Brief thoughts on last night

[cooperblade]

First half was totally nondescript. One Walsall header off the line and that was about it. We were very direct due, probably, in equal measures to the personnel available, a lack of confidence and the pitch.

The second half was a mixture of them scoring pretty much every time they went forward (other than one amazing miss) and us playing well in short bursts around our goals.

The good was the attacking tempo we achieved, the pressure we put Walsall under and Evans superb quality and workrate. The bad was that we didn't keep that pressure, tempo and passing up consistently enough through the half. The ugly was our defending.

Simo - maybe could've come and helped Hill for the 2nd but hard to tell from so far away.

Ertl - just got worse and worse as the game went on. He's not a right back for me, particularly in a set up where overlapping is so important. Easy with hindsight but wouldn't leaving him at centre back have meant fewer disruptions and given Egan more help.

Taylor - think he's come back well so far. Wilson's style of play suits him and, although we've conceded 6 goals(!), I think he's been pretty steady. Not worried about him having to play regularly providing his fitness holds up.

Egan - looks to have good attributes. Won his headers, passed it OK. Incredibly difficult for him to be thrown in last night.

Hill - defended OK in the first half. Bad error for the 2nd and was probably the biggest guilty party in terms of knocking it long.

Flynn - worked hard, got round the back a couple of times and I was surprised he got withdrawn near the end.

Quinn - made quite a few frustrating errors which surrended/wasted good positions

Doyle - think he's done OK in McDonald's absence although he didn't have the best first half.

Williamson - good to see him on the scoresheet again. Great return from him this season. Probably needed him to get involved a bit more.

Cresswell - looked a yard of the pace (some will say again). If Wilson wants to go with a big man, and as I've said elsewhere I think he does it for defensive reasons at set pieces, then I think Porter should get the nod. He wins more headers than Cresswell, his goalscoring ratio must be better and he deserves another go. That's assuming Wilson just won't go with a Evans / Hoskins pairing.

Evans - Another goal, another assist (13 this season?), another hardworking performance. Top man.


A horrible, horrible week but we're still 2nd and we've got players to come back. Big job for Danny to do now to rescue the confidence and the belief in what we're trying to do. We HAVE to start getting the ball down and passing it more. Not given up, far from it, but it's going to be a lot more difficult than it should've been.

 

[ListerBlade]

Summed it up pretty well there. Not sure about Porter, as I think all he can do is win the odd header-but if he doesn't get a chance, he can't prove me wrong.

 

[Trigger Blade]

That's pretty much the way I saw the game too.

I was surprised that we lined up with Ertl at RB and Hill at CB. Hill won sonme decent headers in the first half, but he isn't tall and it was obvious from the start that Ertl was struggling and was never confdent enough to make Lowton-like overlapping runs. Swopping them looked an obvious move and it didn't happen and two of their goals cme down Ertl's side, though Hill was involved in the second.

Our attacking substitutions came frustratingly late again and I just don't understand why that should be and if I have one criticism of DW, it's that he doesn't change things anywhere quickly enough.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

The absence of McDonald is our biggest problem. More so than the lack of defenders.

Without him we struggle to dictate the flow of a game and link up the play.

As a result we get drawn into playing kick and rush with our opposition (like in the derby, like against Oldham, like last night).

If forces us to play a different way and the longer a game goes on the worse it gets.

 

[SwissBlade]

Cheers Coops, Quite a different and more balanced appraisal to Mic's

Ertl - Surprised that Ertl was playing at fullback, I've seen him there before and he looked shite. Monty would've been a better option there for me, with Ertl slipping in at Centre half. I don't think Ertl is a Centre half, but having seen him play Centre mid and full back, i struggle to see him playing anywhere other than Centre Half. Collins, Lowton and Harry can't come back quick enough.

Flynn - Keith Edwards was slating him all game and wanted him dragged off. Major comment was that he wasn't attacking the fullbacks with pace, but instead cutting inside too much.

Cresswell - Yep, agree its time for him to step aside for a couple of games and come from the bench. But you think Porter over BT?

 

[TopBoy]

Pretty much spot on Coops. Without Evans we'd be closer to bottom than top, he just oozes class. Would love to see Hoskins partner him for the rest of the season as Cresswell offers nothing, for such a big bloke he wins nothing in the air.

 

[Guesty]

Cheers Coops, Quite a different and more balanced appraisal to Mic's

Ertl - Surprised that Ertl was playing at fullback, I've seen him there before and he looked shite. Monty would've been a better option there for me, with Ertl slipping in at Centre half. I don't think Ertl is a Centre half, but having seen him play Centre mid and full back, i struggle to see him playing anywhere other than Centre Half. Collins, Lowton and Harry can't come back quick enough.

Flynn - Keith Edwards was slating him all game and wanted him dragged off. Major comment was that he wasn't attacking the fullbacks with pace, but instead cutting inside too much.

Cresswell - Yep, agree its time for him to step aside for a couple of games and come from the bench. But you think Porter over BT?

Porter hasn't exactly pulled up any trees this season but he's been a damned sight better than Beattie who has swung between utterly abysmal and completely anonymous.

"A half fit Beattie would tear up this league!" Ha!

 

[SwissBlade]

Porter hasn't exactly pulled up any trees this season but he's been a damned sight better than Beattie who has swung between utterly abysmal and completely anonymous.

"A half fit Beattie would tear up this league!" Ha!

I expected that, but was wondering if it was a case of Porter improving rather than being the best of a bad lot

 

[TopBoy]

I expected that, but was wondering if it was a case of Porter improving rather than being the best of a bad lot

Don't worry, Porter hasn't improved. He still runs, jumps and generally plays as if he's playing on treacle rather than grass.

 

[sitwell]

As the others have said thats pretty much as I saw it ,Porter won more headers in 15 mins than Cresswell won all game ,anyway for the Deadbat followers :

Simmonsen- No real errors but does not command or communicate enough and needs to come off his line more. 5
Ertl-Played with zero confidence ,Walsall spotted this and continually attacked down our right in the second half ,awful performance. 1
Taylor - One or two minor errors but otherwise a steady game ,hope he makes it is position with lowton-collins-maguire. 6
Hill - Steady first half won lots of header for small player but went long tooo much for me ,poor second half. 5
Egan - Won every header first half won bugger all second ,seemed to lose that plot after a good start. 5
Flynn- I am a fan but thought he was poor last night ,good tackling back but not enough going forward ,pitch was too narrow for him. 6
Williamson - Hid ,non existent apart from his goal ,I like him but hes no Macdonald who we desperatly miss ,needs to look for the ball more. 5
Doyle - usual harrying and tackling with no distribution needs a ball playing partner in the middle. 6
Quinn - back to the Quinn I really can't stand , gave the ball away time and again ,always slowing moves down and offered little support to the struggling Ertl. 4
Cresswell- dog of a performance ,won nothing against 2 decent centre backs but got little service to be fair. 3
Evans - easily our best player ,but seems to be playing half a game at the moment. looked hungry and commited though and has a great shot on him. 8

subs - Porter - won more headers than Cresswell in his short cameo ,I would give him a run alongside Ched. 6
Hoskins - didn't get chance to get involved ,cant really see how he can fit in ,but will surely replace Ched during his trial.
Beattie - likewise didn't get a chance.

Wilson - I would have replaced Cresswell at half time and Ertl but I presume Monty wasn't fit. Hands were tied really.

Walsall - Shit ground -no fans - if ever a song was apt that was it. Bogs swimming in piss no beer ,2 mile queue for owt to eat ,shit view ,empty seats no atmosphere. There are plenty of older grounds in much better nick than this place ,in fact Fellows park was better. Football wise ,they are nothing special apart from 2 good centre backs. Not a good night but a good curry in Tamworth on the way home soothed the mood a bit.

 

[super_pig]

since K Mac got injured.. played 4 won 1 (lucky) lost 3 .. enough said.

 

[Guesty]

since K Mac got injured.. played 4 won 1 (lucky) lost 3 .. enough said.

To be fair we also beat Preston in the game in which he was injured. He was injured early on, so if you count that one it's played 5, won two lost three. Even then, the two wins were mightily unconvincing!

I can't believe how many people were saying McDonald wasn't all that prior to his injury and that we'd weather his loss like we weathered that of Phillips and Clarke.

 

[super_pig]

sorry i forgot that one.. i think most people get the drift though

 

[Guesty]

Oh definitely, and anyway McDonald did start that game, your stats were accurate for every game since his injury.

 

[Selly]

Ertl - just got worse and worse as the game went on. He's not a right back for me, particularly in a set up where overlapping is so important. Easy with hindsight but wouldn't leaving him at centre back have meant fewer disruptions and given Egan more help.

On that performance, Ertl isn`t a footballer full stop, he was woeful...

Flynn - worked hard, got round the back a couple of times and I was surprised he got withdrawn near the end.

Just before he was withdrawn, he made a run down our left and their defender was backing off, backing off. At which point he was in the area, he then cut inside and provided a poor final ball. Having got inside the area, against a man clearly not happy tackling him outside the area, i'd have rather seen him take him on a force the corner/foul/make a chance

Quinn - made quite a few frustrating errors which surrended/wasted good positions

At one point in the first half he had 30 yards of space to run into, and just stood there. He was better in teh second, although he needs fining for the dive in the area.

I'd still rather see Flynn & Quinn on the "correct" wings...

Williamson - good to see him on the scoresheet again. Great return from him this season. Probably needed him to get involved a bit more.

First time he had run all game, and he scored. If he was bothered he could be so much more dangerous...

Cresswell - looked a yard of the pace (some will say again). If Wilson wants to go with a big man, and as I've said elsewhere I think he does it for defensive reasons at set pieces, then I think Porter should get the nod. He wins more headers than Cresswell, his goalscoring ratio must be better and he deserves another go. That's assuming Wilson just won't go with a Evans / Hoskins pairing.

Awful, blowing out of his arse after 60 again, missed a half chance at 1-1 that he should have done better with.

Evans - Another goal, another assist (13 this season?), another hardworking performance. Top man.

Had that shot for his goal been a foot wider (and thus missed, it would have taken me out right in the face! Absolutely cracking finish when conventionally you should take another touch an slip it under the keeper...

 

[cooperblade]

I'd still rather see Flynn & Quinn on the "correct" wings...

Flynn said in the Oldham programme that he'd much rather play on the left.

 

[Selly]

Flynn said in the Oldham programme that he'd much rather play on the left.

I don`t give a shit where he would rather play, I'd rather see them the other way round.

As well as the incident I mentioned above, there was a cross field ball that Quinn took down (really well) down the right hand side. But because he's left footed, the defender was easily able to clear.

Having said that, Evans goal came from a Quinn Pass from the right so...

 

[Balham]

Playing winger on the "wrong" side in theory encourages short balls into the channels between full backs and centre halves: the kind which Evans has been thriving on this season.

However, if the pass isn't on, you can lose a lot of momentum particularly when the wingers in question are very one-footed as Quinn is.

I'd prefer to see them switch during the game to keep the back four guessing.

 

[TopBoy]

Playing winger on the "wrong" side in theory encourages short balls into the channels between full backs and centre halves: the kind which Evans has been thriving on this season.

However, if the pass isn't on, you can lose a lot of momentum particularly when the wingers in question are very one-footed as Quinn is.

I'd prefer to see them switch during the game to keep the back four guessing.

I love to see wingers switching 3 or 4 times a half. Full backs hate it as they never get a chance to settle.

Playing wingers on the "wrong side" can encourage and leave space for fullbacks to exploit out wide by overlapping but with the full backs we played with last night neither being particularly attack minded I would've thought they would have swapped so that Quinn was on the left and Flynn on the right. Oh well, I guess that's why I make a living from tapping a keyboard and not being a football manager

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Playing winger on the "wrong" side in theory encourages short balls into the channels between full backs and centre halves: the kind which Evans has been thriving on this season.

However, if the pass isn't on, you can lose a lot of momentum particularly when the wingers in question are very one-footed as Quinn is.

I'd prefer to see them switch during the game to keep the back four guessing.

D Jones was saying last night that he likes to play wingers on the 'wrong side' as they tend to do more damage cutting in and as you say, it can help the full backs. Half of the problem these days is that players are a lot less fluid or at least the systems they are told to play seem to be more rigid these days and players have specific jobs in specific areas. It's rare to see wingers switching sides although some of that may be down to ability ! I noticed Lennon switched a few times for Tottenham at the weekend but it is a rarity.

 

[sitwell]

Playing the 'wrong foot wide option' works well if yor full back can overlap ,taylor and Lowton will happily do this but Flynn and Quinn must also be prepared to get back and cover if this happens. I don't think its a lack of effort on Quinns part because he ends up trying his best to get back but his mind does not see the danger and he switches off ,like the goal against the pigs. It really pisses me off because there is a good player in there somewhere but this is why he wont play at a higher level.

 

[super_pig]

it annoys the crap out of me that he always checks back inside, even when he has clearly beaten his man (he isn't without copious amounts of skill).. sometimes i wish he'd just have a go with the swinger just for the hell of it

 

[Jehovah]

For me. A winger has to be able to beat his man. I'm afraid Flynn seems totally incapable of this and to a certain extent Quinn, in that he seems to decelerate when it looks like he's done it.

 

[beechblade]

For me. A winger has to be able to beat his man. I'm afraid Flynn seems totally incapable of this and to a certain extent Quinn, in that he seems to decelerate when it looks like he's done it.

Was playing right midfield last night or left?

If its left maybe its to do with the fact that his right is his preferred foot. I've seem him beat his man quite a few times on the right.

 

[Foxy]

It would also help our wingers if the central midfielders at some stage fancied just even going for a little wander instead of standing next to their marker allowing them to restrict the space the wingers have.

I'm thinking mainly Willo here, who might as well have been the ref last night.... in fact no, the ref covered more ground. He was more or less playing the game I like to call the "Harper Postage Stamp". If he'd have even just moved his man around a little and made another yard of space it'd have helped immensely.

On the one occasion he remembered what his legs were for and stopped hiding, he scored a goal.

 

[ListerBlade]

At one point in the first half he had 30 yards of space to run into, and just stood there. He was better in teh second, although he needs fining for the dive in the area.

Guy behind me was screaming 'stone wall'er! stone wall'er!" at that point

 

[Jehovah]

Just seen the goals. Their first looks a cracking finish from a training ground corner. Willo's leveller is great work from Ched. Their second is an almighty balls up by Hill who knows it, judging by his reaction. Cheds leveller is just beautiful. Their third looks a good header.

Seems that Walsall were extremley clinical.

 

[Balham]

Just seen the goals. Their first looks a cracking finish from a training ground corner. Willo's leveller is great work from Ched. Their second is an almighty balls up by Hill who knows it, judging by his reaction. Cheds leveller is just beautiful. Their third looks a good header.

Seems that Walsall were extremley clinical.

Same thoughts I had, although our marking was less than spectacular for their first and third goals.

Ched's was a great goal.

 

[oldblade]

Playing the 'wrong foot wide option' works well if yor full back can overlap ,taylor and Lowton will happily do this but Flynn and Quinn must also be prepared to get back and cover if this happens. I don't think its a lack of effort on Quinns part because he ends up trying his best to get back but his mind does not see the danger and he switches off ,like the goal against the pigs. It really pisses me off because there is a good player in there somewhere but this is why he wont play at a higher level.

Do you think he mght be a lot better with better players around him? Rose tinted spectacles often cloud the memory, but I remember him as being a better player when we were in the premier league.

 

[Ollessendro]

Just watched the highlights. A few points:
- their first is a well worked corner BUT we are asleep. Doyle is at fault and gives his man too much time and space. Cracking finishing and Simmo no chance. However we cannot afford teams the gift of shooting unnopposed in our area.
- Good save from Simmo at one nil. Got down well to save a shot at his near post, after comical defending (Williams showing a shocking touch after Eagen's half clearance).
- Good work from Cressy to flick onto Ched for our second (many saying he contribured little, but he won that header). Then good work from Ched (strength and vision) and excellent run and finish from Willo.
- Big chance for Cressy at 1-1. Should have capitalised on a defensive error. His poor touch took him out wide and the keeper closed him down quickly. It was a good save, but he should have buried it. Another example of how we need to be clinical in tight games.
- Shocking defending for their second. Was on earth was Hill doing? He was favourite for that ball and managed to lose out. Pathetic half hearted challenge.
- Great finish for Ched's second. His initial touch was poor and he looked like he might have lost the chance. But what a strike!
- Their third. Free header in our box. Need I say more? I fucking will. School boy defending. It was Taylor's man at the back stick and he was nowhere near him. Excellent cross and good header, but our defence was at sea. Oh and there is no way Simmo should be coming for that (in fact he was not at fault for any of the goals).

What is the theme? We have the quality to take teams apart. When Cressy, Quinn, Willo and Ched link up they can really slice through teams. Unfortunately we defended like clowns. In just 4 minutes of footage I saw all of the back 4 make themselves look like pillocks. All of the goals were completely and utterly avoidable. We've defended excellently all season and need our regular back 4 back.

The funny thing is that despite playing shite, we'd have won that game with Collins and Maguire at the back. Neither of them would have got muscled off the ball for the 2nd and nor would they have allowed a free header. Even when we play poorly we still have enough in the locker to beat teams. Let's hope we can get the defence back and get solid again. We still have enough to beat teams at this level. If we can get K Mac back and get back to controlling games, then we can get back to striding towards 2nd spot.