Saddle Sore

Anything yellow and blue
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Boogie
Middle-Aged Spread
Posts: 1656
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 7:17 pm

Saddle Sore

Post by Boogie »

Not just from a bike ride today.

Well that was very poor.

We are outmuscled in midfield and then when the opposition breaks we offer little protection to the centre backs.

We need a holding midfielder and I would try Mousinho there as he can tackle and pick a pass.

Canice could then start at right back, giving Robbie Hall more support in attack.

Ruffles should start with Ledson on Tuesday.

We need a striker who can hold the ball up and with Obika out, GvK is clearly not the answer - poor first touch.

We might perhaps see if Agon is the answer v Bury? Hoping so.
OtmoorYellow
Puberty
Posts: 444
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:35 pm

Re: Saddle Sore

Post by OtmoorYellow »

All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not going to Bury on Tuesday.
Werthers Original
Dashing young thing
Posts: 584
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:30 pm
Location: Oxford

Re: Saddle Sore

Post by Werthers Original »

Picked a good one to miss, and I enjoyed the wedding I went to instead! But was it worse than Hartlepool on a Tuesday night a couple of years back? That turned out OK in the end
Dr Bob
Middle-Aged Spread
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Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:16 pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Saddle Sore

Post by Dr Bob »

Frustratingly, a RadOx caller after the match stole my line - but never let a good point go to waste. On several occasions PClot has complimented the crowd for their patience, because we can see what the team is trying to do. Not yesterday. Not a clue. Trouble is - nor did the players.

Playing out from the back, taking our time, keeping possession - all very well, so long as we then have the ability to find a killer pass and to shift up several gears when the opportunity arises. Simply playing it around at the back with no pace, no penetration and seemingly no clue is not going to win us matches.

There was talk on RadOx after the match about no Plan B. True - but this is secondary to not being clear on what Plan A might be. If we cannot hit five-yard passes to teammates, then gods help us.

Three at the back left huge spaces in the right back area in particular for Walsall to exploit. It left the right-sided CB uncertain about where to go. It left Hall in no-mans-land and restricted his willingness to go forward (how different he was able to be in the second half, once we switched to four at the back).

GvK looked out of his depth against average Division 3 opposition. I have now seen (United and) Ricardinho twice this season and cannot work out what the fuss is all about. I do not care how good his ball control is if he cannot defend effectively and repeatedly hits wayward passes out of defence to give up possession.

What really worried me was after a week which supposedly helped with team-building, was seeing some of our players lose interest and become increasingly petulant as the game wore on. Clotet's potential as a manager has been much commented upon. Pep - now is the time to show us what you have, because currently things are not working.
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