Width

[Bergen Blade]

Keith Edwards seemed to think width was a problem with our play today.

1 To those who went, do you agree?

2 How are McMahon/Hill doing as supporting full backs compared to Lowton/LJF last season?

3 I understand McAllister was wide right first half and Westlake second half? How did they do?

4 What did you think of Gallagher on the left?

 

[puppet]

the 4-3-3 didnt work for me. mcmahon complained a few times of being exposed at the back in the first half... hill has been criticised on P&G but again, i felt he lacked support... towards the end of the first half and for some of the second we tried to play 3-4-3 with hill a bit further forward. all ends up didnt really work for me.

 

[JohnDenver]

Keith Edwards seemed to think width was a problem with our play today.

1 To those who went, do you agree?

2 How are McMahon/Hill doing as supporting full backs compared to Lowton/LJF last season?

3 I understand McAllister was wide right first half and Westlake second half? How did they do?

4 What did you think of Gallagher on the left?

1, Yes.

2, Not as well.

3, Neither are right sided midfielders. That side of the pitch was totally unproductive.

4, Not bad but not involved enough. He's probably here to gain fitness.

 

[judge]

I prefer length :-0

 

[metty]

I prefer length :-0

I never had you down as a receiver, just goes to show

 

[secretchief]

Keith Edwards seemed to think width was a problem with our play today.

1 To those who went, do you agree?

Yes, but not the sole problem. It was an incoherent performance. Is Wilson's idea of running the channels having defenders ping forty/fifty yard balls to the touchline at head height for Cofie to try to keep in? Because that's what was happening. Wingplay was non-existent, and that is not an exaggeration. McAllister was embarrassingly anonymous on the right. Westlake then got swapped there and did literally nothing. Gallagher is not left-footed and cut in all the time. We didn't get to the byline at all. Deadbat has summed it up perfectly in the report (kudos, DB): pedestrian buildup, no width, no crosses, meandering lateral balls between defenders before a diagonal lump forwards from whichever candidate was unlucky enough to be the one to realize there was nothing on in front of them.

2 How are McMahon/Hill doing as supporting full backs compared to Lowton/LJF last season?

This is the first time I've seen McMahon. Sorry everyone, I don't know what all the fuss was about. Spent the first half an hour seemingly trying to carve out scoring opportunities for the opposition. After that a bit steadier but wholly unspectacular. Hill we know about. Clueless in distribution.

Definitively, neither one overlapped or got beyond their partner once. They present zero attacking threat. We were crying out for them to bomb forwards but it isn't in their natures. Would a modern-day Matt Lowton please stand up?

3 I understand McAllister was wide right first half and Westlake second half? How did they do?

Appalling. Literally anonymous to the point you forget they are playing. I expect better of McAllister, as we know he has the odd good thing I him. Westlake, I regret to say, looked hopeless, almost to the point where I felt a bit sorry for him. He should have come off early doors.

4 What did you think of Gallagher on the left?

A bit of a non-event. Certainly not proficient enough on it to take on his man today at any point. Unsupported by Hill. Contrary to DB's report, I believe it was McDonald, not he, that contributed the ball through for Blackman's goal, so it was pretty underwhelming all in all.

This was the first game of the season for me. On its basis, we can forget about promotion.

 

[Bergen Blade]

I have seen the game on BP now and agree with what Secretchief has put. In terms of our attacking I think this was our strategy:


Plan A: We've got quick strikers, Bury have the ageing Sodje at centre half, let's try to get in behind them.

Why it didn't work: Well, we scored once when Blackman got in behind them. But in general our build up was too slow and predictable. Bury closed us down well and their centre halves dropped deep to deny space in behind them.


Plan B: Feed Cofie and Blackman with balls down the channels for them to bring their centre halves out of position and create chances with Gallagher and McAllister making runs into the box.

Why it didn't work: Cofie and Blackman were unable to reach/keep hold of those long punts down the channels. Sodje was too strong and experienced for Cofie.


Plan C: Gallagher has a decent goal record, he'll help us score goals from midfield.

Why it didn't work: Wide men who like to cut in to shoot need decent movement around them and some rythm and tempo of the build up to find space to shoot. Hill never overlapped, our general tempo/passing was slow and Gallagher never found space to shoot.


Plan D: Bring on Cresswell and Kitson to provide an aerial threat.

Why it didn't work: Our crossing usually came from deep, which can be easy to defend against. Without wingers, nor overlapping full backs we rarely got crosses in from the byline.

 

[Racy]

It would have been a different story yesterday if we would have got the ball to feet of Cofie and Blackwell they already have proved they have what it takes to make mugs of donkeys like Sodje, the hopeful punts from the centre backs into channels are proving a waste of time.
On the subjects of long ball can Hill stop this and give a simple ball to the midfield.

 

[Bergen Blade]

It would have been a different story yesterday if we would have got the ball to feet of Cofie and Blackwell they already have proved they have what it takes to make mugs of donkeys like Sodje, the hopeful punts from the centre backs into channels are proving a waste of time.
On the subjects of long ball can Hill stop this and give a simple ball to the midfield.

You're basically saying that we should aim to outpass them, and I should also have included that, Wilson was probably hoping that we'd be able to do that.

We did it last season, I've never seen us carving up teams with such class as last season. While we didn't have out and out wingers, our overlapping full backs in combination with creative wide midfielders meant we had plenty of width.

Now all those four are gone and we have replaced them with different type of players, and indeed on Saurday we had virtually no width. This puts too much pressure on McDonald to create and we'll struggle to get good passing moves going. Bury closed us down well in the middle, making it easy for their defenders to anticipate and attack the long punts, and were largely pretty comfortable.

 

[Racy]

You're basically saying that we should aim to outpass them, and I should also have included that, Wilson was probably hoping that we'd be able to do that.

We did it last season, I've never seen us carving up teams with such class as last season. While we didn't have out and out wingers, our overlapping full backs in combination with creative wide midfielders meant we had plenty of width.

Now all those four are gone and we have replaced them with different type of players, and indeed on Saurday we had virtually no width. This puts too much pressure on McDonald to create and we'll struggle to get good passing moves going. Bury closed us down well in the middle, making it easy for their defenders to anticipate and attack the long punts, and were largely pretty comfortable.

 

[Racy]

McMahon should have played all the game at full back it is clear he likes to get forward and obviously whilst not in the same class as Lowton he will prove effective at this level

Hill when in possession needs to be looking to bring in KMac/Flynn for them to get things going with the front two.

Cofie and Blackman need to play closer together

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Keith Edwards seemed to think width was a problem with our play today.

1 To those who went, do you agree?

No point having width if the full backs have clearly been instructed to launch long diagonal balls towards Efe Sodje.

2 How are McMahon/Hill doing as supporting full backs compared to Lowton/LJF last season?
McMahon looks like he has the ability, but we didn't use him. No point in overlapping when you are launching it long. We only decided to get the ball down for the last 10 mins, for that short time he looked good on the ball. Hill is Hill, I'm trying to give him a fair chance, but I haven't liked what I've seen so far.

3 I understand McAllister was wide right first half and Westlake second half? How did they do?

Totally bypassed. McAllister struggled to get into the game and then made mistakes possibly due to over eagerness to do something. McDonald was equally poor, and Westlake also looked lost.

4 What did you think of Gallagher on the left?
Gutted for him we simply never used him. Great ball in the for the goal, and then we bypassed him totally.
Didn't get near a dead ball all game despite probably being the best dead ball specialist on the pitch for us.
Like the rest of the midfield he struggled to perform because they rarely got the ball.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Keith Edwards seemed to think width was a problem with our play today.

1 To those who went, do you agree?

No point having width if the full backs have clearly been instructed to launch long diagonal balls towards Efe Sodje.

2 How are McMahon/Hill doing as supporting full backs compared to Lowton/LJF last season?
McMahon looks like he has the ability, but we didn't use him. No point in overlapping when you are launching it long. We only decided to get the ball down for the last 10 mins, for that short time he looked good on the ball. Hill is Hill, I'm trying to give him a fair chance, but I haven't liked what I've seen so far.

3 I understand McAllister was wide right first half and Westlake second half? How did they do?

Totally bypassed. McAllister struggled to get into the game and then made mistakes possibly due to over eagerness to do something. McDonald was equally poor, and Westlake also looked lost.

4 What did you think of Gallagher on the left?
Gutted for him we simply never used him. Great ball in the for the goal, and then we bypassed him totally.
Didn't get near a dead ball all game despite probably being the best dead ball specialist on the pitch for us.
Like the rest of the midfield he struggled to perform because they rarely got the ball.

I can only assume Gallagher wasn't used on dead balls because he didn't join the squad by the time they practised the dead ball routines during the week. Although I think McMahon is starting to look promising on dead balls, I will be annoyed if Gallagher doesn't feature in some tomorrow night.

The midfield is unbalanced at the moment due to Flynn and Doyle making themselves unavailable. I personally don't think McAllister will ever be quite good enough (watch him score tomorrow now) and without a fit Whitehouse we have no one who can carry out the Doyle defensive midfield role.

When available again I think a more balanced midfield is Flynn, Doyle, McDonald, Gallagher

 

[Sothall_Blade]

You're basically saying that we should aim to outpass them, and I should also have included that, Wilson was probably hoping that we'd be able to do that.

We did it last season, I've never seen us carving up teams with such class as last season. While we didn't have out and out wingers, our overlapping full backs in combination with creative wide midfielders meant we had plenty of width.

Now all those four are gone and we have replaced them with different type of players, and indeed on Saurday we had virtually no width. This puts too much pressure on McDonald to create and we'll struggle to get good passing moves going. Bury closed us down well in the middle, making it easy for their defenders to anticipate and attack the long punts, and were largely pretty comfortable.

I agree. I think we're missing the Lowton/Williamson combo more than anything.
So many times last season in tight matches, they were the ones who would get in behind the defence and break the deadlock.
This season we're playing in front of teams more and crossing from deep instead of from the byline.
McMahon isn't getting forward enough and doesn't seem to have the ability to beat a man.

I think Lowton in particular is a far better player than some Blades gave him credit for.
When he left, people were saying he wouldn't get a kick for Villa but he's played in every match so far.
£700K was nowhere near enough up front for a Premiership-quality 23 year old.
Let's hope the alleged add-ons we agreed were based on acheiveable targets.