I didn't think we were good first half, I just thought they were truly awful

And to be frank, they only stepped it up from truly awful to awful in the second half. They didn't even make it anywhere near to being decent. Unfortunately, that proved too much for us, as we had slipped down to their level.

Although we have been inconsistent this season, as you rightly say, there have been some themes that have cut across everything we've done:

1. Giving away so many chances

2. Not creating enough chances of our own

In Wagner's first couple of league games, we disguised deficiency number 1 by being aggressive in attack and creating more, however, as we've moved back towards Wagner's preferred approach of controlling games, both deficiencies have become apparent again.

Our defenders have been poor, but I think the real issue is midfield. We're playing so many players out of position, Kenny is not Pirlo. He's ever been comfortable in that deep holding role. Sarge is not a winger, nor is Idah, nor is Pukki. Sara is looking good now, but Nunez hasn't added much. Sorensen is ok, but again, he's not comfortable enough on the ball to do the "Skipp" role.

If we only have enough cash to deal with one problem area this summer, it's got to be midfield. Without that being sorted, we'll keep giving away soft chances trying to play it out (as the defenders don't have good options and drop deeper and deeper) and we still won't create anything. No point having Mbappe upfront and Varane in defence if we still have the same midfield imbalance.

Posted By: SimonOTBC, Mar 16, 09:11:21