I thought Roeder got his tactics spot on. Sibierski has done a good job for Toon this season, but he simply isn’t quick enough with the ball for this game. Playing 442 with Butt - Emre in midfield and Sibi up front with Martins would have gifted the midfield to
Chelsea and given away any chance we had to win the game.
I can’t believe how negative people are towards Parker. Have you people forgotten that Emre is a liability in a 4 man midfield. How many times have we conceded this season when he hasn’t bothered to track back or hasn’t made proper contact to get the ball and has anicipated a chance for a counter attack before he has even won the ball! He’s a risk in our midfield so Roeder’s decision to play 451 with Emre - Butt - Parker was spot on against
Chelsea. We had the midfield and had time to pass it around. We would not have created any more openings with a 442 system. Last night we had the chances and matched
Chelsea but just didn’t take our chances.
Also I don’t see how Roeder failed to react with subs as there were no substitutions to be made. As I said earlier playing Sibierski would have gifted
Chelsea the midfield. Had we had Duff, Zoggy and Owen on the bench it would have been a different matter.
After a game like that it’s a bit of a disgrace to slam Roeder and Parker. But I guess that’s something you can expect from this site or forum.
We have a bit of a problem with our centre midfield. We’ve got 3 good players at disposal but it’s hard to carve out a partnership from there. Butt is the finished article and he can play with either Emre or Parker but the latter two have to improve on their weaker sides of the game. We must get balance to our midfield.