Very poor is being kind but at least we got a point
Feb 25, 2018 10:15:14 GMT
Antonio Fargas and brfcdom like this
Post by stevek192 on Feb 25, 2018 10:15:14 GMT
I have to be honest that when I go to the Mem and see the Team Sheet this season I almost get the feeling of Deja Vu and think well that bench is pretty attacking but the team itself has the look of a cautious outfit that are going to give the opposition too much time on the ball and when we do get it pass it back far too often. It is what i call a Crafty Clarkie side that rarely works to start with but will be tinkled with about the hour mark and more often than not get something out of the game.
For entertainment I would suggest to any football lover to turn up for the second half because that is generally the only time when we make a genuine attempt to win the game. Ok the pitch isn't perfect; far from it; but the opposition can generally find the space to do things and keep the ball better than us and that was very much the case today. In all honesty Scunthorpe looked far from a top 6 team but like any team in that part of the League Table possess far more physical players than ourselves but in truth it is frustrating that we are not far off most of the teams in this League even when playing as poorly as we did yesterday. I will go through the players to describe the game because I am not joking when I say it was only slightly better than last weeks performance at Wimbledon and unfortunately we lack the players with the creative ability to open up the opposition or perhaps I should say that the players lack the freedom to be creative. I lost count of the number of times that we had possession yards inside Scunny's half and it ended up back to our keeper without any of their players touching the ball but via two or three of ours. To be honest it is frustrating possession football that we are playing at the moment with only a few bright sparks and most of that is in the last twenty minutes.
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Smith 6 Made a few reflex saves and generally competant although wasn't totally convinced with his bravery on the goal which seemed to go through him.
Partington 6.5 Pretty solid performance. Caught a couple of times for pace but overall competed well and does whip in some good variety on crosses which while maybe not as many as Leadbitter does have more class about him.
Lockyer 8 MOM Much better defensive performance from him but still lack lustre when he distributes the ball. His reading of the game and his marking were first class and today enough to forget some of the passing and mark him as the best player on our side. In fact the defence as a whole are playing well but see too much of the ball passed back to them.
Craig 7 Had a very reasonable game and for me provides the experience and know how to have tightened up our defence considerably. We no longer look like we are going to concede many but my problem is that we now have a defence that is capable of battling for themselves and allow the players in front of them to do their own jobs rather than defending in numbers.
Brown 6 Poor on the goal but generally a sound performance but why when we have a winger on the pitch do we need to rely on the full backs to provide the width. i would like to see him releasing the ball quicker to Bennett and letting him do the attacking.
Sercombe 5 A very mixed game , he continues to look like he could be a key player but is denied the opportunity solely because he can do a better job out wide than the other midfielders. He was far better when Sinclair came off and he went inside but his problem is that defensively he is not very good and you only have to look at the start of the move for the Scunny goal where he started to chase back and then stopped and gave up. Lovely ball across for the eqiualiser but we really need him in a central role where he can run at defenders and have shots at goal.
Lines 5.5 Played Ok but for a change he lacked creativity although at least he kept possession most of the time but there were too many headers where the ball could have been brought down and too often the midfield area was found wanting leaving opposition players free to run at us.This is mainly caused by a defence that lies far too deep and does not push up either often enough or quickly enough.
Sinclair 5 A busy game without ever really taking control of the game resulting in most of the game passing him by. for me he is only effective if played just behind a front two where he can often provide the third player to close the opposition defenders down and help put us on the front foot.
Bennett 7 Doesn't get the ball quick enough and obviously told to stay inside most of the time. He did however manage to get 4 shots at goal with clever skilful running and was unfortunate that a rocket shot in the second half was too straight and hit the keeper as much as the keeper saved it. Looks capable of beating his man but we really need to sort the midfield unit out and getting it to work as a team and look to go forward more. Our build up is very slow and means opponents can get back to defend in numbers.
Gaffney 6 Not as effective as usual and we really need either him or Harrison to be up top more often. Is it really a good tactic to have him taking long throws when we don't really have the players in the area to take advantage of them. Too many balls came off him today although he still worked hard but a strikers job is to score goals or at the very least be striving to get in the position to score them. He missed a very good chance in the first half in the six yard box where he failed to connect properly with the goal at his mercy but I don't remember many occasions where he got into a shooting position.
Harrison 7.5 Our best defender at corners anf just wish he was as effective in the air in the opponents penalty area however he still managed to be in the right place to notch our equaliser and the one player who can provide some creative play.
Subs:
Moore 6 Came on as a left winger rather than the right winger he was last week. Would like to see him given a run of games but not convinced we can get away with two wingers unless we go for one up front with Sercombe just behind.
Mensah 5.5 Does look very raw and naive but we must be prepared to give him time to develop.
Telford 6 A lively performance from a player who at least deserves a chance to play a few games. at least he likes to get into goalscoring positions in the penalty area which is more than you can say for Nicholls and Gaffney!
Crowd 6 Very subdued but what can you expect Darrell when you dish up rubbish like this and last weeks game.
Ref 8 Thought he had an excellent game and managed to get most decisions correct.
Scunthorpe 6 It is a strange game because for me they just don't look Top six material and there certainly wasn't much between the sides and the draw was a fair result. what they did have was a much more physical approach than us and far more suitable to a high ball game so we played into their hands particularly in the first half by far too much lumping the ball forward to outnumbered players.
DC Come on Darrell you can do a lot better than blame the pitch for every woe that yesterdays match provided. Far too often now opposition midfielders are finding the time and space to exploit and run at us- I might add that thankfully Scunthorpe were not a team who really looked that capable of exploiting it. What really hurts is that we seem to have now fallen into the only evident tactic or plan which is to hold the opposition for as long as we can and if we haven't scored by the 60th minute then look to attack the opposition.Nothing more frustrating than watching us defend nearly every corner with all our players in our penalty area thereby giving the opportunity for the opposition to put most of their players forward and giving them the initiutive because if the ball does come out it soon gets put back in again.
Anyway in the end it was a welcomed point added to our total after last weeks failure to hold on and it is amazing that we are still so near to the Play offs and yet I will be more than pleased when we get past the 54 points because our play at this moment in time is nearer relegation standard than Play Off standard. I fear our best chance of avoiding dropping points on Tuesday is if the weather causes a postponement. UTG
For entertainment I would suggest to any football lover to turn up for the second half because that is generally the only time when we make a genuine attempt to win the game. Ok the pitch isn't perfect; far from it; but the opposition can generally find the space to do things and keep the ball better than us and that was very much the case today. In all honesty Scunthorpe looked far from a top 6 team but like any team in that part of the League Table possess far more physical players than ourselves but in truth it is frustrating that we are not far off most of the teams in this League even when playing as poorly as we did yesterday. I will go through the players to describe the game because I am not joking when I say it was only slightly better than last weeks performance at Wimbledon and unfortunately we lack the players with the creative ability to open up the opposition or perhaps I should say that the players lack the freedom to be creative. I lost count of the number of times that we had possession yards inside Scunny's half and it ended up back to our keeper without any of their players touching the ball but via two or three of ours. To be honest it is frustrating possession football that we are playing at the moment with only a few bright sparks and most of that is in the last twenty minutes.
.
Smith 6 Made a few reflex saves and generally competant although wasn't totally convinced with his bravery on the goal which seemed to go through him.
Partington 6.5 Pretty solid performance. Caught a couple of times for pace but overall competed well and does whip in some good variety on crosses which while maybe not as many as Leadbitter does have more class about him.
Lockyer 8 MOM Much better defensive performance from him but still lack lustre when he distributes the ball. His reading of the game and his marking were first class and today enough to forget some of the passing and mark him as the best player on our side. In fact the defence as a whole are playing well but see too much of the ball passed back to them.
Craig 7 Had a very reasonable game and for me provides the experience and know how to have tightened up our defence considerably. We no longer look like we are going to concede many but my problem is that we now have a defence that is capable of battling for themselves and allow the players in front of them to do their own jobs rather than defending in numbers.
Brown 6 Poor on the goal but generally a sound performance but why when we have a winger on the pitch do we need to rely on the full backs to provide the width. i would like to see him releasing the ball quicker to Bennett and letting him do the attacking.
Sercombe 5 A very mixed game , he continues to look like he could be a key player but is denied the opportunity solely because he can do a better job out wide than the other midfielders. He was far better when Sinclair came off and he went inside but his problem is that defensively he is not very good and you only have to look at the start of the move for the Scunny goal where he started to chase back and then stopped and gave up. Lovely ball across for the eqiualiser but we really need him in a central role where he can run at defenders and have shots at goal.
Lines 5.5 Played Ok but for a change he lacked creativity although at least he kept possession most of the time but there were too many headers where the ball could have been brought down and too often the midfield area was found wanting leaving opposition players free to run at us.This is mainly caused by a defence that lies far too deep and does not push up either often enough or quickly enough.
Sinclair 5 A busy game without ever really taking control of the game resulting in most of the game passing him by. for me he is only effective if played just behind a front two where he can often provide the third player to close the opposition defenders down and help put us on the front foot.
Bennett 7 Doesn't get the ball quick enough and obviously told to stay inside most of the time. He did however manage to get 4 shots at goal with clever skilful running and was unfortunate that a rocket shot in the second half was too straight and hit the keeper as much as the keeper saved it. Looks capable of beating his man but we really need to sort the midfield unit out and getting it to work as a team and look to go forward more. Our build up is very slow and means opponents can get back to defend in numbers.
Gaffney 6 Not as effective as usual and we really need either him or Harrison to be up top more often. Is it really a good tactic to have him taking long throws when we don't really have the players in the area to take advantage of them. Too many balls came off him today although he still worked hard but a strikers job is to score goals or at the very least be striving to get in the position to score them. He missed a very good chance in the first half in the six yard box where he failed to connect properly with the goal at his mercy but I don't remember many occasions where he got into a shooting position.
Harrison 7.5 Our best defender at corners anf just wish he was as effective in the air in the opponents penalty area however he still managed to be in the right place to notch our equaliser and the one player who can provide some creative play.
Subs:
Moore 6 Came on as a left winger rather than the right winger he was last week. Would like to see him given a run of games but not convinced we can get away with two wingers unless we go for one up front with Sercombe just behind.
Mensah 5.5 Does look very raw and naive but we must be prepared to give him time to develop.
Telford 6 A lively performance from a player who at least deserves a chance to play a few games. at least he likes to get into goalscoring positions in the penalty area which is more than you can say for Nicholls and Gaffney!
Crowd 6 Very subdued but what can you expect Darrell when you dish up rubbish like this and last weeks game.
Ref 8 Thought he had an excellent game and managed to get most decisions correct.
Scunthorpe 6 It is a strange game because for me they just don't look Top six material and there certainly wasn't much between the sides and the draw was a fair result. what they did have was a much more physical approach than us and far more suitable to a high ball game so we played into their hands particularly in the first half by far too much lumping the ball forward to outnumbered players.
DC Come on Darrell you can do a lot better than blame the pitch for every woe that yesterdays match provided. Far too often now opposition midfielders are finding the time and space to exploit and run at us- I might add that thankfully Scunthorpe were not a team who really looked that capable of exploiting it. What really hurts is that we seem to have now fallen into the only evident tactic or plan which is to hold the opposition for as long as we can and if we haven't scored by the 60th minute then look to attack the opposition.Nothing more frustrating than watching us defend nearly every corner with all our players in our penalty area thereby giving the opportunity for the opposition to put most of their players forward and giving them the initiutive because if the ball does come out it soon gets put back in again.
Anyway in the end it was a welcomed point added to our total after last weeks failure to hold on and it is amazing that we are still so near to the Play offs and yet I will be more than pleased when we get past the 54 points because our play at this moment in time is nearer relegation standard than Play Off standard. I fear our best chance of avoiding dropping points on Tuesday is if the weather causes a postponement. UTG
