Semedo substitution costly and inexplicable

PeanutsMolloy

We have not had a decent tackling midfielder since Parker left and eventually it was a major contribution to relegation. How on earth did Pards figure that taking Semedo off for Thomas, leaving Reid and ZZ in cental midfield, was going to work? Having made that mistake and having survived the penalty I can't believe that he didn't get Racon on to restore the balance.

Weegie Addick

Semedo injured apparently. But still doesn't explain why he brought on show pony Thomas instead of Racon. And why on earth take big Chris off when you're chasing the game?? Pardew's proving he's lost the plot.

kigelia

if he was injured then Pards doesn't deserve as much criticism as I thought, howeverit was obvious in the first 5 mins that he had left a big hole that QPR exploited.

that lack of cover and the constant long balls in the second half made for a pretty poor 45 mins.

once again we created enough chances but never really looked to have the confidence to put any of them away.

PeanutsMolloy

[quote][cite]Posted By: Weegie Addick[/cite]Semedo injured apparently. But still doesn't explain why he brought on show pony Thomas instead of Racon. And why on earth take big Chris off when you're chasing the game?? Pardew's proving he's lost the plot.[/quote]
I like Pards but he has to take main responsibility for today's defeat. Semedo's injury explains his removal but, as you say, why not a like for like sub with Racon? Our centre halves take a lot of flak (rightly or wrongly) but they are exposed horribly without a tackling central midfielder in front of them.
Totally agree on Big Chris. Can only think that we were lumping it long and Pards wanted to remove that temptation. That's OK if Varney and Izzy are doing the biz. Both are woefully short of confidence at the moment. Will have to try Dickson if our strikers' drought continues.

kigelia

if he was injured then Pards doesn't deserve as much criticism as I thought, howeverit was obvious in the first 5 mins that he had left a big hole that QPR exploited.

that lack of cover and the constant long balls in the second half made for a pretty poor 45 mins.

once again we created enough chances but never really looked to have the confidence to put any of them away.

razil

ZZ sat much deeper in 1st half then pushed forward when supposed to be the holding player, or was i imagining it? He was very average again (looked knackered) today as were many others.

WSS

Pards has held his hands up and admitted it was a mistake.

he wanted Reid in the middle to spray balls out to Sam and JT which didnt happen.

look at the official site

Charltonparklane

Zhe was injured, if he wasnt then he is just shit.

Maybe he was sulking as he wanted to play for China tomorrow? O

AllLeftFoot

The substitution was a very positive move and you could see the logic in going out to try to win the game, but we arguably hadn't been that much in control in the first half to justify it so early.

LenGlover

Ok he was injured fair enough.

Like others I was bewildered by that substitution. Maybe Racon would have been a better choice of sub but if (big if I know) JT is "at it" he is a match winner so as the substitution was enforced I can see why Pards chose him.

PeanutsMolloy

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Reid is a decent player and works hard but he is not a midfield general or a footballing genius (which he and many on this board seem to think he is). He is very one-footed, frequently choses the wrong pass (trying to play the killer ball) and too often loses possession with his fellow midfielders ahead or wide of him waiting for his pass. The problem is that he is Ok but not brilliant playing wide and when he plays central he drops deep and demands the ball (very laudable) but he does not produce. Even worse, the rest of the midfield loses all shape. I feel sorry for ZZ who is most certainly not shit.
We will not get promoted if we continue to put Reid on a pedestal. I'm very happy with Semedo (or Racon) and ZZ in central midfield and if I had wanted to go more attacking and bring Thomas on at halftime it would have been Reid that I would have taken off. Regrettably, having made him captain, that's a ballsy call.

Nug

I'd like to see ZZ on the ball more often too, I don't get the criticism of him, he's working hard but we are definitely putting all our eggs in one basket. Reid is a good player and I like him a lot but he's not a world beater and can be snuffed out of games by a decent opponent. Let's be honest he has zero pace to get away from players in tight situations. We need some other options apart from reid and the long ball, not convinced big Chris is great at that game either.

LenGlover

[cite]Posted By: PeanutsMolloy[/cite]I've said it before and I'll say it again, Reid is a decent player and works hard but he is not a midfield general or a footballing genius (which he and many on this board seem to think he is). He is very one-footed, frequently choses the wrong pass (trying to play the killer ball) and too often loses possession with his fellow midfielders ahead or wide of him waiting for his pass. The problem is that he is Ok but not brilliant playing wide and when he plays central he drops deep and demands the ball (very laudable) but he does not produce. Even worse, the rest of the midfield loses all shape. I feel sorry for ZZ who is most certainly not shit.
We will not get promoted if we continue to put Reid on a pedestal. I'm very happy with Semedo (or Racon) and ZZ in central midfield and if I had wanted to go more attacking and bring Thomas on at halftime it would have been Reid that I would have taken off. Regrettably, having made him captain, that's a ballsy call.

My daughter and I said much the same at the game. Sacrilege I know!

LargeAddick

Semedo WASN'T injured. Pards has said it was tactical and it backfired.

jac52

bringing thomas on was the right thing in my opinion but it should of been at zheng's expense. A midfield 4 with zheng and reid in the middle will always get dominated, cant believe pards couldnt see that.

oohaahmortimer

how many people would have replaced semedo with thomas rather than racon, about as many as would have replaced toddy with mcClown the other night , 2 very bad decisions but it's ok pardew's apologised .
well as long as he continues to apologise that's ok , i bet dowie wished he apologised then he might still be here ffs

Barn Door Varney

In fairness a few people were suggesting a midfield of Sam, ZZ, Reid and Thomas on Friday.

Oggy Red

We really need a physically strong player somewhere in centre mid for this division.

Stick Danny Mills there.....(!)

;o)

Weegie Addick

[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]Semedo WASN'T injured. Pards has said it was tactical and it backfired.

A criminal decision. Harford singled it out afterwards as the turning point as it gave them so much more space - and they had the nous to capitalise on it. Why couldn't Pardew see that 10-15 mins into the second half and do something about it, like bring Racon on for Reid or Sam and tighten things up??

When you're on a poor run, first things first you make sure you don't concede - it may not be pretty, but if we'd ground out a 0-0 from a fair share of possession, we'd be bemoaning our luck rather than berating everyone this morning. (There's even a chance we'd have sneaked one in the last 5-10 mins.) As it was we were totally outplayed for the whole of the second half by a team bottom of the table!! And now the manager apologies!!!!

TEL

Not a bad suggestion at all.....as long as he was in the middle. I think he would naturally tend to wander out to the wing unfortunately