We have just played two of the worst teams in the division with the same starting line-up and same tactics, they didn't work against Charlton and we were lucky they were so abjectly toothless, we sleepwalked to this defeat at Donny and the effort, or lack of it, from key players is a little reminiscent of some of last season's debacles. Only the poor standard of the opposition has hepled us so far this season, I fear Leicester, Forest, Blackpool and even a currently struggling Watford side will have a field day against us...
Teams like charlton and Donny played scared until they realised we were crap and got into the game. Just think whats going to happen in the second half when teams play us a second time and know we are rubbish and attack us from the off.
Can't believe Dunne only got a 6. I thought he was our best player, which admittedly is not saying much. He made a number of important interceptions and blocks in the box which otherwise would have resulted in a shot on target, at the very least. Defence wasn't too bad yesterday: when the attack can only muster a goal per game then ultimately the defence are going to be under a lot of pressure.
Individually, and as a team the performances were not good enough. When we had the ball we lost it far too easily time and time again.
Right, but that's not really a response to my comment about Dunne's rating. It was a poor team performace, but if it wasn't for Dunne, and Hill to a lesser extent, things could have been worse.
We've been up and down, the team doesn't seem to have woken up since the international break. We just need to re-find the form from the Derby + 1st half of the Reading games. Remember when everyone was feeling really positive about our new potent style? What's the likelihood that we play exactly how we did V Donny for the rest of the season? Unlikely, isn't it- particularly when most are remarking that we played poorly. I'd feel far more worried if the team did everything they could, and still lost. I don't understand the need for doom-mongering, yes, if we play as we did Vs "Leicester, Forest, Blackpool and even a currently struggling Watford side" then it won't be pretty. But that's probably not going to happen is it?
Dunne and Hill certainly played better than most - but they didnt control either Macheda or their other striker that well. A number of times poor clearances, and giving possession away easily. Nobody deserved above 6.5 in my opinion, and for me BAE was better than they were - albeit he was at fault for the first goal. But then you could also say that one of Dunne/Hill should have not let it go past them.
And add green to that list,he should be moving over to cover the ball instead of just standing there.
I didnt think Phillips was that bad, o'Neil was just woeful and along with Jenus offered very little, kranjar did what he was doing against Charlton and drifting inside and leaving BAE isolated. The problem is we seem like we have not come out of first gear all season and only been tested against Burnley and a breif period against Derby we need to wake up fastish or this season could turn in to a bad case of promised alot but delivered little.
Phillips, Hoilett & Krankjar do have some excuse due to injuries/time out & none have really had enough games to get fully match fit + confidence up & when they do pretty sure will do a good job for us. Don't think O'Neil can have any excuse as played pretty much every game but I would certainly drop him to the bench & Jenas even further.
I'd be happy with this but also feel that both Jenas & O'Neil deserve to be dropped as not producing enough & don't have the excuses that Hoilett, Phillips, Kranjar have due to injuries etc.
Sometimes it good to get a fat lip Let's see if we perform against the Cherries and Venkys Lads need to be up for it at Blackpool away on my Birthday that's the test now
Of course thats true but then youve got the problem of finding someone to replace them which means its almost certain that one of them has to play but 2 of them should never play together.
o'neil hasn't been consistently bad. he's generally a good footballer, neat and tidy. He was fine against Charlton I thought (although admittedly woeful on Saturday) Jenas for me IS ineffectual though and should be on the bench. The point is they ALL need to remember whats at stake and not let complacency set in. That for me was the main problem on Saturday. There's a general lack of urgency though as well that makes our games feel like they're being played in 2nd gear and that can be very frustrating to watch, especially when we're not scoring enough goals. As far as I'm concerned this team is still a work in progress. The team has been completely rebuilt. we're not firing and taking longer to really find our feet than clubs whose players have been playing together longer. Perhaps we're probably missing a player or two (or perhaps it's a formational / positional thing that needs tweaking) - i don't know. ANyway, I for one am certainly not going to press the panic button yet.
After the game I actually thought that a loss might be good for us there. If we'd have one, problems would not be addressed. Hopefully this loss will show management and players that they need to up their game and try new things.
This is the acid test though, November, away in the middle of the wasteland, somewhere all of these players believe they are too good to play at. Plenty more of this to come over the next few months, we'll see who really understands the nature of this job very soon.
Agreed. Personally I thought it was under performance, I also think unless we have a fully fit first team, we don't have the players to play 1 up front formation, simply they aren't football smart enough to manage the flowing\interchanging formation of a 4-2-3-1, sometimes it's best to keep it simple.
