The enigma that is Tom Davies

[Balham]

I can see why posters are highlighting Wilder's comments about Brooks and Seriki, but personally I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Yes there were other players who performed far worse today and yes, we looked better with both of the above on the pitch. But Wilder knows the players better than most of us ever will and what makes them tick.

Maybe his expectations of them both has been raised, or maybe (as he suggests) they were given very specific instructions that they didn't carry out. Who knows, but I think he is smart enough to know whether a public ragging will fire them up or destroy their confidence. No doubt someone will bring up the infamous Leicester post match interview, and maybe he did go a bit far on that occasion, but once the standards have been set, it's fair for a manager to expect players to deliver. And he did call a few names out today, when saying that he put a team out to win.

I've just read Wilder's comments. His specific gripe with Brooks was that "he played wherever he wanted" and that Seriki "didn't do what he needed to do". On Brooks, he did seem to have a free role but I'd suggest that he was trying to make things happen against a packed, low block 6-3-1 defence. Seriki was poor but Mansfield limited the space really well, Seriki was having to make his runs at the full back 15 yards from the byline rather than 30.

Caveating this with the fact that I've not heard the post match interview I would hope that at the very least he's ripped into Chong for giving the ball away pretty much every time he got it, Ings and Campbell for being at best peripheral and the whole defensive unit for failing to defend.

EDIT
Back on topic - Davies for Soumaré was, IMHO, the wrong call. Davies and Arblaster are essentially the same player and we lost a midfield runner taking off Soumaré. Davies for Arblaster would have made a lot more sense if we were desperate to bring him on.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

I've just read Wilder's comments. His specific gripe with Brooks was that "he played wherever he wanted" and that Seriki "didn't do what he needed to do". On Brooks, he did seem to have a free role but I'd suggest that he was trying to make things happen against a packed, low block 6-3-1 defence. Seriki was poor but Mansfield limited the space really well, Seriki was having to make his runs at the full back 15 yards from the byline rather than 30.

Caveating this with the fact that I've not heard the post match interview I would hope that at the very least he's ripped into Chong for giving the ball away pretty much every time he got it, Ings and Campbell for being at best peripheral and the whole defensive unit for failing to defend.

He didn't individually call everyone starting out but mentioned some of those had a chance to impress and didn't take it

 

[Aganarama]

He didn't individually call everyone starting out but mentioned some of those had a chance to impress and didn't take it

Yes - I'd be worried if I hadn't been called out by name because his more general criticism suggested some who "played" yesterday could be gone quite quickly. He also talked about some players' medium term prospects changing for the worse too.

 

[Stretch]

I've just read Wilder's comments. His specific gripe with Brooks was that "he played wherever he wanted" and that Seriki "didn't do what he needed to do". On Brooks, he did seem to have a free role but I'd suggest that he was trying to make things happen against a packed, low block 6-3-1 defence. Seriki was poor but Mansfield limited the space really well, Seriki was having to make his runs at the full back 15 yards from the byline rather than 30.

Caveating this with the fact that I've not heard the post match interview I would hope that at the very least he's ripped into Chong for giving the ball away pretty much every time he got it, Ings and Campbell for being at best peripheral and the whole defensive unit for failing to defend.

EDIT
Back on topic - Davies for Soumaré was, IMHO, the wrong call. Davies and Arblaster are essentially the same player and we lost a midfield runner taking off Soumaré. Davies for Arblaster would have made a lot more sense if we were desperate to bring him on.

He named a lot of players early in the interview, but more in the context of being a team that was good enough to win the match.

 

[SE1Blade]

I've just read Wilder's comments. His specific gripe with Brooks was that "he played wherever he wanted" and that Seriki "didn't do what he needed to do". On Brooks, he did seem to have a free role but I'd suggest that he was trying to make things happen against a packed, low block 6-3-1 defence. Seriki was poor but Mansfield limited the space really well, Seriki was having to make his runs at the full back 15 yards from the byline rather than 30.

Caveating this with the fact that I've not heard the post match interview I would hope that at the very least he's ripped into Chong for giving the ball away pretty much every time he got it, Ings and Campbell for being at best peripheral and the whole defensive unit for failing to defend.

EDIT
Back on topic - Davies for Soumaré was, IMHO, the wrong call. Davies and Arblaster are essentially the same player and we lost a midfield runner taking off Soumaré. Davies for Arblaster would have made a lot more sense if we were desperate to bring him on.

I suspect Sounare will start on Saturday and having had a lot of minutes lately is keeping him fresh for then. Whilst I understand the disappointment of going out of the cup (and the picked team should have been good enough) I don’t blame Wilder for prioritising the league and keeping players fresh, especially with such a hectic schedule before new year.
He was right to leave out tanganga and COH and bench Brooks and Seriki.
I think they will all start on Saturday.