"Baboo" wrote:Three points is always welcome but we could not have left it much later could we?
We know how teams like Forest Green are going to play when they come to the Kassam but we seem to have no game plan to beat them. Hasn't Jim learned any lessons from last season ?
It was the end product which let us down again, as we dominated most of the first half and all bar about 20 minutes of the second half.
The problem for me was in team selection rather than tactics or formation. We could and should have beaten FGR much more easily.
FGRs only player of real standard for me was their number 3 who largely man-marked Ledgister for the first half.
I really cannot understand the selection of Nora Gnohere over both Foster and Corcoran. Of the CBs we have on the books, Gnohere comes bottom of the pile for me (by some distance). He is slow, unfit, and not a very intelligent player.
Gnohere cannot be played in the same side as Jeannin, nor in a 5-3-2. We were left exposed defensively on the left side too many times, and teams better than FGR will expose that weakness very easily.
If we must play 5-3-2, then it is vital that the wing backs push on to create the width. But that leaves us with Gnohere covering the left back slot. He's too slow to cover the amount of ground and he is beaten far too easily. He turns on a sixpence, but takes 20 minutes to do so. And when Gnohere pushes up for set plays too, then we really are left open as neither Gnohere nor Jeannin are able to get back quickly.
As for the other players, Turley had a good game, making a couple of decent saves. His only mistake was a mis hit kick, although the intention was good as Twigg had moved left to receive the ball.
Day was a big improvement on last season. Looked very solid, and his shooting form distance is always valuable, as the crossbar will testify.
Quinn was solid as usual.
Jeannin was a bit of a disappointment. Defensively he struggled with positioning and frequently when he made a mistake he clearly did not see what he had to do to recover. His set pieces and crossing were for the most part fairly poor. He did look to get forward though which was pleasing.
Anaclet also much improved and slightly quicker than last season. Looked to move inside from deep sometimes as well which dragged the FGR midfield all over th eplace.
I've heard from several people that Standing is a class above, but from the 2 games I've seen him, I can't say that I agree. He showed very little of the class and guile needed to help break down the FGR defence.
Hutchinson was my MotM. He was into everything, really solid tackling, loads of energy, strength and some good passing and heading. Different player from last year.
Trainer looked excellent as well and ran Hutch close for MotM. Good passing and movement. Slightly better going forward than Hutch and more energy, but not quite so strong defensively as Hutch. He's a bit of a find.
Duffy. Sorry boys and girls, but despite winning a lot in the air, as usual his headers were directionless and he was prone to falling over and feigning injury at the slightest touch. His contribution to the team was next to nil. Penalties apart, I can't see him scoring 10 goals this season.
Ledgister was very quick, though the ball didn't run fro him. He was mainly man marked, but maybe should have done a little better with one or two of the chances that fell to him. He needs to get his shot in quicker and I got the feeling that he was waiting too long for a clear scoring chance. In terms of build up, he was our most effective striker. In terms of finsihing he wasn't, but I've seen enough of him to believe he will be our best striker this season.
Twigg showed the predatory instincts that we've missed in strikers, though his first chance missed when he should have scored was disappointing. Did well in the play which led to the goal. Provided an excellent cross for Yemi, who should have done much better. Lacked a little pace in build up play. I would like to seem hm and Ledgister up front together.
Yemi looked unfit to me. Not quite the astonishing pace of last year. Had one glorious opportunity from the cross frm Twigg and made a howler of it.
Pettefer was hard working as always in the Martin Gray style. His closing down and harrying of FGR midfield was the starting point fo the play leading to our penalty.
Ref was pretty good until he decided to book Turley for a single time wasting offence, having ignored about 30 more serious time wasting offences from the FGR keeper.
In my view, FGR came for a draw plus what they could get from break aways. Their tactics of time wasting are not desirable in football.
As a match, it had some good moments and some boring periods, not helped by said FGR time wasting. The heat didn't help as the players were knackered after 70 minutes.
3 points is 3 points, but we'll need better team selection and improved play to beat most of the teams this year.