link up the play by holding onto the ball and engaging in neat little interchanges with the other strikers. However his mobility and lack of interest is becoming a massive problem. First of all he won't go for an aerial ball. He seems content on backing into the defender and not leaving the ground in the hope that he'll win freekicks. Unfortunately he isn't getting the freekicks and in the process the opposition defender is gifted a free header. I can understand he likes the ball at his feet but even when it arrives there he isn't producing enough. He doesn't offer himself up as an outlet to hold onto the ball and late in the game that is what we need from him. I think a lot of his negative qualities were amplified by the arrival of Carroll who was desperate to get stuck in. Carroll was able to compete in the air, had plenty of pace about him and looked as though he has a decent first touch. I don't know enough about the lad to comment but I'd like to see what he can do in and around the box and how well he can link up with Martins and Owen.
I'm still a little concerned by Butt and Barton as well. Great players without the ball, very committed and brilliant at breaking up the play, but both guys seem to struggle a little to create anything with the ball. Some of the passes they attempt show that they have the vision but often the end product displays a lack of quality to match the foresight. Barton is criminal (no pun intended) for getting caught in possession. He tends to be slower on the ball and can often walk himself into trouble. Several times he tried to scramble the ball away in areas that could have resulted in us being punished. Butt is the opposite. He treats the ball like a hot potato and is desperate to offload it as soon as he can. There are times where I wish he'd take the time to control the ball and then move it on, instead of trying volleyed passes and first time knock ons that cost us possession. It's hard to criticise either player though as they both put in a good shift. I feel my criticism is aimed more at the fact we have two guys doing the same job as well as Geremi who contributes little going forward. We need a little more variety at times and unfortunately looking at our bench it's not something we have available.
Habib Beye was once again superb. He does all the work up and down the right channel and makes some critical challenges. I can't recall us ever having a right back of this sort of quality. I'm enjoying the fact he often manages to get himself so far forward that he ends up in the opposition penalty area, but is always able to get himself back to cover his position. He never looked under threat today and with Geremi playing so deep, between them they did a good job of holding down the right side of the park against attack in the second half. Across the back line it was good in general, although Kenwyne Jone caused a good few problems. Jones is a player I like and he won everything in the air against Faye, who normally dominates aerial battles. The problem Jones has is that he gets little support and a lot of his work is fruitless as his teammates seem unable to read the play. The big lad was unlucky not to find himself on the scoresheet and all credit goes to Stevie Harper in between the sticks for pulling off a save of the highest class. I reckon Jones will be on his way to a bigger club sometime in the next year or so. Perhaps not a big four side but somewhere he'll get more chances and be able to show his quality.
Not sure what was up with Martins today. He had a good chance to put the game to bed in the second half just before he was substituted. When he was pulled off, much to my bemusement as Viduka was still strutting around, he looked as though he was rather upset with Keegan. I think Oba is taking his passion to heart and overreacting a little. I get the impression he loves the club and rightly feels he can make a difference but he has to remember that Keegan and several other players have deep connections with the club and surrounding area as well. He has to learn to play the team game, do his part and accept the decisions being made. Nobody was upset with his performance today and he should take that as the first positive. He should also try to understand what Keegan was thinking at the time. We were under the cosh as Sunderland were starting to play a bit more in our half. Keegan decided to sacrifice a striker and drop back into a 4-4-2 formation with Michael Owen being relieved of any midfield duties. Duff was put in to add a little balance to the midfield, with the idea being that Viduka would make himself available up top to kick the ball out to. If he could hold it then we could slowly work ourselves out from the back and relieve some of the pressure. Unfortuantely it didn't work quite so well as Owen and Duff were both guilty of giving the ball away and Viduka didn't do the job as expected. Keegan seemed to notice this and was right to remove Viduka at that point for a fresher set of legs. I'm surprised Smith didn't appear as he is just the type to go chasing down every long ball, but Carroll came on and did the same. A good tactical move and one that makes a lot of sense from my perspective. Perhaps a show of managerial maturity from Keegan since his last spell here. A real understanding that at 2-0 we are in a comfortable position and there is no need to go for the throat and risk losing everything.
New penalty taker required? No matter how deadly Owen is from open play I just don't get the impression his penalty kicks worry anyone. Martins and Barton have both had a go and looked suspect as well. Geremi seems to botch every set play he touches so I'd not put money on him scoring either. Maybe our new creative midfielder/corner taker that Keegan buys over the summer will take the spot kicks too.
Special mention to Habib Beye and Steven Taylor. Both lads came over to the Strawberry Corner at the end of the match to applaud the fans. Beye took off his shirt and climbed into the crowd to give it to a kid near the front. Taylor took off his, waved it about on the corner flag for a bit and did the same as Beye. It shows a great deal of class on the part of both players and develops a connection between them and the fans.
At the end of the day it's another three points on the board, mathematical safety secured, local bragging rights in the bag and was a fantastic day out. With three games to go perhaps we could continue this little run into the end of season despite all of our final fixtures being rather tough. Any further indication to Ashley would hopefully sway him towards putting up plenty money for Keegan to look into some of the worries I've highlighted over the last few games by strengthening the squad.
This week I've added some 'bonus' material for everyone to get their teeth into.
A couple of random photos I took:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094983&l=5d7ba&id=37108339Prematch video from where I sit. Should give everyone a good feel for the atmosphere.
http://www.bebo.com/FlashBox.jsp?FlashBoxId=6435469037&FlashViewType=Personal&MemberId=5089553055Please excuse the size and quality of the video. It was taken from a 2megapixel camera phone as a last minute idea. If you can't see any of the above, then give me a shout and I'll sort it out. There are also further clips displaying the atmosphere during the game available. If you want to view them, then drop me a line and I'll upload them.
Author
