United 1 Walsall 1 - report

[Wards]

well of course it would at the moment ,we have a weak defence and keeper that need back up from midfield and confidence ,is that not obvious ? Did you honestly think Cloughie had some magic dust he could apply and make the players suddenly become promotion contenders ? We need to have patience ,he has been here only a few weeks and the team is so much tighter already ,I think he is doing a great job.

The defence needs protection from all 4 midfield players? Jesus, I know they're bad but not so bad that we need 9 outfield players nullifying the opposition. I'd have thought that our wide men could be at least be expected to contribute to more than one phase of play.

If we don't have any contribution from the midfield then we'll struggle to pick any points up relying on our bunch of underwhelming strikers. Not once did I see a midfielder burst into the box yesterday. Now, I know we're 4th bottom but is it too much to ask for an occasional venture forward by just one of our midfield players? We set up not to lose that game and had very little intent to win it other than the final 15 mins. I admit I have a big problem with that.

 

[stringjunior]

As mentioned elsewhere, I fail to understand why it is acceptable for professional footballers, who are paid really quite well even in Div 3, to have such poor close ball control. The last time I didn't do the basics right in my work, my business failed and I ended up bankrupt. So why the funk these muppets can even be allowed on to the pitch to display such school boy ball control I just don't know. It really pisses me off.

 

[LSF]

As mentioned elsewhere, I fail to understand why it is acceptable for professional footballers, who are paid really quite well even in Div 3, to have such poor close ball control. The last time I didn't do the basics right in my work, my business failed and I ended up bankrupt. So why the funk these muppets can even be allowed on to the pitch to display such school boy ball control I just don't know. It really pisses me off.

Can't say as I quite get your comparison?
Actually if they couldn't as you say, control the ball and do the basics, none of them would ever have been near a football pitch as professionals.

 

[sitwell]

Just give them more money then they will ,is that what he means ?

 

[Grecian2000]

[*]I'm gearing myself up to be off my tits from heroin every week but if we get the required points, I'll live with it.

Fixed that line for you LSF.

Pretty much decided injecting my eyeballs at 2:59 every Saturday might get me through until the JTW and hope Nige can conjur up something nice for the new year. At least we've no-one to sell that'll cause any fall out this year.

 

[Wapping Blade]

Why do players encroach at penalties - we had 3 in the box when Porter took it - just gives the ref an excuse to have it retaken.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Why do players encroach at penalties - we had 3 in the box when Porter took it - just gives the ref an excuse to have it retaken.

They must not have much faith in Porter.

 

[sheffielder]

At the end of the day the team is suffering because the midfield has no balance and is sat on top of the defence.

Lappin and McGinn were awful and appear just to play for their set pieces.
Coady is playing because Doyle and McGinn don't have the legs.
The position Doyle holds needs someone with legs to cover some ground (Cody)

I think it might have been Foxy who suggested moving McGinn to the right and putting Cody in the middle.

We also need to start making better decisions in the final 3rd. The amount of times we got into good positions then made bad choices were endless. One example was when Porter put Miller in down the line and instead of looking up and picking out one of 3 runners we had getting into the box he decided he was going to run inside 20 yards with it and give it away. Just get it crossed.

I look back at last night and at the time thought it was awful, however when I look back at a good chunk of the game we didn't play that badly, however we were not decisive enough.

I won't go into the timings of Cloughies subs but that could improve

 

[bartman]

I

At the end of the day the team is suffering because the midfield has no balance and is sat on top of the defence.

Lappin and McGinn were awful and appear just to play for their set pieces.
Coady is playing because Doyle and McGinn don't have the legs.
The position Doyle holds needs someone with legs to cover some ground (Cody)

I think it might have been Foxy who suggested moving McGinn to the right and putting Cody in the middle.

We also need to start making better decisions in the final 3rd. The amount of times we got into good positions then made bad choices were endless. One example was when Porter put Miller in down the line and instead of looking up and picking out one of 3 runners we had getting into the box he decided he was going to run inside 20 yards with it and give it away. Just get it crossed.

I look back at last night and at the time thought it was awful, however when I look back at a good chunk of the game we didn't play that badly, however we were not decisive enough.

I won't go into the timings of Cloughies subs but that could improve

I think the first one was timed just right however I would have brought Taylor on at the same time to replace Porter

 

[LoughboroBlade]

well of course it would at the moment ,we have a weak defence and keeper that need back up from midfield and confidence ,is that not obvious ?

I agree they need some back up, but the midfield 4 last night and on Saturday makes it extremely difficult for us to maintain meaningful possession or create many chances. When that's the set-up, we're effectively gambling that the opposition won't get a lucky break or our defence won't make a silly and crucial individual error. Which, given out defensive frailties, is quite a gamble. On Saturday it worked because Bristol City scored a freak own goal. Last night it didn't due to again one moment where we were exposed - a chance that even the four-defensive midfielders-uber-defence-tactical-masterclass couldn't prevent.

There has to be some sort of middle-ground where at least ONE of our midfield four is attack-minded, surely?!

 

[Silent Blade]

I thought Doyle was at least 6.5 TBF

I thought Deadbat was rather generous in giving Doyle 4/10

 

[Silent Blade]

It was boring. Passionless almost.

I felt that I was watching a reserves match

 

[sitwell]

We had the better chances ,a cert pen ,one off the line from Coady ,2 disallowed shot from Miller and if any the corners had been good , more ,so the one penalty and OG is a bit misleading. We have progressed from the stale crap served up by weir ,when Miller should have crossed in the first half we got 3 in the box breaking forward ,so we are advancing and it will come good.

 

[alcoblade]

I think it's woefully bad to watch, and progress is not obvious at all. BUT, we are getting a better points haul from games, and right now that's all that matters. Our players aren't good enough, almost throughout. Escaping relegation as all we can expect, until a summer rebuild.

UTB

 

[dublin 10 blade]

quote="LSF, post: 547174, member: 2291"]Its getting a regular habit after games to begin a post with "Phew, where do I start"......
This one is no different....
I guess DB's opener and subsequent replies/opinions pretty much contain some of what I feel about last night. Which ie are truly shite.

• Clough is on the right track playing as we are in an effort to get some points on the board.
• Hill was outstanding at centre back (surely even Sitters agrees on that one? )
• Porter was by far the best forward (for us), subtle hold up and good work in air plus he worked his arse off.
• Miller was a pale shadow of what we believe he is.
• McGinn confirmed what I've always thought he was last night (distinctly average and weak), despite one or two having erections about him recently.
• Coady is destined for a career in Div 1 0r 2
• Aidy White is poor defensively and headless down chicken going forward. Sadly failed to live up to his early career potential
• Lappin needs to be on set piece delivery when possible
• We need reinforcements badly!
• My ambition for this season is avoid relegation (how sad!)
• I'm gearing myself up to be bored shitless every week from hereon but if we get the required points, I'll live with it.
• And finally, (one for Pommps and a few more) booing is pointless and counter productive

[/quote]
Other than that LSF , everythings going alright I'd guess.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Ah, that confirms the stonewalliest of stonewall penalties since the stonewallers started building walls of stone.

I was in the Westfield corner and therefore saw it very clearly along with everyone else.

That is possibly one of the worst refereeing decisions I've ever seen - a goal kick I ask you.

 

[Bergen Blade]

When judging the players I think we need to cut them some slack. In such a defensive set up we shouldn't expect our attacking play to work well.

I think Clough saw what Walsall did at Peterborough when the game was an open, fast paced one. We were set up to avoid the game becoming like that. We didn't take risks, didn't gamble on a teammate winning a 50/50, didn't attack in numbers. Keeping a defensive good position was more important than getting into good attacking positions.

The only times our full backs went forward was when we were comfortable in possession, i.e. not aggressively closed down. The midfield four were always behind the ball, making sure there were no big gaps for them to play in, wide men always backing off before their full backs could consider a forward run. They do deserve some credit for following instructions well.

Walsall looked a bit surprised at how the first half was, having a lot of the ball and usually just the front two to deal with. After their equaliser they eventually seemed to decide they were ok with a draw.

I think it's the most defensive home tactics I've seen any United manager use in my time as a fan. If it gets us into a safe position we can't really complain, although I think different methods could also have worked. Clough has chosen a plan and the players are sticking to it, even though, from an attacking perspective, it will make them look worse than they really are. Let's not be too hard on either of them.

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

I thought Deadbat was rather generous in giving Doyle 4/10

Opinions in football, don't you just love them?

 

[LSF]

Opinions in football, don't you just love them?

Especially the blinkered ones given before a game even starts

 

[DeepcarBlade]

Why do players encroach at penalties - we had 3 in the box when Porter took it - just gives the ref an excuse to have it retaken.

Why do players encroach at penalties - we had 3 in the box when Porter took it - just gives the ref an excuse to have it retaken.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw this again. I wonder if Porter had missed, whether the referee would order it to be retaken. There were 4 Walsall players well into the penalty area when Porter shot.

Same thing happened in the last minute of last season between Brentford and Doncaster. When the Brentford player missed, there was a Doncaster player almost next to him. We all know what happened 20 seconds later!

 

[Railway Blade]

The sad thing is if 9 or 10 of that team never played for the club again I wouldn't be bothered. Shows how poor to a man they are.