Hi all, just got in after a busy few days as always comments and suggestions welcome... Match report Saturday, 27 August 2011 Npower League Two Plymouth 0-1 Crewe FT Goals: Plymouth: Crewe: Miller 42 LINE UPS Plymouth 01 Larrieu 02 Berry 03 Williams 06 Nelson 13 Soukouna 04 Fletcher 07 Daley (Lecointe 64) 08 Walton (Hitchcock 84) 20 Hourihane 21 Atkinson 11 Feeney Substitutes 23 Cole, 15 Young, 18 Copp, 10 Hitchcock, 27 Lecointe Crewe 01 Phillips 03 Davis (Sarcevic 76) 05 Artell 06 Dugdale 12 Shelley 15 Martin 04 Westwood 07 Bell 08 Murphy 09 Miller (Clayton 70) 10 Leitch-Smith (Hughes 70) Substitutes: 13 Martin, 17 Mellor, 14 Sarcevic, 24 Hughes, 19 Clayton Att: 5,720 First Half: Argyle started promisingly, the usual positive passing and solid defending displayed. Crewe had few chances in the opening minutes. Some good tackles from Soukouna stopped several promising runs by the Crewe strikers. Argyles play was only let down by the lack of shots on target. On several occasions they be-sieged the Crewe box but were unable to break through to goal. Then against the run of play Crewe scored, the ball went out to Leitch-Smith on the right side of the Argyle box, a swerving cross landed perfectly for Miller who belted the ball past a flapping Larrieu into the back of the net. The half time whistle was then blown. Second Half: Once again Argyle started positively, several forward movements led to balls being played in, however once again Argyle showed why they need that extra striker, as each ball in failed to met anyone but the boot of a Crewe defender who cleared comfortably. Crewe went on the attack and Larrieu was forced to make a few good saves to deny them. Argyle and Crewe traded attacks consistently however neither team was able to put the finishing touch to their moves and it was no surprise to both sets of supporters that the half ended as it had begun, 0-1 to Crewe, their first win of the season. Stats 01 Larrieu - 8 A good performance from Le Keeper, several good saves kept Argyle in the game. 02 Berry - 6 better than last game, some good passing and awareness, crosses were wild though. 03 Williams - 6 Good defensive play, some lapses in concentration led to some passes going awry. 06 Nelson - 7 Consistant display from the CB, obviously the time on the sidelines has not affected his confidence. 13 Soukouna - 8 The best on the pitch today, defensively resiliant and creative going forward. I hope we can retain him. 04 Fletcher - 7 a good game for the Captain, proved to be the linch-pin of the team and fought hard in the centre of the park. 07 Daley - 6 created chances and proved to be a thorn in the side of the Crewe defence on a few occasions. 08 Walton - 7 Up and down, some good passing marred by his lack of awareness, ball taken from him too easy on occasions, some good tackling made up for this and a cracking shot late in the second half earned him a 7. 20 Hourihane - 7 Worked hard in midfield, a promising prospect. 21 Atkinson - 6 Good runs in the first half but seemed to have left the pitch second half. 11 Feeney - 6 again started alone up front, worked hard but showed how desperate he needs a partner to play off. Subs: 27 Lecointe - 6 Came on but struggled to make any impact. 10 Hitchcock - 6 on late, unable to make a difference. MoM: Sorry I missed the confirmation, I assume it was Fletcher. Hobo's MoM: Soukouna, just beat Le Keeper to take it, solid defensively and proved to be a threat going forward. Summary Some positive attacking play let down by an inability to take a shot, a well worked goal from Crewe showed how it should be done. We are missing a key striker and when several crosses went in for Argyle you could see where he would fit in. A disappointing game, again highlighted our attacking weakness.
Thanks hobo...........Feeney lone striker at home........surely Reid wasn't playing for a 0-0 draw..........the best achievable result.....when you play with no scoring ambition. Tom Hitchcock is a goalscorer.....how do you expect him to settle in if he can't get a game playing for these shotless wonders.....he will want out,he is by all accounts becoming frustrated.
I was forced to listen to two moronic idiots sat just behind me yesterday who gave it large continually about Feeney and the "Get him off" calls. Now correct me if I'm wrong but he was on his own up against 3 defenders most of the time. All 3 were bigger than him and he was provided once again with absolutely nothing to work with. I have not seen him have a clear cut chance of anything this season so far. This sums up Argyle at the moment for me. Play really good passing football all around the park. Get to the 18 yard box and nothing. No telling cross,no through balls and confined to shooting, generally not very well, from outside the box. Unless Feeney gets some proper help up front then I do not see where a goal will come from. Crewe played well enough and showed that they can pass a ball as well at times and have to but I do not concede that they were the better side and this is becoming usual for Argyle now in assessment. However, they keep losing. Unless Reid can get a partner for our man in the box then I think we are stuffed because I cannot see goals coming in sufficient numbers from anywhere else. Good report Hobo and can't fault the summary or player assessments.
Lone strikers don't come looking like Feeney.......he has no chance........sometimes sensible even you're right..........defeatist attitude one up front,especially at home.....it's like playing with ten men.
Pretty much sums up what I saw in the couple of games I got to when I was back in God´s country. Reid has been a star for us but I cannot understand this one up front tactic he is using especially with Feeney it really isn´t his game. If I remember right we only have Hitchcock for 3 months and sitting on the bench isn´t helping anyone he needs a run in the side for us to know if we want him for the whole season and for him to want to stay. Chances of signing another striker seems slim so we have got to do something different as relying on 30yd strikes from midfield will not keep us in this Division. Way I see it is put in Hitchcock or Lecointe for a run of games and give them a chance to settle, teams are working out that we are toothless and pushing more forward against us putting more pressure on the back. We really don´t need 5 in midfield they are good enough. Only other option I can think of is to give Berry a run upfront he started as a striker and has pace so might be worth a punt. So far pretty passing football but too lateral, no cutting passes, wild crosses when we get into a good position and zero threat upfront. New signings look Ok Sousakana is excellent(bye-bye in Jan) and the others can do a job apart from Cole very poor from what I saw. Oh and a big thank you to BIL, Guilfoyle and all for dragging this out for so long and making the difficult task of bringing in players that so much harder
I agree mexijan..........we are toothless............teams can play a patient came knowing that they will probably get a chance or two during the game to score.......and I dread to think what an attacking goal scoring side might do to us...........also our heads go down to easily...........but we are a young team.
Well we have no choice but to play the young ones up front at Exeter as Feeney is on inernational duty. Lets hope we can pull it off.
We have to try something different as current isn´t exactly paralysing the opposition in fear though from the crossing I saw we need a 10ft6 centre forward!!!!! I think if we can scrape a result somewhere it will do the team the world of good, they look very short on confidence in and around the box.
I do not think their heads went down against Crewe. They battled away but were always fighting uphill. I think maybe Reid has been trying not to lose first and foremost but this is not the tactic,especially at home. There has to be more threat in front of goal.
