First real tactical blooper?

[jt64]

Your comments re Sharp and Lavery illustrate why a big, mobile striker has to be on the shopping list. If we don't get one in this window we may live to regret it.

If we had conceded zero goals as opposed to four would you have made this post?

 

[Slug]

Slug and others.....

A couple of travelling blades were extremely kind enough to stream live video from the match via a supporters group on Facebook. In all fairness the streaming of the second half in particular was extremely good quality and would rival some mediocre TV channels;.

Thanks for that, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it in future.

 

[Not_a_Cheat]

First and foremost, these things happen and you have to pick yourself up and brush yourself off and move on....

I haven't had the luxury of being at the game today however thankfully I have had the pleasure of being able to watch two "sufficient" live streams that have allowed me to watch the game from the stands whilst listening to our Keith on the radiobox.

I think for me you have to say that Walsall did their homework on us today? Every time our full backs pushed on in the first half, the opposition looked to get their pace through into the gaps left behind and it worked a treat. Defensive you can't help but be disappointed with how the central defenders dealt with the pace in behind and out wide..also a few questionable moments from Moore as well.

When the second went in, the above was quite apparent and it was quite apparent that it needed looking at but it didn't happen. I'm not going to attack Wilder in the slightest because he is a fantastic manager and he hasn't got much wrong to date.....

But it does show that we need to become more adaptable to our oppositions style of play. They knew that Wilder likes his full backs to get up the line and upon turning over possession they looked to exploit the absences and gaps and it worked.

Another thing I noticed......Sharp and Lavery had little to no success up top in the air, this was blatantly obvious so it was a bit of a shame to see us still trying to put balls forward in the air.

A couple of things in that to learn from I think because the opposition will watch this tape back and see how Walsall managed to undo us.....

Not the end of the world, far from it......In fact the first game since Southend in which I have nothing obvious negatives...And we can easily put them right!

I'm sure he hasn't got it wrong either. And I'm sure Walsall will agree.

If you can say yes but ....... We need of Walsall have. They can't beat us 4 times? They might get a chance if they can get sixth. See em in the final perhaps. ??

 

[The_Green_Man]

I'm sure he hasn't got it wrong either. And I'm sure Walsall will agree.

If you can say yes but ....... We need of Walsall have. They can't beat us 4 times? They might get a chance if they can get sixth. See em in the final perhaps. ??

At the risk of sounding simple.....I don't understand anything here that you just said. No disrespect obviously.

 

[Not_a_Cheat]

I'm sure he hasn't got it wrong either. And I'm sure Walsall will agree.

If you can say yes but ....... We need of Walsall have. They can't beat us 4 times? They might get a chance if they can get sixth. See em in the final perhaps. ??

Why sign a goalscorer? Never in a million years. Let's wing it because our forwards are on fire.

 

[bladeinexile]

The only worry for me was that Walsall played a very simple game defend in numbers - dont let us settle and then long ball over the top. Worked every time. We shouldn't get fooled that easily.

 

[Benny and the Blades]

Let's face it this wasn't just a loss this was a thrashing, and the man to blame is Moor, I don't care how good your playing when the goal keeper lets in three goals two of which you would have expected him to save and gives away a penalty it's enough to knock the stuffing out of any defence.
We've been here before and I only hope Moor gets it back together again because when the goal keeper losers it, the whole team does and you can play any formation you like........

 

[Trigger Blade]

I need to see it back but watching it live online, the gaps in behind when the full backs pushed forward were staggering!

Weren't they just. Freeman was so far forward in the first half, he wasn't available for crossing duties, Basham had to do it and he's a bit limited in that regard. Their forst was after Billy had hit the bar, they broke quickly and we were very exposed.

As I said before the game, I think playing Done at LWB was a huge mistake.

I think we missed Lafferty in that position today. He isn't a world beater, but he's solid and wouldn't be caught too far forward as happened today.

CW said after on radio sheff that his instructions to go 442 were ignored, somthing he sounded pissed off about.

It was impossible to tell what were playing after Basham went off.

The only worry for me was that Walsall played a very simple game defend in numbers - dont let us settle and then long ball over the top. Worked every time. We shouldn't get fooled that easily.

At 1-1, after H/T, they'd parked the bus, their keeper was well into his time wasting routine. I don't think they could believe their luck when they went 2-1 up, at which point we collapsed.

Let's face it this wasn't just a loss this was a thrashing, and the man to blame is Moor

It wasn't a thrashing, we still ended with 63% possession, which isn't the be all and end all of course. At H/T, I couldn't see them scoring and it felt like Bury again. He's called Moore by the way and he was at fault for all of the goals, but that's not the same as to blame. The whole defence was culpable and in one case (2nd I think), it was Lavery losing the ball in our half which started their move. It's a team game, cabinet responsibility and all that.

 

[Roygbiv]

CW said after on radio sheff that his instructions to go 442 were ignored, somthing he sounded pissed off about.

Yeah, he said that the 3rd goal happened as Freeman was so far forward which wouldn't have happened if we were 4-4-2. It was that goal that killed the game too

 

[Darthblade]

If we had conceded zero goals as opposed to four would you have made this post?

I don't know if FB would but I certainly would imho .......

I have been saying since August that we need a big, pacey striker who can score, to play alongside Sharp.

We are not clinical enough in front of goal and Tufty has said this himself.

Just because we have a big striker doesn't mean we have to play Blackwell style hoofball, but I believe we need another "effective " striker if we are to get out of this division.

UTB & FTP

 

[Cerberus Blade]

First and foremost, these things happen and you have to pick yourself up and brush yourself off and move on....

I haven't had the luxury of being at the game today however thankfully I have had the pleasure of being able to watch two "sufficient" live streams that have allowed me to watch the game from the stands whilst listening to our Keith on the radiobox.

I think for me you have to say that Walsall did their homework on us today? Every time our full backs pushed on in the first half, the opposition looked to get their pace through into the gaps left behind and it worked a treat. Defensive you can't help but be disappointed with how the central defenders dealt with the pace in behind and out wide..also a few questionable moments from Moore as well.

When the second went in, the above was quite apparent and it was quite apparent that it needed looking at but it didn't happen. I'm not going to attack Wilder in the slightest because he is a fantastic manager and he hasn't got much wrong to date.....

But it does show that we need to become more adaptable to our oppositions style of play. They knew that Wilder likes his full backs to get up the line and upon turning over possession they looked to exploit the absences and gaps and it worked.

Another thing I noticed......Sharp and Lavery had little to no success up top in the air, this was blatantly obvious so it was a bit of a shame to see us still trying to put balls forward in the air.

A couple of things in that to learn from I think because the opposition will watch this tape back and see how Walsall managed to undo us.....

Not the end of the world, far from it......In fact the first game since Southend in which I have nothing obvious negatives...And we can easily put them right!

That's not a bad assessment considering you weren't at the game. I don't know what these "sufficient" live streams are that you refer to - I wasn't aware that the match was being streamed anywhere but please reveal your sources? I'm sure we'd all like to know. In any event, I think you've managed to come up with a balanced observation there which I think is pretty near to the mark. A few other things to help fill in the picture for you...

First of all, everyone reading this who may want to criticise the team today should know one thing...we dominated most of the game, as usual, with our classy, neat passing and movement. Let's not forget that. Even after we go behind we refuse to panic, we keep our heads and keep moving the ball around well and patiently try to prise open an opportunity. This is the style that has won us so many matches this season, albeit some of them very, late on in the game.

I don't think Walsall were any different to other teams in that they will all "do their homework on us". The difference was, they had the players to take advantage of what they had learned. In Erhun Oztumer, they have an architect of a player. That bloke is so clever, it's actually a pleasure watching him. He just has that knack of running into the gaps and moving the ball so sensibly - quite frankly, he was everywhere and when he'd got the ball we found it difficult getting it off him because he can turn so quickly and thread it through to someone else. This is the same guy that ran the show for Peterborough when they came to the lane last season. I believe the Walsall fans call him "the little Turkish magician" - and I can understand why. So I think your assessment of them pushing forward on the counter to exploit the gaps is spot on - and other teams have tried to do the same to us - but other teams don't have a little wizard in midfield who can read the game so well to be able to do it.

They also had some strength and pace up front. Something we don't have a lot of tbh. Billy is quite strong but has no pace, Lavery is quite pacey but has no strength. They'd got a player in Bakayoku who had both. Wilder has made it clear he is still looking for a front man. This game will have only made that need more urgent.

But, let's cut to the chase - and you summed it up, mildly, in one sentence below:

"you can't help but be disappointed with how the central defenders dealt with the pace in behind and out wide..also a few questionable moments from Moore as well".

When you say "central defenders" let's name names shall we? Because it wasn't all of them, but it was one of them in particular who got himself out of position time and again for their attacks and looked too slow and flat-footed to do anything about it. His name, the new "cult hero" of Bramall Lane, a Mr Ethan Ebanks Landell. Don't take my word for it. Find yourself a "sufficient" video clip of the game and watch where he is and what he does for every goal. That was a poor performance from him and he really showed his limitations out there today. I said on here a few weeks ago that I wasn't bothered if we didn't sign him and that he wouldn't be good enough for the Championship - and I still believe that. He's playing in a good team at the moment that are dominating matches and we aren't really seeing him being stretched in most games. He was today and it wasn't pretty!

But if EEL had a slippery game today then one player beat him to it in terms of worst performance of the day, and that was Simon Moore. I said last week that I thought he was to blame for two of the goals at Southend and nearly gifted them a third with a dodgy punch against his own bar. But it's easy to ignore such things when you are winning isn't it? However, today I would say he should have done better with all the goals from open play and of course, he gave them a penalty as well.

Moore is another player, like EEL, who hasn't had an awful lot to do in most games up to now. What we have seen Moore do superbly is some reflex saves and some fantastic acrobatic saves from distance where he's leapt like a salmon through the air and pulled off some wonderful saves - saves that have saved us points! But for the more observant amongst us, what we have also seen Moore do on several occasions now is look so easily beaten by shots coming in on the ground. He seems really slow to get down and when he does he misjudges them and the ball is going over him and under him into the goal. This, to be honest, is really alarming. And I'm sorry, but it's not a one-off. I think Moore is a big improvement over Georgie Butterfingers, and he's one of the reasons we've been so much better this season. But, I'm telling it as it is. That guy is dodgy with low shots coming in on the ground and it does concern me.

We can talk about tactics and this that and the other - but when you've got a goalkeeper between the sticks who plays like he played today then you need look no further for an explanation as to why we lost.

 

[Benny and the Blades]

I agree carberus and I only hope we're both wrong and it was just a blip, because that game will be studied very closely by any team we play from now on, and just like the long ranged shots that were a weakness of Longs you can now exspect to see more low shots for Moore .....

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

Sounds like Wilder saw the tactical issue - tried to change it but the players didnt get the message (his post-match interview).

Agree with the posters though that we shouldnt really be going with Done at LWB - Lafferty is more key then people think.

 

[South Bucks]

I agree with most of your words Cerberus but my feeling on the game at HT was we would probably overpower them in the 2nd half as at Southend and the reason we were not in front is our midfield were not linking up well with our forwards.

Our midfield had lots of possession but there was not enough movement from forwards to receive a pass and our midfield don't instinctively try to slip them in but take the "safe" option and keep possession instead. Walsall were happy for Coutts and others to have possession because they knew the build up would be slow and give them time to get everyone behind the ball and in the right place.

If we had turned some of this possession into being in front we probably would have pushed on as much in the 2nd half and left ourselves exposed.

Having most of the possession sounds good but it wins nothing unless turned into attempts on goal.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

Walsall knew how to score. Hit the ball low and hard and their cabbage-patch pitch will take care of the rest....just kidding, they played quite well but had all the luck. 5-5 would have been a fair result.