Shrewsbury Town match report part two

Player ratings:

Davies 5: never looked comfortable, especially under the high ball and crosses. At fault for the first goal and he showed that he knew it. a very good save to prevent us going in 3-0 down before half time.

Cavare 5: I like him, but the problem is his role within the whole structure of the team, in which there is hardly any width. He looks at his best when getting forwards, but looks vulnerable when asked to turn and chase back from a counter-attack.

Pinnock 5: oh dear! I will give him 5 for the goal, but the lack of cohesion between him and the other defenders was desperate and nowhere better illustrated than the pass across the penalty area which never reached Lindsay.

Lindsay 5: similar to Pinnock, but, in fairness, he did win a fair bit in the air and on the ground. The problem last night ran right across the whole back four, who were caught too square too often and just leaked Shrewsbury forwards like a colander.

Ben Williams 6: at least he ran about a bit and made space for passes. His crossing looked to have some technique in it as well, which is more than can be said about most of the rest. Battled well in a poor show.

Potts 5: pretty well closed down last night. They were quick to surround him and prevent him getting forwards. He was taken off in the second half. Doing well this season, but it didn’t happen for him last night in spite of his trying.

Dougall 5: injured early on by a bad tackle and replaced by McGeehan (5). Neither of these players offered enough cover for the wobbly back four behind them. I never thought I would hear myself say that we need a Michael Doyle in centre midfield, but, at the moment, we do.

Mowatt 5: you expect mobility and movement from him and, to be fair, he was one of the more mobile players all through last night, but you can’t play on your own and his effectiveness was blunted all game with the exception of the shot which Coleman saved so well. I do wish that he could take an effective set piece. We had a few in the second half.

Thiam 6: I’ll give him the 6 because he did try to create space with his mobility and strength. Swapped sides with Potts for quite a while before being subbed. One of the few who doesn’t need to hang his head in shame this morning.

Bahre 5: we need his skill and touches in the box, especially amongst so many muscular, but too muscle-bound players. He didn’t work out last night and, if we were to get anything from the game, a player like him had to fire on all cylinders, which he didn’t.

Moore 5: won a few headers, but was far too isolate against the three central defenders of Shrewsbury’s re-structured defence. Seemed to drop into midfield in the last quarter of the game, which baffled me. Why play your top scorer deeper when you are looking for goals? Odd!

Substitutes:

Moncur 6: for about the first ten minutes that he was on the pitch, he looked as though he was capable of getting hold of our midfield and the game and getting us back into it, but the Shrews quickly found a way with their five-man midfield of closing him down and making him run into positions in which he became less effective.

Hedges 5: did have some minor impact after coming on for the last twenty minutes or so, but not able to change the outcome. I had thought that my prize for the worst ever dive in a Reds shirt was the one by Barry Conlon (legend) at Bournemouth, which recorded 5.5 on the Richter Scale, but Ryan’s dive was so barely concealed that it brought him a booking. I wonder if Robert Pirez (remember him from Arsenal?), David Ginola, or even Tom Daly would offer Ryan a course on how to dive? Maybe not!

So, what’s gone wrong? I think we ought to look at the shape of the team as much as anything. Given that neither Potts, nor Thiam are wingers, we are very narrow and that was well exploited by Askey’s switch to a five-man midfield with wing-backs giving them width to attack our least well defended area. If the opposition also have pace down the flanks, we are in trouble, more through having no cover, rather than lack of quality of player. I would be looking to switch to a back three of Pinnock, Jackson (as sweeper) and Lindsay, leaving Cavare and Pinillos/Williams/Fryers to do what they do best, which is bombing forwards down the flanks to support the attack. We could have a three-man midfield in front of them with Dougall central and Potts/Thiam/Moncur alongside – that would also be their best roles and still keep them in goal-scoring territory. We could then have a top two of Moore and Brown/Woodrow (fit in a fortnight! He will be fit in a fortnight! Fit in a fortnight!). Shades of the 1997 promotion team, but I think that would protect the flanks, play to our strengths and cover our weaknesses, because, believe me, our weaknesses have now been rumbled by the opposition and I think we can expect more of the same unless we think how to restructure from the existing squad.

I have only seen the Coventry and Shrewsbury games this season, so I will keep well away from Wycombe!! I thought after the Coventry game that we ought to get into the play-offs, but had some doubts about automatic promotion in the top two. I now think that, unless we think of countering our weaknesses in the wide areas, we may struggle to get into the play-offs. Now is the time we will find out the true capability of Stendel and the coaching staff, as well as the morale and professionalism of the team. Last night was a wake-up call. So wake up, lads. You are so much better than that, but you need to apply yourselves and impose yourselves on the opposition every game.

Yours after a bad night!!

 

I think you are mega generous with the marks. There are people on the spice in Barnsley town centre with better coordination than Thiam.

 

I think a change in formation is the step we should look to. At least as an option to have the opposition guessing.

I've been thinking of whats changed, and I think the obvious thing is that when we've done well, its been counter attacking in and overloading the opponent high up the pitch. Teams have cottoned onto this, so they are giving us possession, while pressing us back. We're less creative and have poorer movement when we're in deep passing territory, compared to winning it high and surging forward in numbers.

I didn't see much of Cavare early season, but has his positioning changed? Did he used to get back in to defend and help the defence? Or has he always lazed on the half way line and left us isolated? The issue with him being so high up the pitch (and static just waiting for the ball) is that it gives us less outlets from defence in possession. That means we're easier to mark and press, and more likely to turn over the ball. I think its why we're seeing more backpasses to Davies. because we've a heavily marked midfield, our fullbacks are too high, so Lindsay and Pinnock either play to each other, Davies, or hoof it.

I could see us moving to 3-5-2 as it solves several obvious issues. I wouldn't play Cavare (i'm very aware i've been highly critical of him the last 3 games) but he needs a kick up the backside. Fullbacks in a 3-5-2 still need to defend, and he doesn't get back in, or when he does he does so halfheartedly. Charltons 1st came from him being awol, second when he didn't try tackling, and the third v Shrewsbury from the most lazy effort to jump imaginable. He may well have contributed to forward play, but at the moment he's neither defending, not being aggressive in attack. He's often the outlet, but he's not finding players or committing the opposition. I've no idea of J Williams is close to being ready, but i'd give him a go for one game and see what reaction we get from Cavare. If there isn't one, his contract is up in the summer and we wash our hands.

In the back three, I think we need a ball carrier. I wonder if Dougall could do that job? 2 markers and a true libero? The back 3 can split and pressing is much harder. I think Mowatt and McGeehan or Moncur could then release a little more and that might bridge the sometimes gaping distance between Moore and midfield.

Some big questions for the coaches. Will be interesting to see how we adapt as we face nastier more aggressive opponents.

 

Ben Williams. 6 ????? Extremely generous, looked out of his depth.

 

Agreed, worst player on the pitch by some distance. Then Cavare.

Stendle needs a plan B and C in his pocket to counter the oppositions ability to shut down our midfield. Shrewsbury were all over us last night.

 

Pretty decent summing up that and matches my thought on what I saw. I agree about a switch to 352 but I'm not sure we currently have the full backs to do it.
Got to be worth a try though because last night was desperately poor. Our current formation has been well and truly sussed.

 

I am not sure if Jackson is primarily right or left footed but if he is a right footer then he needs to be in alongside Pinnock who is the most one-footed defender imaginable (ie, he refuses to kick with his right no matter how much trouble he gets into). I like the lad - some of his tackles and effortless movement with the ball is top class but he CANNOT play on the right side of a defensive pair. I was amazed when he slotted that goal home with his right foot but you never see him defending with it.

I think it might be time to drop Lindsay and give Jackson/Pinnock a go for this next batch of home matches. It might just be the answer to our kamikaze defending. Hang on though - we need strong tackling full backs as well. Pinillos is the nearest to it. Cavare doesn't think tackling is in his job description and Ben Williams is a young lad learning the trade. Fryers is hardly ever fit and Jordan Williams is an unknown quantity.

Our forward play this season has mostly been excellent and our defending (apart from a couple of games) has somehow worked, in that we had not conceded many. But that's five in the last two now and that plus goal difference will soon start to erode if we don't sort this out. I have total trust in our coaches to get hold of them and there should be a positive reaction against the Gas on Saturday. Here's hoping anyway .

 

Should have hed a positive reaction last neet from Setdi and not allowed another early goal in against us either.

 

If I was feeling generous I would’ve given the highest rated player on our team last night a four.