Poor line up

[Bergen Blade]

Simonsen
Parrino Collins Ertl Jordan
Williamson Doyle Quinn Yeates
Cresswell Vokes​

I can't help thinking this is a poorly set up team with poor balance, poor movement, little pace, not enough width, and it doesn't surprise me that we again required a set piece to score a goal. We're lacking creativity in central midfield and Williamson is out of position on the right. It looks a team that is scared to lose, hoping to keep it tight, and maybe - hopefully - nick a goal from a long punt or a set piece. I don't think it's fair on the players asking them to get a win, when they're set up so naively and negatively.

Yeates should keep his place in my opinion, but he'll often struggle if we don't have a genuine threat on the opposite side and at least some creativity and precise distribution centrally. If we have ONE player with the ability to beat a man, the opposition will concentrate on stopping him, like what happened when we had Cotterill. Riise will hopefully help, but he may inherit Yeates' problem if we stick Quinn or Cresswell on the opposite side. Play Williamson centrally, let him have players to pass to and let Doyle do the dirty work.

Up front I think Cresswell and Vokes is rubbish duo, again with very little skill, pace and movement. Fair enough if we've tried all game and can't get through, but starting them just won't work. Bogdanovic has saved us twice now, surely he's got to start.

Try:

Simonsen
Parrino Collins Lowry Jordan
Riise Williamson Doyle Yeates
Bogdanovic Vokes​

 

[Foxy]

It was...

Simonsen
Parrino Ertl Collins Jordan
Yeates Williamson Doyle Quinn
Vokes Cresswell​

Thought we struggled in the middle of the park today, they walked through on a number of occaisions. Parrino had a tough one often covering for both Ertl and Yeates as well as looking after his own man.

At times Yeates and Quinny switched and at one stage Quinny, Yeates and Willo seemed to have a free role to wander/swap positions.

 

[JohnDenver]

Say it ever so quietly, but.... Did we miss Montenbauer?

 

[Bergen Blade]

Cheers Foxy. It's a little bit better with Williamson central, but the problem remains with only one player in the front six being able to beat a man in that line up. If teams are walking through us centrally the solution isn't neccessarily to put even more destroyers in centrally. Making your own attacking play work will help us dictate the pace of the game and force the opposition to focus more on their defending. If we can find some sort of attacking rythm we should be finding ways to finishing attacks following good moves, rather than seeing the opposition intercept and break away all the time.

 

[JohnDenver]

Cheers Foxy. It's a little bit better with Williamson central, but the problem remains with only one player in the front six being able to beat a man in that line up. If teams are walking through us centrally the solution isn't neccessarily to put even more destroyers in centrally. Making your own attacking play work will help us dictate the pace of the game and force the opposition to focus more on their defending. If we can find some sort of attacking rythm we should be finding ways to finishing attacks following good moves, rather than seeing the opposition intercept and break away all the time.

I agree it was a poor XI, but Willo was central for most of the game, which we wanted, and he was very poor. Cresswell played in his favoured position, and was also very poor.

The squad was horribly disrupted by injury and it showed. But the thing that worries me is that the only thing I'd have done differently was pick Boggy. Adams has few options.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Adams has few options.

Don't entirely agree with that mate. He's brought in six players and if he wants to he can continue picking teams like today's, or he can try to get the balance just right.

 

[SwissBlade]

Don't entirely agree with that mate. He's brought in six players and if he wants to he can continue picking teams like today's, or he can try to get the balance just right.

Lots of injuries and players not there for the fight.

 

[JohnDenver]

Don't entirely agree with that mate. He's brought in six players and if he wants to he can continue picking teams like today's, or he can try to get the balance just right.

I based my comment on the bench we had tonight. I just don't see more than one real alternative sitting there.