United – Today was wretched I am sorry to say. As bad as anything we served up under Selles as we looked toothless attacking wise, sloppy in possession, lost so many duels across the field and defended horribly. It was a total mess from start to finish where I had no idea of what our plan was at all? We have nothing up front and in midfield only O’Hare gets the ball and tried to make things happen. Throw in the fact an abject defence that is as bad as the Bindon/Robinson mess and we are going to struggle to get many points. In the end, the stats may show us having as many shots/on target and a better possession but the reality is, it was a comfortable away victory. The performance was totally insipid and we got exactly what we deserved – nothing. I see no plan or shape to the side. It is boring to watch. It is slow, pedestrian and we never really flood the boxes. We knock it about and go nowhere. We are easy to defend against. We have no urgency and when we have the ball – no one moves at all. They all stand still. It is like walking football! When we lose it, teams do try and force us back and know we struggle with crosses so get throws/corners into the box. For a side with so many big centre backs we are dreadful at defending or own box but we also make things hard.
We try and play football at the back which is crazy as we have no movement in front of them so cough things up and concede chances. We start games so slowly every week – same at Preston. Derby swarmed on us from the off and won corners early. I thought we kind of came back a bit and Ogbene at least tried to carry the ball but the end product was limited. O’Hare buzzed around but Campbell continues to look unfit and stationery and the midfield two behind were sloppy on the ball and did not win enough of the loose stuff. Defensively we got bullied all game and Morris and the lad Agyemang run us ragged- compare those two to the pitiful output of our front men (Campbell and Cannon).
I thought that for an away side they looked the more likely and when they scored I was not surprised – albeit a game of few chances but was of our own making. We messed around passing it across the box and then after 4 or 5 pointless passes, we barely get to half way, they break, win a corner and then score. Why we have Peck on Morris I do not know? Surely one of the big centre backs need to take him – but then after seeing Mee and McGuiness aerially then maybe not! They nearly scored again straight after. We had one Tanganga header and that was it. We created next to nothing in general play. I hoped for a response but just like last week – somehow concede in the first minute. I
After Chris Wilder came back and spoke about the low confidence and how he had to get them believing in themselves, the reality is probably hitting home for him now. This is a poor squad that lacks character, pace, fitness and ability at both ends – which means they are continuing to lose most games despite the change at the top. The team is shuffled around each week but the results and performances continue to be indifferent and it is alarming the lack of plan, style and approach to trying to control games of football. Derby were not a great side but had a plan and a direct style that yielded chances and goals. United took forever to move the ball up field and Derby just got men behind the ball and repelled the timid attacks/crosses we sent over.
We have signed some utter dross in the summer/transfer window (so will not blame Wilder for that of course) and are now stuck with some experienced players on big wages who will only get worse not better I feel. At least a few of the loans we can send back and Mee/Ings are only here short term (both look done to me) but the other longer-term signings – Matos, McGuinness, Chong look frighteningly bad (along with Mee/Ings) and are going to be stuck here taking money out of the club. It seems these signings were not XG but from the scouting network we had before (Hoyland/Allen?). These signings have been diabolical I am afraid. No other clubs were even looking at these players at all seemingly but in we come – agents must see us a mile off. It showed today when Morris – we could have had relatively cheaply as Moore type replacement – looked far superior than Ings/Campbell in terms of physique/attitude and also fitness. The team, as I have said before, are a mostly unlikeable set of misfits. I called the defence gormless goons which sadly sums up Mee and McGuiness but we have two midfielders who look League One level (Peck has fallen off a cliff and not sure why people are so excited about Soumare who looks all arms and legs and lacks composure and does not dominate physically). The front options are laughably bad. The ball never sticks and no one ever moves. All in all, it is a bit of a mess. O’Hare has been the one bright spot.
Surely, he has to move Tanganga back inside and go back to a two – the three – if it is that – is not working and we are continuing to ship 3’s most weeks. Ogbene had not offered much at all but Brooks was disappointing today. Cooper continues to ship goals but none his fault today. I think McCallum and O’Hare are the two that escape criticism last few weeks. The rest have routinely lost individual battles, not imposed themselves on games and when the going has got tough, have folded pathetically. We saw it at Preston and saw it again today. I do not have any confidence Wilder will change things tactically (I agree personnel wise he is limited as it is a really poor (yet bloated squad) but keeps picking same favourites such as Peck and Mee – at least he took Cannon and Barry out today.
I do not see us really turning things round. It seems like we took a few steps forward and about 5 back in the 2nd half v PNE and today. Any confidence they had found has gone and Wilder is publicly slating them once again. It feels like he is shuffling 2 or 3 week each week, but for the most part the performances remain average to poor. We concede stupid goals and struggle to score at the other end. This pattern continues and we are going to struggle to stay up. I see many say we won’t be bad enough to go down but I am not sure. Today, we played a really poor side and they beat us easy. We now have Coventry away and I think we might get a bit of a going over (team coming off a defeat looking for a reaction) and then the pressure really ramps up before another home game – against a better side than Derby. It is all a bit of a mess currently and the managerial changes despite many thinking it would – has not really made a huge difference. I am not sure if the coaching are saying it is not tactics and the personnel we have – is what we have – how we turn it around. Wilder saying we do not get the free pass that Peck gave to make it 2-0 – was a worry – like he is waiting for opponents to do something stupid? Well guess what we are in the bottom 3 and have lost 10 out of 13 as we are a really poor side – with poor unfit (and slow) players making mistakes and not coached very well at all. This trend will continue for me unless somehow the players find something they have not shown at all so far this season.
Ratings:
Cooper 5/10 – Did not have lots to do weirdly but they did have chances. A few went past his post and he made the push away from Brereton Diaz. He was irritating me with the short passes out but clearly been told to do that. One of these led to the corner and the goal. Had no chance on any of the goals as he was badly exposed. Feel sorry for him playing in front of the gormless goons (use the phrase again) of Bindon and JLT and now Mee and McGuiness.
Ogbene 4.5/10 - Saw him get lots of criticism first half (one of my group chats a few were saying he was awful) and I think he has been a poor signing but he actually did some ok things first half. Looked our main threat in that he tried to run with it, sent over a few crosses and our main chances came from his run (led to a corner – Tanganga header) and the Campbell header which was the only decent cross we put over. Second half he was awful though and lost the ball, got ran past defensively and seemed to mis control everything. Quite easy to see why Ipswich let him go but I maintain he was one of the few bright spots first half in that he at least got involved.
McCallum 5/10 – He was ok in terms of basic possession and had a few headed efforts at goal but his corners were not the best (one to Tanganga apart) and floated too high. He did at least try and get involved but I thought that at times as Brooks drifted it did not help him defensively and had two on one. One of the few players that was ‘ok’ but nothing special. Sadly, a number were even worse!
McGuiness 2/10 – I have defended him for some of his performances and he has been better than I thought overall but seen some of the issues we saw at other clubs when he played here (gets under the ball in the air/does not dominate for a big bloke) and clumsy in possession. Today was his worst game for us by some distance and carried on his drop off 2nd half at PNE. He took so many poor touches although not sure why he is playing it out as he is awful technically. Did not win headers and the front two completely bullied our defenders. Twice second half he just fell to the floor as the lad Agyemang just shoved him off easily. So weak for a 6’4’’ bloke and seems quite lacking physically in the challenge which is a real worry as that is what he is in the team for (winning the aerial/physical stuff). I thought it was a panic buy that is not much better than Robinson (right to move him on btw) and stand by that. He will be another (like Cannon, Matos, Chong) that are here on long term contracts and if we are serious about producing a good team – he should be nowhere near it. No idea why Tanganga is having to play an almost right back role to accommodate him and Mee. He actually appealed for offside on the 2nd! Seriously. That sums up his footballing intelligence.
Tanganga 4/10 – He at least battled to win some challenges but I thought it was a struggle for him too today at times and lost out in a few races/50-50’s. He was superb at Boro but has got nowhere near that since but he is playing in the wrong position for me. He is almost a right back and this is not suiting him. He did have two headed efforts at the keeper – maybe should have done better with both of these but at least got on the end of it (something McGuiness and Mee never do) and has looked dangerous setting up chances with headers across in recent games. However, defensively he has not looked comfortable at all and another that looks like he does not quite know what his plan is?
Mee 2.5/10 – He was not much better than McGuiness and also got physically manhandled by Morris and Agyemang all game. Looks what he is – old and slow. He did well in the first game at Oxford and looked composed and steady but now faced with 2 or 3 games a week where the ball is coming at us a lot – he looks like he cannot handle the intensity of it all. Another you’d take out if we had any other options. We had a few games where we improved here but the last month we have gone right back to same poor levels as we had under Bindon and JLT. We are still losing crosses, concede goals from set play and still look physically weak here. It is much the same but just different bodies here. It’s remarkable that we needed 2 centre backs and probably still need 2 (Although Tanganga and one other surely would be the way we would go?) We signed so many defenders but we have not really improved in this area. If he was a player on a shorter-term deal (say January) not sure you’d keep him. He has declined badly after a promising start. If I was a centre forward facing Mee and McGuiness, my eyes would light up as you can impose yourself them in so many ways (physicality, movement, pace, aerially).
Peck 2/10 – His mark may seem harsh as I did feel he would look for the ball and try and make himself square/available (not many others did that – Soumare will get more praise than Peck but he hid for long spells) but his performances are getting worse and directly contributed to two goals conceded. He takes too many touches when he has it, rarely plays forward and not sure he wins many tackles theses days. The first goal he gives up a free header (Wilder talked about a zone man attacking it – or spare but Peck was on him and he got the run and than was marking him again the corner after). Still, like with Burrows last week – the defending is still poor as he has to be stronger and at least get a body on him. The second goal is atrocious. No idea what he was thinking or doing – this was worse than the Kieffer Moore pass at Wembley – as he played it backward and effectively the best pass Morris will have all season. After this he had his long range shot off target but then fell over when O’Hare had a chance at 1-3 and felt he continued to play sideways but when he went long it was aimless stuff. Needs to come out of the team for a period. He has played every game almost and we are losing most games. We need to try something different although Davies cannot stay fit and Soumare/Matos do not convince me.
Soumare 4/10 – I am not as high on him as some are. He does get his foot in a bit and tries to at least go forward but his touch is very up and down and he seems all arms and legs. Never seems in control of what he is doing and not much of a ball winner/stopper. We never seem to have control of midfield and him and Peck again were not able to stem the ball to the Derby forward’s or play the ball into ours. They played a lot of square balls and not sure we saw any penetration from the central area. He is just very raw. As I say, seen some say he is really promising but I am not convinced yet. He has just done a bit more than the other midfielders.
O’Hare 8/10 – Once again our one shining light and bright spot by a distance. He worked hard, got on the ball, ran at players, looked for link ups and only one who looked like he might make something happen. He chased back and won tackles and looked like he cared. Some of the others were at jogging/walking pace in comparison. He scored a really good goal and had a few other decent efforts too. Felt sorry for him. If I was his agent, I think I would be looking for a move in January as he looks a cut above this sorry set of hapless clowns around him.
Brooks 3.5/10 – Once again got the start but after doing ok in the last two away games, he struggled again at the Lane (does seem better away from home oddly – nearly all his goals and decent games – WBA home las December apart- been on the road). He seemed to start on the left but then kept moving across and ended up in the middle and kept getting crowded out. Had a few runs but ran into trouble. As the game went on, we saw less and less of him and he got took off on the hour.
Campbell 2.5/10 – Another statuesque performance where he saw his opponent at the other end score 3, win headers, lead the line, and cause defenders issues by nonstop running/closing. He had a few ok moments to start with but then faded badly and was always wrong side of his man or not able to get there first. He then was holding his shorts and blowing after half an hour. Missed a good headed chance. After the break a few better link ups but generally he was stood still and not even trying to make runs. Wilder said we do not have a number 9 in the club post-game which is damning as was his comments that he could not play at a high level for more than an hour. We are not even seeing that currently. We need two centre forwards in January as him, Cannon and Ings are miles off the level needed. Not sure there are many other teams in the league we would not swap our strikers for (SWFC might be the only one!). We are starting to see why Stoke got rid.
Subs -
One 3.5/10 – Glad to see him get a chance but at 0-2 it felt all a bit much asking him to make an impact. The third then goes in and he ends up wide. He did get down the side and win a few corners but got crowded out and then nearly set them up for a breakaway goal.
Matos 1.5/10 – One of the most laughable substitute performances I have ever seen! I will give him some leeway as he is not a right back/right wing back but boy, did it show. He spent most of the time falling over looking for free kicks but his touch was horrible when it came to him. He also took some of the worst throw in’s I have ever seen a professional footballer take – at least 4 clear foul throws – none given! The penalty, I thought Ogbene may have been fouled but then he sort of dives to the floor and grabs the ball almost. It was a handball – regardless of the possible foul before this. He then fell over at the other end- pathetic really. On that cameo can see why he has not been involved but then Wilder kind of threw him under the bus putting him there – although his lack of ability for a Chelsea graduate was frightening.
Davies 4.5/10 – Tried to get on the ball and at least pass it forward but even he telegraphed a few but they just sat in. Least got back to deny Brewster a goal. He has to start next game but then you know he will be out for a few weeks after that.
Burrows – Not on long enough to make an impact as we just recycled it over to his side and sent loopy crosses over or tried to play through a mass of bodies.
Ings – Another who did not have long but what he did was awful. Ran into trouble twice and then attempted a header (decent ball) that he somehow cleared! He looks miles off the player he was and you can see why he did not have a club. Another whom if he was only here till January – you would terminate the deal. Looks miles off it.
