Was coming the match from Liverpool. Said one hour delays as I set off at 4. So didn’t think it would be a problem.
8 hours later I’ve arrived.
Staying down here for the night at my sisters.
Listened to the game. Sounds like it could have gone either way. A well ground out point in the end.
Nine games to go and the season is still well alive. I think we’re running out of gas (for gas read players) so will come up a bit short. But these last few weeks of being in and around the business end of the table at the business end of the season has been a breath of fresh air.
If anybody can explain to me, properly, how a professional footballer fails to score a goal from that position, especially being a striker, I’d love to hear it.
It’s got a technical name but I’ll call it hazard focus because I can’t remember. You see it often in car crashes. It’s caused by people looking for the hazards near them in pressure situations. For the driver it’s a tree, a wall, a power pole, and for the footballer it’s the keeper, defender, or post, for example.
Your brain fixates on these instead of the gaps you should be aiming for, and the result is almost inevitable. I’m guessing Faal couldn’t believe what he was seeing and fell victim to this. Unfortunate really.
Every striker misses sitters: Haaland’s Miss against Man Utd was bad.
If you look at our goal, I think Faal blocks off the keeper for Rollin’s finish.
Faal is raw, gangly, clumsy and unorthodox but he is also unpredictable and spontaneous: his first goal for Walsall was a belter!
I agree that DJ could be crucial for the run in but we just need to stick together.
When we last had a good team, we were losing to Colchester (I think) when 2 late goals, including a set piece scramble from Matt Preston, helped to keep the season alive. If it was Colchester, it’s ironic who our next opponents are.
If everybody sticks together, they all have a part to play. If it doesn’t work out, it would probably be worth pushing the boat out for Draper in the summer, but until then, the players we have on our books are certainly putting a shift in and having a right good go!
Down to the bare bones, we could have won against a team who’ll at worst make the play-offs. I doubt their manager was dissatisfied with their performance. Maybe this season won’t be the year , but if not, next could be something special.
Interesting Faal went off with exhaustion ,according to Sadler. The way he went down, I thought he’d pulled a muscle.
Decent point on the balance of play but feels like 2 dropped with that miss.
Looked like Mayo was going to redeem himself but in the end showed why he is our 8th choice at cb
Without aiming to knock the player, which I’m definitely not. And also without trying to say your point has no merit which I’m also not. It is also just a lack of composure, which a lot of players have, especially at the lower levels but also higher up the leagues.
I feel as though composure is a natural ability and not that easy to coach. Faal will miss more than he scores, he has already probably missed half a dozen sitters for us. I still like him and feel there is a lot more to come from him.
Regardless of where we finish in the league, I am definitely enjoying watching Walsall now far more than I was this time last season, where I had almost lost the will to go at all. It’s also worth remembering that two teams play a football match, and Barrow were a tricky opponent.
Might be before your time, but the parallels with the start of Buckley’s second spell get closer- 82-3. People underwhelmed by the appointment, felt like the cheap option, poor start. Then things started coming together, and although not the finished article, there were matches that showed real, real promise. That promise wasn’t realised until the season after. We didn’t get promoted even then, but there weren’t play-offs then.
I have just watched the highlights, and you’re absolutely right. These things are instinct, some players have it, and some don’t. DJ does, but he can’t do it from the bench.
