On paper the team selection looked good.

[Tony Currie]

I think everyone would have said that before kick off.

Two strikers played. Clarke and Choudry in. Gus back. However football is a funny old game.

It just shows that you can't make too many changes all at once and expect it to work. Portsmouth watched Derby boot it long and repeated the tactic. Since the loss of Souttar our centre backs cannot cope. Our midfield kept giving the ball away and not challenging. The two forwards had no service.

I'll leave it up to Wilder/Knill to sort it as they know best. I'm interested in the line up for Middlesbrough.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

On paper versus actuality two completely different things .. we looked tactically shocking yesterday.. it’s almost as though we’ve regressed with the new signings ?

 

[BangorBlade]

Team v Boro 3-5-2
Cooper
Anel Holding Robinson
Raksaki Souza Hamer Peck Burrows
Brewster Campbell

 

[bertieblade]

I think everyone would have said that before kick off.

Two strikers played. Clarke and Choudry in. Gus back. However football is a funny old game.

It just shows that you can't make too many changes all at once and expect it to work. Portsmouth watched Derby boot it long and repeated the tactic. Since the loss of Souttar our centre backs cannot cope. Our midfield kept giving the ball away and not challenging. The two forwards had no service.

I'll leave it up to Wilder/Knill to sort it as they know best. I'm interested in the line up for Middlesbrough.

Two defensive midfield players both doing the same job was never going to work.

BBD on the right when he looked so good previously on the left whilst trying to get up to speed was never going to work

 

[Snowflake]

Two defensive midfield players both doing the same job was never going to work.

BBD on the right when he looked so good previously on the left whilst trying to get up to speed was never going to work

BBD came to us last season because he was not needed by his club. He is with us this season for the same reason.
Expecting him to fire us into the PL based on the above and what we have seen this season is optimistic, whichever position he plays in.

 

[loyalblade95]

Just goes to show that perhaps we should be careful what we wish for as fans.

We've been saying for weeks that we should try 4-4-2, so CW tries it and it doesn't work.

Then following the match a lot of fans start blaming CW for changing to a 4-4-2, which those same fans wanted us to do.

He then makes the subs to change us back to 4-2-3-1 and it probably rescues the game for us.

While CW has to take some of the blame for that performance, quite a few of the players yesterday didn't look interested and should count themselves lucky not to have been taken off.

 

[Colombia Blade]

I don't think two ball winning midfielders works. It should be one of Souza OR Choudhury (but not both) plus one of Hamer (this is where he excelled at Coventry), Peck or Davies.

The full backs should be picked based on a proper analysis of the opposition. Yesterday McCallum was needed as Burrows was having a tough time, and I'm not sure Clarke had the best time either.

Up top we missed O'Hare. He's our best defender when it comes to stifling the opposition play. He probably was due a rest like Peck and if winning ugly yesterday means a fresh O'Hare for Middlesbrough then fair enough, but he needs to be in the team. This means Hamer on the left or right or deeper in midfield.

Up top it's either Cannon or Campbell and so far this season it probably should be Campbell. I don't think I'd play both. Left is BBD or Hamer and right JRS or Brooks, probably JRS.

Everyone is saying Holding needs to replace Robbo but I've no idea if Holding is fit or even better. I'm also not sure if he should replace Robbo or Anel (yes Anel was fine next to Souttar, but so was Robbo - they played 7 times as a pair and kept 6 clean sheets, only conceding against Burnley)

Think my team for Middlesbrough would be...

Cooper

Clarke/Gilchrist - Anel - Robbo - McCallum

Hamer - Souza

JRS - O'Hare - BBD

Campbell

 

[Nick Jansky]

I think everyone would have said that before kick off.

Nope. Playing two number 6s at home against one of the league’s strugglers didn’t look remotely good. Not on paper & certainly not in real life.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Unfortunately, we play on grass

 

[ben1987]

I didn’t think it looked a good selection at the time and stand by that.

Dont see why we’ve played one system for the vast majority of the season that’s got us second in the table. Picked up players that should enhance that system and then suddenly decide to switch to a new formation and set up against a bottom 6 side.

While it may have looked on paper a 442 it was actually quite often a 424 with a huge chasm between the 6 defensive players and the 4 in attack.

Hamer shouldn’t be restricted to playing the left of a 442 and even if he was instructed to he lacks the discipline to. He demands the ball and wants to roam.

 

[Bladesman]

I didn’t think it looked a good selection at the time and stand by that.

Dont see why we’ve played one system for the vast majority of the season that’s got us second in the table. Picked up players that should enhance that system and then suddenly decide to switch to a new formation and set up against a bottom 6 side.

While it may have looked on paper a 442 it was actually quite often a 424 with a huge chasm between the 6 defensive players and the 4 in attack.

Hamer shouldn’t be restricted to playing the left of a 442 and even if he was instructed to he lacks the discipline to. He demands the ball and wants to roam.

There was a big gap in the middle of the park.

 

[Peaktrade]

What do you expect when we start with so many defensive players against a side at the bottom of the league?

 

[ben1987]

There was a big gap in the middle of the park.

Exactly. We either went direct or had no option but to pass sideways and backwards around the defence.

More often than not when we went direct they won the first ball. Then won the second ball because of the Grand Canyon separating the two halves of our team and then they could just wander forwards with it at will.

It was an absolutely horrific set up.

 

[robbiez666]

I think everyone would have said that before kick off.

Two strikers played. Clarke and Choudry in. Gus back. However football is a funny old game.

It just shows that you can't make too many changes all at once and expect it to work. Portsmouth watched Derby boot it long and repeated the tactic. Since the loss of Souttar our centre backs cannot cope. Our midfield kept giving the ball away and not challenging. The two forwards had no service.

I'll leave it up to Wilder/Knill to sort it as they know best. I'm interested in the line up for Middlesbrough.

I had no issue playing HC and VS in midfield but you can only do that if you you play severely creative players. Playing BBD on his weaker wing and Hamer out wide is not that.

Better playing 4-3-3 with Haner as a AMC if you're picking that starting lineup

 

[Newbury Blade]

I think everyone would have said that before kick off.

Two strikers played. Clarke and Choudry in. Gus back. However football is a funny old game.

It just shows that you can't make too many changes all at once and expect it to work. Portsmouth watched Derby boot it long and repeated the tactic. Since the loss of Souttar our centre backs cannot cope. Our midfield kept giving the ball away and not challenging. The two forwards had no service.

I'll leave it up to Wilder/Knill to sort it as they know best. I'm interested in the line up for Middlesbrough.

They didn’t “boot it long”. They played it through the middle, helped by the fact that we didn’t have anyone there to stop them. And when they played it wide, things got even worse.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

We needed players in in January, but it is always difficult to get the right mix with signings mid-season. We have not replaced Souttar (doubt we could have), we have a lack of creativity in mid-field, without Davies and Arblaster, and we have too may strikers who have the potential to score goals, but need someone to provide the ammunition. It feels as if we need to play with 13 or 14 players to get a balanced team. CW/AK have a problem to solve, but at least they have options.

 

[Houston_Blade]

It really didn’t unless you think having 2 defensive midfielders against a relegation threatened side is a good idea. Hopefully he’s learned a lesson and puts his big boy pants on so that he can tell Choudhury he’s here as cover for Souza and not to play alongside him.