Have to say Holland and ZZ (surprised he could even make the penalty shoot out) once again ran their socks off, Youga was composed, Bougherra for me stood out as assured but my man of the moment is definitely Chris Dickson - he came on and MADE things happen, he was pacey, a real spark, nice poacher's finish, a cool as you like penalty and hit the post after bursting through direct on goal (not in a huge nervous loop, Izale).
It's a shame really, if we had a Kevin Phillips type player that could finish the positions we get ourselves into we'd have had 4 again tonight... McLeod missed a few, Varney's miss was atrocious (though in all fairness I think he thought Izale was going alone and then his touch was a bit lax) and I also remember Holland having a good go as well. And god the goal-area scramble that lasted a good ten seconds and had 4 or 5 goes at it... how's your luck?
West Brom scored with pretty much their first decent chance and only had about half a dozen clear-cut openings in the entire game. At times they passed the ball around us in the midfield and in wide positions and made us look silly, at others we had them on their toes with pace and direct running. For me, McLeod has come on a lot with his build-up play and workrate, though I just can't overlook the fact he genuinely shits himself everytime he sees the goalkeeper in front of him and (however bold you think it may be) would chuck Dickson in, if not Saturday, then soon after. He's just the enigma that we so badly lack at the moment, and poor Izale doesn't look as if he could finish his dinner right now.
In the end, we showed great fight and made a go of a game not really important in the long run that we were 2-0 down in with 30minutes to go, in the pissing rain. solid effort. what a match and so cruel this game can be!
Ps. nice bright white shorts this time as well!
Pps. thought it was strange Big Chris wasn't in the pen takers, he was colchester's answer to Andy Johnson last year
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Shame we havn't got a Mendonca or a Killer upfront or we would be sitting top of the plie & into round 4. How varney blazed over from 3 yards out is beyond me and then they let him take one of the pens..........NOooooooooooo.
thought we were the better side over the 2 games & wished we could have some of their luck - Bednar knew nothing about his goal and how they kept out the goal mouth scramble is beyond me.
the only good thing tonight about going into extra time and then pens was that the rain had stopped by the time we left the ground.....oh, and Dicksons goal.
best go to bed now - 2am and have to be up at 7.30, ho hum
I thought Varney worked his socks off, just didn't have his shooting boots on. I felt there was very little to chose between the team. They passed it around but alot of it was overplaying. We were more direct.
My main beef was that time and time again, we got into wide positions or picked up free kicks in wide areas and then completely wasted the cross. Lloyd Sam, Ambrose and Moo2 were the main culprits. The only player who seemed to be able to cross it dangerously was Varney.
All in all though it was a good performance against an excellent team and we came as close as the posts width from winning it.
and as you say, Yassin gets in great positions and now really needs to be taken aside and grilled on his crossing, as well as a bit of positional naivity defensively
I really wouldn't piss on ambrose if he was on fire but thought he had one of his more "involved" performances tonight and worked well, though it does worry me at times when he as our winger finds himself behind play when holland or zheng has the ball in the centre circle
Varney was tireless, and adaptable, he played both channels, centre forward and centre midfield tonight... god knows how we managed to cope with Iwelumo, Dickson, Sam, Thomas and Varney on the pitch for 40 minutes but we did!
As for the 4-1-5 formation, I think Varney dropped back into midfield and Thomas seemed to be playing a bit deeper than he normally does but hey that's what is so great about good cup football, when two teams are going for it.
Hopefully we can start turning out these performances in the league but with winning results cos draws aren't good enough now..... still i'd be happy with a point at watford;-)
Agree with everything said on this thread, last night was crying out for a bit of composure in front of goal. Varney works hard but his touch is woeful, and that miss....
Back to sleep.
I thought Moo2 was poor last night. Failed to jump for the cross that led to their first goal, though the guy that scored it never even saw it. The header just hit him on the shin & flew in from 2 feet. Moo2 also gave the winger far too much room last night. He was constantly struggling to get close to him. That tackle that led to him getting booked was because Moo2 was 20yds away when he got the ball. And he just cannot cross the ball. Sam was bad but Moo2 was shocking. Please can we have crossing lessons for beginners at the training ground??
All in all a good performance. If only we had somebody to convert all the chances we created!!
Positives from last nite . Dicko scoring, 2 nil down and a good fight back, playing some good stuff against a good team. Weeks rest re 4th round.
hope we can get a good quality midfield guy in, debatable if we need another forward.
Thought McCarthy as a supposed Cart Horse was very effective probably my Man of the Match.
MOO2 put in some extremely pacy and clever tackles. I saw the booking tackle from a different perspective in that he showed immense pace in trying to close down the WBA winger.
Both Dickson and Mcleod are still raw and learning the trade. Mcleod looks terrified in front of goal but his pace does lead to opportunities for others. Dickson is the opposite cant wait to get a strike on goal but is dependant on the hard work of others to give him those opportunities. If they can both improve those weaker elements of their game in the way that Varney has we should hold on to them and see if they can progress.
Ambrose was once again an enigma. Was fairly anonymous for most of the game but pops up with a scruffy goal. When we dont have the ball he doesnt seem to contribute. Didnt touch the ball for the first 10 minutes of the second half. And seems to occupy a position that neither helps close down the oppositions back 4, assist the midfield of Holland/ZZ or track back to Youga.
But overall a great team performance and we appear to have a range of options now which didnt seem the case a few weeks ago.
He has scored 4/5 goals all season, was invovled in every single goal against Blackpool but is still "an enigma" in some people's eyes.
I think he is a quality player who is up there with a decent amount of ability.
A balance between commitment (Kishishev) and skill (Ambrose) needs to be found agreed but come on - he has been invovled in a lot of good stuff we have done recently so lets get behind him (ooo err).
Agree with pretty much all of what you say, but the thing that frustrates me (and probably others) is that i've seen what he can do against Ipswich at home and it was very much a 1 off. Yes he set up the goals on saturday but 2 of those, (maybe 3, can't quite remember) came from corners where a decent ball in should be a minimum requirement for a winger.
Hey, I've got a friend....... you hear that, OohAah?
Only kidding, mate ;o)
Yeah but not a Charlton winger, how often are our set pieces that dangerous?
When Ambrose is in the game he can get results.......Blackpool and Ipswich are the obvious examples.
But too often he isnt in the game. As for last night by the time hes in the game we are 2-0 down. Scores in 64th minute substitued in 71st. Was anonymous for the first half and may have contributed to their first goal by not closing down.
Didnt touch the ball for the first 10 minutes of the second half. By now we are 2-0 down.
So hes a bit of luxury. Not sure if we can wait for him to perform every 6 games or so.
Instead of tearing around the pitch, he's also quite disciplined in holding the team shape - so no doubt playing to instructions.
He's not an in your face physical player but his intelligent reading, position play & subtle touches bring him into the game at key moments.
As someone else pointed out on here, much of what Ambrose does do results in openings & goals.
Watch the TV highlights of our games ...... Ambrose, Ambrose, Ambrose.
Much more influential and effective than many on here give him credit for.
His managers have always known that.
It was something that started happening when he was playing non-league. I read it somewhere.
I don't like men in latex pants.
If he scores goals for us at the rate he did for Gillingham then he can celebrate however he likes!
1. he took a corner - ok
2. he passed a simple ball to varney who turned sharply, beat two players and shot home - maybe it will go down in the stats but it was hardly the "killer pass" as it was a solo goal
3. he nearly fell over the ball trying to do god knows with it and it ran to ZZ - no way!
4. he took another corner, which was then headed onto the bar and put in - not really!
Not the bloke's biggest fan but giving him a bit of credit where it's due for last night, he was far less a passenger and took on his man as well
For the record, there is nothing wrong with Wrestling.
totally agree;-)
LOL ....!