Town v Northampton

Well that was enjoyable.

Aluko was my MOTM for his excellent work. So skillful and intelligent on finding space, he carried the ball very well, made some great movements and was key to our early pressure. He'll be missed if his injury is a bad one. Harness was also good, an upgrade on Celina for sure.

This win will breed more confidence in the squad and in McKenna's methods. Lapapo scoring was the icing on the cake.

 

Was fully expecting to be angry again tonight. Pleasantly surprised with the win, delighted with the scoreline and reported manner of it.

Good Night all around.

 

John Jules had a weak game and very nearly cost us a goal. I’ve thought he’s looked one of our best players so far this season. Just goes to show that on their day anyone can be a hero or a villain.

 

We win in the cup. Credit to the players tonight never easy when so many changes are made but the first 30 minutes was superb even though Northampton were very open trying to play football out from the back, that's the best I've seen us play since the Gillingham game, we were playing good football but also being direct and not just playing the game like a game of chess, putting some good balls into the box and trying to get the ball forward early.

I have to say the team we put out tonight should still be able to compete at least to get in the playoffs. I honestly don't think we've had a squad with this much strength in depth since the Burley era. You can change the player in every position without the quality diminishing too much perhaps with the exception of Walton and Morsey but they are exceptional players for this level. In terms of player ratings:

Hladky- 7 - not much to do in terms of saves but I thought in general his distribution was superb and very good with his feet. Really liked to see him throwing the ball out quickly...not really seen us do that too much under McKenna. Not quite as comfortable as Walton sweeping things up but I think he can be relied on to do a decent job if Walton gets injured

KVY - 8 - I thought he was great tonight without being outstanding offensively but was so solid and took up good positions to get on the ball. Could comfortably be a first teamer at this level

Keogh - 8 - this guy is a rolls Royce defender. Calm and collected and superb on the ball. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in the first team before long.

Burgess - 7 - solid enough and good to see him get a headed goal from a cross

Leigh - 8 - this guy is a monster defensively and decent going forwards. Again comfortably a first teamer at this level

Ball - 7 - showed his quality in parts with nice touches and strength on and off the ball but you could tell at times it was his first game in a while

Humphreys - 7 - the boys has quality, probably from what I've seen the best passer of the ball in the squad. Could've got a bit more involved dictating play but a decent performance. I'd like to see him tried in the 10 role

Edwards - 8 - I thought he was our best player tonight. Direct and made things happen, particularly when he attacked the full back

Harness - 8 - this guy is a natural goalscoring attacking midfielder and works so hard. Not quite sure it's an upgrade in terms of quality on Celina but in terms of end product, work rate and consistency it certainly is. Also looked decent coming in from wide positions.

Aluko - 7 - I'm very confused about Aluko every time I've seen him, some of the things he does is of real high quality, his touch and movement are superb and he wins the ball back frequently however he does have a tendancy to run into trouble and every time I've watched him in a town shirt he gives the ball away probably more than anyone.

Jackson - 6 - that number 9 role in our team is a challenging one although saying this there were good balls going into the box and we were stretching their defence. Better strikers would've got into better goal scoring positions tonight. Worked hard and made some decent runs though

Siziba - 6 - good to see a youngster get some minutes but we certainly seemed worse off in terms of the shape and press when Aluko went off. Could be a decent player but you could tell he was probably a little out of his depth but good for him to get some minutes under his belt.

Ladapo - 6 - good to see him get a goal, will hopefully give him some confidence in what looks like a challenging position in the team.

John-Jules - 6 - not his best outing in a Town shirt, was quite static and gave the ball away a few times but clear to see he has class

Overall really pleasing performance and I hope we can take some of the positives tonight in terms of our desire to get balls into the box and attack the fullbacks into our league games.

However there definitely is still the striking area that is causing me slight concern. Ladapo looks half decent and I can see why he's been brought in, he's a good all rounder, decent with his back to goal but also mobile and has strong physical attributes. That position still looks a little cut off from the rest of the team but even saying that i still think we have gone down in quality since last season in that position. There we some decent balls going into the box tonight and good opportunities to break the defensive line but neither seemed quite on it, for all Norwood and Bonnes faults they always took up good positions in the box. So some work needed in that area both in terms of tactics and recruitment I think although clearly its not a huge pressing priority given we are scoring goals.

I'd also like to see us sign another no.10, someone with a bit more culture and craft on the ball.

 

You know ptc, I thought Siziba grew into the game well enough. Definitely off the pace in the first half, he got stuck into the press after the break and his nerves had settled down though. Thought Humphreys did alright and Alexander didn't look lost during his minutes either. Ball played well but faded towards the end, understandably.

With the five sub rule, McKenna's system basically lets the front three and two wing backs go out and play hard for an hour, strong on the press from the start, before being replaced. The central mids and back three will play the whole ninety in most matches.