cooperblade
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- Aug 7, 2009
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Really strange how the game panned out.
Thought we started ever so well going forward, McMahon got into more advanced positions than he has so far this season and it made a huge difference. Notts were all at sea from set pieces and we could've scored another 2 or 3 from corners after Harry's opener.
We passed the ball really well and made loads of space against 10 and oceans against 11. We looked almost like the side of last season at times (stress the almost). Sorry to mention our pitch again but it was noticeable that we could switch play quickly with passes along the floor in a way we haven't managed at home.
Throughout our good spell we were really poor as a unit at the back though. I wouldn't say there were poor performances individually necessarily but Notts had loads of chances and could've had 3 quite easily in the first 20 minutes and they continued to look a threat after Zoko's red card.
I said to Micalijo (who was lovely and quiet throughout - I'd like to think he was being respectful as I was with my lad but I think he was in a Jaipur induced slumber) that we'd have to get a 2nd because Notts looked nailed on to get one. As the 2nd half started, I thought we looked like adding to our tally but we soon fizzled out and, as DW rightly points out, went overly direct and dropped deeper. There was no obvious reason for it but we went from playing well to totally flat all of a sudden.
Few points on individuals:
George Long - confidence looks to be slipping a bit and he looks a bit more like the lad who was all at sea v Exeter than the confident keeper who came in at Orient and has done well for most of the time since. One specific thing I think he needs to sort is at set pieces, he gets involved in pushing matches and, quite often, when a dead ball is delivered his hands are in a poor position (too low) and he struggles to get a meaningful contact in or a catch.
McMahon - much better in terms of attacking play in the first half. One slightly reckless tackle in the first half which could've resulted in a red quite easily if he'd made any contact with the attacker.
Murphy - showed on a couple of occasions that he's capable of absolutely destroying a full back with a burst of pace or a touch of skill. That was really encouraging. However, he needs a bit more composure with his final ball and he needs someone to get hold of him and explain what his responsibilities are in terms of helping out his full back defensively. He totally abandoned Westlake on a few occasions - fine if we were all over County but at times when we were on the back front, he was missing in action.
Flynn - was more than willing to try and go on the outside of the full back he was up against but he looked like he was running through quicksand. I was we could combine him and Murphy into one player - a quicker Flynn or a more aware Murphy would be a good little player.
Why did the level of performance drop so much and why couldn't we address it? I really don't know. You look at the players on the pitch and with the likes of Higginbotham, Doyle and Kitson, we shouldn't be short of an experienced, vocal presence. You look at McDonald and we should have someone who gets irate when we go overly long and demands the ball so we can spread the play and move the opposition's defence about.
Personally, I wouldn't drop Doyle or McDonald at this point so I'd be more inclined to go with the suggestion on here the other week (from Bergen?) of adding Whitehouse to midfield and making it a 3 or 5 in there. Flynn would be the man to drop out for me and I'd have Blackman and Murphy playing wide / off a target man. I think the extra body in there would make us play more of a possession game and we'd have more variety of attacking threat with a midfield runner getting into the box alongside the front / wide players.
In terms of the target man, my first choice would be Porter but I assume he's still injured. With him out, I think Ironside must be pushing Kitson very, very close for a start but making a difference from the start is very different to making an impact off the bench so Joe still has a lot to prove - he's shown great signs so far that he's up to it though.
Overall, worried...yes, panicking...no. DW seems to recognise where we're going wrong (based on his interviews), we made plenty of chances yesterday for a time (even at 11 v 11) and I think we're capable of going on a run again. Needs to start soon though otherwise it could become a real problem. Let's hope it starts on Tuesday (weather permitting).
UTB
Thought we started ever so well going forward, McMahon got into more advanced positions than he has so far this season and it made a huge difference. Notts were all at sea from set pieces and we could've scored another 2 or 3 from corners after Harry's opener.
We passed the ball really well and made loads of space against 10 and oceans against 11. We looked almost like the side of last season at times (stress the almost). Sorry to mention our pitch again but it was noticeable that we could switch play quickly with passes along the floor in a way we haven't managed at home.
Throughout our good spell we were really poor as a unit at the back though. I wouldn't say there were poor performances individually necessarily but Notts had loads of chances and could've had 3 quite easily in the first 20 minutes and they continued to look a threat after Zoko's red card.
I said to Micalijo (who was lovely and quiet throughout - I'd like to think he was being respectful as I was with my lad but I think he was in a Jaipur induced slumber) that we'd have to get a 2nd because Notts looked nailed on to get one. As the 2nd half started, I thought we looked like adding to our tally but we soon fizzled out and, as DW rightly points out, went overly direct and dropped deeper. There was no obvious reason for it but we went from playing well to totally flat all of a sudden.
Few points on individuals:
George Long - confidence looks to be slipping a bit and he looks a bit more like the lad who was all at sea v Exeter than the confident keeper who came in at Orient and has done well for most of the time since. One specific thing I think he needs to sort is at set pieces, he gets involved in pushing matches and, quite often, when a dead ball is delivered his hands are in a poor position (too low) and he struggles to get a meaningful contact in or a catch.
McMahon - much better in terms of attacking play in the first half. One slightly reckless tackle in the first half which could've resulted in a red quite easily if he'd made any contact with the attacker.
Murphy - showed on a couple of occasions that he's capable of absolutely destroying a full back with a burst of pace or a touch of skill. That was really encouraging. However, he needs a bit more composure with his final ball and he needs someone to get hold of him and explain what his responsibilities are in terms of helping out his full back defensively. He totally abandoned Westlake on a few occasions - fine if we were all over County but at times when we were on the back front, he was missing in action.
Flynn - was more than willing to try and go on the outside of the full back he was up against but he looked like he was running through quicksand. I was we could combine him and Murphy into one player - a quicker Flynn or a more aware Murphy would be a good little player.
Why did the level of performance drop so much and why couldn't we address it? I really don't know. You look at the players on the pitch and with the likes of Higginbotham, Doyle and Kitson, we shouldn't be short of an experienced, vocal presence. You look at McDonald and we should have someone who gets irate when we go overly long and demands the ball so we can spread the play and move the opposition's defence about.
Personally, I wouldn't drop Doyle or McDonald at this point so I'd be more inclined to go with the suggestion on here the other week (from Bergen?) of adding Whitehouse to midfield and making it a 3 or 5 in there. Flynn would be the man to drop out for me and I'd have Blackman and Murphy playing wide / off a target man. I think the extra body in there would make us play more of a possession game and we'd have more variety of attacking threat with a midfield runner getting into the box alongside the front / wide players.
In terms of the target man, my first choice would be Porter but I assume he's still injured. With him out, I think Ironside must be pushing Kitson very, very close for a start but making a difference from the start is very different to making an impact off the bench so Joe still has a lot to prove - he's shown great signs so far that he's up to it though.
Overall, worried...yes, panicking...no. DW seems to recognise where we're going wrong (based on his interviews), we made plenty of chances yesterday for a time (even at 11 v 11) and I think we're capable of going on a run again. Needs to start soon though otherwise it could become a real problem. Let's hope it starts on Tuesday (weather permitting).
UTB
