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Post by bonaparte on Feb 11, 2017 18:54:15 GMT
Hi Andy,
I suspected you would praise Trotter to the sky, but I did not see anything special. He made no tackles that I can recall, he made none of the passes you much laud and scored a routine open goal, admittidly he did have to hit the target. In defence he was always in space and in attack was always tight to a man. I was not surprised he was substituted. ALF did tire so went first. 7 value he was not. I need to see a replay but I think the Walsall goal came from left midfield when Trotter was supposed to be there. Again I could be wrong. More a 4 for me. MOM for me Derek although a difficult decision.
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Post by greydad on Feb 11, 2017 19:24:53 GMT
Well done Phil Parkinson, he selected a team and system that produced a great result...the football wasn't as flowing as against Port vale or Gillingham, but the team were able to recover well from the early and totally unexpected goal conceded, and go on to win the game comfortably. It was a redemptive performance in many ways...the understandable and deserved criticism re: perseverance with predictable and unproductive tactics of recent weeks was addressed successfully, substitutions were timely and very, very effective, Madine scored a rare header and worked well with ALF and Long, and the much maligned Trotter scored a wonderful goal. Regarding Trotter, he made some valuable interceptions, the midfield as a unit was more effective than in recent weeks, and whilst never dominant in terms of passing the team was better balanced with the numbers available in midfield. I will be happy to see his name on the teamsheet against Rochdale. Morais is a real crowd pleaser, he works hard, and has skill on the ball..Long had a wonderful cameo from the bench, capped with a superb goal, and Solomon Obator looked exciting when he came on. The team seemed to find it difficult to regain their momentum following the lengthy half-time break, but all in all the match was a triumph of selection and tactics, with a couple of outstanding goals thrown in...hope it's a bit warmer on Tuesday, but a similar result like today will help to keep the cold at bay.
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Post by joanna on Feb 11, 2017 19:32:35 GMT
And this against a team that has beaten the Blades 3 times this season, including netting 4 times at Bramall Lane.
Don't disappoint us after this please, you whites. It's the hope that kills us.
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Post by davidm on Feb 11, 2017 19:32:56 GMT
Well, we needed that result.
It wasn’t a great performance and the second half was poor but, on a day when all but Sheff Utd, dropped points, a great result.
We start in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation. Nobody at right back but 3 defenders and Morais and Taylor as wingbacks. Even better Le Fondre played central not on the wing as I feared. I notice that Henry was the on-loan player to miss out this week.
We had the worst possible start when their 5’ 0” attacker was on his own 30 yards out and volleyed at goal. Alnwick backed back and, in my mind, inexplicably missed it. It flew past him but a good keeper, which Alnwick is, should save that.
We had10 mins or so of nothingness. Le Fondre played in the middle with Madine and his intelligence created a few half chances until we found Walsall’s failing, i.e. set pieces. First Spearing looped a free kick over and then came corners that we scored from.
The first corner was headed in by Madine at the far post. It seemed to creep just inside the post. Spearing then put in a corner that Beevers Madine got to only for his header to be kicked off the line. The ball went back out to Spearing near the corner flag and he drove the ball across low for a lucky rebound own goal to put u s ahead.
Five minutes later, I had just commented on how Trotter was not involved, when he volleyed home an incredible drive from a low ball 30 yards out. Maybe a deflection but great credit to Trotter for such a strike.
I was hoping for a 4th as it would have repeated the first half in the 8-1 that Andy referred to but we stuck at 3 for the first half.
Stuck was the operative word as we just did not play in the second half.
We have this tendency to sit back once we are in the lead and we did that to a worrying extent in the second half. Walsall had all the ball. Alnwick almost gave them a comical goal with a slip and then Wheater cleared off the line with Alnwick beaten.
We eventually got out of this lethargy by the manager bringing on Long as sub. He injected pace into the attack and first Madine missed a one on one, then Long had a goal disallowed but Long then completed a fine 15 minutes with a rocket shot from the edge of the area. He then managed to miss a one on one himself.
As I said, a good result. It should give us confidence for Tuesday but it was far from perfect.
Alnwick - 6 I really believe that he should have saved the first goal and he had an embarrassing slip in the second half that should have cost us a goal. Apart from those two incidents, he was his usual steady self.
Derik - 6 Played on the right of a back three. Quite steady but none of his quality passing.
Wheater - 7 A tower as usual. A block on the goal line saved a certain goal which would have made it 3-2 and left us twitchy.
Beevers - 6 Steady but not dominant as at the start of the season. He has lost a little bit in his game since Christmas.
Morais - 7 Played as the right wing back and did well till he ran out of steam.
Spearing - 6 Busy as usual but defensively there is a massive gap through which opponents flood through.
Trotter - 6 Quality goal – a real shock. He was anonymous for a lot of the game, then scored a cracker. Same as Spearing with regard to opponents running through our midfield.
Vela - 6 A bit deeper than normal to accommodate Le Fondre and it took an edge off his game. I am worried that we have lost the understanding that he had with Clough.
Taylor - 6 Left wing back. Played OK.
Le Fondre - 6 His inclusion, playing upfront not on the wing, took a load off Madine and show some decent signs for the future.
Madine - 67 Played much better in receiving long balls as he had Le Fondre to play the ball to. Involved in first 3 goals.Decent header for the equaliser but he missed an absolute sitter when one on one with the keeper.
Long - 7 Only on for about 15 minutes but was much better than at MK Dons where he was on the wing. One offside goal, one cracking rocket shot for his goal and then a one on one miss.
Thorpe - 6 Only on for a short while but tidy.
Manager - 7 Change of shape with 3 at the back. Played 2 upfront. Much better tactics.
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Post by joanna on Feb 11, 2017 19:46:50 GMT
I was wrong: Walsall's 4-1 win against Sheffield Utd was at home at The Bescot.
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Post by whitesince63 on Feb 11, 2017 20:54:57 GMT
Sorry but I'm going to be the party pooper here, I actually thought we were awful today but at least managed some goals. We just don't seem to have any idea of how to pass and move. The sideways stuff at the back, then a lump forward is beyond boring. We scored 3 goals, a decent header from Madine, a cracking shot cross from Spearing and a stunner from Trotter but other than that we were poor. The second half was atrocious, we were totally outplayed by a team playing football how it should be played. Had the one off the line gone in I really think we would have conceded again. We are sadly lacking a dominant midfield presence, neither Spearing, Vela or Trotter are anywhere near that so again our midfield never links with the attack to put the opposition under pressure. There were 3 or 4 times when Beevers ran forward down the left side and not once did anybody run forward and make space to receive a pass. Blaming the extended break for our poor second half is ridiculous. It's not the first time we've done that and I'm sure it won't be the last. OK we won, great and we needed the points but I'm far from convinced by the performance. I exclude Derik, Morais and Le Fondre who I thought played well and possibly Wheater and Beevers too, but the rest and the team in general were poor.
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Post by greydad on Feb 12, 2017 8:47:28 GMT
Pleased to read that Helen Byrne was released from hospital after her health scare, here's to a swift and complete return to good health for her. As regards the game, the second half was not good overall, but there were some very good moments...Long's goal, the moves that led to the creation, and squandering, of 3 clear chances, Otabor's run from outside his own penalty area, some dogged and effective defending, and whilst not blaming the long delay the team did struggle following the break. Overall the team enjoyed 55% possession, had 13 shots, 7 on target, and scored 4 goals, playing a different system to alleviate defensive injury problems, and conceded 1 goal from a great strike that caught everyone by surprise. I'm not sure that to describe the performance as awful is fair on either the team, the manager or reflects the performance as a whole...I thought it was an enjoyable first half, a disappointing second half, but to win by such a comfortable margin whilst not playing fluently, and to create further clear goal-scoring opportunities, is hopefully something on which to build as the team tries to maintain it's promotion challenge.... in comparison to the last 2 home games there was surely far more to be positive about over the whole 90+ minutes, and in terms of P.P's management of the game it was a job well done for me. |
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Post by bonaparte on Feb 12, 2017 9:03:16 GMT
Apologies Andy, seen the replay.
Trotter was outjumped for a midfield header, Spearing and Beevers didn't clear the lines and the ball fell nicely for a shot.
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Post by Pedro on Feb 12, 2017 14:31:29 GMT
13 shots - seven ON target and 4 goals - What an improvement in the stats and the result against the Saddlers who had been unbeaten in 5 games was impressive and enjoyable. Now, if Parky can see from Morais what a PROPER work ethic is and instil this type of effort from the rest of the lazy, complacent slackers we should romp home to at least be second behind Sheffield Utd. We were very fortunate (ESL) to be right behind both Trotter's and Long's shots - both superb strikes. Come on Parky get them all hitting shots like that in training ON TARGET - and of course not straight at the keeper Gary! Unfortunately Parky has failed to stop the "Wander's lull" which so often has let the other team back into the game and Walsall, yet again, like so many teams below us show how the pass and move game with a bit of pace totally leaves us for dead and shows up our inability to pass accurately - Spearing? Do you have an eyesight problem? However, overall a great afternoon out and well done the lads. So good to go home again with a smile on our faces.  |
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