match thread (image) [FT] Kilmarnock 1 - 2 Rangers (Arfield 16; Goldson 90+1)

[blueflag 378]

Ground our the victory in end.

Some decent footie at times, same old shit at others. 

 

Have to agree with majority Goldson is the best defender imho. 

I like katic for his row z attitude, but as has been pointed out i think, his awareness and distribution in general is poor at most times.

[Gonzo79 13,553]

It seems odd, to me, that any negative focus is on our CBs.  We have four decent CBs and our obvious problems are all further up the pitch.

[Frankie 8,136]

Just now, pete said:

Sorry if you think I am tedious but it is the way I see it. Look at 90% of balls into the box and it is Katic that clears it. I also can't help if you can't see the amount of mis-passes Goldson makes. Thursday's is one you must have missed that almost caused a goal. I agree people pass to him too often but that is another story. We all see a game different and just because you see it different from me doesn't make you right and me wrong.

90% of balls Katic clears?  Where do you get that stat from?  I mean come on, Pete...

 

I don't miss his bad passes at all and have mentioned them in at least two of my posts today.  However, he didn't make 4 bad passes in dangerous areas at Killie.  Moreover, they're often mis-placed because he's one of the few trying to break the lines when others aren't doing it.  In that sense, his distribution has improved markedly since he arrived and that should be noted too when criticising.

 

I'm not saying you're wrong and I'm right but only asking you to be fair in your analysis.   It becomes very tedious when people make up stuff up and refuse to acknowledge the other side of the debate. 

[Frankie 8,136]

3 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

It seems odd, to me, that any negative focus is on our CBs.  We have four decent CBs and our obvious problems are all further up the pitch.

It comes from one person mainly unfortunately.  It's bizarre.

[pete 2,494]

I am not the only one believe me but I don't mind being in the minority after all look at Brexit.

[MacK1950 2,226]

The discussion is all about centre backs but IMO if we are going to persist with Barisic we have a bigger problem,worst act today ---posted missing at goal.

[Frankie 8,136]

Just now, MacK1950 said:

The discussion is all about centre backs but IMO if we are going to persist with Barisic we have a bigger problem,worst act today ---posted missing at goal.

I thought Barisic did OK in the first half but didn't impose himself at all on the game after half-time.

 

He's just far too passive.  Halliday is perhaps the better option despite his faults.

[Gaffer 1,665]

20 minutes ago, Frankie said:

I thought Barisic did OK in the first half but didn't impose himself at all on the game after half-time.

 

He's just far too passive.  Halliday is perhaps the better option despite his faults.

Barisic is suffering because we'd don't have an option on that left hand side.  I fear we need a replacement for Kent and for the moment, Jones hasn't adapted enough to our system.  Barisic rarely has someone taking the defender away so he ends up having to pass it sideways or back.  We just don't have the balance in the team.  I've been talking about this for 5 games now and if I can see it, I'm hoping the management team can see it.  I really hope we can bring in someone to fill that role, but it then means that Ojo, Arfield and Docherty are all trying to grab that right hand spot.  For me, this is the root cause of our problem.  We end up then trying to push everything through the right hand side and I suspect this is why Tav ends up pushing further and further forward.  Our shape was almost completely gone by the 50th minute.

 

You'll notice that even in by 40th minute our midfield play completely broke down because Jack moved to right back.  Aribo then had to come back to help Davis build the play.  That meant they then had 5 defending players to cover Arfield, Ojo and Morelos which made it too easy for them to win it and immediately break on us.  And with Jack wide, and Tav still in their final third, we had Davis and Aribo to contend with their two attacking midfielders and Brophy.  That's why Davis and Aribo both looked shattered because they were chasing too much in outnumbered areas of the park.

 

Thankfully the management will have spotted this and are working on a plan.  The may be perservering with Arfield and Ojo to see if they can click better and support the left hand side more effectively.  Or they may be trying to bring in someone for that side.  One other option is to play with Defoe because he tends to prefer the left hand side as it allows him to cut inside and get a shot away.  I think that's why our team looks much better balanced with Defoe rather than Morelos, despite Morelos being our best player.  One thing is for sure, we will have problems until we fix this simple, yet problematic issue.  I'm just glad we are have the time to do something about it having secured the three points today.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Gaffer

[Bill 13,717]

There's little basis for criticism of Goldson who I thought had a decent enough game. Of the defenders, Barasic continues to irritate ... how many times did he receive the ball out wide in a forward position only to routinely play it backwards? The only time Barasic seems willing to plat a forward pass is when he's pithing ten yards of his own bye line. He must have so much more to contribute but doesn't look like he has the confidence meantime to give it. And our captain has yet to show any kind of form. 

 

If anything worried me it was our apparent inability to adapt and cope with Killie when they changed to a more expansive game.

[weebluedevil 1,168]

So after what looked like a really promising pre-season, the last two games have been frustrating but we’ve come away unscathed. Both pitches were slow and/or sticky and that shouldn’t be an excuse but I think partly to blame. 

 

‘Today could also have been about nerves - it seemed a very nervous display and I’m sure the players knew they needed to take the 3 points and that nothing else would be acceptable. Again, could have been why we didn’t see the flowing, fast and assured passing that we’ve seen in a few  pre-season games now that the pressure is really on. 

 

To be honest, most areas need improvement. Defensively, we were caught asleep twice, luckily they only took one chance. However,  thanks to Goodson and Katic’s efforts at the other end that we managed to scrape this one. Can’t underestimate the threat that both those guys bring at set pieces, so perhaps they  have given themselves the chance to keep their starting slots for the time being at least. 

 

We dominated the middle mostly - Davis and Jack were fairly tidy (Jack probably MOTM, but further forward we had couldn’t find any telling passes beyond two yards and out wide (if you can call it that at Rugby Park) we lacked any creativity or meaningful delivery. I did think jones looked quite lively when he came on even if his final ball still doesn’t exist.  We certainly miss Kent in games like this. I don’t recall Ojo doing very much, but Aribo is coming onto a game, getting himself into the right positions and attempting shots, hopefully he’ll have better luck next time. 

 

Fod didn’t have much much to do, but when called upon, he failed. With McGregor in goal, they wouldn’t have scored that goal IMO. 

 

Morelos did what he could with the scraps that were served to him and nearly pulled off a typical Morelos type goal. I don’t think Defoe would have fared any better today. 

 

So now that’s out of the way, I hope we settle down and just play the game we know we can - starting Thursday in Denmark. An away goal and not losing will be the key, let’s hope we have a decent performance to celebrate along with the result.