What I enjoyed about today - Preston

[Wards]

I'm surprised that Quinny didn't get on, especially as Monty didn't look fit. I thought he could've been a far more effective link between Britton and the front players and would've given the PNE back 4 a lot more to think about.

A lot more positives that there were from the Boro game. 2 fullbacks who looked comfortable on the ball, Britton very involved and more movement up front.

We still need something different up front though, Cresswell looks a shadow of the player he was last season at the moment.

Bartley MoTM for me, incredible amount of potential.

Agree with everything you said, especially the bold. Cresswell has been very poor so far this year and indeed looks slower than last season. Never looked like scoring in 4 games so far.

Maybe it's time to get some more mobile players up top? Ward was poor yesterday but he has the atributes to fit into yesterdays setup, as would Evans if he's told to stay as the central striker. Having another pacy, mobile forward such as Camara should see us create a lot more since they should stretch the backline.

 

[Bergen Blade]

I'm surprised that Quinny didn't get on, especially as Monty didn't look fit. I thought he could've been a far more effective link between Britton and the front players and would've given the PNE back 4 a lot more to think about.

A lot more positives that there were from the Boro game. 2 fullbacks who looked comfortable on the ball, Britton very involved and more movement up front.

We still need something different up front though, Cresswell looks a shadow of the player he was last season at the moment.

Bartley MoTM for me, incredible amount of potential.

Against Middlesbrough Britton was playing attacking midfield with Ertl and Monty behind him. Did we invert the central midfield pyramid yesterday with Ertl and Monty pushing forward equally much?

When I saw Cresswell last season I was a bit surprised with how much praise he got. I thought he worked hard defensively and his goalscoring was very impressive, but if you took that away he wasn't contributing THAT much.

 

[Wards]

Against Middlesbrough Britton was playing attacking midfield with Ertl and Monty behind him. Did we invert the central midfield pyramid yesterday with Ertl and Monty pushing forward equally much?

When I saw Cresswell last season I was a bit surprised with how much praise he got. I thought he worked hard defensively and his goalscoring was very impressive, but if you took that away he wasn't contributing THAT much.

Yes the midfield was inverted although much of the attacking was bizarrely left to Monty in the 1st half though in the 2nd Ertl also got forward more.

And yes, Cresswell didn't offer much last year other than goals

 

[SteelCity Blade]

When I saw Cresswell last season I was a bit surprised with how much praise he got. I thought he worked hard defensively and his goalscoring was very impressive, but if you took that away he wasn't contributing THAT much.

Sorry, I dont mean to be a smart arse but that comment completely confused me.

So you're saying he works really hard for the team and scores consistently which enablea us to pick up points....but apart from those hugely important things that everyone looks for in a forward....he brings nothing to the table????

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you but that makes no sense.

 

[Houso]

ha, yeah I thought the same there.

I always hated Andy Gray because he scored goals, but really did absolutely nothing else.

Cresswell last season (not so much this), in addition to scoring goals, hassled the oppo and won the ball repeatedly due to lots of effort. I'd be happy to see a return for that player this season. He does need dropping on current form though. His insistence on not being in the box yesterday when he was the only striker lead to so many attacks breaking down.

 

[bricktop]

As much as we looked a bit better yesterday, there still is plenty of work to do, and the obvious problems we've got at the start of the season are still there, and there is still a lot that needs to be addressed.

It's very well and good as heralding this as the new start, but lets not get carried away with it, and prehaps show some cautious optimism as it could well be the start of a new era, but by the same token we could just as easy get tonked at Derby and then its back to square one

 

[Bergen Blade]

Sorry, I dont mean to be a smart arse but that comment completely confused me.

So you're saying he works really hard for the team and scores consistently which enablea us to pick up points....but apart from those hugely important things that everyone looks for in a forward....he brings nothing to the table????

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you but that makes no sense.

Check out what happened with him at Stoke. He played a big part in their promotion and scored a lot of important goals from a wide position. We all know he isn't a dribbling out and out winger, but to have a midfielder who chips in with so many goals is very valuable.

The next season the goals dried up. He was on the pitch for 30 games (11 starts) and didn't score once. After being rightfully praised for his part in promotion he came in for a bit of ridicule among Stoke fans. When a player scores you tend to forget that his general play wasn't fantastic, of course he'll keep his place, but if the goals aren't coming you have to demand more from a player.

Obviously he's now back playing in the Championship, but he's also getting on a bit, and you must always assess if players at that age are still contributing enough, or if we'd be better off bringing in someone who can give us more. "Not looked like scoring in five games now", I see people comment? If Cresswell's goals dry up we're left with a winger who - to simplify it a bit - works hard.

 

[lenners]

Check out what happened with him at Stoke. He played a big part in their promotion and scored a lot of important goals from a wide position. We all know he isn't a dribbling out and out winger, but to have a midfielder who chips in with so many goals is very valuable.

The next season the goals dried up. He was on the pitch for 30 games (11 starts) and didn't score once. After being rightfully praised for his part in promotion he came in for a bit of ridicule among Stoke fans. When a player scores you tend to forget that his general play wasn't fantastic, of course he'll keep his place, but if the goals aren't coming you have to demand more from a player.

Obviously he's now back playing in the Championship, but he's also getting on a bit, and you must always assess if players at that age are still contributing enough, or if we'd be better off bringing in someone who can give us more. "Not looked like scoring in five games now", I see people comment? If Cresswell's goals dry up we're left with a winger who - to simplify it a bit - works hard.

Not only that, but we allowed Blackwell to extend his contract - along with others - shortly before sacking him and apparently embarking on a new footballing philosophy.
Monty and Morgan are two others likely to be less comfortable in a new approach who also got new contracts.
Bizarre management.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

Check out what happened with him at Stoke. He played a big part in their promotion and scored a lot of important goals from a wide position. We all know he isn't a dribbling out and out winger, but to have a midfielder who chips in with so many goals is very valuable.

The next season the goals dried up. He was on the pitch for 30 games (11 starts) and didn't score once. After being rightfully praised for his part in promotion he came in for a bit of ridicule among Stoke fans. When a player scores you tend to forget that his general play wasn't fantastic, of course he'll keep his place, but if the goals aren't coming you have to demand more from a player.

Obviously he's now back playing in the Championship, but he's also getting on a bit, and you must always assess if players at that age are still contributing enough, or if we'd be better off bringing in someone who can give us more. "Not looked like scoring in five games now", I see people comment? If Cresswell's goals dry up we're left with a winger who - to simplify it a bit - works hard.

All we have to go on really is his form for United and up to the end of last season he was the only regular goal scorer. Having seen him played out of position since the start of the season I think criticism of his so far is extremely unfair. He has been shoe-horned into the left sided role as he's the only one that can do it competently. What serious opportunites has he had to score in the negative 4-5-1 system used by Blackwell and the awkward looking 4-3-3 that Speed is currently trying to improve?

Most of us dont really know his circumstances at Stoke and I recall him being shoved out to the left there when they bought new forwards in.....hence his loss of form in front of goal.

Im not sure its fair to judge any of our forwards at the moment. Ward is being played out of position (IMO), Cresswell is being played out of position (pretty much in everyones opinion), Evans is getting no service and Bogdanovic cant get a look in. We're a side that has been low on confidence and not playing very well. Im confident that when Cressy gets another run up front in a 4-4-2, he will start scoring again.

 

[Bergen Blade]

All we have to go on really is his form for United and up to the end of last season he was the only regular goal scorer. Having seen him played out of position since the start of the season I think criticism of his so far is extremely unfair. He has been shoe-horned into the left sided role as he's the only one that can do it competently. What serious opportunites has he had to score in the negative 4-5-1 system used by Blackwell and the awkward looking 4-3-3 that Speed is currently trying to improve?

Most of us dont really know his circumstances at Stoke and I recall him being shoved out to the left there when they bought new forwards in.....hence his loss of form in front of goal.

Im not sure its fair to judge any of our forwards at the moment. Ward is being played out of position (IMO), Cresswell is being played out of position (pretty much in everyones opinion), Evans is getting no service and Bogdanovic cant get a look in. We're a side that has been low on confidence and not playing very well. Im confident that when Cressy gets another run up front in a 4-4-2, he will start scoring again.

Cresswell scored most of his impressive 11 goals when Stoke were promoted from a wide position.

Otherwise I don't think there's too much disagreement here, SteelCity Blade. If Cresswell regains his scoring form, I, like everybody else, will want him to keep starting. Maybe some changes in midfield can help him. But if he continues to not score and not set up goals in a team that doesn't create many chances, you may also be wondering if we can try someone else who can make us improve.

 

[Nedski]

could everyone please stop raving about britton? any more of that and we'll be accepting the first 700k bid that comes in for him

 

[DonnyBlade85]

i enjoyed the game saturday! was impressed with the full backs and obviously the goal, think we passed it around well and also think the diagonal balls into the box were good but dont think ched evans is the right man to be on the end of them, would like to see hendo on balls like that when hes fit! cresswell didnt look 100% fit in my opinion and a few players lacked match fitness but that will come in time obviously! was glad when things didnt go our way we didnt panic and lump it, would also like to see if we can play the same style against a better team and another thing is im glad nobody apart from our fans/club are praising our performance! keep us in the darkness and already written off!