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Post by whitesince63 on Apr 6, 2021 9:05:22 GMT
I fully agree on the performance o2m, the best we’ve played since Cambridge, so it’s all the more disappointing we couldn’t convert at least one of the chances we made but I don’t think it’s any reflection of Lee’s ability as a professional footballer, I’m sure he’s as perplexed and disappointed he missed them as we are and on another day I’m certain he would have bagged at least one. Anyway, it’s behind us now and we have 7 games left to make up for it starting on Saturday with Harrogate. We can still do this so let’s just have faith in IE and the players to put it right.
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Post by beenheresince53 on Apr 6, 2021 9:22:28 GMT
We had a winning formula with Gilkes a back four of Jones, Santos, Baptiste, John a central midfield of Lee and Williams with Doyle up front instead of pushing Lee forward leave him were he does his best work and put Miller up front with Doyle then chose the last 2 places from Dapo, Arthur, Isgrove, Delfouneso Elbouzedi, Maddison etc I’m sure with 2 strikers it will solve our goal scoring problems. What does anyone else think?
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Post by one2many on Apr 6, 2021 10:18:46 GMT
We had a winning formula with Gilkes a back four of Jones, Santos, Baptiste, John a central midfield of Lee and Williams with Doyle up front instead of pushing Lee forward leave him were he does his best work and put Miller up front with Doyle then chose the last 2 places from Dapo, Arthur, Isgrove, Delfouneso Elbouzedi, Maddison etc I’m sure with 2 strikers it will solve our goal scoring problems. What does anyone else think? I think we are beginnning to miss Sarcevic big time. Having seen that Lee is clearly not a goal scoring midfielder, agree he should stay back with Williams (who I think is an excellent reader of the game by the way).So in the absence of Sarcevic, perhaps try going with a second striker, why not... or could Thomason play that role?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2021 10:37:11 GMT
I think our manager is not being fair to the team as a whole he seems to keep picking the same player's week in week out, why will he not try Miller & Doyle together for a couple of games and try dropping Delfouenso we have 7 games to go we can't afford to carry anyone Doyle needs a hand up front onwards and upwards stay safe one and all COYWM
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Post by andyl on Apr 6, 2021 14:27:41 GMT
A point that strikes me is that at this level and Div 1 the better teams alternate between back fours and back threes.
We began the season committed to a back three and it was disastrous. Santos was dozy and exposed, Baptiste struggled for speed, Brockbank could not accelerate and our wing backs were getting stuck upfield. Also Delaney proved not good enough at bringing the ball out.
Admittedly at that point we did not have Lee, Williams and much of Thomason.
But look how easily Newport who were struggling with three reverted to four at half time and snuffed out the Jones/Isgrove threat in a moment.
When , under Parky, we got promoted from Div 1 we did it by going to a three in mid season, Dervite playing it excellently after years of failure in a four and this enabled Alf to play whereas previously it had been just Madine. It also brought Morais to a different standard of contribution.
What I think I'm seeing currently is a blueprint which opposition managers can match and stalemate and us unable to up the tempo or switch the tactics. Even so we may well be good enough to get more points from the final games than most of our rivals.
My only fear is that we just can't do attacking set pieces and free kicks
Yes we miss Sarcevic.
One salutory question would be to ask 'just how many of the current squad could succeed at Div 1 and with it who stays and goes. My take on that is
Up to Div 1--- Jones ( maybe) , Santos ( in the right set up), John, Lee, Williams, Thomason, Madison ( maybe), Dapo ( maybe), Darcy ( hopefully), Politic and just maybe a youngster or two ( Hurford-Lockett?) ( Edwards?)
Not up to it Gilks, Brockbank, Delaney, Comley, Gordon, Isgrove, Doyle, Sarcevic, Delfouneso, Miller, Gnahoua, Jackson, Elbouzedi (but not a write off)
And therein lies the challenge. With a static team, a good enough system with little flexibility, no set piece plays and no power down the middle upfront we are going to have to eke our way across the line and rebuild?
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Post by riochforthereebok on Apr 6, 2021 17:50:43 GMT
A point that strikes me is that at this level and Div 1 the better teams alternate between back fours and back threes. We began the season committed to a back three and it was disastrous. Santos was dozy and exposed, Baptiste struggled for speed, Brockbank could not accelerate and our wing backs were getting stuck upfield. Also Delaney proved not good enough at bringing the ball out. Admittedly at that point we did not have Lee, Williams and much of Thomason. But look how easily Newport who were struggling with three reverted to four at half time and snuffed out the Jones/Isgrove threat in a moment. When , under Parky, we got promoted from Div 1 we did it by going to a three in mid season, Dervite playing it excellently after years of failure in a four and this enabled Alf to play whereas previously it had been just Madine. It also brought Morais to a different standard of contribution. What I think I'm seeing currently is a blueprint which opposition managers can match and stalemate and us unable to up the tempo or switch the tactics. Even so we may well be good enough to get more points from the final games than most of our rivals. My only fear is that we just can't do attacking set pieces and free kicks Yes we miss Sarcevic. One salutory question would be to ask 'just how many of the current squad could succeed at Div 1 and with it who stays and goes. My take on that is Up to Div 1--- Jones ( maybe) , Santos ( in the right set up), John, Lee, Williams, Thomason, Madison ( maybe), Dapo ( maybe), Darcy ( hopefully), Politic and just maybe a youngster or two ( Hurford-Lockett?) ( Edwards?) Not up to it Gilks, Brockbank, Delaney, Comley, Gordon, Isgrove, Doyle, Sarcevic, Delfouneso, Miller, Gnahoua, Jackson, Elbouzedi (but not a write off) And therein lies the challenge. With a static team, a good enough system with little flexibility, no set piece plays and no power down the middle upfront we are going to have to eke our way across the line and rebuild? Wow Andy It’s going to take some serious spending to build a team around your selection for Div 1 possibles. I don't think many would argue with those you see as not fit for Div 1, save for Doyle and Sarce, with better players and a more attacking formulae than the defensive minded Ian Evatt selections, these 2 could do ok!! I fear that those teams in the autos will now step up and push away from the Trotters if we don’t take a grip on our performances and start to get goals and find a way to win again
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Post by riochforthereebok on Apr 6, 2021 19:04:30 GMT
Nice to see new members on here too
Welcome veririm & beenheresince53🙂
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Post by riochforthereebok on Apr 6, 2021 19:23:37 GMT
Another result gone our way thanks to Southend
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Post by whitesince63 on Apr 6, 2021 22:14:50 GMT
Nice to see new members on here too Welcome veririm & beenheresince53🙂 Yes, welcome guys, good to see you contributing and most welcome.
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Post by whitesince63 on Apr 6, 2021 22:29:49 GMT
A point that strikes me is that at this level and Div 1 the better teams alternate between back fours and back threes. We began the season committed to a back three and it was disastrous. Santos was dozy and exposed, Baptiste struggled for speed, Brockbank could not accelerate and our wing backs were getting stuck upfield. Also Delaney proved not good enough at bringing the ball out. Admittedly at that point we did not have Lee, Williams and much of Thomason. But look how easily Newport who were struggling with three reverted to four at half time and snuffed out the Jones/Isgrove threat in a moment. When , under Parky, we got promoted from Div 1 we did it by going to a three in mid season, Dervite playing it excellently after years of failure in a four and this enabled Alf to play whereas previously it had been just Madine. It also brought Morais to a different standard of contribution. What I think I'm seeing currently is a blueprint which opposition managers can match and stalemate and us unable to up the tempo or switch the tactics. Even so we may well be good enough to get more points from the final games than most of our rivals. My only fear is that we just can't do attacking set pieces and free kicks Yes we miss Sarcevic. One salutory question would be to ask 'just how many of the current squad could succeed at Div 1 and with it who stays and goes. My take on that is Up to Div 1--- Jones ( maybe) , Santos ( in the right set up), John, Lee, Williams, Thomason, Madison ( maybe), Dapo ( maybe), Darcy ( hopefully), Politic and just maybe a youngster or two ( Hurford-Lockett?) ( Edwards?) Not up to it Gilks, Brockbank, Delaney, Comley, Gordon, Isgrove, Doyle, Sarcevic, Delfouneso, Miller, Gnahoua, Jackson, Elbouzedi (but not a write off) And therein lies the challenge. With a static team, a good enough system with little flexibility, no set piece plays and no power down the middle upfront we are going to have to eke our way across the line and rebuild? Actually Andy, I just can’t decide whether we miss Sarcevic or not. He’s a little bit like Delf, in that you don’t see him for long periods of a game and then he pops up and does something good. Whether that’s enough I’m not sure as maybe he’s doing more in games than I see because on iFollow you don’t see a lot of off the ball work. It’s ok to call for change but as you’ve illustrated in your post, we don’t really have a lot of quality to choose from when putting the team together and that’s probably why Delf gets in so often despite his general lack lustre performances. Who do you replace him with that you can rely on? I’m struggling to think of anybody to play alongside Doyle that would make much difference other than Sarcevic. Assuming IE can cobble together the results to get us up, he’s got a massive job on his hands to make the team competitive in L1 next year but with the embargo’s off, at least he should be able to fish in a better pond. So I agree with you it looks like being a struggle with more finger nail biting for our last seven games this season and keeping much the same team because attempting big changes at this stage may do more harm than good?
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Post by andyl on Apr 7, 2021 7:47:46 GMT
What I did like on Monday, albeit in a minority on here, was Maddison's late contribution. We saw a really good cross, a rasping shot and a sense of momentum. Have glimpsed that before but he hasn't had the fitness or sharpness to do than hint at his past and has made off the pace errors. Not so Saturday. And he had the body strength to pick himself up after a clattering. I see the BN has picked up on it today.
If he cold just get going he would make all the difference, I think as could Politic if he were to emerge for a couple of bench appearances.
It is a very good point that Ifollow doesn't show whole pitch movement. I have noted Delfouneso ghosting in and out of defence and wonder if I do not give him enough credit and the comment re Sarcevic is fair and really why I do not think he would succeed at Div 1.
Here are a couple of phrases from commentary on Monday
The first is the most used this season
' And xxx is looking for Delfouneso'--- good luck with that one--- is my reaction
' Doyle is off in hot pursuit of the ball'....FFS, stay put in the centre is my reaction to that and also the whimsy that I have NEVER heard it said of Delfouneso
It's really for that reason plus general lack of control and technique that i can't see Doyle succeeding in a higher league- although credit to him he does at least score in this.
If we do not go up automatically or fall foul of Newport or one of the others in the play off it will b the lack of goals and upfront power that will be the root problem, not any of the rest.
In passing I still think Newport are the best team in the division, possibly after us on our day, so it's not a disgrace to lose twice to them and Monday was a pretty good game unlike Friday's damp squib which underlined everything above and more
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Post by whitesince63 on Apr 7, 2021 8:09:42 GMT
I think I’m with you in the Maddison minority Andy, he was excellent in the short time he was on against Newport and if we’d had another ten minutes, who knows what might have happened. I was particularly impressed when he moved to the left, where his pace, skill and ability to cross accurately was obvious, let’s hope IE plays him from the off on Saturday as I think working with John and hopefully Dapo reinstated, they could tear one for Harrogate down that left side. Equally, Isgrove and Jones are much the best pairing down the right working with Lee. I genuinely think Maddison could be the spark we need with his ability to shoot from distance and angle and also from set pieces, which we’ve been desperate for. I also ask, could he perhaps be the answer alongside Doyle or would he be wasted there? Either way, I hope Evatt is true to his word and gives him a chance against Harrogate to see if he has genuinely improved or not.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Apr 7, 2021 10:09:49 GMT
Great debate chaps 👏🏻
You’d think though that with Div 1 a possibility that some or the majority of these players would be playing (better) for their futures
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Post by thegrud1 on Apr 7, 2021 10:14:57 GMT
Rioch......I genuinely think they are...everyone has a level and I think this is theirs...if we do get promoted we will need 5-6 really good signings
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Post by whitesince63 on Apr 7, 2021 10:35:24 GMT
Great debate chaps 👏🏻 You’d think though that with Div 1 a possibility that some or the majority of these players would be playing (better) for their futures I think they are rftr and in the first half of the Newport game, I think we were superb in the way we played but just couldn’t find the finish. I don’t think we could miss all those really simple chances again, no mater how we tried. It just gave Newport chance at HT to make the changes to set up that closed the gaps we found and prevented us from continuing the flow. If we play the same on Saturday against Harrogate, I’m sure the result will be different. It’s when we slip into the slow, slow, side to side, back stuff like we did against Colchester that we struggle but I don’t expect that from the players again in our remaining games. Most of them are playing for either a full contract or retaining and I’m sure hope to be playing in at least L1 next year, so I don’t expect under performance. The ones I do worry about are the fringe players who having been given little opportunity by IE may just give up trying as they know they probably won’t be here next season anyway. Players in that situation are Greenidge, Miller, Gnahoua, Delaney, Comley, Tutte and maybe even Ronan and Brocky. I think the way Gnahoua was treated after Colchester was disrespectful since he was played completely out of position for me and his major abilities wasted. It was obvious even after a short time that he wasn’t comfortable and I would have moved him into the centre and switched Delf there. It wouldn’t have affected Delf because he’s ineffective wherever he is! I’d also like to have seen more of Greenidge because he’s the only one of our big defenders who’ve actually scored from a corner and looks useful in set pieces but of course with Rico and Baps being so good together it’s probably understandable. So I think the players are trying and like IE, I wouldn’t blame the players for Monday’s loss, other than Lee and Doyle for missing the chances but even they at least got there which previously we haven’t.
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