jscotty1
Well-Known Member
So, let's begin with the first half. First 15/20 minutes we applied a high block that seemed to be working very effectively, Lee Wallace able to get a snapshot away on the 7th min due to us recovering the ball on the edge of their box (albeit this lead to his injury).
This high block paid dividends for us as Josh Windass took the ball inside and drove forward with his goal-bound shot being blocked by a thistle defender, Ryan Jack instrumental here as an enforcer of the high block and winning the ball back and then gaining an assist as he set-up Morelos for a fantastic finish.
Pedro deserves plaudits for this, this is his instruction to the team and it is working - not only in this game.
31st minute we should score again, Morelos wins the ball back (again!), promising break forward by Windass however he makes a poor decision with his pass. He could have slipped Dorrans through for a 1v1 or Miller out wide who would have been able to drive the ball across the box. That being said the ball works its way back to Windass who is unlucky with his shot heading toward the goal blocked by the arm of a thistle defender.
33rd minute - Stonewall red card stamp on Jack (despite McCoists best efforts to downplay it) - would've had a huge influence on the game at this stage.
41st minute - Excellent driving run from Tav down the right wing, fires the ball across and Windass making a fantastic fast burst into the box fluffs it slightly - unlucky but a good chance created none the less. So, despite not playing our best we dominated the first half and could have expected to have scored 2 goals. Not bad.
The problems though begin with the start of the second half, albeit in the first minute of it, we create another great chance. Exquisite long range diagonal pass from Windass on to Tav's feet, he drives inside and lays off to Candeias who is very wasteful from 13 yards (with no pressure on him).
51st minute - Poor from Candeias in the midfield to give away the ball, even worse defending from Alves and Cardoso by not attacking the high ball and allowing it to bounce, Cardoso then gives away a stupid foul. Even more frustrating is that Alves completely sells the jersey in the wall, if he stands still it smacks off him and away, but inexplicably he moves to the side actually veering in front of another Gers man in the wall, gifting Thistle an undeserved goal. Not what you expect from a guy with 90 odd caps for Portugal.
59th minute - Horrific defending again gifting Thistle a goal. Not sure who is most to blame for this, Alves and Cardoso attempt an out of sync offside trap, Tav is not aware of this and plays Spittal onside, that being said the whole defence then stops. TWO thistle players who are initially behind Tav burst past him at the back post (sound familiar - Tynecastle last year?) and are both queuing up for a tap in. This is simply not good enough. Pedro will have been furious, we've never tried an offside trap like that before, so I can only assume it was a spur of the moment poor decision from Alves and Cardoso.
65th minute - good move forward on the left, excellent hanging ball played in by Candeias, perhaps Peña and Morelos get in each others way. That type of cross would've been perfect for Herrera.
66th minute - Stonewall red card given. Thistles shape changes from this point on, back 5 now established.
76th minute - Dorrans with an outstanding goal. More like it from him, hope he builds on this. Just a note here to say that we're scoring more goals with midfielders this year, such an improvement on last year where almost no goals/assists were coming from midfield.
77th minute - Here is where we see Peña at his best, John on the left whips in a ball as Peña makes a late run into the box and his first time shot is unlucky to head straight at the keeper. More of this from him is required as it will pay off!
84th minute - Two excellent pieces of play, Tav driving into the box and cross blocked by a thistle player, Candeias then whips in a great ball that is clawed away by the keeper, on another day both could be assists for goals.
88th minute - Tav with a world class delivery from deep into Morelos, god only knows why he didn't try to head this, looks like he tries to chest this. Again, another fantastic opportunity spurned.
92nd minute - ball played in to Morelos who hits a shot, the Thistle defenders then sit on top of the ball - Iv tried to find rules regarding this but I think that it should have been an in-direct free kick for us as it is impossible for us to play the ball, ref bottles it and somehow gives the decision the other way.
Overall
Our defence is to blame for last nights result, no doubt about it. Two ridiculous errors against a limited Thistle side who possessed no threat aside from the goals.
Our attacking play was good. We created numerous chances to score and fluffed our lines on occasion. On another day we would have scored 3/4. This is a huge improvement on last season where in games like this we wouldn't create anywhere near the amount of chances we did. Believe it or not, the stats show that the more we play through Windass the more dangerous we are.
My biggest disappointment last night was the performance of Alves and the fact we were only able to get Morelos one clear shot at goal once in the match.
We are on the right track bears, it just needs time. I know that we are not the most patient set of fans (myself included) but to blame last night on the manager is short-sighted. The only criticism of him is playing Miller. Chopping and changing managers is not going to solve our problems, we have made huge strides and we will continue to do so, it is evident from our play we are much more of a threat going forward. Keep the faith!
This high block paid dividends for us as Josh Windass took the ball inside and drove forward with his goal-bound shot being blocked by a thistle defender, Ryan Jack instrumental here as an enforcer of the high block and winning the ball back and then gaining an assist as he set-up Morelos for a fantastic finish.
Pedro deserves plaudits for this, this is his instruction to the team and it is working - not only in this game.
31st minute we should score again, Morelos wins the ball back (again!), promising break forward by Windass however he makes a poor decision with his pass. He could have slipped Dorrans through for a 1v1 or Miller out wide who would have been able to drive the ball across the box. That being said the ball works its way back to Windass who is unlucky with his shot heading toward the goal blocked by the arm of a thistle defender.
33rd minute - Stonewall red card stamp on Jack (despite McCoists best efforts to downplay it) - would've had a huge influence on the game at this stage.
41st minute - Excellent driving run from Tav down the right wing, fires the ball across and Windass making a fantastic fast burst into the box fluffs it slightly - unlucky but a good chance created none the less. So, despite not playing our best we dominated the first half and could have expected to have scored 2 goals. Not bad.
The problems though begin with the start of the second half, albeit in the first minute of it, we create another great chance. Exquisite long range diagonal pass from Windass on to Tav's feet, he drives inside and lays off to Candeias who is very wasteful from 13 yards (with no pressure on him).
51st minute - Poor from Candeias in the midfield to give away the ball, even worse defending from Alves and Cardoso by not attacking the high ball and allowing it to bounce, Cardoso then gives away a stupid foul. Even more frustrating is that Alves completely sells the jersey in the wall, if he stands still it smacks off him and away, but inexplicably he moves to the side actually veering in front of another Gers man in the wall, gifting Thistle an undeserved goal. Not what you expect from a guy with 90 odd caps for Portugal.
59th minute - Horrific defending again gifting Thistle a goal. Not sure who is most to blame for this, Alves and Cardoso attempt an out of sync offside trap, Tav is not aware of this and plays Spittal onside, that being said the whole defence then stops. TWO thistle players who are initially behind Tav burst past him at the back post (sound familiar - Tynecastle last year?) and are both queuing up for a tap in. This is simply not good enough. Pedro will have been furious, we've never tried an offside trap like that before, so I can only assume it was a spur of the moment poor decision from Alves and Cardoso.
65th minute - good move forward on the left, excellent hanging ball played in by Candeias, perhaps Peña and Morelos get in each others way. That type of cross would've been perfect for Herrera.
66th minute - Stonewall red card given. Thistles shape changes from this point on, back 5 now established.
76th minute - Dorrans with an outstanding goal. More like it from him, hope he builds on this. Just a note here to say that we're scoring more goals with midfielders this year, such an improvement on last year where almost no goals/assists were coming from midfield.
77th minute - Here is where we see Peña at his best, John on the left whips in a ball as Peña makes a late run into the box and his first time shot is unlucky to head straight at the keeper. More of this from him is required as it will pay off!
84th minute - Two excellent pieces of play, Tav driving into the box and cross blocked by a thistle player, Candeias then whips in a great ball that is clawed away by the keeper, on another day both could be assists for goals.
88th minute - Tav with a world class delivery from deep into Morelos, god only knows why he didn't try to head this, looks like he tries to chest this. Again, another fantastic opportunity spurned.
92nd minute - ball played in to Morelos who hits a shot, the Thistle defenders then sit on top of the ball - Iv tried to find rules regarding this but I think that it should have been an in-direct free kick for us as it is impossible for us to play the ball, ref bottles it and somehow gives the decision the other way.
Overall
Our defence is to blame for last nights result, no doubt about it. Two ridiculous errors against a limited Thistle side who possessed no threat aside from the goals.
Our attacking play was good. We created numerous chances to score and fluffed our lines on occasion. On another day we would have scored 3/4. This is a huge improvement on last season where in games like this we wouldn't create anywhere near the amount of chances we did. Believe it or not, the stats show that the more we play through Windass the more dangerous we are.
My biggest disappointment last night was the performance of Alves and the fact we were only able to get Morelos one clear shot at goal once in the match.
We are on the right track bears, it just needs time. I know that we are not the most patient set of fans (myself included) but to blame last night on the manager is short-sighted. The only criticism of him is playing Miller. Chopping and changing managers is not going to solve our problems, we have made huge strides and we will continue to do so, it is evident from our play we are much more of a threat going forward. Keep the faith!
