Last night our defence reminded me of last year... I think Malik has been great... He wins so many headers.. Halme in the centre def last night was too high up and our back 3 no shape... Really hope malik hasn't had a fall out with the boss... The boss said before the game he wants another central defender in Jan... Bit worried
I thought Halme gave the ball away to easily last night but it was a game designed to be scrappy where possible by Wycombe. He has barely played this season so looked a bit rusty to me so he might need a run of games to see the best of him. I like Helik in there though so wouldn't be to disappointed to see Halme back on the bench Saturday.
Helik has been poor in past few games he has played so problem needed a rest. Halmes 1st start for a while so not going to give him too much stick.
Admittedly, I was watching on a muted ipad, so not paying as much attention as I might otherwise have been, but in the first half I thought he was dealing with their long balls well enough. Didn't look assured, but he was winning his headers / duals. He was caught out of position for the hoof that led to the penalty, but it was outside the box anyway. I think one or two more of those long balls would've passed Helik. Helik and Andersen are a liability playing together.
I agree, I thought we dealt amicably with their long ball, hoof ball "up and unders" bar one - which led to the "penalty" where contact was 2 yards outside the box. Still a scrappy game yields 3 points. 12 months ago that would have been a draw or a defeat, so we're making progress in these types of games
I like Halme, you really have to take into account having not played for so long this would have been like an intense pre season friendly where he was expected to gel with his 'new' team mates and immediately be up to speed.
I think Halme is a better footballer and think it's been harsh on Helik to drop him. I'd have dropped Andersen as he's the least composed centre back we have. That said I like Andersen too and think on the whole we are better in defence than at this time last season. To be honest I can't understand the negative comments the defenders are getting. It's one of our most solid positions.
I'm not sure either Helik or Halme would fare any better than Andersen in that wider position though. Leaves Williams as the only other option to play there. If Williams is playing there, we'll need to find someone to play on the right if Brittain is unavailable or needs a rest, which can't be far off being the case.
Watched a thing on Youtube last night from a Wycombe fan , praising out Back 3 and Anderson in particular , he said we stood up to their tactics well .
It wasn't the best performance from halme but I think he deserves a run in the side. I prefer Helik over Anderson personally.
So Malik Wilkes has come back on the sly. His best game was against Fulham, first game last season. I haven't rated him in our defence at all, but at least we have someone to blame, bloody Malik. Boooooo.
I thought the back 3 generally dealt with the up and unders pretty well when they were facing the ball. Halme and Andersen won most things aerially. The issue was when they hoofed it over and turned us, or, swung balls in close to our keeper. The area I think our centre backs are most disappointing is their distribution. Sollbauer was again atrociously bad at this, particularly the first 15 minutes. Of the 4 centre halves, i think Andersen has the most potential and I'd be inclined to keep playing him. The other 2, take your pick.
First half, they seemed to aim more for a target and the height of Andersen and Halme came into effect as they faced the ball and could lean over and win it. Second, they looked to turn us and hit the ball higher to make it harder to deal with on the bounce. Then we struggled more.
I don’t think we should underestimate how difficult Wycombe are to play against. They have had many close games, only losing by the odd goal.
