Post by stevek192 on Sept 1, 2019 10:13:21 GMT
How on earth did we lose that? That was how I felt when I left the ground yesterday and I honestly feel that it is down to something missing in our teams DNA- ruthlessness and eye for an opening. Performance wise it was probably as good as we are going to get in the second half to total domination of a football match. I saw the BBC Sport possession and overall it gave 54 % to Burton and 46% to us which is an absolute nonsence . I would have put the second half at about 70% to 30% and that was being kind to9 Burton as they really struggled to get out of their half in the second half and perhaps the final figure of possession was a mistake and wasn't altered from half time as I would have said that those possession figures were a fair representation of the first half with the real irony being that Burton scored two goals in the half where we were so superior!!
The truth is that Burton have those two ingredients that we are definitely missing -ruthlessness and eye for an opening. We had good chances but the best chances were almost accidental with Leahy, Smith a couple of times and Ollie Clarke all missing with deflections that they got the final touch to rather than chances created for them. Our problem this season unless we can pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat before Tuesday (which seems frustratingly unlikely) is that we are so slow and predictable in our movement with our lack of real pace in our side meaning that we too often get closed down and the defending side manage to seal up the gaps in their back line before we can put through the killer pass. Another problem is the fact that to me Coughlan has lost any faith he might have had in Rodman and Bennett to provide a little bit of pace and creativity to the side. It seems that the Manager has come to the conclusion that the way we are playing is the only solution to him being unable to bring any players in as his substitutions always seem to be pretty well like for like and have little influence on games.
Burton has never been a happy hunting ground and like last time I was here we were beaten late on although yesterday was by far our best performance both here and this season and a point was the very least we deserved but unfortunately football is about putting the ball in the net and not about what a performance deserved.
Jaakkola 7 A couple of shaky moments but overall dealt with everything pretty well and made a couple of good saves without really having a great deal to do.
Davies 8.5 MOM Colossal and what a great signing. For me he is better than Tom Lockyer overall but I hope I will be saying that after a similar number of games to what Tom Lockyer played for us and at such a young age! Personally I would make him captain of the side as he is an inspiration which is far from what I would say about O(llie Clarke!
Craig 7 I have marked him down by one because having seen the first go9al again he should have done better similar to the goal that Burton scored in the last minute here before.
Kligour 7 Like the other two defenders had a very strong game but probably switched off in the last five minutes as did both Craig and Davies. Despite the fact we were going all out for an equaliser you should not concede a goal like the second wqhen you have three centre halves.
Hare 7 Another good game and the fact he is keeping Little out speaks volumes for how well he is playing. Gets forward well but unfortunately yesterday didn't deliver the quality of the crosses he put in for Clarke-Harris;s two headed goals this season.
Clarke 6 battled hard but really lacks the head to make a killer pass or on too many occasions- a team mate. I will never understand how he stays on the pitch so long when others are substituted before him as he struggles to really impose himself on a game. Personally I would play Upson and Ogogo together and fit Rodman in or even Nichols behind a front two or maybe shortly Sercombe when fit but the best option is to bring in another central midfielder with a bit of creativity and pace about him.
Upson 8 again for me the best of the midfield in terms of all round contribution both breaking up play and passing the ball accurately and it is amazing just how many attacks are actually started with him getting a toe in.
Ogogo 7 He is playing really well in what he does which is battle, battle and then keep battling!. Unfortunately he is not going to score many if any goals and that is a problem throughout the team as other than Clarke-Harris I doubt if any will reach double figures.
Leahy 7Probably his best performance and could have had a hat trick with just a little composure. Couldn't really fault his contribution other than that as he got forward well but maybe his final cross could have been better but is it that or is it more a case of not enough options to either full back when they get forward.
Smith 5 Ran himself into the ground but should have come off with at least one goal and probably two or three. For me he is another who is too lightweight and not the answer to our problem.
Clarke-Harris 6 Didn't feel he was really in the game yesterday and spent too long feeling sorry for himself and lost possession too often but perhaps....well yes I do9 expect too much from him as often I feel he is our only hope of a goal.
Subs: Nichols 6 strange that for me he has started on far too many occasions when he has not deserved to because of his lack of goals but then when he actually scores some goals he finds himself on the bench!! Sorry Graham but I had to laugh at your interview when you described him after Tuesdays game as a "natural goalscorer" but perhaps I should not be laughing but feel angry that you leave him out for so long yesterday when we lacked goals!
Adeboyejo nole
Crowd 7 Reasonable turn out but I leave Burton wondering how on earth do we make such huge losses when they can survive on about 2000 home supporters but perhaps they don't have so many backroom staff or a chairman and a CEO or an office in London!! The home crowd were noisy for about five minutes or perhaps they were all laughing that they had gained a victory out of nothing.
Ref 5 Biased in that the most obvious red card you will see was given a yellow and on that decision alone I would give a 5. It seemed we got yellows for every offence!
Burton 5 Not very good at all but have a couple of good players who I would love to have in our team especially Akins who is a right handful and scored the vital first goal from nothing.
GC Hard to criticise him after such a good performance but if anything he is too loyal to the style of play and unlike his predecessor reluctant to change things or take a chance on winning the game.
So we move on to Plymouth on Tuesday and would like to9 see a few changes with Little, Nichols, Rodman and Bennett all starting and maybe Dion Moore given a chance to stake a claim rather than being just a forgotten man. He surely deserves a chance .
The truth is that Burton have those two ingredients that we are definitely missing -ruthlessness and eye for an opening. We had good chances but the best chances were almost accidental with Leahy, Smith a couple of times and Ollie Clarke all missing with deflections that they got the final touch to rather than chances created for them. Our problem this season unless we can pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat before Tuesday (which seems frustratingly unlikely) is that we are so slow and predictable in our movement with our lack of real pace in our side meaning that we too often get closed down and the defending side manage to seal up the gaps in their back line before we can put through the killer pass. Another problem is the fact that to me Coughlan has lost any faith he might have had in Rodman and Bennett to provide a little bit of pace and creativity to the side. It seems that the Manager has come to the conclusion that the way we are playing is the only solution to him being unable to bring any players in as his substitutions always seem to be pretty well like for like and have little influence on games.
Burton has never been a happy hunting ground and like last time I was here we were beaten late on although yesterday was by far our best performance both here and this season and a point was the very least we deserved but unfortunately football is about putting the ball in the net and not about what a performance deserved.
Jaakkola 7 A couple of shaky moments but overall dealt with everything pretty well and made a couple of good saves without really having a great deal to do.
Davies 8.5 MOM Colossal and what a great signing. For me he is better than Tom Lockyer overall but I hope I will be saying that after a similar number of games to what Tom Lockyer played for us and at such a young age! Personally I would make him captain of the side as he is an inspiration which is far from what I would say about O(llie Clarke!
Craig 7 I have marked him down by one because having seen the first go9al again he should have done better similar to the goal that Burton scored in the last minute here before.
Kligour 7 Like the other two defenders had a very strong game but probably switched off in the last five minutes as did both Craig and Davies. Despite the fact we were going all out for an equaliser you should not concede a goal like the second wqhen you have three centre halves.
Hare 7 Another good game and the fact he is keeping Little out speaks volumes for how well he is playing. Gets forward well but unfortunately yesterday didn't deliver the quality of the crosses he put in for Clarke-Harris;s two headed goals this season.
Clarke 6 battled hard but really lacks the head to make a killer pass or on too many occasions- a team mate. I will never understand how he stays on the pitch so long when others are substituted before him as he struggles to really impose himself on a game. Personally I would play Upson and Ogogo together and fit Rodman in or even Nichols behind a front two or maybe shortly Sercombe when fit but the best option is to bring in another central midfielder with a bit of creativity and pace about him.
Upson 8 again for me the best of the midfield in terms of all round contribution both breaking up play and passing the ball accurately and it is amazing just how many attacks are actually started with him getting a toe in.
Ogogo 7 He is playing really well in what he does which is battle, battle and then keep battling!. Unfortunately he is not going to score many if any goals and that is a problem throughout the team as other than Clarke-Harris I doubt if any will reach double figures.
Leahy 7Probably his best performance and could have had a hat trick with just a little composure. Couldn't really fault his contribution other than that as he got forward well but maybe his final cross could have been better but is it that or is it more a case of not enough options to either full back when they get forward.
Smith 5 Ran himself into the ground but should have come off with at least one goal and probably two or three. For me he is another who is too lightweight and not the answer to our problem.
Clarke-Harris 6 Didn't feel he was really in the game yesterday and spent too long feeling sorry for himself and lost possession too often but perhaps....well yes I do9 expect too much from him as often I feel he is our only hope of a goal.
Subs: Nichols 6 strange that for me he has started on far too many occasions when he has not deserved to because of his lack of goals but then when he actually scores some goals he finds himself on the bench!! Sorry Graham but I had to laugh at your interview when you described him after Tuesdays game as a "natural goalscorer" but perhaps I should not be laughing but feel angry that you leave him out for so long yesterday when we lacked goals!
Adeboyejo nole
Crowd 7 Reasonable turn out but I leave Burton wondering how on earth do we make such huge losses when they can survive on about 2000 home supporters but perhaps they don't have so many backroom staff or a chairman and a CEO or an office in London!! The home crowd were noisy for about five minutes or perhaps they were all laughing that they had gained a victory out of nothing.
Ref 5 Biased in that the most obvious red card you will see was given a yellow and on that decision alone I would give a 5. It seemed we got yellows for every offence!
Burton 5 Not very good at all but have a couple of good players who I would love to have in our team especially Akins who is a right handful and scored the vital first goal from nothing.
GC Hard to criticise him after such a good performance but if anything he is too loyal to the style of play and unlike his predecessor reluctant to change things or take a chance on winning the game.
So we move on to Plymouth on Tuesday and would like to9 see a few changes with Little, Nichols, Rodman and Bennett all starting and maybe Dion Moore given a chance to stake a claim rather than being just a forgotten man. He surely deserves a chance .
