The most dangerous player on the pitch. I think it was a strategy they had agreed before the game. One half each for Azaz and Fellows as we have so many games coming up.
I'm a bit surprised to read that the negative response to Saints first half performance is seen as a bit over the top. I'm pretty relaxed about Saints prospects this season. I don't want the manager sacked and hopefully can remain patient about poor performances and results, even to the point of missing out on promotion. Of course, I'm hoping for better. But I thought the first half was poor from our perspective and I wonder if those who thought it was ok have seen so much dross over the last few seasons that now a slight improvement turns into a good performance. Not having a go at them, it's quite understandable, and I would probably be the same if I had seen every game in that time too. At the moment though, I think I can tell ****e when I see it. What I thought was ****e was the lack of urgency, the continual passing between the back line and passing back when there were other options to go forward. At times it felt as if RM hadn't left the building. We have a decent player in Fellows who causes defences problems and I think he should be given the ball as much as possible. Not safe passes to feet but in behind for him to run onto. Instead of working their defence they were comfortable most of the time. It was so pedestrian and predictable that when the usual defensive mistake showed up followed by the penalty miss, I nearly went full Lincoln. When I felt brave enough to check the score in the second half, we were winning. I'm not missing the obvious connection between a losing scoreline and me watching it, so I won't be watching the Derby game live and everybody wins except Derby.
For me I think the main issue with the back / sideways passing is that a lot of time the intent is right but they could skip a man out in the chain and it would get the ball to it's end location a step faster. A lot of time instead of Edwards -> Wood -> Manning there's been enough space / time to just go Edwards -> Manning (as they were flat / close enough to do that) and this pulls the other team around faster with less time to react to the next ball. All that needs the confidence to make that longer / sharper pass and the ball playing defenders to do it (which in Edwards we do) so I reckon it will get better the more they play as a unit and more they feel confident to push out from the back.
Also, in defence we were up against two banks of 5. You definitely need to be quicker in your passing, but you also have to be patient. There were a few nice balls threaded through the middle and the commentators were very complimentary of the interplay that was developing. These things will get crisper over time.
Saints just play at slow motion pace. Even when Fellows goes on a run, he goes sideways. If Armstrong gets any closer to the line, he’ll be in the crowd. Lots of possession, but no threat on goal. What I said but better..
No, online casino and betting. I feel the same as you. Although Midnite are at least licensed to operate in the UK and not circumventing any restrictions with this sponsorship, so at least that's a step in the right direction...
I thought the first half was good. Apart from the goal, we basically contained their threat. That’s important as the away team. We are still a possession team, because we have the quality for it (which most teams in this league don’t). It’s frustrating sometimes but you can’t constantly go gung-ho; trying through balls every 30 seconds. You’ll knacker yourselves out having to regain possession so often. I thought we mixed it up well. What impressed me most was simply the quality of play; we barely misplaced a pass, and the pressing and ball-carrying was always on point. Baby-steps I know, but it was the most professional I've seen us look for some time.
A big factor in the possession game is tiring out the opposition. People moan about passing sideways, but it does mean the opposition have to constantly shift across to cover, and if they’re pressing, it takes even more energy. What we absolutely have to do is cut out the misplaced passes, the unforced errors which just surrender possession when players are committed up the pitch. That’s possibly been the worst aspect of our play this season. Tuesday showed fewer examples of this, so definitely green shoots.
If I recall correctly, at HT our pass percentage was up around 87% - It ended at 81% but I figure a lot of the reason for the drop can be attributed to the latter parts of the match where we were clearing our lines a bit more randomly
