Pace.....

[Torrix1889]

We have lacked pace for a long time, back to the Clough days and we still lack it now, that was massively evident today and we rode our luck big time!

There was no outlet, no-one capable of stretching their back 4, no-one capable of running directly and causing panic in the opposition back line.

I know, we won....great. But we move on and I fear that the general lack of pace could be our biggest weakness....again on P&G Wilder said he was trying to bring in a couple....Let's hope they can run fast and dribble...!

 

[s4-blade]

Baldock and Thomas when fit are like lightening, so it Books and Ched ain't a slouch either. I think I read a quote from pre season where wilder said that Dan Lafferty is the quickest player at the club in terms of sprint speed, so thats 5 to come into the squad already as it stands. Don't worry.

 

[wizadry]

They had loads of pace in the side and it caused us problems but I thought it was more the speed of thought and awareness from their players that caused us more problems, it's something that with more experience along the way, at this level, will only improve from our players.

The first three steps can be in your head and Coutts showed that on a numerous of occasions today.

 

[Bladesman]

Agreed.

We could do with some pace in certain areas. Hopefully we do have that already in Baldock and Thomas.

 

[BigBed]

Very disappointed not to see Brooks for ten mins today, think at that stage he would've ripped them a new one, but in wilder we trust n 3 points in the bag.
Onwards and upwards we go.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

I wouldn't read a lot into today game, great to get a win first match but remember the beginning of last season ?
There will be changers, Mr Wilder is just testing the water......

 

[wizadry]

Very disappointed not to see Brooks for ten mins today, think at that stage he would've ripped them a new one, but in wilder we trust n 3 points in the bag.
Onwards and upwards we go.

I thought Wilder got it right and it wasn't the right time for Brooks, we were getting overrun in midfield and it needed another body in there, not a luxury player like Brooks. Lundstraam did a job.

 

[BigBed]

I thought Wilder got it right and it wasn't the right time for Brooks, we were getting overrun in midfield and it needed another body in there, not a luxury player like Brooks. Lundstraam did a job.

Don't fully disagree, but I would've thought, having a quick outlet would've helped, when Lavery n Clarke broke, we should've scored, Brooks in eather of their respective places and I believe it would've been 2, ended up wasted.
I don't see Brooks as a "luxury player" I see a grafter, a passionate, skillfull player with huge ability, game changing ability, as he's proved in pre-season, hence him not going to Chesterfield.

 

[robbiez666]

Agreed about Brooks. It would have been nice to have that spark going forward but we really need the defensive aspect he's not great at in the closing stages.

As for pace, we're desperately short of it. Lavery adds some but we could really use some pace in midfield to bring on.

 

[wizadry]

Don't fully disagree, but I would've thought, having a quick outlet would've helped, when Lavery n Clarke broke, we should've scored, Brooks in eather of their respective places and I believe it would've been 2, ended up wasted.
I don't see Brooks as a "luxury player" I see a grafter, a passionate, skillfull player with huge ability, game changing ability, as he's proved in pre-season, hence him not going to Chesterfield.

Fair enough but I've seen enough in pre season of Brooks to realise he can be very vulnerable on the ball whilst having to defend, he's lost it twice in key areas and that was against inferior players just in a friendly game.

Don't get me wrong, I love Brooks as a player and there will be a time and a place, today wasn't that and for me Wilder got it 100% correct.

 

[BigBed]

Not saying Wilder got anything wrong today at all, would've just liked to see Brooks that's all.
As for Laverys pace, I think Sharp is much more mobile and quicker.
Hoping Ched comes back into the fold and on form, I know Clarke had a decent game, but I'm itching to see an inform Evans next to Billy!! Mouth watering.

 

[Keen Blade]

Torrix you get a like for being brave enough to mention a negative on a day when everyone is bathing in the sun and a home victory to start the season in what is obviously a better league.
Whether it's speed of thought or movement , the Bees had more than we did today.
We were so busy coping with their pace that our own wing-backs barely had chance to get forward.
So we effectively had no wing-play & no crosses.
And when we were under the cosh , we had no outlet - the Bees came straight back at us.
We had no wingers or quasi-winger (Duffy) , Billy is slow and not a ball-carrier , so it was left to Leon to do it alone.
Leon's performance today won us the match.
Yes Billy was in the right place to score and took his chance well (but that's his only job , he can't stretch defences).
Yes the new goalie made some fine saves , but that's his job.
CW was honest enough to admit that we didn't clear the ball and keep possession when we needed a breather.
At his age and with his injury record , Leon can't possibly continue to work at that rate.
So whilst I have read and concurred with the positive elements of all the celebratory threads today , let me sound a warning bell to McCabe.
If you don't match CW's ambition by buying him the 2 or 3 players he's after , we're all in for a very long and arduous battle.
The Bees will play worse than that this season and win.
And the Blades won't always have the Footballing Gods rewarding their battling , like they did today.

 

[Large Mendonca]

Sounds like you've summed up the last 20mins. What about the periods they were under the cosh and we hit the woodwork twice and two disallowed goals ? Yeah they has a very good 20 mins (which we defended very well), but come on......

 

[Ricky]

Carruthers is one who offers directness and trickery, so is Brooks.

Baldock could help us quite a lot, he's pretty quick and can dribble the ball at speed.

Lavery has the attributes we want in a striker but just needs to get himself into the team on a regular basis.

Thomas has pace but it's not a great sign that he couldn't get in the squad today despite Hanson and Evans being unavailable.


It's OK saying we have to sign players with pace, but you have to consider our system, and where they'd be fitting in. Up front is the only obvious position. Our formation only has one set of wide players, the wing backs, and we're covered there with decent players. There aren't many first team vacancies in central midfield and in the attacking position two of the players I've highlighted, Brooks and Carruthers, are ball carriers with decent pace.

So it's probably a striker we have to look at, possibly one who can play wide. But if it was to be one who wouldn't have much hope of starting regularly, would it really be that worthwhile?

 

[Ajmblade]

They had loads of pace in the side and it caused us problems but I thought it was more the speed of thought and awareness from their players that caused us more problems, it's something that with more experience along the way, at this level, will only improve from our players.

The first three steps can be in your head and Coutts showed that on a numerous of occasions today.

That was the biggest difference for me, you could tell their quality by their speed of thought and just general reading of the game that we didn't encounter in league one. That said we seemed to realise this and warm into the game, coutts and fleck in particular moving quickly to speed up our game and counter their style

 

[LenTednTony]

As said before, their decision making and the first 3 steps were where the difference told today. Hopefully that will change in the next couple of matches. All the Blades deserve a serious 'well done' for their performances and I must mention Blackman. Great debut and..... he's a bloody big unit, isn't he?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Thomas has pace but it's not a great sign that he couldn't get in the squad today despite Hanson and Evans being unavailable.


It's OK saying we have to sign players with pace, but you have to consider our system, and where they'd be fitting in. Up front is the only obvious position. Our formation only has one set of wide players, the wing backs, and we're covered there with decent players. There aren't many first team vacancies in central midfield and in the attacking position two of the players I've highlighted, Brooks and Carruthers, are ball carriers with decent pace.

So it's probably a striker we have to look at, possibly one who can play wide. But if it was to be one who wouldn't have much hope of starting regularly, would it really be that worthwhile?

Didn't Thomas come off in midweek with a knock?

 

[Torrix1889]

It looked to me as though we switched to a flat back 4 10 minutes into the second half with End dropping to LB....anyone else pick up on this?

 

[Bergen Blade]

It looked to me as though we switched to a flat back 4 10 minutes into the second half with End dropping to LB....anyone else pick up on this?

Think it was just us being pushed back. Wilder commented we struggled to get our wing backs forward.

 

[freddyp]

Think Wizadry's got it right with speed of thought rather than pace. They played one and two touch football, we often play two/three touch giving that extra second for them to close us down.

 

[Bladezz]

There front 3 all of them didn't really have pace, they got some direct running from Ollie Watkins but he was hardly bursting past Basham for pace.

Like I say JoC and Basham are extremely mobile, they can give the lights of Watkins a yard of pace knowing it's unlikely they can burst around them.

There whole team was very mobile, but so is ours, yeah Coutts may not be as mobile as there centre midfielders but he's a much bigger lad (I don't mean fat I mean in general size) which helped him shrug some of there players of the ball many a time.

To be honest that's the difference between championship and premiership. You need to have Coutts size and be as mobile as there players.

We beat a top 10 championship side, they had a few chances, we hit the post twice and got into some really good opportunities. I think we edged the game.

 

[blade too long]

Why do we need a team of Billy Whizz,s

We pass and move .no pace in the world can out run a well placed pass

We continually get to the goal line and pull back balls and crosses . Speed on it's own is useless

 

[blade too long]

What's more important is speed of thought and awareness and we have that in spades

 

[Whiston Blade]

What's more important is speed of thought and awareness and we have that in spades

Still need pace, they countered us in the second half and we nearly paid the price. Do that all season and it WILL catch us out.

 

[blade too long]

They did catch us though and that's a fact
Of course there's going to be times we look wobbly .But let's not forget they got away with far more escapes
We have all forgotten how tight games can be in this division . Saw millwall totally outplay forest and lose . We won and deservedly so.
We could have bought 4 x 5 m players and ended up with a draw or lost like massive spenders Boro and Wednesday did