United 3 Rochdale 2 - report

[metalblade]

I mean this respectfully as I always appreciate your reports DB, but are you ever happy? I have yet to read one where you were delighted with the performance. Must be a stressful life!

Do you ever have an opinion about anything or do you just come on the forum to have digs at other posters ?

 

[Sheff de party]

Do you ever have an opinion about anything or do you just come on the forum to have digs at other posters ?

Oh come on now Metal, let's not interrupt the dizzy dance we do

I post plenty of opinions, but genuinely I have seen flies that like fly spray more than you like McCabe.

 

[Deadbat]

The Doncaster performance only a fortnight ago ; I stated how well we played. I have not been away but have not seen what I would call a convincing home performance so far. We did enough to beat Blackpool and Chesterfield and the Bury game we ought to have won but were poor at the back. We were shocking for the most part v Colchester. No hidden agenda. We are in League One still struggling to convince and other than Donny have never what I would call won convincingly. Even the wins at home have been a struggle. Not sure many other posters can disagree with that. I was not at Swindon, Peterborough when we of course apparently played well.

Its not about being happy/sad. I said it was three points and that was the main things but no one can say we ever properly controlled the game and it really could have gone either way as could Chessy/Blackpool really.

I'd love to be glowing about SUFC currently and say but we are 6th and theres lots of time but in reality we are struggling and scraping against some really poor opponents. We have not addressed the very obvious flaws in the side and don't (and haven't) look capable of stringing 5 or 6 wins together that we will need to do soon if we are serious about the top two.

 

[Deadbat]

I think the main reason McEveley was selected was to deal with Vincenti's height. Vincenti caused us (Alcock) a lot of problems last season. I also got the feeling that McEveley's confidence has taken a knock and heard the jeers from the supporters. 4/10 made me expect him to be run circles around though! That didn't happen. There was an overhit cross, a spinning ball which he miskicked, and the odd misplaced pass, nothing out of the ordinary. He wasn't much involved, like many others, in a very average first half from us. Vincenti was quiet first half, the right back down that side was substituted. I looked for the three throws straight to an opponent, but only saw one, when Done was free, but probably didn't see himself as a target and didn't come for the ball. Rather than branding McEveley rubbish I think we must at least evaluate him based on how he does in each match. It is typical that he gets blamed for the situation with Clarke vs Bury, while Wallace gets a fairer treatment after yesterday.

I would be reluctant to keep playing McEveley at left back though. I think he's lost half a yard of pace and will gradually struggle more with nippy wingers (which he didn't face yesterday). From an attacking perspective, we also need more energy and better crossing ability from our full backs than he's likely to offer. The jeers and the suffering confidence is also an issue at the moment. Like for example Lee Sandford he'll play mostly at centre half towards the end of his career. His best chance of turning fans' opinions of him lies in that position and not left back.

McEveley definitely threw it away three times. I remember two obvious ones and then one less. I certainly was not imagining it? Anyone else who was at the game?

His performance was poor I stand by that. I alluded to the crowd being on his back and at times of course people always have scapegoats. Interesting a lot of people I spoke to said 4 was generous. I really cannot recall anything much he did right. He made error after error with the ball; it was not one misplaced pass.

I will of course evaluate players game by game and judge them on performance (I praised him a lot v Colchester - re read my report as he showed some hunger that night). Sadly most of his performances this season have been poor.

I will be honest I am getting tired of people defending Howard, McEveley, Collins, Baxter, Flynn etc. These have been mainstays of a side that has been nowhere near the top 2 for the last few seasons - miles off in terms of points. Last year it was all down to Clough. Now we allegedly have a decent manager so who is to blame for the reasons we still look so poor and still look nowhere near a promotion side?

The fact we are still having debates on whether Collins, McEveley, Howard are good enough is mystifying to me. They are (amongst many others) are simply not good enough for a top two side.

 

[Deadbat]

It looks a lot more like a foul on Wallace from that angle as well.

Interesting that other than Wallace not one player complained for us. They just sort of shrugged and got on with it. Seen this a few times when there has been controversial moments and adds to the fact we completely lack leadership and characters. Doyle used to get a lot of grief but was useful in that he did have influence on the referee - don't like it but all teams have one or two. Who do we have?

 

[Bergen Blade]

McEveley definitely threw it away three times. I remember two obvious ones and then one less. I certainly was not imagining it? Anyone else who was at the game?

His performance was poor I stand by that. I alluded to the crowd being on his back and at times of course people always have scapegoats. Interesting a lot of people I spoke to said 4 was generous. I really cannot recall anything much he did right. He made error after error with the ball; it was not one misplaced pass.

I will of course evaluate players game by game and judge them on performance (I praised him a lot v Colchester - re read my report as he showed some hunger that night). Sadly most of his performances this season have been poor.

Regarding the throw ins there was another occasion when Vincenti stretched to make an interception when McEveley tried to throw it to Sharp. The third occasion you probably noticed (?) was a throw to Coutts, who lost the ball, but then won it back. So there were two throws that didn't find a teammate, let's agree that we were both wrong the first time?

McEveley didn't have a good half, but he wasn't troubled defensively. He had two chances to cross and both were disappointing. It's simply not correct to say he made error after error with the ball. He did not make many passes and wasn't very involved, apart from aerially and defending and taking throw ins. Freeman didn't get forward much on the opposite side either and that suggests to me that our full backs were instructed to hold back.

Notes:

Spoiler: All McEveley's involvements - BORING ALERT!

1 wins header

3 throw in to Scougall

3 decent cross field pass

5 good interception high up the pitch, but then tackled

6 wins header

6 good challenge/interception, found Scougall

6 neutral pass infield to Baxter

8 closing down Vincenti

8.54 Poor throw in, attempted to Done, but intercepted

9 player ran at him, poor shot

10 closing down Vincenti, who made backwards pass

11 throw in intercepted by Vincenti

12 throw in, then balooned cross

13 ran on ball , passed to Coutts, who found Done who found Scougs with cross

13 beats Vincenti in the air

14 passes back to Howard

16 throw in to Sharp

17 throw in to Sharp

19 throw in to Sharp

19 throw in to Coutts who then lost ball, but then won it back

23 Vincenti wins a flick on (think McEv also got a touch to it)

25 Long ball to Sharp who's beaten in the air

25 Throws in to Che, gets ball back, gives it back to Che with clever touch

28 Good touch giving it to Coutts. goal a bit later

30 wants throw in when Vincenti heads a ball that looked to have crossed side line

30 wins ball, gives it to Coutts

31 a dangerous cross just evades him and Vincenti (could have marked tighter?)

32 throws in to Scougall

34 throws in to Che, gets it back. Overhit cross.

37 pass to Collins

37 miskicks spinning ball, goes out for throw in.

38 heads ball to Che

38 beats Vincenti in the air

39 beats Vincenti in the air, but ball bounces backwards to Collins who nods it out of touch

41 gets a challenge/toe on the ball in the box

46 pass up to Sharp, who commits foul

48 wins header

50 gets injured when challenging a player in the box

Personally I'd have given him 5,5/10 and I'd play Wallace at left back next match.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Regarding the throw ins there was another occasion when Vincenti stretched to make an interception when McEveley tried to throw it to Sharp. The third occasion you probably noticed (?) was a throw to Coutts, who lost the ball, but then won it back. So there were two throws that didn't find a teammate, let's agree that we were both wrong the first time?

McEveley didn't have a good half, but he wasn't troubled defensively. He had two chances to cross and both were disappointing. It's simply not correct to say he made error after error with the ball. He did not make many passes and wasn't very involved, apart from aerially and defending and taking throw ins. Freeman didn't get forward much on the opposite side either and that suggests to me that our full backs were instructed to hold back.

Notes:

Spoiler: All McEveley's involvements - BORING ALERT!

1 wins header

3 throw in to Scougall

3 decent cross field pass

5 good interception high up the pitch, but then tackled

6 wins header

6 good challenge/interception, found Scougall

6 neutral pass infield to Baxter

8 closing down Vincenti

8.54 Poor throw in, attempted to Done, but intercepted

9 player ran at him, poor shot

10 closing down Vincenti, who made backwards pass

11 throw in intercepted by Vincenti

12 throw in, then balooned cross

13 ran on ball , passed to Coutts, who found Done who found Scougs with cross

13 beats Vincenti in the air

14 passes back to Howard

16 throw in to Sharp

17 throw in to Sharp

19 throw in to Sharp

19 throw in to Coutts who then lost ball, but then won it back

23 Vincenti wins a flick on (think McEv also got a touch to it)

25 Long ball to Sharp who's beaten in the air

25 Throws in to Che, gets ball back, gives it back to Che with clever touch

28 Good touch giving it to Coutts. goal a bit later

30 wants throw in when Vincenti heads a ball that looked to have crossed side line

30 wins ball, gives it to Coutts

31 a dangerous cross just evades him and Vincenti (could have marked tighter?)

32 throws in to Scougall

34 throws in to Che, gets it back. Overhit cross.

37 pass to Collins

37 miskicks spinning ball, goes out for throw in.

38 heads ball to Che

38 beats Vincenti in the air

39 beats Vincenti in the air, but ball bounces backwards to Collins who nods it out of touch

41 gets a challenge/toe on the ball in the box

46 pass up to Sharp, who commits foul

48 wins header

50 gets injured when challenging a player in the box

Personally I'd have given him 5,5/10 and I'd play Wallace at left back next match.

Really excellent stuff. Another post that might be worth a thread of its own.

I was going to do something similar for Collins...and Freeman...and Adams...and...Coutts and...

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

50 gets injured when challenging a player in the box

I think he was on crutches when he left the ground. Adkins mentioned something like that in an interview. It certainly looked bad at the time from the way he was limping. Metatarsal?

 

[Bergen Blade]

Interesting that other than Wallace not one player complained for us. They just sort of shrugged and got on with it. Seen this a few times when there has been controversial moments and adds to the fact we completely lack leadership and characters. Doyle used to get a lot of grief but was useful in that he did have influence on the referee - don't like it but all teams have one or two. Who do we have?

Thought this was a problem last season, especially so at Port Vale. When Basham tackled Brown, Brown rolled around in apparent agony while plenty of Port Vale players surrounded the ref and one (Duffy) made sure Doyle couldn't have his say. The rest just didn't get involved. I suspect there must have been a team meeting after that, because players seemed to stick up for each other more in the following games, and there was more gesticulating and talking to the ref. Maybe we need to address this again.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Interesting that other than Wallace not one player complained for us. They just sort of shrugged and got on with it. Seen this a few times when there has been controversial moments and adds to the fact we completely lack leadership and characters. Doyle used to get a lot of grief but was useful in that he did have influence on the referee - don't like it but all teams have one or two. Who do we have?

This is the captains job. The rules say (or at least they used to- I think they still do) that only the team captains are allowed to speak to the referee. Who had the armband after McEveley had gone off? Was it Bash?