Our formation & system not working, and Harness all over the shop. Burton pushing up and stopping us play.
Sometime I think we overcomplicated things. So much space outwide but we try to play the ball through the eye of a needle in the crowded central position
Also think there's too much of a gap between Morsy/Evans and the forward players. Evans prepared to sit when there's actually space for him to move into
But despite us being fancy Dans we are so far dealing with the physicality pretty well which is good to see
Love the way we're trying to see out the game by playing in their half rather than sitting back and inviting pressure which we've seen for too many years.
Wow. Was nervous through those 8 minutes of stoppage but a fantastic 3. Win pretty at the weekend, win ugly on a Tuesday evening. 9 from 9. How long has it been since we've been able to say that? I'd say a fair chance at 12 from 12 on Saturday too. Very happy Holmes tonight.
I know it’s only 1 game but it’s nice to win “ugly”. When we come up against physical teams, it has been a problem for us in the past but today we got over the line albeit with a bit of luck. I do have to mirror Spanish’s concern about wolfenden - seems odd to say this about a defender when we have only conceded 2 goals in 4 games but he seems to give away a gilt edge chance every game with a moment of madness. Needs to be able to concentrate for the full game and not switch off
I would make some allowances for Wolfenden (and Edmundson on at least one occasion tonight) because of the system they're being asked to adopt with the default being to play out from the back.They are after all third tier players adopting a Premiership style of play.OK,we are going to gift possession occasionally but this system,along with Walton's brilliant distribution means we are retaining possession far more often than the old way of just putting a foot through the ball and wellying it upfield.Not that that doesn't have its place if the occasion demands, as Donacian showed in the second half clearing danger with a well timed hoof!Wolfenden's biggest fault is not always knowing when that is the best option, but I've confidence he'll mature into the role.
Definitely people have short memories, maybe the standard has been set higher the past season and a half but that was not an ugly win, although I get the context in relation to other performances. Some of our passing and movement and quality on the ball was superb but Burton pressed us very well particularly first half. Not the best performance but we had a good shape, looked well drilled and apart from giving the ball away looked defensively pretty solid. We play good football but it's not quite the same pace or aggression as the Burley or Royle eras it's much more like an Italian style game, build patiently from the back and wait for space rather than try to force the issue. I think we will be stung at some point by giving a goal away but more of the concern is whether we'll score enough goals particularly in games like this, we don't put enough pressure on the opponents defences, lots of shots and half chances but not too many gilt edged ones. I thought Walton was superb tonight and but for him we certainly could've dropped points. I thought both Woolfenden and Edmunson were sound defensively but both were guilty of being careless/too risky in possession. Donacien had a half decent game and Morsy and Evans kept things ticking over. Still think the midfield 2 were too far off the forward players the majority of the time, strangely they got further forwards once we'd scored. I think Leigh was my MOTM, defensively he was very strong and got forwards well. Its the one area we look much stronger than last season. I thought Aluko and Harness showed their quality and worked hard off the ball but could've perhaps impacted the game more consistently over the whole match on the ball. Jackson worked his socks off and got into some good positions he just lacks that bit of quality, his final ball/touch or short were a little off most of the time. Ladapo worked hard but it's pretty isolating playing that role in our team but he like Bonne, Norwood before him works hard for the team without much reward. The most pleasing thing for me apart from the 3 points was how we physically dealt with Burton tonight my slight concern is I still don't think we look like a team who've got a lot of goals in us.
We won, 3 pts, 3 wins in a row and top of the league. Much to admire, lots to be baffled, and several players were under par. Woolfy & Edmondson looked unsettled. Leigh shone. Great how Chappers came on and settled things down. Walton pure class with astonishing instincts. Excellent KM interview too. He knows how important that game was. Take us up to the top! Its great being a Suffolk boy!
Just watched the replay, fantastic win! We stuck to the way McKenna wants us to play, it was risky at times but ultimately it was successful. Burton are a horrible team to watch. Default strategy is pump the ball forward. Throw in around their full back area - throw it down the line and hope for a clearance into touch, like trying to make yards in an NFL game. I would not want to watch that garbage every week. Don't get me wrong, they were good at it, but screw that for a style of football! It was an attritional first half but I'm happy that not only did we stand up to the onslaught but we also played our way. Second half we were quicker and more confident and pushed Burton back more often. You could see the players grow and things just started being successful, like they realised they had weathered the worst of it but were still in control. Sorry to any Celina lovers but Harness is a significant, and more consistent, upgrade. Donacien was awesome again, he's beginning to really like those nutmegs, pulled another one off today in the right back area. Some will say that Woolfenden is becoming a liability but let's not forget, he did really well up against Burton's central striker today. The decision making is questionable at times for sure but that can be coached and he will improve in that aspect as he gets older. Special mention from me goes to Jackson today.... man that lad has crazy fitness! He ran all over for the team and really helped out in so many ways today. To those worried we don't look like scoring, don't, we don't have to score loads of goals every match if we can get results like this. Seems to me that many of the 'big' teams that end up in league one take a couple of years to adjust to being consistent here against varied opposition. I'm hoping this is the season where we have a grasp on getting those results in difficult games. The players must be getting confidence in getting success from 'trusting the process'. I think the biggest thing I took away from watching the match was how organized and together we were. So many passes were just played today into an area where the player knew someone would be. Instinctive and almost without looking to check, the team had a fluidity that I haven't seen for a long time. The willingness to run, close down and cover each other was also clearly evident. This is my favourite win for quite a while because it finally shows that we understand what it takes to go up against teams like Burton.
A few mistakes aside, our defence actually did pretty good up against that. The confidence will come and the mistakes will get fewer. I'm not going to slate anyone for sticking to the managers plan and being successful at it today.
