Good result against a sticky team that defended deep. Big difference between today and Forest was Gakpo passing rather than Diaz going for goal himself and wasting the chance, the goal then made it easier. Gravenberch was excellent again, his pass percentage is outstanding especially considering he’s not just making easy sideways passes. As was mentioned, Allison gets injured a lot for a keeper, seems unusual. He seemed to be blaming Trent but Trent was under pressure so what else could he do with the ball. Young goalie came in and seemed assured and brought confidence back to the team. My gut tells me Allison will be out for a while.
Diaz looked completely off balance on the right side when he came on for Salah, he kept going over to the left side as that is his “trick” and on the right he seemed lost.
We are a lot more solid at the back than last year with the same players so you have to think that is a Slot improvement. Incredibly only two goals conceded in seven matches and five clean sheets. If there is one thing that stitched the whole season together so far it’s been how well Gravenberch did the job for the manager. I think clearly the most influential player so far.
On a side note, I feel Gakpo could also play the number 6 role in a crunch as he has similarities to Gravenberch’s skill set.