I know our Pompey world is once again collapsing around our ears, but i thought i would take 5 mins to write about how the team is doing on the pitch after re-watching it on TV yesterday (yes i know).
The performance at Blackpool was quality, against a team who were undefeated in 8 games who hadn't been beaten at home since October. Erik and Marko seem to be a good combination up front save for Erik's finishing.
There is still room for improvement in the team, despite the tiny resources available to us. Halford does not seem to be able to contribute as much going forward at present, i dont know if this about his switch to the left or perhaps Appleton has asked the full-backs to sit back a little more, especially away. I dont know if Lawrence is best utilised in the middle of the park. Actually i wonder if he would be best placed behind the frontman, but Erik seems to be doing this well at present. When / if Norris and Varney get back to full fitness Norris can come into midfield and then i would personally put Lawrence out wide in place of Ward who i am still not entirely convinced by. Varney can then compete for Erik and Kelvins place.
The defence has been threatening to be a solid unit all season, Pompey have only conceded more than one goal once since November. We have the joint second best home defence in the league (10 goals in 13 games) the team is in good shape.
I did not think Blackpool looked bad, especially in the first 20 mins. Lualua (who it was great to see) looked sparky, although he may have slightly been defeated by the bobbly pitch. They had a good shape, but we created at least 4 goals scoring opportunities, which must have been concerning. I felt they were saved by a great freekick. During the game the Blackpool fans seemed to be getting on the back of the referee, i dont think he had an awful game. Rewatching it he made one bad error in the middle of the pitch by giving LuaLua an advantage and not pulling it back when the advantage did not develop but other than that i thought Blackpool fans were scapegoating him in lieu of a positive performance from their team.
A great deal has been written about the fans on the night who were fantastic. I genuinely think Pompey fans are among the best in the country. However I think even Pompey fans were struggling to get behind the club because of the number of times we have been hit by events off the pitch. But in Appleton the team are bringing some pride, the refusal of some of our best young players to leave and our backs properly against the wall it looks like the fans are rallying behind the call.
An evening game against a team who failed to take our team apart, a couple of days after a good away performance from the fans? Stockport mark two anyone.
PLAY UP POMPEY
The performance at Blackpool was quality, against a team who were undefeated in 8 games who hadn't been beaten at home since October. Erik and Marko seem to be a good combination up front save for Erik's finishing.
There is still room for improvement in the team, despite the tiny resources available to us. Halford does not seem to be able to contribute as much going forward at present, i dont know if this about his switch to the left or perhaps Appleton has asked the full-backs to sit back a little more, especially away. I dont know if Lawrence is best utilised in the middle of the park. Actually i wonder if he would be best placed behind the frontman, but Erik seems to be doing this well at present. When / if Norris and Varney get back to full fitness Norris can come into midfield and then i would personally put Lawrence out wide in place of Ward who i am still not entirely convinced by. Varney can then compete for Erik and Kelvins place.
The defence has been threatening to be a solid unit all season, Pompey have only conceded more than one goal once since November. We have the joint second best home defence in the league (10 goals in 13 games) the team is in good shape.
I did not think Blackpool looked bad, especially in the first 20 mins. Lualua (who it was great to see) looked sparky, although he may have slightly been defeated by the bobbly pitch. They had a good shape, but we created at least 4 goals scoring opportunities, which must have been concerning. I felt they were saved by a great freekick. During the game the Blackpool fans seemed to be getting on the back of the referee, i dont think he had an awful game. Rewatching it he made one bad error in the middle of the pitch by giving LuaLua an advantage and not pulling it back when the advantage did not develop but other than that i thought Blackpool fans were scapegoating him in lieu of a positive performance from their team.
A great deal has been written about the fans on the night who were fantastic. I genuinely think Pompey fans are among the best in the country. However I think even Pompey fans were struggling to get behind the club because of the number of times we have been hit by events off the pitch. But in Appleton the team are bringing some pride, the refusal of some of our best young players to leave and our backs properly against the wall it looks like the fans are rallying behind the call.
An evening game against a team who failed to take our team apart, a couple of days after a good away performance from the fans? Stockport mark two anyone.
PLAY UP POMPEY
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