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KARL WATSON'S
BIG MOUTH - AWAY DAY BLUES 15-9-08
Karl Watson
After eighty minutes played at Fratton Park, I thought to myself that I would have been disappointed with a point, especially after Mido fired us in front.
However, I had also said the exact same thing at Anfield and two minutes later, Portsmouth duly obliged.
It left me with that sickly feeling in my stomach once again, making me wonder why I had been so silly to think that a draw would have been a bad result.
Is this going to be a continuing trend this season?
This is by no means a criticism on Gareth Southgate. However, if that had been Steve McClaren in charge, we probably would have shut up shop and went on to hold on to a one goal lead.
This means that I feel we are in danger of becoming casualties of our own success.
Going to attack teams and score goals is one thing but getting a result is another.
Stoke have now scored three goals in two games, however in both they came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
There will come times when attacking teams is not the answer to getting results. A point would have been a good result on Saturday and although we can take many positives from this game, Arsenal provide the evidence that titles can be won by winning one-nil every week.
I have seen few signs that we are capable of keeping teams out. At the moment, we are doing well to score more than the opposition and there are positives that can be taken out of scoring in away games.
However, not winning an away game since last December suggests that we’d all prefer a one-nil dull win away from home rather than a 4-3 loss. Or is that just me?
I don’t feel we are the type of fans or club that expects to win in a certain way. Perhaps the term ‘value for money’ springs to mind. The reason why I say this is because despite the dull football that was played under Steve McClaren, we did generate good results at times.
Yet now I feel we are in danger of playing attractive and exciting football (and playing well in the process), but conceding goals at the other end and losing games.
We may be getting closer to winning away from home and perhaps the Sunderland game will either back up or quash this theory.
They don’t have the likes of Defoe and Crouch who can punish a team at any given moment but this will be a real test of whether or not we can defend and whether or not we can get results on our travels.
However would we not all prefer to win the game, rather than play well?
Although I do not feel we are in danger of falling into a relegation battle, if we want to finish in the top half then we are going to have to pick up points away from home.
Portsmouth are a side we need to mirror. Last season they built up their success by defending well and winning a lot of games on the road.
A few of the sides with which we are competing have already lost home games. With our home record reading 100%, our away form may be vital in shaping our season. Although we are unlikely to keep this home record up, the confidence we can gain from our home results will be reflected in the away ones.
But do we have the depth to win well away from home? Having Aliadiere and Downing on the wings does provide us with good attacking outlets, however their defending is somewhat suspect. I can now understand why George Boateng or Lee Cattermole were often deployed as make-shift wingers.
However, we need to eradicate some of the silly goals we concede, particularly as these often point to a lack of concentration.
Statistics clearly show we are at our most vulnerable at the beginning and the end of each half, and out of the six goals we have conceded this season, four have been conceded within the last six minutes of the game.
I hope we do not reflect on this come the end of the season in vein.
The goals that Defoe scored were taken well. I do not want to be critical on every goal we concede but Ross Turnbull should not have been beaten at his near post.
As for the second goal, the defence just looked unorganised, a trait that I thought had been eradicated weeks ago. Wonder goals we cannot account for but I do feel that it's possible as a unit to stop the likes of Defoe who has that extra half a yard in pace and skill.
It's too easy to come out with ifs and buts but we have bossed every game in which we have played this season and have only won half of them.
Two seasons ago we would not have dreamed of scoring at the likes of Liverpool and Portsmouth and there are already signs to show that Southgate’s attacking approach is paying off in terms of goals.
However, I would like to see our attitude and style change as games progress.
Obviously we are not Chelsea or Manchester United and we cannot and do not expect to win every single game. But surely once we take the lead, we should be professional enough and have the ability to see the game out.
I do not suggest we park the bus in front the goal after we score, or run the ball into the corner flag after twenty minutes, but you will rarely see any of the top four sides surrender their lead.
I do not want to be positive after a win and negative after a defeat and we must look at the bigger picture.
I feel it shows that we are just a little bit short of the likes of Pompey and Europe through the League may just be a little bit too much for us this season.
If we are honest, Pompey created enough chances to win two games and their win was probably justified.
However for any side to jump from thirteenth to sixth is completely unrealistic, unless there are unlimited funds at the helm.
Steady progress must be our main goal for this season and I do feel we are going in the right direction. However, we can make further progress in a short space of time if we can hang on to leads we have worked so hard for.
Last season we were all frustrated at the amount of times we gave teams head starts. We were unable to get our feet back in the game and ultimately we lost a lot of points because of this.
Now we are finally showing that we have the ability to strike first and we must start to take advantage of this.
However, my main worries now turn to foreign billionaires. With teams such as Everton and Portsmouth verbally crying out for a foreign investor to take them over and propel them to the next level, will we find ourselves unable to compete with these sides in twelve months time?
Already being eighteen months behind Portsmouth doesn’t help.
BACK TO THE KARL WATSON'S
BIG MOUTH INDEX
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