I was comparing our players physique with Wigans and thought it was worrying how skinny and small ours looked. As previously stated to take off our two forwards and put Jalo and Styles on actually reduced our physical presence by many inches. Their players had physicality, ours didn't. We desperately need some big units.
Yet we had Cosgrove on the bench and again he was never used. When we did play the ball forward he would have been idea to hold the ball up because time and again it was played forward and came coming straight back again.
Cosgrove would have been a better option than Watters, but that's not saying much. It would have been much better, as others have remarked, simply to leave McAtee and Cole on the pitch.
Said to my dad after the game, their defence had it easy yesterday, it wanted Cosgrove on and some long balls playing up for Cosgrove to give them somet to think about instead we ended the game with 2 guys who really shouldn’t be finishing a game together unless we’re out of sight
More worried about lack of muscle and height at the back, the amount of time we don't win the first ball when the opposition knocks it long its has and will cost us dear if it isn't sorted.
Correct. It’s blowing my mind reading people saying how well McCart & De Gevigney are playing. The whole teams having to play deeper to protect them
Pretty much what Collins has said, in a discrete manner. Sort the defence out, and that allows the team more freedom. At the minute, there’s no trust in it.
It's taken some effort to be in a position where we need a defender to add some physicality, while at the same time we've had to move Williams there because we also have no pace either.
When teams sit deep especially at home we struggle with a lack of movement from our midfield and forwards i never thought I’d say it but we kind of miss a Luke Thomas type of player who can drop a shoulder and run with the ball.
I agree mate, I ain’t convinced yet with Collins but he has got one hand tied behind his back because of poor quality at centre back. I am not happy with any of our centre halves tbh, some poor recruiting gone off last summer. The Frenchman may. come good maybe but not dominant enough for this league. Was always said about league one that you need a physical presence up front to get promoted, well you also need it in defence along with a reasonable amount of pace. Let’s hope we get some in during next 2 weeks or so
Correct. I don't know what De Gevigney is, but he isn't what I think of as a centre-half i.e. big, strong and very good in the air.
Another manifestation of this is that our centre backs scored something like 12 or 13 league goals for us last season, mostly from corners or other set pieces. This season we've got 2, one of which came in the opening game from Kitching and the other was a total fluke where a Cambridge defender headed it onto the back of Gevigney's head. We've so little physical presence from corners it's like when we get one I think it's less of a chance for us and more of an opportunity for the opposition to hit us on the break!
If McCart at just over 6 foot is your most dominant centre back in the air then you’ve got a big issue. De Gevigney’s the sort of centre back who needs a couple of big lads alongside him.