I don't think the formation is a problem, and I don't think Alfie May does either, three goals and one assist in two games is suiting him. There is also a lot of criticism about the first half but Blackpool came with a game plan to sit deep and hit us on the break, disappointly, the first time they got into our box they scored. There is certainly some work to do on the back four, both full backs were found wanting today and Hector makes another error. The plus for Appleton, is that he has players on the bench who can change things and Fraser, Aneke and Campbell certainly did that.
From the AC stand my seat was in line with our defence several occasions, and twice I saw simultaneously Hector push forward and Thomas wasn't looking across and there was an "pocket" in the middle which was onside with a Blackpool player in it (?Lavery) calling for a pass. Fortunately not found by the ball. As said before by others more communication /alertness needed.
Personally, I think the problem is we have too many defenders and we’ve yet to have a cohesive unit that’s built an instinctive understanding and awareness. Obviously with our injury track record we need that cover but the flip side is we don’t have that core unit that a promotion winning team needs. I think we have the right players, they just need more game time together.
A couple of people on the player mark thread have said that the ref missed a red and a player kicked out. When was this please as I dont remember this
The Campbell yellow. Defender kicked him in the head. Not savagely but clearly. Especially for the lino, it was right in front of him, and the ref went to ask him. Poor from the lino.
Blackpool aren't much fun to watch but they do it well and against our defence they were going to eventually get a chance. Ironically, we dealt with their many long balls OK and it was their first bit of passing play around our box that lead to the opener.
At 1 - 0 with the subs on we were well on top and I said "Next goals wins" as if we scored before Hector's brain fart I think we'd have gone on to win 2 or 3 - 1. We certainly created enough chances.
As it was we had to come back from two done which we did in style.
Asiimwe and T Campell gave us a lot more running and energy down that flank.
Aneke is such a good player. Not a "beast", a very skillful player with close control, strength and running. He had no right to win the ball he did for the first goal (was that CBT winning the ball back near the right hand side of the box and hitting a great long pass down the line?) but he did and the lifted pass to May was very intelligent. As the old song goes, "Once he scores, one he'll score more".
Some poor performances, partly explained by MA after the game due to Illness, lack of fitness, etc. I thought Hector mostly looked very assured but there was the goal, the foul throw and a wayward header in there too.
Thomas is playing out of position but works very hard. If Edun was fit I'd move Thomas back in the middle and drop Hector.
Fraser showed again why he needs to be on the pitch. Not sure where that would be in the formation MA is playing but busy as L Watson is I still think Fraser is better.
May just runs all day and he can score goals.
Leaburn had an off day but he's 19. Usual nonsense on twitter that if a player doesn't play well he's "not interested" or "looking for a transfer". No Blackpool played him well and if anything he was trying to hard by flicking on balls first time rather than holding it up.
Felt for Tedic who is not a winger or defender and who let a runner go past him for the cross for the first goal. It's a shame he can't play in the middle up top v Villa U21s to give May a rest as that is he position and his first touch is excellent.
CBT did lots of CBT things. Another team set up to stop him and it largely worked. Wonderful goal but he could and maybe should have had another before but I take two goals in two games from a winger all season long. Hope @Elthamaddick 's son enjoyed meeting him too.
Still on 2 points a game since Holden was sacked and in the top half of the table with a game in hand (soon to be two) but falling further behind the top two.
A long way to go yet, still exciting to watch when we get it right, still too many soft goals.
Corey's strike was like Henry in his prime (not Aaron). Looks like he also had a key contribution in our first goal, with a good tackle and pass to Beastmode.
We were too passive for much of the game and though generally on top it felt like Blackpool were comfortably managing us, waiting for the inevitable mistakes, which duly came.
Over recent seasons a one goal deficit let alone two would have been insurmountable but this team has goals in it and when they play with purpose they're bloody good going forward. Great performance from Chuks to galvanise everyone around him and the other subs were also generally positive but it's depressing that this team has to stare into the abyss before it can start playing like that.
Btw I thought Chuks looked like he was slimmer (as in carrying less muscle mass) than in previous seasons. Is that part of his new fitness/recovery regime or was it just my imagination?
Not only does our defence not defend very well but their endless passing along the back line becomes very predictable and it slows our game down. It sets a negative tone to our attacks. It gives the opposition time to regroup and close their ranks so that when we finally get forward we meet an organised defence and spend our time running into blind alleys about thirty yards from goal. For all our possession in the first half we had hardly any actual shots on goal as a result of the plodding forward movement.
When a team sitting back with every one behind the ball you play across the back then to the full backs , then back , then into mid you’d trying to find that gap to play the killer pass .. what do you want them to do lump it forward ? .. they only had one shot in the 36th min and scored we were the only team on the front foot first half looking to win the game
Look at our goals. No useless safe, slow, unimaginative passes backwards and forwards across the back four involved.
Very interesting and strangely gone unnoticed but who started the move for our second goal with an excellent interception on the edge of our box.… Hector funny how people missed that????
Very interesting and strangely gone unnoticed but who started the move for our second goal with an excellent interception on the edge of our box.… Hector funny how people missed that????
Don’t think anyone is saying he played badly, just that he made a mistake which led to a goal. And not for the first time this season, an experienced centre back can’t be making that many big mistakes
Very interesting and strangely gone unnoticed but who started the move for our second goal with an excellent interception on the edge of our box.… Hector funny how people missed that????
Don’t think anyone is saying he played badly, just that he made a mistake which led to a goal. And not for the first time this season, an experienced centre back can’t be making that many big mistakes
Very interesting and strangely gone unnoticed but who started the move for our second goal with an excellent interception on the edge of our box.… Hector funny how people missed that????
Don’t think anyone is saying he played badly, just that he made a mistake which led to a goal. And not for the first time this season, an experienced centre back can’t be making that many big mistakes
Exactly.
Whist I agree with the "mistakes can't be made", but the mistake I felt was the pass back from Dobbo, 6 feet away and hit too hard, might have been better to whack into the AC stand and clear with hindsight. I thought Hector had an ok game overall...
Second game of the season for me yesterday after Exeter. I didn't expect much to change in four days and to be honest, not much really did. Blackpool were a defensively-minded side and executed their philosophy - as boring as I found it - pretty well. That's a bit different to Exeter who did, in part, try to be a bit more expansive.
- AMB, Jones, and Hector still aren't communicating all that well. There are times where the centre backs are shifted slightly out of position, and this is evident for the first goal. Jones was marking thin air. (The first goal is a team-wide travesty and I'll get onto that.) Hector fucked up for the second goal and while he otherwise looked good, if you're doing that and not sensing the danger, it's your mistake still. Fault lies also with Dobbo, and with other players for not giving the shout that Dembele was stealing in to challenge. Jones was ill so I will hold judgement more generally. Lucas Ness looked a lot better than Jones coming on - dealt with Rhodes well.
- Tennai Watson does not look to attack. Whether it's a lack of match practice; a lack of self-belief; or that he's just a bit crap I don't know. But he made one, perhaps two, forward passes all game. Asiimwe transformed our potency on the right when he came on.
- Terrell Thomas isn't a left back. He isn't quite quick enough and in transition would often be the one out of position which either upset flow if we countered, or left us exposed when they did so. We desperately need a round peg in a round hole here.
- Louie Watson and George Dobson remain a really good pairing in the middle for this level. Dobbo for the first time in a while did look a tad tired toward the end of the game, while Watson wasn't quite coming off like he did against Exeter. Credit to Blackpool: they shut down passing avenues more effectively. Scott Fraser was alright after he came on - rather the like-for-like, which is a nice situation to be in.
- CBT was kind of anonymous, with the threat of his pace not really acted on, until a banger of a finish. When he cut in a bit more, he was more effective, and our attacking play looked more dangerous as a result.
- Tedic is not a right winger and I wouldn't mind seeing him up top alongside May when circumstances permit. They're different stylistically, but both move really well, and I think we could play some pretty football with those two as a strike force. Tedic was poor yesterday though - not all his fault - but I'd rather Tyreece Campbell, who along with Asiimwe, really livened us up. He ran with direct energy and worried their flank. Silly to push a guy in the chest, even if he was kicked at, when that challenge happened.
- May I love. Same as Tuesday: worked hard with good link-up play, though Blackpool to their credit were able to nullify him better than Exeter. Deserved a goal. Leaburn was a bit off it - sort of crowded for room with Tedic also doing some of what he does. He didn't look on the pace today mind, but I imagine we've seen an off day rather than "this guy is overrated" basically.
- Aneke. What a gamechanger. He is strong, quick when he gets going, and wonderfully unselfish for the first goal. Loved that. Let's hope he can continue to be impactful in games. Nearly ninety minutes over the course of two games is really good going considering the issues he's had and there's no doubt it makes a big difference to our quality when he's on the pitch.
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- Mickey Apples got his subs right but I'm a bit concerned that we started the game in the same way as Tuesday: pass round the back; lump up top; hope it falls our way. Blackpool were wise to it from the off. All that said, it's clear he has a good half-time influence and gets us playing better through motivation where needed.
- We looked very weak at the back, at times. A bit of pace on the wing and we found that tough to deal with. The first goal was a disasterclass in positioning, with Rhodes able to ghost into two yards of space. You can't let a striker like him do that, even if he was largely under wraps most of the game.
- More generally, I think we have players who overcommit in the wrong place. I recall in the second half, Dobbo charging someone down on the left wing (their right back), leaving a gaping hole in the middle when he semi-hoofed it clear. That gap then had to be filled by Alfie May(!) and pulled our team more widely out of position as a result. Dobbo isn't the only perpetrator though he does it a fair amount. Terrell Thomas is prone to it; Louie Watson can too. I think Tedic is unsure of what he's meant to be doing when out of possession, with Leaburn next to him.
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All in all, enjoyable, and there's work to be done, but these are issues that I generally see as fixable rather than "this squad plainly is not good enough", which is a lot of what I felt last season.
An interesting feature was watching the understanding between Asimwe and Tyreece (and for ten minutes throw Leaburn into that), it was almost retro having seen those guys play together so much in the development years.
PWR … Should’ve won it, IMO. Even going 2-0 down in the second half, we had enough chances to have put this to bed. CBT and Chuks had, what I would call guilt edged opportunities. We were caught ball watching for their first goal and Hector made his customary one mistake a game for the second. A good comeback but gutted we didn’t take the 3 points
An interesting feature was watching the understanding between Asimwe and Tyreece (and for ten minutes throw Leaburn into that), it was almost retro having seen those guys play together so much in the development years.
Agree.. Was a slightly tricky/funny moment as we chased the winner when Leaburn and TC tackled each other in the area, in their haste to get the ball, which resulted in neither getting it, but the urgency and willing to get stuck in was very evident...
The oppo look like they're tripling up on CBT which leaves so much space on the other flank but we've got Tedic over there who's sitting narrow. TC came on and gave more width and the game opened up. Thought we looked more balanced with him in the game and he deserves to start the next one.
An interesting feature was watching the understanding between Asimwe and Tyreece (and for ten minutes throw Leaburn into that), it was almost retro having seen those guys play together so much in the development years.
Agree.. Was a slightly tricky/funny moment as we chased the winner when Leaburn and TC tackled each other in the area, in their haste to get the ball, which resulted in neither getting it, but the urgency and willing to get stuck in was very evident...
I find that a real worry as Leaburn was subbed in the 64th minute and I don't want to see our subbed players running back on the field to tackle a Cafc player !
Watching Tennai Watson for their first goal is making me even angrier. Utterly, utterly pathetic
Thought it was Tedic’s man. He just stopped.
Just watched it again and I agree.
If you had to pick the square pegs in a round hole yesterday Tedic and Tennai Watson would be the two. Asiimwe is raw and prone to the odd mistake but by giving an overlapping option he stopped Blackpool getting out. As for Tedic, when we brought him in I thought he might be good in the air, he isn't, then I thought he might be quick, he isn't, not a fixture in the team in my opinion.
Lucas Ness looks a good young defender. Why doesn't he start if the others are so ropey?
I can agree with this regarding Thomas, but we must remember even he is playing LB when his natural position is LCB, Hector and Jones were ok, apart from one mistake that led to their second from Hector, all in all it is a bit of a makeshift defence as a whole really, be a bit better when Edun comes back...hopefully.
Edun has shown nothing at Charlton to suggest he's good at defending. He's been very poor. Looked decent coming forward.
Comments
Blackpool aren't much fun to watch but they do it well and against our defence they were going to eventually get a chance. Ironically, we dealt with their many long balls OK and it was their first bit of passing play around our box that lead to the opener.
At 1 - 0 with the subs on we were well on top and I said "Next goals wins" as if we scored before Hector's brain fart I think we'd have gone on to win 2 or 3 - 1. We certainly created enough chances.
As it was we had to come back from two done which we did in style.
Asiimwe and T Campell gave us a lot more running and energy down that flank.
Aneke is such a good player. Not a "beast", a very skillful player with close control, strength and running. He had no right to win the ball he did for the first goal (was that CBT winning the ball back near the right hand side of the box and hitting a great long pass down the line?) but he did and the lifted pass to May was very intelligent. As the old song goes, "Once he scores, one he'll score more".
Some poor performances, partly explained by MA after the game due to Illness, lack of fitness, etc. I thought Hector mostly looked very assured but there was the goal, the foul throw and a wayward header in there too.
Thomas is playing out of position but works very hard. If Edun was fit I'd move Thomas back in the middle and drop Hector.
Fraser showed again why he needs to be on the pitch. Not sure where that would be in the formation MA is playing but busy as L Watson is I still think Fraser is better.
May just runs all day and he can score goals.
Leaburn had an off day but he's 19. Usual nonsense on twitter that if a player doesn't play well he's "not interested" or "looking for a transfer". No Blackpool played him well and if anything he was trying to hard by flicking on balls first time rather than holding it up.
Felt for Tedic who is not a winger or defender and who let a runner go past him for the cross for the first goal. It's a shame he can't play in the middle up top v Villa U21s to give May a rest as that is he position and his first touch is excellent.
CBT did lots of CBT things. Another team set up to stop him and it largely worked. Wonderful goal but he could and maybe should have had another before but I take two goals in two games from a winger all season long. Hope @Elthamaddick 's son enjoyed meeting him too.
Still on 2 points a game since Holden was sacked and in the top half of the table with a game in hand (soon to be two) but falling further behind the top two.
A long way to go yet, still exciting to watch when we get it right, still too many soft goals.
Just.get.it.forward.
Over recent seasons a one goal deficit let alone two would have been insurmountable but this team has goals in it and when they play with purpose they're bloody good going forward. Great performance from Chuks to galvanise everyone around him and the other subs were also generally positive but it's depressing that this team has to stare into the abyss before it can start playing like that.
Btw I thought Chuks looked like he was slimmer (as in carrying less muscle mass) than in previous seasons. Is that part of his new fitness/recovery regime or was it just my imagination?
There's a JRS sized hole on the right.
Best we currently have is Tyreece Campbell. I thought him & Chuks changed the game yesterday when they came on.
I thought Hector had an ok game overall...
- AMB, Jones, and Hector still aren't communicating all that well. There are times where the centre backs are shifted slightly out of position, and this is evident for the first goal. Jones was marking thin air. (The first goal is a team-wide travesty and I'll get onto that.) Hector fucked up for the second goal and while he otherwise looked good, if you're doing that and not sensing the danger, it's your mistake still. Fault lies also with Dobbo, and with other players for not giving the shout that Dembele was stealing in to challenge. Jones was ill so I will hold judgement more generally. Lucas Ness looked a lot better than Jones coming on - dealt with Rhodes well.
- Tennai Watson does not look to attack. Whether it's a lack of match practice; a lack of self-belief; or that he's just a bit crap I don't know. But he made one, perhaps two, forward passes all game. Asiimwe transformed our potency on the right when he came on.
- Terrell Thomas isn't a left back. He isn't quite quick enough and in transition would often be the one out of position which either upset flow if we countered, or left us exposed when they did so. We desperately need a round peg in a round hole here.
- Louie Watson and George Dobson remain a really good pairing in the middle for this level. Dobbo for the first time in a while did look a tad tired toward the end of the game, while Watson wasn't quite coming off like he did against Exeter. Credit to Blackpool: they shut down passing avenues more effectively. Scott Fraser was alright after he came on - rather the like-for-like, which is a nice situation to be in.
- CBT was kind of anonymous, with the threat of his pace not really acted on, until a banger of a finish. When he cut in a bit more, he was more effective, and our attacking play looked more dangerous as a result.
- Tedic is not a right winger and I wouldn't mind seeing him up top alongside May when circumstances permit. They're different stylistically, but both move really well, and I think we could play some pretty football with those two as a strike force. Tedic was poor yesterday though - not all his fault - but I'd rather Tyreece Campbell, who along with Asiimwe, really livened us up. He ran with direct energy and worried their flank. Silly to push a guy in the chest, even if he was kicked at, when that challenge happened.
- May I love. Same as Tuesday: worked hard with good link-up play, though Blackpool to their credit were able to nullify him better than Exeter. Deserved a goal. Leaburn was a bit off it - sort of crowded for room with Tedic also doing some of what he does. He didn't look on the pace today mind, but I imagine we've seen an off day rather than "this guy is overrated" basically.
- Aneke. What a gamechanger. He is strong, quick when he gets going, and wonderfully unselfish for the first goal. Loved that. Let's hope he can continue to be impactful in games. Nearly ninety minutes over the course of two games is really good going considering the issues he's had and there's no doubt it makes a big difference to our quality when he's on the pitch.
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- Mickey Apples got his subs right but I'm a bit concerned that we started the game in the same way as Tuesday: pass round the back; lump up top; hope it falls our way. Blackpool were wise to it from the off. All that said, it's clear he has a good half-time influence and gets us playing better through motivation where needed.
- We looked very weak at the back, at times. A bit of pace on the wing and we found that tough to deal with. The first goal was a disasterclass in positioning, with Rhodes able to ghost into two yards of space. You can't let a striker like him do that, even if he was largely under wraps most of the game.
- More generally, I think we have players who overcommit in the wrong place. I recall in the second half, Dobbo charging someone down on the left wing (their right back), leaving a gaping hole in the middle when he semi-hoofed it clear. That gap then had to be filled by Alfie May(!) and pulled our team more widely out of position as a result. Dobbo isn't the only perpetrator though he does it a fair amount. Terrell Thomas is prone to it; Louie Watson can too. I think Tedic is unsure of what he's meant to be doing when out of possession, with Leaburn next to him.
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All in all, enjoyable, and there's work to be done, but these are issues that I generally see as fixable rather than "this squad plainly is not good enough", which is a lot of what I felt last season.
It was our chance and we took it.
Asiimwe disposessing Morgan for our first.
Was a slightly tricky/funny moment as we chased the winner when Leaburn and TC tackled each other in the area, in their haste to get the ball, which resulted in neither getting it, but the urgency and willing to get stuck in was very evident...
I find that a real worry as Leaburn was subbed in the 64th minute and I don't want to see our subbed players running back on the field to tackle a Cafc player !
He's been very poor.
Looked decent coming forward.