I have not seen any of the preseason fixtures and know next to nothing about the new players but it was clear from the prematch kick about that the two that Danny had decided to play up front were not going to win much of the sort of ball that O'Grady had to put up with. And things will not change when Lita enters the fray either, because Lita is not going to win the sort of challenges that O'Grady thrived on either. So why is it that this is exactly what our new mid-field served up to Winnall and Rose. The problem is that our mid-field could hardly string three passes together, never mind dominate possession, exert pressure and pass the ball along the ground quickly and over short distances. Consequently the front two never received the service they needed. Now, I am sure that the understanding needed to play in this fashion can and will come, but it will probably take a full month of competitive games, during which time the fans will need to be patient. This is an investment in the future. Danny has brought in players who can play this type of fast and fluid game, but it is a type of game that has been a stranger to Oakwell for many years, and as I say, it needs time to bed in. Having said all that, there were a number of performances that worried me. The system we played was 3-4-3 when in possession and 4-4-2 when out of possession. The conversion from 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 was made by Reece Brown pushing forward into mid-field and Dale Jennings pushing forward into attack. It left Reece Brown with a lot of possession in the opposition half, possession that he never looked comfortable with. It also exposed the full back position to attack. Craney was supposed to cover but was often caught flat-footed and we looked weak defensively in that corner all game. It is quite likely that Danny will elect to play 4-4-2 both in and out of possession when Treacy is fit enough to start, so this may not be a long term problem. However, the second problem was the form of Dale Jennings. He was poor all game. He does not have the confidence to take on the full back on the outside. I have no idea how strong his left foot cross is because during the whole of his time here, I have never seen him cross with his left foot. His default position when in possession is to cut in from the left in order to shoot/cross with his right foot. When forced onto his left foot, he must stop and turn 270 degrees in order to cross with his right foot. This was my complaint last season and continues to be so. The ball he delivers into the box with his right foot is delivered at the wrong angle, an angle that favours the opposition defenders. Do not blame Winnall and Rose when our only true wide player cannot deliver better crosses. The game we watch is a team game. It is the front two who score most of the goals, and when the chances arrive, it is important that they stay cool and take those chances. But it is the midfield that achieve dominance in games and who create most of the chances for the front two. I cannot remember either of the front two missing a chance today, and that says it all about where our problems were today.
You don't seem to post much, but when you do, you're posts are very much spot on, and I agree 99% of the time. I don't tend to read many posts on here any more as the majority are just inane drivel, but you always contribute well.
Spot on, mate. I think we missed a leader type on the pitch too. I know Cranie is captain but he's not vocal, there was no-one in the side giving encouragement or barking orders. We seemed quiet and flat. We will get better. We will win games. We will be ok. It's just going to take time.
Absolutely bang on. I agree with the service to the strikers today, we could have had messi and probably wouldn't have faired much better! Sick of seeing that long ball pumped forward just to be easily headed back from the oppositions defence. We seemed to be second to nearly every ball. Also regarding brown, looks a quality player imo and he sees a lot of the ball down that right hand side, but think were expecting too much from a central defender in terms of creativity/delivery. Would be more than happy seeing him at cb, and a more mobile right back introduced.
Agree completely re Jennings. Pace, hammer of a shot, big heart etc but no left foot, makes the wrong decision more often than not and needs to calm down, calm down. Suspect we will end up playing 4-3-3, which may cut the hoofball. Think we'll be better too when Turnbull is distributing the ball from the back.
I agree entirely my friend. Jennings for me, is largely overrated. Why he cannot drive past the full back on the outside once in a while is beyond me because otherwise his play is just way too predictable. Swapping him over to the right for spells in a game might not be a bad ploy too. Danny's tactics (or lack of) for such an experienced manager are starting to worry me somewhat. Our front two today were far too lightweight, but if we signed Drogba and RVP at their peak even they would struggle on the paucity of service provided today.
Pretty much what I thought about things. Forwards getting the blame on other threads for the decencies of the midfield seemed harsh to me. Jennings I can't understand why we don't just play him on the other wing where his crosses would favour the forwards rather than the defenders.
We have a small attack and no height or big lads on pitch and we constantly played high long ball up to strikers. All our midfield are neat and tidy passers , but we never tryed to play through the middle . Jennings hardly touched ball first half and he should be our main source to get crosses in . We may need a target man up front if we are going to play it long all time . But only first game , so got the team time to gel and work it out