Thought the 4-1-4-1 looked surprisingly OK in the first half. It was actually buoying to see us respond to issues. We generally rely on width from our full backs but we get punished when we lose the ball with them pushed high up the pitch, so adding real width in misfield and allowing our full backs to stay at home wasn't a bad shout at all. We dealt with their pacy forwards quite well and dominated possession, but a soft couple of goals left us up shit creek and then Villa's departure at half time left us without the proverbial paddle.
I can't really figure out why Pirlo came off, as he was actually putting in a decent defensive shift and we were getting the ball through midfield. Lamps was looking a little ragged, but after they both went off it was essentially Route 1 football, which had an immediate impact via the penalty call but was never really going to get us the 3 points against a team that had a lead and the energy to defend it. Mix looked far more at home in the centre of the park, but Poku was completely lost. The only reason for the change that I can think of is that Kreis wanted to continue to make a point to his older players, but maybe I'm just seeing it that way because he's appeared to lurch into such pettiness and vindictiveness recently.
The only positive that comes to mind so far is that we don't have to wait too long for another chance to see the team in action, but it doesn't feel like we're closer to settling on a system or having any kind of fluency. With Villa possibly out next game, it's looking pretty dire.