Finally, anyone else been a bit disappointed in our set pieces this season? I can't recall us scoring from one directly this season. Davis - so effective from corners last season - seems to fail to beat the first man most the time. Szmodics also struggling to pick his crosses out. Do we have anyone else in the squad able to whip in a good corner?
I don’t think it’s a single person thing… I think it’s a combination of Clarke with Johnson in front. I don’t like to see O’Shea at full back but that’s also an option, again with Johnson in front. The opposition knows we have a weakness there and they target it. Before we work on anything else we must nullify that threat and even without Tuanzebe we have the combination of players to do it. What we just can’t have is a poorer than we’d like full back with Omari in front. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Delap needs to stop giving fouls away. He's top of the league list with 36. Definitely not needed as a newly promoted team to be gifting possession back that often! I think it's also time for McK to name a CB on the subs list. He mentioned the other day that he doesn't normally include a CB in the subs as he prefers to have more attacking options available. We could probably do with having the option to bring an extra defender on to see out some of these games. I already said this a few games ago and it hasn't changed yet, but I've noticed that he is making the first subs closer to 70/75 minutes now and it's obvious watching the games that there are tired players that need replacing before that. Delap looks beat after an hour.
Yeah highest amount of points dropped from winning positions in the league we'd be up to 7th if we could hold onto a lead. I think it's a combination of factors as to why we've conceded late but probably the quality and intensity of the opposition being a major one. Agree about injuries, apparently we're second in the league for injuries this season only behind Brighton. That's a huge blow for us given what we're up against and hardly surprising we find ourselves in the relegation zone...we're up against it. But I still feel McKenna has made too many tactical changes from game to game non injury related, we've generally seen most players who've played in the team over a period of time get better at this level. For me at any level I don't think Clarke has shown enough to make the RB spot his own as for Johnson I think he could be he needs a run of games, he's been in and out of the team with injuries etc. Agree re Hirst and Delap for all his plaudits I question whether he'd have starter half as many games if Hirst was fit. I have no issue with Al Hamidi as a sub, in the year he's been here he's never let us down, last season his goal to minute ratio was high and he put in some big performances for us and scored some important goals but it is a lot to ask of a players who is so young and was playing League 2 football this time last season. To be fair to him he's looked okay coming on this season, I think he's performed well and sometimes I feel we hold the fact he's come from league 2 against him rather than reflect on his actual performance.
I'd suggest even trying Woolfenden in there with Burgess on the left and O'Shea as the sweeper. I think Woolfenden could play a Stones like role and step into midfield from time to time....it's also notable without him in the team we don't break the press as much. I'm also not sure whether Burgess or Greaves would be suited to play the central defender in a back 3.
I've been disappointed with our throw ins, they've been pants. In terms of set pieces we've come close from many probably part of the reason why Davis is so high up on the chances created (3rd in the PL) which is astonishing for a defender in a struggling team. It may also highlight why we have a lot of space in the full back positions.
Part of me think whilst we're making all of these very sensible suggestions it might be like rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic at the moment. I'm not sure how much difference they would have made. If you look at the stats we deserve to be where we are.
I think what amazes me is how quick people are to moan and right players off, personally I have totally brought into the ‘project’ that Ashton is promoting so I believe that whilst things on field may not be as cheer worthy as the last couple of seasons, things are still moving in the right direction. I refuse to believe that any of the players are not giving their all in training and in games.
