[cite]Posted By: dickplumb[/cite]We have won three of our last three games, you cant do better than that. But let us not get carried away. In all three games we have been quite poor. Bradley Wright Phillips has won us two of those games by his opportunism and Seip got us started by the woeful back pass against Plymouth. We still fail to create many chances and our ball retention is poor. There are deficiences in our team which are obvious to regular viewers. I feel that when we get to play the better sides those deficiences will be exposed.
Agreed and I am hoping that these deficiencies will be addressed in the loans window from Monday, however it was be that emergency loans are not taken until the timing would allow them to play in any play off matches.
[cite]Posted By: dickplumb[/cite]We have won three of our last three games, you cant do better than that. But let us not get carried away. In all three games we have been quite poor. Bradley Wright Phillips has won us two of those games by his opportunism and Seip got us started by the woeful back pass against Plymouth. We still fail to create many chances and our ball retention is poor. There are deficiences in our team which are obvious to regular viewers. I feel that when we get to play the better sides those deficiences will be exposed.
I don't think there is any great doubt we are not playing wonderful football but confidence to play will come from solid performances in my opinion.
CP appears to have shored up the leaky bucket that was the defence. I went to the Swindon game and it was clear that much work was required in sorting the defence out.
The job now is for players to start playing with their heads up and looking to attack with pace and purpose. This will come.
Our problem is definately in centre of midfield. We need someone who can thread a pass and link up play between defence and attack, this may make all the diffference. Also a centre-half who does not come with a zimmer frame may help.
on the contrary i thought racon was our best player yesterday by quite a way, centre half is the real problem area, doherty looked like an accident waiting to happen on too many occasions. was a bit disappointed with jackson yesterday too, thought he looked a bit out of sorts, would have preferred to have seen reid on the left as i thought that their full-backs were there for the taking if we'd just had a run at them!
A pretty fair summary.
Don't know about the handball, too far away, but they seemed to be appealing for penalties every time the ball went into our box second half.
1st half was forgettable 2nd half Anyansah and BWP linked better and the midfeild linked better with them.
Both Doherty & Dailly are slow, but Doherty always seems the more exposed of the two, but he also seems to be involved more I can't decide if thats because he is, or because you notice Dailly less because he makes less mistakes! Either cold do with working alongside someone with pace.
In Midfield, Racon definitely made a difference when we are on the ball, always showing for a pass and by and large it was him threading the ball to the forwards, but McCormack seems to do much more running & closing down. If we could loan in a midfielder with the same vision as Racon, but the workrate of McCormack or put a rocket up Racon, then we'd be a better team
Thought the half time lap of honour by the kids footie teams was a nice touch, good to see our crowd giving them a clap as well. I assume they do it as some sort of promotion. I know Exeter City do something similar for local teams where you pay £20-£25 and the kids train at the training ground in the morning with the FIC coaches, have a meal and then go to the game in the afternoon. Do we do anything similar?
Anyone know how many we had there yesterday?, my guess would be 250 in the stand and 400 on the terrace.
We did well to restrict them to one chance and few half chances in the first when they had the wind with them. The second we did well to create 3 good chances ourselves one of which we took. It wasn't a memorable game with no stand out performances. I thought Dailly and Racon were the pick of the bunch, Doherty was very lucky not to be sent off.
Why did McOxo come off? Was he injured or just rubbish?
I personally think people need to get off Racon's back a bit more, he's been our most consistent player this season, hard tackling, simple and effective passing and chipped in with a couple of goals too, we don't need any other players, this squad has shown in the last 3 games it is capable of keeping clean sheets and winning games.
1. Racon and consistency do not fit together in the same sentence
2. Those qualities are positive, but can we afford to play with Semedo who is the destroyer of the team someone who scores a 'couple' of goals and passes 'simply and effectively'? If those two between them at CM are going to get 5 goals and 5 assists per season, how much pressure does that put on the two strikers and the two wide players? We have one midfielder who breaks up play and likes to give it short and simple and another midfielder that is comfortable on the ball that likes to give it short and simple. So if Semedo wins it 30 yards from our goal, between them they might get to the halfway line. We need drive, someone who can run with the ball and someone who can give the opposition's midfield something to worry about in terms of tracking back rather than just that they will be in a scrap.
You can't underestimate the effects of that swirling wind, gusting, calming for a second, and then gusting again.
Played havoc with both keepers kicking, and clearances and crossing.
And the pitch was so soft, it cut up deeply and badly as players tried to turn; passing on the ground bobbled and bounced.
Not ideal conditions for a game of football.
The next thing you noticed, that for most of the 90 minutes both teams played in just a quarter of the pitch; that's right, 20 players in one quarter and the other three quarters empty.
Total congestion, no space or time to bring the ball down and turn - often, it seemed to me Waggy, for example, spent too much time playing centrally - where on our counter attacks, a little quicker off the ball movement by him sideways to the flanks would have brought him the space to have impact.
Robbie in goal ...... kicking all over the place, but good handling, and pulled off a handful of good saves when needed - particularly that late slice from Matt Fry. Jeez, that had own goal written all over it!
I made a special point of watching Simon Francis ...........and whilst seemingly lacking World Class quality or any kind of finesse, went about his job most effectively. Sure, a couple of trade-mark Francis give away passes, but he never let the side down, always there with the challenge, and got forward along the line to make things happen. Very solid and supportive to others, dug in and played like a team player. Well worth at least a 7 out of 10 mark.
Ah, Mr Docherty ...... positionally generally in the right place at the right time, so credit there. But at times almost arthritically slow and ponderous when actually challenging against a nippy opponent. Couldn't fault his commitment and application. Many brave headed clearances, especially when we were under the cosh in the last 10 minutes, when their crowd really got behind them. The ref was kind to him when he should have received a 2nd yellow, a more egocentric official would have suggested he benefitted from an early bath.
Smoking Joe needs a goal. He ran himself into the ground, a real handful for their defenders, laid the ball off nicely and linked up well several times with BWP. But a couple of times he got himself into good scoring positions ...... and tried to pass. No Joe, bloody shoot!
But despite his earlier miss, BWP looks the real deal. He's a finisher. Think what he could do with a better service!
And Eccles for his cameo .......blimey, can that lad shift. He makes Reid seem like Abbott.
Anyway, a gritty performance against an in form team that never gave up. It weren't pretty but well skippered by Dailly.
We had to earn those 3 points, no mistake - but the swirling wind and the too soft pitch made it a game to forget.
[cite]Posted By: ISawLeaburnScore[/cite]Two problems sam
1. Racon and consistency do not fit together in the same sentence
2. Those qualities are positive, but can we afford to play with Semedo who is the destroyer of the team someone who scores a 'couple' of goals and passes 'simply and effectively'? If those two between them at CM are going to get 5 goals and 5 assists per season, how much pressure does that put on the two strikers and the two wide players? We have one midfielder who breaks up play and likes to give it short and simple and another midfielder that is comfortable on the ball that likes to give it short and simple. So if Semedo wins it 30 yards from our goal, between them they might get to the halfway line. We need drive, someone who can run with the ball and someone who can give the opposition's midfield something to worry about in terms of tracking back rather than just that they will be in a scrap.
Well I say he's been consistent as I haven't seen him had a torrid game yet, but everyone else who has played as much of him has, so therefore, relatively speaking, he's been the most consistent.
Also, look at the way our Continental cousins set up teams, almost always a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-3-1 now, as having the two holding midfielders is deemed crucial to success, especially in this era of football where everything has sped up compared to 10 years ago. The ball is lighter and more unpredictable, players all through the team are getting faster and the tempo is much higher. It's all very well pointing out the fact that they don't create an awful lot, but I'd much rather have that solidarity to build upon rather than going out and trying to win simply by scoring as many as possible and hoping it's more than the opposition. We are a league 1 side, and that means the players we attract aren't going to have the vision of Fabregas, Schneider or Schweinsteiger, and that is why I think we'd be better off sticking to what we do now.
You say the pressure would be huge on our wide players and strikers, but they've dealt with it so far, why should that suddenly change now? And I disagree about 'just about getting to the halfway line between them', Racon runs with the ball pretty often, and can look dangerous coming forwards on the counter.
You pick out the fact that they pass 'simply and effectively' like it's a bad thing, surely that is better than 'complexly and sloppily'? I'd rather see us a play a simple pass to feet on the wing for a cross to come in than a 50 yard curling pass to the ballboy on the other side of the pitch!
Sam continental cousins as you say playing the doble pivot have a crucial element, the number 10 behind the forward who is the heartbeat of the side. We lack that link, therefore the midfield sits deeper and the gap between the midfield and the forwards is exacerbated... the long ball from defence therefore becomes not just the out ball, but the easy ball, as the midfield is almost to deep to distribute to and to do so would just invite pressure back.
Racon does try to run with the ball more, because that's his job as the more attacking of the two but he doesn't do it enough.
Regarding pressure - I think we are dealing with it in spite of the current midfield set-up and look at our home goals this season... 16 in 13 games, the lowest in the top 13.
Passing 'simply and effectively' is a positive but it is perched on a clifftop... we have a winger who can get lost out wide, and another that is playing as almost a left-sided Graeme Stuart, as a deeper wide player meant to stabilise the midfield. Jackson has excelled, Waggy has made a great contribution at times but the forwards are under a lot of pressure to score the way we are currently set up.
The stats don't lie:
26 league games... Racon 2 goals 1 assist, Semedo 0 on both - teams almost don't have to worry about the middle of the park, if they shut down Wagstaff and the dangerous Francis on the overlap, they just need to mark up the forwards and there's your gameplan to play us.
26 league games... Racon 2 goals 1 assist, Semedo 0 on both - teams almost don't have to worry about the middle of the park, if they shut down Wagstaff and the dangerous Francis on the overlap, they just need to mark up the forwards and there's your gameplan to play us.
Agree with this completely. The centre of our midfield is not creative or dangerous enough. For the opposition to worry too much. We absolutely desperately need a midfielder who can pick out a pass and can shoot. Neither Racon or Semedo for all their other qualities can offer this.
Watched Peterboro v Southampton last night. Great game. Thought George Boyd in Posh's midfield is exactly the kind of player we need to link with the forwards.
Maybe if we get into the championship and they don't ????
Any other players like that who we could get on loan now?
[cite]Posted By: SurreyAddick[/cite]Any other players like that who we could get on loan now?
Barry Bannan (has played a fair amount of 1st team football for Villa this season but with injured players back like Reo-Coker and Petrov and Makoun & Bradley added will he continue to have a big role in the matchday squad? I doubt it
Championship quality and is a long shot but could be an option.
But with my positive hat on I reckon that we would win the league if we could find that player!! And maybe a 6ft 5inch centre half like the one who played for Birmingham today - Roger??
[cite]Posted By: SurreyAddick[/cite]Any other players like that who we could get on loan now?
Barry Bannan (has played a fair amount of 1st team football for Villa this season but with injured players back like Reo-Coker and Petrov and Makoun & Bradley added will he continue to have a big role in the matchday squad? I doubt it
Championship quality and is a long shot but could be an option.
No idea if he's ready to be loaned out but Suso at Liverpool looks like a creative midfielder. Of course a Youtube highlight video doesn't show weaknesses.
A competent performance. Not great in the 1st half, but we weathered the storm (literally) & I always thought that, if we went in level at half time, we would win it 2nd half with the strong wind behind us.
We won reasonably comfortable. Not many, if any, of our fans were whistling frantically for the final whistle, like you do when your desperately hanging on.
We were the better team and deserved to win.
NB Francis had a decent game, but they never really attacked down their left, so not very involved.
Doherty should have been sent off for a 2nd yellow card offence.
Dailly is not slow, if you actually watch him. Doherty is painfully slow and because Dailly is about 5 years older, everyone assumes he is also slow.
BWP, is making a difference with his goalscoring ability.
These are the football league stats which really show our central midfield is not good enough in creating chances, although may contribute to our defensive record.http://tinyurl.com/assistscafc
[cite]Posted By: Crusty54[/cite]A younger centre back is needed as well as a midfielder to sit in front of the back four and allows the others to go forward
Agree with the first point but couldn't disagree with the latter more.
We already have three midfielders at the club capable of sitting in front of the back 4, one (Semedo) stands out head and shoulders above the other two in that role. What we don't have is a midfielder to do the "going forward" from the centre. Don't understand how we need a sitting midfielder?
Comments
Agreed and I am hoping that these deficiencies will be addressed in the loans window from Monday, however it was be that emergency loans are not taken until the timing would allow them to play in any play off matches.
Well done Chrissy, lets hope it carries on.
I don't think there is any great doubt we are not playing wonderful football but confidence to play will come from solid performances in my opinion.
CP appears to have shored up the leaky bucket that was the defence. I went to the Swindon game and it was clear that much work was required in sorting the defence out.
The job now is for players to start playing with their heads up and looking to attack with pace and purpose. This will come.
A pretty fair summary.
Don't know about the handball, too far away, but they seemed to be appealing for penalties every time the ball went into our box second half.
Fry had a poor game I though, otherwise bearing in mind the conditions, I thought it was a good gritty performance.
BWP will score loads of goals at this club. He is a great goalscorer. He missed one but did he take that header well or what ?
I reckon he will finish the season on 25.
Both Doherty & Dailly are slow, but Doherty always seems the more exposed of the two, but he also seems to be involved more I can't decide if thats because he is, or because you notice Dailly less because he makes less mistakes! Either cold do with working alongside someone with pace.
In Midfield, Racon definitely made a difference when we are on the ball, always showing for a pass and by and large it was him threading the ball to the forwards, but McCormack seems to do much more running & closing down. If we could loan in a midfielder with the same vision as Racon, but the workrate of McCormack or put a rocket up Racon, then we'd be a better team
Thought the half time lap of honour by the kids footie teams was a nice touch, good to see our crowd giving them a clap as well. I assume they do it as some sort of promotion. I know Exeter City do something similar for local teams where you pay £20-£25 and the kids train at the training ground in the morning with the FIC coaches, have a meal and then go to the game in the afternoon. Do we do anything similar?
Anyone know how many we had there yesterday?, my guess would be 250 in the stand and 400 on the terrace.
I think a few more in the seats but 100ish more on the terrace
750-800ish
All in all 3 good points.
I personally think people need to get off Racon's back a bit more, he's been our most consistent player this season, hard tackling, simple and effective passing and chipped in with a couple of goals too, we don't need any other players, this squad has shown in the last 3 games it is capable of keeping clean sheets and winning games.
1. Racon and consistency do not fit together in the same sentence
2. Those qualities are positive, but can we afford to play with Semedo who is the destroyer of the team someone who scores a 'couple' of goals and passes 'simply and effectively'? If those two between them at CM are going to get 5 goals and 5 assists per season, how much pressure does that put on the two strikers and the two wide players? We have one midfielder who breaks up play and likes to give it short and simple and another midfielder that is comfortable on the ball that likes to give it short and simple. So if Semedo wins it 30 yards from our goal, between them they might get to the halfway line. We need drive, someone who can run with the ball and someone who can give the opposition's midfield something to worry about in terms of tracking back rather than just that they will be in a scrap.
Played havoc with both keepers kicking, and clearances and crossing.
And the pitch was so soft, it cut up deeply and badly as players tried to turn; passing on the ground bobbled and bounced.
Not ideal conditions for a game of football.
The next thing you noticed, that for most of the 90 minutes both teams played in just a quarter of the pitch; that's right, 20 players in one quarter and the other three quarters empty.
Total congestion, no space or time to bring the ball down and turn - often, it seemed to me Waggy, for example, spent too much time playing centrally - where on our counter attacks, a little quicker off the ball movement by him sideways to the flanks would have brought him the space to have impact.
Robbie in goal ...... kicking all over the place, but good handling, and pulled off a handful of good saves when needed - particularly that late slice from Matt Fry. Jeez, that had own goal written all over it!
I made a special point of watching Simon Francis ...........and whilst seemingly lacking World Class quality or any kind of finesse, went about his job most effectively. Sure, a couple of trade-mark Francis give away passes, but he never let the side down, always there with the challenge, and got forward along the line to make things happen. Very solid and supportive to others, dug in and played like a team player. Well worth at least a 7 out of 10 mark.
Ah, Mr Docherty ...... positionally generally in the right place at the right time, so credit there. But at times almost arthritically slow and ponderous when actually challenging against a nippy opponent. Couldn't fault his commitment and application. Many brave headed clearances, especially when we were under the cosh in the last 10 minutes, when their crowd really got behind them. The ref was kind to him when he should have received a 2nd yellow, a more egocentric official would have suggested he benefitted from an early bath.
Smoking Joe needs a goal. He ran himself into the ground, a real handful for their defenders, laid the ball off nicely and linked up well several times with BWP. But a couple of times he got himself into good scoring positions ...... and tried to pass. No Joe, bloody shoot!
But despite his earlier miss, BWP looks the real deal. He's a finisher. Think what he could do with a better service!
And Eccles for his cameo .......blimey, can that lad shift. He makes Reid seem like Abbott.
Anyway, a gritty performance against an in form team that never gave up. It weren't pretty but well skippered by Dailly.
We had to earn those 3 points, no mistake - but the swirling wind and the too soft pitch made it a game to forget.
Well I say he's been consistent as I haven't seen him had a torrid game yet, but everyone else who has played as much of him has, so therefore, relatively speaking, he's been the most consistent.
Also, look at the way our Continental cousins set up teams, almost always a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-3-1 now, as having the two holding midfielders is deemed crucial to success, especially in this era of football where everything has sped up compared to 10 years ago. The ball is lighter and more unpredictable, players all through the team are getting faster and the tempo is much higher. It's all very well pointing out the fact that they don't create an awful lot, but I'd much rather have that solidarity to build upon rather than going out and trying to win simply by scoring as many as possible and hoping it's more than the opposition. We are a league 1 side, and that means the players we attract aren't going to have the vision of Fabregas, Schneider or Schweinsteiger, and that is why I think we'd be better off sticking to what we do now.
You say the pressure would be huge on our wide players and strikers, but they've dealt with it so far, why should that suddenly change now? And I disagree about 'just about getting to the halfway line between them', Racon runs with the ball pretty often, and can look dangerous coming forwards on the counter.
You pick out the fact that they pass 'simply and effectively' like it's a bad thing, surely that is better than 'complexly and sloppily'? I'd rather see us a play a simple pass to feet on the wing for a cross to come in than a 50 yard curling pass to the ballboy on the other side of the pitch!
Racon does try to run with the ball more, because that's his job as the more attacking of the two but he doesn't do it enough.
Regarding pressure - I think we are dealing with it in spite of the current midfield set-up and look at our home goals this season... 16 in 13 games, the lowest in the top 13.
Passing 'simply and effectively' is a positive but it is perched on a clifftop... we have a winger who can get lost out wide, and another that is playing as almost a left-sided Graeme Stuart, as a deeper wide player meant to stabilise the midfield. Jackson has excelled, Waggy has made a great contribution at times but the forwards are under a lot of pressure to score the way we are currently set up.
The stats don't lie:
26 league games... Racon 2 goals 1 assist, Semedo 0 on both - teams almost don't have to worry about the middle of the park, if they shut down Wagstaff and the dangerous Francis on the overlap, they just need to mark up the forwards and there's your gameplan to play us.
26 league games... Racon 2 goals 1 assist, Semedo 0 on both - teams almost don't have to worry about the middle of the park, if they shut down Wagstaff and the dangerous Francis on the overlap, they just need to mark up the forwards and there's your gameplan to play us.
Agree with this completely. The centre of our midfield is not creative or dangerous enough. For the opposition to worry too much. We absolutely desperately need a midfielder who can pick out a pass and can shoot. Neither Racon or Semedo for all their other qualities can offer this.
Maybe if we get into the championship and they don't ????
Any other players like that who we could get on loan now?
Barry Bannan (has played a fair amount of 1st team football for Villa this season but with injured players back like Reo-Coker and Petrov and Makoun & Bradley added will he continue to have a big role in the matchday squad? I doubt it
Championship quality and is a long shot but could be an option.
I don't want much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was a K Evans.
We won reasonably comfortable. Not many, if any, of our fans were whistling frantically for the final whistle, like you do when your desperately hanging on.
We were the better team and deserved to win.
NB Francis had a decent game, but they never really attacked down their left, so not very involved.
Doherty should have been sent off for a 2nd yellow card offence.
Dailly is not slow, if you actually watch him. Doherty is painfully slow and because Dailly is about 5 years older, everyone assumes he is also slow.
BWP, is making a difference with his goalscoring ability.
Doherty's legs have gone. He is good in the air and tackles well but now poor when it comes to running.
A younger centre back is needed as well as a midfielder to sit in front of the back four and allows the others to go forward.
Agree with the first point but couldn't disagree with the latter more.
We already have three midfielders at the club capable of sitting in front of the back 4, one (Semedo) stands out head and shoulders above the other two in that role. What we don't have is a midfielder to do the "going forward" from the centre. Don't understand how we need a sitting midfielder?