FA Cup: v Bolton (H): Post Match Thread

[SB]

I don't get the Lalana bashing tbh. He's been in & out of the team with injuries & would benefit from an extended injury free run but he's shown enough in his time to give me great hope & optimism for his future with us. His close ball control is outstanding at times & once Sturridge is back they'll all look better IMO.

[BigChief]

I don't get the Lalana bashing tbh. He's been in & out of the team with injuries & would benefit from an extended injury free run but he's shown enough in his time to give me great hope & optimism for his future with us. His close ball control is outstanding at times & once Sturridge is back they'll all look better IMO.

The one thing you fear when returning from injury is mis-passing and putting your team into trouble, thus the extra touch(es). Its frustrating but the only way he's going to build up his confidence. He's done it before after injury and he'll do it again.

Just have to hope he stops getting injured all the time for our sakes.

[magicalbarnes]

Another thing - fans leaving the game at 88mins of a 0-0 draw????

Iv never really understood the criticism of fans leaving 5 mins early? Surely it's up to them, they've paid for they're ticket. If leaving 5 mins early ensures you avoid the traffic, and saves a hour off your journey - what's the problem?

[Venton]

Who needs strikers. Certainly not this window!

Were there really no corners?

[rudedog]

There were quite a few corners

[Trippendicular]

Iv never really understood the criticism of fans leaving 5 mins early? Surely it's up to them, they've paid for they're ticket. If leaving 5 mins early ensures you avoid the traffic, and saves a hour off your journey - what's the problem?

Because the game's not over. Olympiakos and FA Cup 2006 spring to mind.

[breffniboy]

Groaned when I saw Borini being summoned off the bench. Lambert lacks pace, we know, but he has a defter touch and an aerial presence which would have been better pressed into action in a game where we were camped on the edge of their box and just needed someone with a bit of composure in front of goal.

If we don't get a good striker in this window, someone needs dragging out and shootin. Just not by Borini, he'd miss.

[vonk]

Thought Sterling, Lallana and Coutinho were out worst performers to be honest. They saw so much of the ball and the final pass or shot was always lacking. Never seen Coutinhos passing so bad TBH. Bad day at the office. A striker will sort it.

[Exiled_red]

I didn't think that overall it was a bad performance, we created a lot of chances and if we had a decent striker we would have won that game comfortably. A fit Sturridge can't come back soon enough.

[Camble]

It was a frustrating game, especially on the occasions when we had a small window of opportunity to get a shot off in a decent area but took an extra touch or hesitated.

Bolton were setup well defensively and limited us to shots from distance.

I thought we played well but lacked that clinical finishing.


Regarding a few people having a dig at Lallana, I thought he did look rusty but it's his first start in a few weeks so he's bound to be.

Lucas is so important to us.

[danperkins]

Lucas has to be the first name on the team sheet. Regarding Lallana he is a very good player that unfortunately has been unlucky with injuries this season. He was pretty poor vs Bolton alright, slow, lethargic & took way too much out of the ball.

[TheElephantMan]

It was a decent game, like others have said we just lack that cutting edge which is understandable given that we have no strikers. The pleasing aspect is that we look solid defensively which is partly attributable to Sakho getting regular games. I know he's prone to the occasional mistake, but he only seems to make those errors when he's in recoverable positions. I can live with that, the positives far outweigh the negatives. His passing is excellent, he is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his positioning is good.

Lucas playing regularly has also improved our solidity and our speed of moving the ball forwards from the back. I'm encouraged by our recent form. We were by far the better side against Bolton, but we definitely need a striker.

[McDermotX]

To be honest, we weren't really tested defensively at all, but we still found time to encourage a couple of counters more than we should have, when the wingbacks were completely out to space, plus a bit of pinball in the box from a set-piece.
Couple of occasions the CBs lost Gudjohson in the area, but overall, we were untested through the 90mins, and why should we be ? It's not like they were a good side.

Very frustrating performance, and even though Bogdan made a couple of good saves, we really didn't directly threaten him as often as we should. Lot of good defensive work from the bodies in front of him, and it's just a shame that Sterling, Lallana and Coutinho all decided to have patchy performances.
We would have been, and should have been, out of sight really if it just clicked on a couple of occasions, but it didn't.
Can and Henderson done relatively OK, and Markovic showed intent when he came on. Rest of them were meh.

[Lee]

When is the replay chaps?

[Muddled]

I don't think it has been announced yet, but I'd have a guess at the 3rd or 4th of February.