Post by stevek192 on Feb 18, 2018 10:57:14 GMT
Well it was a lovely spring day yesterday that greeted us and whilst there was an improvement in the weather in truth I was not expecting to see a game of purists football but a dogged battle for every ball and probably the ball in the air far more than it would be on the ground which makes it more difficult for the "footballing" team to play and so I was not disappointed!! In what was probably one of the worst games of football this season it was always going to be difficult and in all honesty we probably would have all been better off watching the beam back because as a ground it is the worst ground I have experienced for actually watching football. Even at 6ft tall I struggled to see much down the flank on our side and so the report will be as I saw the game - a bit patchy.
When the team sheet came out the most notable absentee was Tom Broadbent who has been pretty damn good recently but to be honest I was not surprised by the back four selected as I think DC's intention was always to pair Tom Lockyer with Tony Craig and the two full backs picked themselves because the options were very limited. Some people will slaughter me but I might have been tempted to play Tom Broadbent in place of Sinclair to harden up physically the midfield because IMO looking at our team and with the future in mind we lack the physique in vital areas of the pitch. Personally I would have left Sinclair and Nicholls out of the squad completely yesterday and as it turned out probably substituted Bennett before half time!
I could describe the game in one sentence- it was a poor first half and a not much better second half with a poor referee who was inconsistently consistent! It was a game decided by a goal where yet again we suffered another poor refereeing decision as Moore was fouled in a way that we had been penalised throughout the game. Why is it that referees seem to favour the "strong physical" team?
Smith 6 Couple of good saves and competent overall although nearly gave away a replica of the Oxford goal with an awful clearance straight to a Wimbledon player.
Partington 7 Will be disappointed by getting caught out the wrong side of Moore on the goal but overall he did well and defended strongly and attacked regularly. His crosses were not quite up to his usual standard but he and Moore seemed to work well together and looked dangerous.
Lockyer 8 Solid comeback, read the game superbly and despite the lack of height against an "up and under" team dealt capably with everything Wimbledon lumped at him for 92 minutes!
Craig 8 MOM Superb performance. Keeps his head and knows exactly what to do in most situations. His leadership is in the "Mansell" style and he just doesn't get ruffled by no nonsence players and Wimbledon have quite a few of them! In truth the defence were superb yesterday for all but the last minute.
Bola 7 Solid ,composed and missed very little and IMO a contender for MOM. Looked good both defensively and going forward.
Lines 6.5 Tried hard to impose himself on the game and was the only player who really looked creative and made good use of his height winning quite a few headers.
O. Clarke 6.5 Was his sort of game and IMO we lost the game when he went off because he is the nearest to a physical midfielder we have. Looked like an ankle injury.
Sinclair 5.5 Was always going to be a difficult game for him against a strong, tall and physical Wimbledon team. As always tried hard but we really needed a bigger physical player in the midfield with the ball mainly competed for in the air.
Sercombe 6.5 Missed the best chance of the game when set up by Harrison. Couldn't see why he was brought off as he battled well and personally would have substituted either Bennett or Sinclair and brought Mensah on.
Harrison 6 Struggled for long parts of this game with an injury but still looked dangerous at times and set Sercombe up in the first half with the only real clear chance that either side had.
Bennett 5 Like Sinclair he was always going to struggle physically in this game and he didn't really get going and the only surprise was that he was still on the pitch at the end. Never gave up but just not his type of game and he was up against a very physical and experienced player in Fuller.
Subs: Moore 6 Like Tuesday he came on and impressed with his ball control and at least tried to get at Wimbledon. Personally I would give him the right wing berth for the rest of the season and see if he can grab the opportunity.
Gaffney 4 Struggled and did little other than a good run in the box but why oh why did he stop when a pass across to an unmarked Nicholls or even a shot were crying out.
Nichols 3 Sorry but the bloke is struggling big time and shouldn't even be on the bench at the present time. Did nothing in what was thankfully not too long an appearance.
Crowd 6 Tried hard to create an atmosphere but were not entertained enough to really get going. From an actual view point of view we would all have been better off going to the beam back.
Ref 4 Inconsistent and very strange that the physical side were favoured with many decisions. It seemed any touch from our players was a free kick and yet he failed miserably to give a free kick for the foul on Moore that led to the winning goal.
Wimbledon 5 For entertainment it would be a 2 but they have a way of playing and don't vary from it and are very good at it-against us anyway! Physically we are just not a strong team and until we get a bit more strength in midfield and up top we will struggle against teams like them. I would like to see them relegated because of the way they play but I think they will get out of it because there are worse sides around.
DC Please stop moaning about your budget when you have spent more than quite a few teams on a poor excuse of a striker. For a game like yesterday he would have been better off getting Akinfenwa! Feel he got the substitutions wrong and probably the starting team but have to say that for those who would criticise him for leaving out Broadbent that the defending was the best part of our game until the last minute and the back four were as tight as I have seen them. The reason we lost the game was because we lack in our squad strong physical players in the midfield and forwards and our only answer seems to be to overload the midfield. At the end of the day although a point would have been deserved it is not as if it makes a huge amount of difference and in many ways it is harder to take if you are leading 1-0 and concede in the last minute to lose 2 points.
We now go into two tough home games against Scunthorpe and Wigan which will give us far more indication as to where we are than yesterdays game and my main worry would be where we are with injuries. I would very much like to see DC approach the games with an attacking intent because I feel that if we allow these two opponents to take the initiative like we have recently at home they are capable of taking full advantage.3 points from the two games would be a good return IMO
UTG
When the team sheet came out the most notable absentee was Tom Broadbent who has been pretty damn good recently but to be honest I was not surprised by the back four selected as I think DC's intention was always to pair Tom Lockyer with Tony Craig and the two full backs picked themselves because the options were very limited. Some people will slaughter me but I might have been tempted to play Tom Broadbent in place of Sinclair to harden up physically the midfield because IMO looking at our team and with the future in mind we lack the physique in vital areas of the pitch. Personally I would have left Sinclair and Nicholls out of the squad completely yesterday and as it turned out probably substituted Bennett before half time!
I could describe the game in one sentence- it was a poor first half and a not much better second half with a poor referee who was inconsistently consistent! It was a game decided by a goal where yet again we suffered another poor refereeing decision as Moore was fouled in a way that we had been penalised throughout the game. Why is it that referees seem to favour the "strong physical" team?
Smith 6 Couple of good saves and competent overall although nearly gave away a replica of the Oxford goal with an awful clearance straight to a Wimbledon player.
Partington 7 Will be disappointed by getting caught out the wrong side of Moore on the goal but overall he did well and defended strongly and attacked regularly. His crosses were not quite up to his usual standard but he and Moore seemed to work well together and looked dangerous.
Lockyer 8 Solid comeback, read the game superbly and despite the lack of height against an "up and under" team dealt capably with everything Wimbledon lumped at him for 92 minutes!
Craig 8 MOM Superb performance. Keeps his head and knows exactly what to do in most situations. His leadership is in the "Mansell" style and he just doesn't get ruffled by no nonsence players and Wimbledon have quite a few of them! In truth the defence were superb yesterday for all but the last minute.
Bola 7 Solid ,composed and missed very little and IMO a contender for MOM. Looked good both defensively and going forward.
Lines 6.5 Tried hard to impose himself on the game and was the only player who really looked creative and made good use of his height winning quite a few headers.
O. Clarke 6.5 Was his sort of game and IMO we lost the game when he went off because he is the nearest to a physical midfielder we have. Looked like an ankle injury.
Sinclair 5.5 Was always going to be a difficult game for him against a strong, tall and physical Wimbledon team. As always tried hard but we really needed a bigger physical player in the midfield with the ball mainly competed for in the air.
Sercombe 6.5 Missed the best chance of the game when set up by Harrison. Couldn't see why he was brought off as he battled well and personally would have substituted either Bennett or Sinclair and brought Mensah on.
Harrison 6 Struggled for long parts of this game with an injury but still looked dangerous at times and set Sercombe up in the first half with the only real clear chance that either side had.
Bennett 5 Like Sinclair he was always going to struggle physically in this game and he didn't really get going and the only surprise was that he was still on the pitch at the end. Never gave up but just not his type of game and he was up against a very physical and experienced player in Fuller.
Subs: Moore 6 Like Tuesday he came on and impressed with his ball control and at least tried to get at Wimbledon. Personally I would give him the right wing berth for the rest of the season and see if he can grab the opportunity.
Gaffney 4 Struggled and did little other than a good run in the box but why oh why did he stop when a pass across to an unmarked Nicholls or even a shot were crying out.
Nichols 3 Sorry but the bloke is struggling big time and shouldn't even be on the bench at the present time. Did nothing in what was thankfully not too long an appearance.
Crowd 6 Tried hard to create an atmosphere but were not entertained enough to really get going. From an actual view point of view we would all have been better off going to the beam back.
Ref 4 Inconsistent and very strange that the physical side were favoured with many decisions. It seemed any touch from our players was a free kick and yet he failed miserably to give a free kick for the foul on Moore that led to the winning goal.
Wimbledon 5 For entertainment it would be a 2 but they have a way of playing and don't vary from it and are very good at it-against us anyway! Physically we are just not a strong team and until we get a bit more strength in midfield and up top we will struggle against teams like them. I would like to see them relegated because of the way they play but I think they will get out of it because there are worse sides around.
DC Please stop moaning about your budget when you have spent more than quite a few teams on a poor excuse of a striker. For a game like yesterday he would have been better off getting Akinfenwa! Feel he got the substitutions wrong and probably the starting team but have to say that for those who would criticise him for leaving out Broadbent that the defending was the best part of our game until the last minute and the back four were as tight as I have seen them. The reason we lost the game was because we lack in our squad strong physical players in the midfield and forwards and our only answer seems to be to overload the midfield. At the end of the day although a point would have been deserved it is not as if it makes a huge amount of difference and in many ways it is harder to take if you are leading 1-0 and concede in the last minute to lose 2 points.
We now go into two tough home games against Scunthorpe and Wigan which will give us far more indication as to where we are than yesterdays game and my main worry would be where we are with injuries. I would very much like to see DC approach the games with an attacking intent because I feel that if we allow these two opponents to take the initiative like we have recently at home they are capable of taking full advantage.3 points from the two games would be a good return IMO
UTG
