Post by andyl on Aug 16, 2016 10:15:56 GMT
I can't get to this one, alas. It will be interesting to hear the approach adopted. Rather as the Kraken observed after Wimbledon I do think there is at this level something to be saidf for deploying Madine and Proctor in harness at times and they did have an attritional effect. Proctor was tireless and if I'd had to pick a man of the match there it would have been him. But Madine did at times hold the ball well with back to goal and he did contribute to both goals. Clough improved us greatly and hee needed players to work with and I'm not sure either Proctor or Madine are quite what he needs. His link up with Trotter offered most in that Trotter is in my opinion the best passer we have and the most likely of the midfielders to join up with and link up with attacks built around Clough but both will struggle to make much of second balls from Madine or Proctor. That said being the most likely doesn't make it happen consistently. I thought Trotter was sluggish and languid on Saturday. I've seen him better.
Taylor is a worry. On Saturday he came on to boost the attack presumably but we scored our winner very quickly and he fell back into some sort of defensive midfield role which he wasn't very good at especially ahead of Moxey who has been the weakest and most vulnerable of our defenders in both games to date in my opinion. I'd like to see what Taylor can do on the right but for me he offered less when introduced than had Wilson the week before.
Vela is also a worry. Wigan may be competing for his services but in midfield especially on the left he looks to me to be yard short of pace for pretty much everything and given that Davies is several yards short of everything it puts too much on to Spearing. That said given that the otherwise impressive Howard prefers to miss midfield out altogether when distributing ( if that's not an erroneous use of the term) maybe it's their contribution when out of possession that is the one that tells even if it doesn't excite.
We had luck against Sheffield. They could have been two up. We had luck against Wimbledon. We were gifted a goal. At some point luck will run out. But as greydad noted we looked better when the ball was on the ground. I just hope our new manager agrees!. Or else it will be pretty frustrating fare even if touchwood opposition strikers aren't really good enough to capitalise on our deficiencies. I think at Wimbledon we showed promise and offered hope rather than convincing evidence of coherence and a winning mentality. But we were at least able to establish some sort of foundation. Let's hope that it doesn't all go pear shaped in Bristol!
Beevers and Wheater were in the thick of much of the action on Saturday and came off second best aerially much of the time- which is why they couldn't be men of the match for me. But that said I think their pairing is a strength of this season. They look so much better in harness than Wheater did with Mills, Ream or Holding and at least Dervite is not playing?
So at Bristol Rovers?
Taylor is a worry. On Saturday he came on to boost the attack presumably but we scored our winner very quickly and he fell back into some sort of defensive midfield role which he wasn't very good at especially ahead of Moxey who has been the weakest and most vulnerable of our defenders in both games to date in my opinion. I'd like to see what Taylor can do on the right but for me he offered less when introduced than had Wilson the week before.
Vela is also a worry. Wigan may be competing for his services but in midfield especially on the left he looks to me to be yard short of pace for pretty much everything and given that Davies is several yards short of everything it puts too much on to Spearing. That said given that the otherwise impressive Howard prefers to miss midfield out altogether when distributing ( if that's not an erroneous use of the term) maybe it's their contribution when out of possession that is the one that tells even if it doesn't excite.
We had luck against Sheffield. They could have been two up. We had luck against Wimbledon. We were gifted a goal. At some point luck will run out. But as greydad noted we looked better when the ball was on the ground. I just hope our new manager agrees!. Or else it will be pretty frustrating fare even if touchwood opposition strikers aren't really good enough to capitalise on our deficiencies. I think at Wimbledon we showed promise and offered hope rather than convincing evidence of coherence and a winning mentality. But we were at least able to establish some sort of foundation. Let's hope that it doesn't all go pear shaped in Bristol!
Beevers and Wheater were in the thick of much of the action on Saturday and came off second best aerially much of the time- which is why they couldn't be men of the match for me. But that said I think their pairing is a strength of this season. They look so much better in harness than Wheater did with Mills, Ream or Holding and at least Dervite is not playing?
So at Bristol Rovers?
