Rams v Colliers matchday thread

Oh dear, defending was simply awful

 

Second rehearsal - Tottenham (H)

 

Was always going to be tough today. We don't have a replacement for Andersen. No one in this league has a replacement for someone of that quality. They have someone who can wear the shirt, like we do, but no one of anywhere near the same quality. The player to replace him, who would usually play at the side of Andersen, a good player but not an Andersen style player, was then injured. At that point it's lots of square pegs in round holes.

Cundy doesn't look great to me, very capable in the air but he's extremely slow and is easily beaten by pushing the ball past him. If Edwards is fit, Cundy is not first choice. Kitching is still wild, does some great things with the ball, but is a long way from the finished article at centre half. With Andersen marshalling them we're solid. Without him... well, six goals conceded in the last two games without Andersen on the pitch highlights the problem better than anything I can write.

We all know our attack is bang average with zero options, and our midfield has quality but not diversity (they're all very similar in style, not one of them can count dribbling with the ball as a strength). But with a solid defence behind them they've proved to be good enough to take us up to the play-offs. Without that defensive brick-wall, we struggle, as we did today. We'll struggle going forward if Andersen is sold/injured, but if we keep him we'll do OK. Probably not brilliantly, we're not a brilliant team, but the play-offs look doable (although I still think we're a little short on quality for that, but can't argue against the fact that we're very good at dominating games if we get the first goal).

As for Wolfe, I'm not going to defend his performance today, but I'll defend his selection. He's a good prospect, he's played well for us before, and with Phillips still not at full fitness, that position was up for grabs. Wolfe didn't make that grab, but I understand Duff giving him the opportunity to do so.

 

If Victor Meldrew was watching that game, he'd have shouted..
"What in the name of bl*oody hell, was that!!".

Its another one to dismiss as just a bad day at the office, and I suppose it was only the Cup and not the League.
But in fairness this is getting worrying now, and the penalties we're conceding are just beyond pathetic.