I'll be honest ..... I went last night expecting out first team to be strong enough to beat Crewe, I wasn't expecting a massacre, perhaps just a solid 2 - 0 or similar. I was more interested in the performance, particularly after losing at Bolton when we probably deserved a draw.
I came away disappointed, not distraught, but I really think that as supporters we have to re-align our expectations for this season. Put simply; that is not a United side capable of promotion, even when they've played together for a few more weeks. We couldn't finish a breakfast, we are very obviously short of pace throughout the side and we still look prone to switching off for a bit when we get bored of battering the other side. We should have won comfortably, but once Clarke was subbed we had little attacking threat other than from distance. ( Flecks shot deserved a goal ...... it was a peach )
How did the players do, well here's my opinion ( and some will not like it ):
Long 6/10 Did nothing wrong really but had little to do except pick the ball out of the onion bag twice. Not at fault for either goal.
Brayford 3/10 Didn't really ever get going, looks almost disinterested and is a shadow of the player we took on loan. No attacking threat from the Beard and I can't remember him attacking and getting past the full back all night.
Hussey 5/10 Some decent defending particularly against a pacey youngster later on and delivery was generally better than on Saturday but much room for improvement.
OConnell 7/10 Looks solid, decent distribution
Wilson 6/10 Looks ok - not sure why either he or OConnell didn't attack the crosses that resulted in the goals for Crewe though - maybe the team got the marking wrong.
Fleck 8/10 MOM for me and dictated most of the good things that we did. He may not be big but hes strong enough to not be knocked off the ball. Got his head up, good range of passing, should have been rewarded with a goal.
Basham 5/10 Tries hard, gave 100% but often ends up the wrong side of his opponent. No goal threat from midfield, but got in lots of tackles.
Duffy 6/10 Tricky but not a lot of pace, got some good crosses in and I think he hit the woodwork as well as Fleck. Some of the things he tried didn't quite work and I thought that he looked better on the left than the right, not sure why.
Clarke 8/10 Scored two, one disallowed for dubious offside. Also missed a couple of opportunities but he won most of the challenges in the air, but nobody was picking up the flick-ons. looked lively & hungry and I think that if hes given service he will
be likely to get 20 this season in L1. Strong and brave ....... the exact opposite of Connor Sammon tbh.
Sharpe 4/10 Little or no impact on the game, control was sloppy, had the opportunity in Ist half to put Clarke clear, delayed and ended up making a difficult chance which was missed. Missed badly a good chance set up for him in 2nd half by Duffy,
blasting wide when a player of his experience should have hit the target at least. I hope that Tufty will still be prepared to drop him when warranted even if he is a Blade and the captain.
Done 4/10 Constantly drifted inside and left no outlet on the LW which probably mad life more difficult for Hussey than it should have been. Square peg in round hole .... he's not a LW !! He cannot do that job and he's lost a lot of the pace that he had
when we first signed him. Worked hard at times and chased but no end product, only beat his man a couple of times and had little contribution.
McNulty 5/10 Looked livelier than Sharpe and did contribute a bit but never really caused their defence a big headache. Some decent interplay late on.
Scougal 3/10 Had 1 shot, spilled by keeper that Clark put in but was ruled offside. Other than that zero impact. headless chicken and too lightweight to make any impression.
DCL 4/10 Had sufficient time on the pitch to make an impact but didn't take the opportunity. Glaring miss in front of the Kop which would have finished the game off.
Wilder 5/10 Team started well enough but failed to capitalise on the chances we had to finish the game. Surprisingly played Done out of position and this affected the shape of the team which looked unbalanced for long periods. Didn't seem to motivate the players to redouble their efforts in 2nd half and they almost seemed to get bored with battering Crewe's defence. Appeared to make an error in substituting experienced players too soon when the game was clearly not won, hence very late equaliser from Crewe.
What is apparent from last night is that not only do we need 4/5 new first team players to make the squad a realistic competitor for promotion this year, but we also have nothing on the bench to change a game or cater for injuries, suspension or loss of form. In short ....... still in the early stages of re-building rather than nearly job done !
UTB & FTP
Scougs forced a save when he came on and McNulty got involved with some good touches and movement. McNulty also nearly squared for DCL at the back post but a good interception stopped an inevitable goal. Mat Done needs replacing. He had a shot first half when he should have slipped Clarke in and Clarke wasn't happy. Duffy was in a similar position prior to this and slipped Clarke in which resulted in Clarke flashing one across the goal mouth. This clearly shows Done doesn't have a football 'brain' you could say. Hussey will come good I think but he does need to be abit more direct. The CB pairing nowt wrong with either of them to be honest. Nowt to worry about with Wilson. Both strong and get up their mans arse when they need to. Few lads in with the attributes we're crying out for and a killer instinct we'll finally go up a level.
