Undeserved, but Accepted Nonetheless

Be honest. After Dele equalised on an attack that was one of the few which exposed Wycombe for being the League Two side that they are you were rooting for either team to score. I know I was. The Wanderers had already made their statement; Poch had made his with a totally different side than the one competing for league honours—so what would be the point of another game? To our lads’ credit they kept at it—Janssen could easily have won it two minutes earlier on the header, and then Son got very lucky but one can say he made his luck.

So we advance. There’s not much more to say. All the cat-calling about various forwards is pretty pointless—truth is that the combination of Son, Sissoko, Nkoudou and Onomah had never played together, other than training, so why wouldn’t we expect them to struggle? Carter-Vickers was probably the most painful experience of the day—he’s only a kid and this was probably an important learning experience. Wimmer continues to disappoint and Dier is simply not a quality central defender when he doesn’t have Alderweireld and Vertonghen alongside. Let’s hope that Trippier isn’t lost for a month—Kyle will need some rest with the congested fixture list ahead.

Truth is they seemed disinterested at the start—Wycombe could easily have taken the lead in the first minute. The first goal was a slap on one cheek; the penalty and second hit the other cheek, and from that point on, there’s little to complain about. Aggression was rewarded on Son’s first goal; Janssen’s hard work earned a penalty for the second (and we were fortunate to dodge a second Wycombe spot kick just before); playing ten men and driving for the winner was bound to open up the defence for a counter—it did and tip your hat to Wycombe for a marvelous third. But Dele is a stone killer and one poor clearance was all he needed to level.

I’d like to see a tougher draw for the round of 16. It might force a better performance out of whatever XI play. Maybe we’ll get Lincoln at home; or maybe we’ll get City or Chelsea away. But the truth is Poch won’t, and shouldn’t, make this competition a priority. We are entering a period in the league when we could easily put a long winning string together—even the toughest fixture—at Anfield in two weeks—appears much less daunting given the Merseyside wreck since New Year’s Klopp is confronting. The toughest call may be the shape—Dier can’t play every game which means at some point Poch may have to abandon the three in back approach within the League as he did today.

The entertainment value was high today. And somehow we won. Time to move on. Bigger tests await

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