Favourite moment of yesterdays game

First half, Dudgeon has made the run forward, he receives the ball near the corner of the 18 yard box. He's facing goal, he has the time and space to either cross the ball in from there or run to the by-line and cut it back. He turns around and kicks the ball straight in to touch, no Barnsley player within 15 yards of where he put it. It's that bad, you lose the will to have a go and just burst out laughing.

It doesn't matter which players you pick in which positions and in what formation, if the exciting young left back you have on loan from a Premier League side does that, a player with plenty of Championship experience under his belt, it's not going to be your day.

Far too much emphasis is being put on the formation we're playing. Fact of the matter is the players aren't performing. Highly paid professionals were yesterday asked to beat a team containing many players who will be going to work this morning trying to earn a living in a proper job. Being asked to play 10 yards deeper than your usual position or a bit wider than where you've usually played does not stop you from being able to pass the ball to a team mate, close down an opposition player, make a tackle, put in a cross or hit a shot on target. It's a game of football and the skills required to play that game do not change depending on which area of the pitch you are stood. It's not like Wilson did anything radical, defenders were selected in defensive positions, midfielders in midfield and forwards up front.

Our players performed no better than Chester's players, considerably worse at times, and it wasn't as if the Chester team played that well. Our players are capable of much better, they've shown it on numerous occasions this year - in the last round of the cup they won 5-0 at a canter, the week before that they beat our local rivals away from home in a very professional performance and the week before that they played the top of the league off the park for long periods.

We can stamp our feet and demand the removal of yet another manager or we can wait for the players who aren't playing well at the minute to rediscover their form and get back to what they are capable of, what they were showing just a few weeks ago.

The only positive to take from yesterday was that we didn't lose. You could argue Chester deserved to win and while they had the chances they didn't play that well either in a game that lacked any sort of quality from either side. If Hemmings had shown anything like the composure that saw him score 24 goals last season or Hourihane had shown the kind of quality that has seen him score 10 and create just as many already this season, then he would have converted when through on goal, Hemmings would have buried the rebound and we would have won the game 2-0 with goals in the last 5 minutes. But our players aren't performing like they can.

Playing 4-4-2 or whatever system you think is right will not mean players who are having a poor time of it at the minute will find it any easier to convert simple chances. It's not easier to put the ball away from 10 yards out of you've been playing the rest of the game in the centre rather than on the left. If the system you are playing presents the team with simple chances then there's nothing wrong with it. The players just aren't doing their job. Give 'em time and they'll start doing it again.

 

If only we could pass a ball like Paul and Luke can fit kitchens....

 

We'd be cooking on gas.

 

Aye, he were expecting Hourihane coming rarnd on the overlap, but forgot to use what god gave him, his feckin eyes, the plank. It were funny in an annoying, teeth grinding way.

 

It was completely Hourihane's fault from where I was watching (on the telly). He seemed to just stop running. A pity, as it would have been a lovely bit of play had it come off.

 

He did stop running, thats one assist he certainly fecked up, still the use of ones eyes does come into play as well.

 

We are playing with severe lack of confidence at the moment but just on the formation thing, you could pick 11 very good players "by name and ability" but unless it fits a system to accommodate, it aint going to work.
Remember Wimbledon all those years ago, on paper the worst team in their league but they had a style, a formation and the desire to do well and although god awful to watch, they were successful.

 

I agree that a formation can help a team, without a doubt. But it can't help players pass the ball or make a tackle and for me that's the area we're struggling with at the moment, yet the same players were doing so well on that front only a few weeks ago.

The formation is part of it, but many people on here see it as the be all and end all. That's not directed at you by the way, just other posts I've read. For whatever reason, like you've said, there's a severe lack of confidence at the moment. I don't know why that should be after the good performances the players were putting in, but it's definitely there. Hourihane is a prime example, he daren't shoot any more despite getting in to the same positions he was scoring from not too long ago. I don't see a change of formation helping with that. I don't particularly like the three forward system we've got going on but I don't think changing it would suddenly see us performing much better.

What I do think would improve us is Williams getting back in the side, or Jennings playing like he did last year, or even both. It would give Berry, Hourihane and Bailey a player to pass to and it would give them more space to make that pass, which would improve their confidence no end. Whether they play in a diamond or part of a front 3 or in a 4-4-2 formation wouldn't, in my opinion, make much difference. We need them in the side wherever they play and we've missed that type of player massively in the last 3 home games.

I don't believe taking a forward out of the side and using an under performing Treacy or Digby or Abbott would improve us at all. It might even make us worse.

 

My favourite bit was the final whistle.

I was fed up of watching the ball bounce off trotta and a midfield struggling to pass water.

Reece browns got the same drive set up as an Italian tank.

 

I agree Jay, don't know if this is just a "phase" thing or what, I personally think the squad, on paper anyway is good enough for this division to be making a decent impact. All this ball rolling under the foot stuff and poor decision making, makes me think its the confidence.
Until we can get through this though I think he needs to drop this diamond thing. We need to muscle up our midfield and get more numbers in there coz the opposition are running through us at the mo err imho!

 

Good post.
Being saying that for years,no matter formation,position or opposition it doesn't or shouldn't stop you from passing the ball making a tackle etc etc this is supposedly the reason they were picked to become pro footballers because they had a bit of ability.but because of fan pressure the manager always gets it.if I'm honest any managers decision making is never the intention for the players to act like cnuts.
Surely most fans can see whether we lost from bad tactics or players acting the lovely person even under flicker last season if they had put a genuine shift in we would have won some of the games we lost.

 

Spot on.

I find it particularly incredulous that a few people have defended Brown by saying "oh but he's being played out of position".

A defender in any position should know when to stand off/back off and when to execute a tackle. Being played at RB rather than CB is not an excuse for Brown to back off every single winger he's up against, turn his back and then let them have a shot/cross. He did it yesterday against Mahon for Chester, a Conference winger who is now being raved about. I don't like pissing on other people's chips but you could put me up against Brown and he'd still back off until I was in the area and let me get a shot/cross in, even if they wouldn't reach the goal-line.

The same goes for our entire midfield at the moment as well. Being played in a disagreeable formation does not excuse the shirking of challenges and leaving our defense exposed all the time. We've a squad that most teams in League 1 could only dream of affording and attracting. They're woefully underperforming at the moment and that's not just down to Wilson and the stupid 4-3-3 formation. They all need to pull their fingers out or continue failing.