Nice to see him getting the credit he deserves from the game today in the Man of the Match poll. Obviously DC's view up to now is that it's either him or Roberts in the middle of the back three, when everyone is fit. I can't help feeling that finding a way to get both of them into the same side could be an important piece of the jigsaw going forwards. Could Roberts, Pines, Earl work as a back 3?
Not for me. Pines understudy to Roberts. Hes nowhere near good enough on the ball and I dont think I'd trust him enough on either side of the middle of a back 3. No way should Mael be dropped. That second half today he was brilliant. That ball he played for our second goal was exceptional and Pines cant do stuff like that. Mael can be a real threat when in possession, loves to run deep into midfield and can pick a pass out. Sometimes he loses it but as I mentioned in a previous post, its risk vs reward if that's what's being asked of him. Personally I dont understand why he gets so much stick. He makes odd error but any little overhit pass or whatever gets so blown out of proportion with him now on here. Another note ill make, considering the stick Hourihane has been getting, and bizarrely the people mentioning how many coaches we have despite it being completely normal to have even more, our attacking set plays in which Conor is in charge of have been improving game on game imo. Some lovely corners and free kick routines, even earlier on in the season you could see we were mixing it up and trying new routines , just couldn't quite execute them properly. Our winner today was simple and well worked, though I will say it was school boy defending from Bolton. Credit to the coaches for that too
Been watching different games to me , our corners and free kicks have been woeful , yesterdays second was an exception not the norm , let’s hope they continue like that
We've scored ten from set pieces, not including penalties. Only five teams have done better in League One so far.
They were mainly early season when I think we topped the league for set piece goals. Some of the deliveries in recent weeks have been abysmal. The routine for the winner yesterday was brilliant though.
I think pines and Roberts are similar neither are great at passing or with the ball at feet both good in the air. For me I'd pick Roberts 1st everytime he's been great this season, but he's 35 in 6 months and is out with a muscle injury which usually occur more when you get older. Playing Saturday Tuesday could be abit much for him soon.
The big differences are Pines & Roberts. Pines only played about 4 games last season & scored twice. It’s not like De Gevigney & Earl have all of a sudden become deadly at set pieces is it?
It's hardly surprising when we have the likes of pines Earl and Roberts attacking the corners. Not sure how much of it is down to conor and his coaching.
Great to have two centre half who can win that first ball. Robbo been brilliant up until his injury but I though Don was outstanding yesterday not sure they can play together but great to have both.
They can play together in a back 4 without any problems. In a back 3 it depends more on the opposition. If the opponents have done their homework they’ll press the life out of either De Gevigney or Earl (whichever one plays) so that Roberts or Pines is the one with the space to push forwards into midfield & that’s potentially where your issue comes if they can’t pass the ball well.
I think Pines is a great defender and he can't be easy to play against so for that reason alone I'd have him in the team. We've got more than enough players that should be able to create goals but not too many that can be relied upon to defend properly.
Mael can be a real threat when in possession, loves to run deep into midfield and can pick a pass out. He's a real threat on our defence when he gets into midfield routinely gives the ball away. He did rise above his recent standards yesterday though.
Mael can do the simple stuff though. He loses balls in further positions because he actually tries risky passes and to make things happen going forward. Like I said, if multiple managers are playing him every minute of every game, clearly they want him doing it
MDG tries to play more sophisticated football than he is cut out for. But I love him for trying, and often it adds up to something good. I hope he is able to ignore/avoid the personal brickbats. And carry on.
