I think Hess made a tactical error yesterday by replacing Charlie Lee at right back with Matt Lawrence. During the cup game on tuesday Charlie Lee was excellent there and also added another lively attacking dimension. I believe he could have caused Bradford some major problems yesterday if he had been able to link up with Frank Nouble who was often left isolated. I know Lee was stuffed by the pacy Bournemouth winger Malone on their first goal but he more than made up for it during the rest of the game. I think Hessy needs to be a bit more pro-active, especially at home, rather than just reverting back to having the three hoofers in the defence who are even more susceptible to pace. I do feel Hessy is the right man for the job. I am definitely not one of the Hess bashers like those regularly appearing on Kentonline but I also don't want to feel that I can't post any criticisms about the manager either.
I said before that Lawrance is a great centre half but not a right back. I think he is suspened for next game so Lee should be back at right back. We also missed Rooney as we needed a spark off the bench. Weston was awful, i think he only plays well behind 1 striker like in fa cup. We certainly seem to be missing Jackman in midfield.
Yeah I think that was one of the major mistakes yesterday as I said yesterday, Lawrence is too slow for playing at Right back.
I thought the second half was awful. All we did was punt it down the middle time and time again hoping for the best. ha;f the time we got posession in midfield it seemed to find its way to the keeper just to punt it out again. I don't know if I am just unlucky with the choice of games ive attended but since hess came back the football has been pretty dire to watch. We seem to have a lack of ideas and hess didnt seem able or inclined to change things. That said we are seventh and all to play for so i am still behind the man!
we certainly played into bradfords hands a lot by putting the ball in the air often to kuffour, who has only a slightly better chance than jackson used to in that situation. weston looked like the player of the good old days against bournemouth and then reverted straight back. agreed jackman is a big miss as despite his size he does break up a lot of the play and isnt too bad going forward either as he has a good eye for a pass. we also missed an out and out winger yest and as good as nouble is he needs someone to compliment him on the other side and tbh when nouble plays on the right we are more of a 4-3-3 team which really doesnt help weston out at all
IMHO the best team for playing/passing the ball on the ground is Arsenal, however, teams like Bolton and Stoke would often upset them. The way they used to do it is by being physical, marking tight, defending from the front, not giving players time to pass so they had to result to hoofing long. That is exactly what Bradford did to us, when up against a team with superior skill it's a common to just stop them playing.
Unfortunately in these situations where we are expected to triumph, e.g. up against 10 men are when we seem to struggle. On Saturday, it was a case that Bradford, possibly down to their league position and awful away record, came for a draw and got a draw. They didn't play negatively as such, I don't think their left winger Reid put a foot wrong the entire game, and in hindsight having someone like Lawrence play against him was a bad move. Having said that, the likes of Lee and Fuller would have all struggled. I think in the first half our system baffled everybody, even the players. Why do we continue to lump the ball up to their 6"7 centre half when we have players who are much more capable on the ground? It was food and drink to them and they contained us far too easily. The first twenty minutes or so we seemingly had Kedwell playing on the left wing, Nouble on the right and Kuffour playing through the middle. This seems terribly unbalanced to me, especially seeing as that left us under pressure in the middle of midfield with no real permanent cover. I think a few months into the season, injuries and suspensions aside, Hess is still yet to really know what his first choice 11 is, and this worries me slightly. Who plays at right back? Lawrence? Fish? Lee? Who is our best centre back partnership, and is there enough pace? Who partners Payne in the middle of midfield? Lee? Weston? Montrose? We need desperately need pace and width to unlock defences, especially on the counter attack. Let's hope the Rooney situation gets sorted. Thoughts?
Lee is the best to play at Right back, but ideally he should be playing in midfield as that is his natural position so this is one to sort our in the January transfer window as we don't have a sufficient right back for League 2 level of football. I think our best Centre back pairing is Frampton and Richards, as I think Lawrence has lost his pace, not to say he is not good enough, but he was better last season. Ideally our best midfield is Whelpdale, Lee, Payne, Spiller, But with Spiller injured maybe Weston or Jackman. We have so many options in midfield when they are not injured with Whelpdale, Lee, Payne, Spiller, Weston, Jackman, Montrose and Rooney and also Nouble who can play there. I think the midfield at the moment should be Whelpdale, Lee, Payne and Weston while he is on form, otherwise maybe Jackman, or the option for Nouble to play there while he is on loan, he has been great on the right side of midfield. I think we could do with bringing in a right back, Kuffour and a fast winger and then we would be done, I think we miss that player of Barcham's type who can knock the ball into the box and also knock it into the net once in a while, Whelpdale is good, but he is not a fast type of winger, he is more of a attacking midfielder like Southall was.
disagree hoodie (soz) but jackman has been outstanding this year except when moved to left back for that one game. he basically kept bayo quiet for most of the northampton game and we miss his dead ball deliveries when he's not playing. however i agree that spiller has been a big loss, his work rate and want to put his foot in alone has been sorely missed
OK, I know Jackman has got back to his best but I would have Spiller over him, but at the moment I would have Lee at Right back. As it stands if Spiller was not injured. this would be my team. Flitney Lee Richards Frampton Martin Nouble Whelpdale Payne Spiller Kuffour Kedwell but if Nouble was not there I would put Whelps back to Right mid and then put spiller in central and then Jackman on Left, But then we are missing out Weston who is showing a bit more of what he was a year or two ago.
Have you been on the christmas spirits already Grumpy, comparing us to the likes of Arsenal is a little over the top
I have posted on another thread my views on the hoofball tactic, which I think are shared with a lot of people on this board. Then I saw this quote from Andy Hessenthaler on the BBC website "We didn't earn the right to play. The ball spent too much time in the air and we have to give Bradford a lot of credit as well." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15802727.stm So he knows the ball is spending too much time in the air. What's he doing about it??
