Weird game. First half the Midfield were terrible for us - never really offered an outlet for our defenders and when they did get it, it was either miscontrolled or the pass was poor. Semedo, Silva and Ameobi were really poor, whilst Watson wasn’t in the game enough to do anything.
With that being said, I couldn’t help but admire Charlton - I thought they were absolute class in that first half. Slick, concise passing and always forward. They also had players comfortable on the ball, making runs and aiming to beat a man. We of course contributed to that by being slow and showing a lack of authority, but they were good!
Second half was much better, they were never going to be able to continue that level of performance - it just doesn’t happen in this league and we managed to find a few gaps, which whilst didn’t mean we created anything, at least tipped the balance of play.
Bostock came on, added an air of calm and created space. I thought Worrall and Dawson were absolutely outstanding - not a foot wrong! Great partnership they’re making and have confidence to those infront of them second half.
Also a big fan of Jenkinson - get up and down the pitch and clearly offers us an outlet on that right side.
My concern actually is Grabban. He’s a great poacher no doubt, but honestly he just isn’t a threat anywhere out side the penalty area. He’s too slow and when we broke with him and Mir, you knew there was no danger of Grabban scoring. He clearly doesn’t possess that magic that you need sometimes to produce something a bit more special. Don’t get me wrong, he gets us goals and I’m not saying he’s no good or isn’t of use, but we’re in dire need of a pacey, more skillful option upfront if chances are rare - someone who latches on to a lose ball and beats a man and finishes from 20 yards - Grabban just can’t do that, which means unless we create something clear cut for the last man, he aren’t scoring.
Overall, we were pretty average but positive for me is that we look a great defensive unit and once (hopefully) the manager realizes that Bostock is a better option than Watson and we link the attacking mids with Grabban, when carvalho is back, we might be decent. We actually play quite nice football - it just requires more understanding, getting closer to Grabban and a tad more pace. Let’s see how we go over September I say!