doctor evil

HT. Don't want to be accused of being negative but I don't think we've played all that well. These are absolutely hopeless and this is the easiest game we'll get this season. Been sloppy in possession a few times and as a whole I don't think we've done enough with the ball. Would like to see Gardner pushed further forward. We don't need both him and Sheron sat on the halfway line.

Just now, Monty Burns said:

aye so lets not play five defenders a keeper and a CDM

tues set up was fine, but if he wants 3 up top he doesnt need a back 5 to do it

That's not 5 defenders, if anything it's 2....

Just now, Monty Burns said:

until we arent playing Oxford city at home in division five at the very least.

l get the idea of gettin a front 3 on the go but we can do that with a back 4 if we want

Surely the best time to go for an aggressive set up is against these pub teams....

9 minutes ago, Monty Burns said:

 

wow

 

its far too soon for five at the back Dr

How long do we have to wait before we can play 5 at the back. Most of our best players are strikers and that's one of the few ways you can get 3 into a team without sticking one on the wing....

                       Hudson

         Hobson    Sheron    Hogan

Green                                        Kitching

            Danny G    Lundstrum

                         (Shelton if not fit)

         Willoughby      Norwood

                        Nuttall 

Could we not play a 523 with the attack looking like

                       Nuttall

       Willoughby     Norwood 

They'd be 2 CFs rather than wingers.

8 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

 

The way this season had gone I think it's harsh judging anyone.  He scored a few last season and certainly has something different to offer.  Sure he's not the finished article but he's had a stuttery career so hope he can kick on

He's got the attributes to be a good option for sure, maybe under a new manager he can improve. And I'd be absolutely delighted if he did.

1 hour ago, Only Blue said:

I think Mcfluff is trying to say some people seem to always have to find negatives and dwell on them.

 

Even if Green didn't play as well as other players, do we have to slaughter him? In any match not every single player plays fantastic otherwise you would be world beaters.

 

There are always players who do not stand out but they all contributed enough to a 2-0 victory, that's why it's a team game, you adapt, cope and help the players who are below par on the day (not that Green was).

 

When the team overall played well then you don't have to find individual flaws because they happen to every team and it's the overall team play that counts.

 

 

We all see things differently, we all have different opinions after a game. If you don't think somebody played well there's nothing wrong with saying that. I call it how I see it, Someone plays well I'll say it, same if they don't. People might disagree, that's fine. But you can argue your point without the need to call people embarrassing and such.

7 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

 

It's a really good pass; firm, and decisive.  Any less conviction about it and it gives the defenders an easy chance to intercept.  It was also the right choice - he could easily have decided to head for the byline

It's actually slightly better than I thought. He still needs to improve his end product and decision making overall if he's to feature a lot this season for me.

3 minutes ago, Dave_Og said:

 

If he'd made a different decision with the pass then Nuttall wouldn't have had the chance in the first place

True. The point I was making was that the assist last night shouldn't be used as an argument that he has end product. It wasn't an assist where he's put it on a plate for somebody. If he gets assists with easy 5 yard passes every week then I'm all for it, but the evidence of his time with us suggests that won't happen.

5 minutes ago, Magic Mikey said:

How long does a pass have to be to count as an assist? 

Point was that he didn't create the chance, it was nuttalls good work...

1 minute ago, South West Blue said:

For me Nuttall and Reid start they scored the goals so why should they give up the shirt, we need players in form and playing with confidence the two of them will have bags of it after last night and rightly so. 

 

Nuttall has been playing wide most of season plays through the middle his preferred position and scores. 

 

Reid has hardly kicked a ball so far this season gets on the grass and scores. 

 

As good and prolific as Norwood is in this league, most of his bookings so far have been for dissent he would have started last night had he not been suspended and who knows may have scored hopefully he will learn from it. We need him fit and scoring goals that is why we brought him here not being suspended due to poor discipline, especially from a senior player like him. He is the best striker at the club but If he loses place on Saturday then that is his own doing and rightly so in my opinion. 

 

Fondop misses out.

 

Willoughby & Norwood on the bench. 

 

 

He's not only the best striker, he's the best player at the club, by far. I think I'm happy to forgive his poor discipline, which is probably due to having to watch everyone attempt to play unsy ball behind him. Reid got his goal coming off the bench against tiring opposition, I'd let him do that again. Play your best players, it's simple really.

1 hour ago, mcfluff1985 said:

Some embarrassing comments on here by a number of people about Green. It's like now DU has gone, people need a source for their frustration. The lad got numerous crosses into the box AND he got an assist, yet there are people talking about him having no end product. Stop embarrassing yourselves

Jack stobbs used to put numerous crosses into the box or roughly near it. Doesn't mean he was good. We won 2-0, I had no frustration. None of his crosses in were accurate, he was pushed of the ball far too often and his assist was a 5 yard pass into nuttall who did all the work. If we ever get out of this league (the correct way), he won't be in the team....

I understand why people rate Sheron because he runs around a lot and is busy but if we're going to play a 442 I don't think we can carry him in midfield. If you're the opposition you just stick a man on the other cm and we're done for. We can maybe get away with him playing CDM in a 3. He's just not good enough on the ball in an attacking sense. I'd personally only play him as a CB in a 3 and have him as the one to step into midfield in possession...

As for the game it was a definite improvement in attitude and intent. We started on the front foot which we haven't been doing and we actually tried to press them a bit at times. There's definitely still loads for whoever comes in to work on with this group, it won't be an easy fix. One of our main problems is losing the ball after winning it back. So many times we either just launch it forward or try to play ridiculous passes and end up losing it straight away. That not only invites pressure but also just ends up tiring us out. I still don't think we created an awful lot either so there's definitely work to be done.

As for the players

Hudson 8 - Was fine, didn't have an awful lot to do but did it well, think his distribution is better than Norman so he stays in for me.

Sutton 7 - Square peg in a round hole, can't fault his effort but I just don't see who's benefiting from him playing there. It ain't us and he's not progressing trying to learn to be a full back that he'll never be. Couple of good tackles first half. Fell asleep a few times defensively.

Hobson 9 - If he's better in a 3 we need to play it because he was seriously on it tonight. Strong and quick, can't remember him putting a foot wrong.

Hogan 7 - Solid if unspectacular. Always seems to end up on the deck. Between the 2 CBs they dealt with the 2 York big strikers well.

Kitching 8 - Runs all day, always an attacking threat (often our only) and again put in some decent balls. Defensively solid enough too. Ridiculously booked for being fouled.

Green 4 - Their LB had him in his pocket all match pretty much. Very little end product, not strong enough, made the wrong decision most of the time.

Gardner 6 - Guaranteed effort and overhit passes. Wish he'd turn and run with the ball more because I think that's his strength. At least attempts to pass forwards.

Sheron 6 - Already said my piece.

Dickinson 4 - Poor I thought, numerous times his first touch let him down, another who's end product has vanished in recent weeks. Could he play rwb?

Nuttall 8 - Took his goal well, always puts himself about. Needs to be in the box more often, 2nd half especially he'd end up on the edge or out on the wing.

Willoughby 6 - Effort was there, still finding his feet in the team and unfortunate that his minutes are limited at the moment. Needs to pick his head up more when on the ball.

Subs - Reid took his goal well, another who's unlucky to not be getting more minutes (anybody think we might have too many strikers?). Can't remember who else came on .

1 minute ago, sjk2008 said:

Good start, but we’ll still never do anything til we bring another midfielder in and get Lundstram back. We have one midfielder that can’t pass and another that’s plays the wrong pass most of the time.

Gardner just needs to put 90% less power on every pass and he'll be alright then....

Just need to get hold of the ball for 5 mins here. Bit of game management 

10 hours ago, mcfluff1985 said:

There's planning for things that are likely to happen and then things that are so unlikely there's probably a 1 in a 1,000 chance it will happen. Needing a midfielder to replace Gardner, likely, so should have a plan for that. I'd rather 5 outfield players to ensure we can cover various other positions than a keeper that will sit there and offer no option

Exactly, with only 5 subs available you've got to balance covering possibilities with the impact that sub could have. The amount of times you're likely to go to the sub GK is minimal, less than once a season I'd say. So even though the impact of the sub GK would be very high, the fact he'd only be of use on very rare circumstances lowers the impact over the course of a season. Compare that to an outfielder who can impact every game and it's a no brainer for me. 

Obviously if you're a one (or arguably none) dimensional garbage terrible manager who forgets to use his subs on a weekly basis like unsy then none of this even matters and you might as well carry on sticking every striker in the club on the bench.

Point is if I was manager I'd back myself to get more out of 5 outfield options over the course of a season than I'd lose not having the GK sub...

1 hour ago, AlanGrovesFanClub said:

Allow me to explain. 5 subs, 3 can be used. We chose 4 strikers and no goalkeeping cover, although our other goalkeeper is (I think) fit. I find this to be a strange set of options to give himself going into the game. Losing your goalkeeper and having no replacement would be a big thing. You can only add 3 more strikers during the game, and you probably wouldn't want to add 4 anyway. So overall, it doesn't seem to be a well balanced way of (a) covering off potential risks and (b) giving yourself room for tactical changes, which is what subs are for. Compound that with not even using them all on a day when it was so hot that they had to stop for drinks breaks like it was a cricket match.

I'd rather use the spot on the bench for an outfielder personally. You're only ever going to use the GK sub with an injury and that's a rarity. That being said I agree that it's just bizarre having a bench full of strikers and going into the game playing a system with just 1 of them. His ridiculous use (or lack of) of substitutes this season is another symptom of his garbage game management....

3 minutes ago, Sparkleking said:

0-0.  DU will be delighted.

Building from the back. Just got to solve that pesky goal scoring thing. Oh and keep hiring refs that miss our opponents goals.

What I don't get is why he's not just put Dickenson where Sheron is and have Willoughby or Reid as LW. I can't understand the concept of taking a defensive midfielder who's only qualities are his defensive attributes, and shoving him into an attacking midfield position.

This is just turgid stuff. I get that the heat means we can't be pressing like maniacs but even when we get the ball there's so little movement, and when someone eventually does make a run nobody is looking for it.

51 minutes ago, Longlostfan said:

So how does he get there then? Not seen a lot about the 'B' team- is that still a thing?

Being around the squad and learning from the likes of Hogan and raglan is no bad thing. But at some point I'd be looking for loan opportunities for him. Unfortunately because of the squad situation he's probably needed at the minute as cover for RB/CB...

5 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

Hobson and Sutton at DC for me, if others go the lad from Curzon Ashton would fit the bill.

I think if we're serious about challenging at the top end this season, Sutton shouldn't be starting, at least not yet. He's got potential and I know he's mostly playing out of position but I still don't think he's at this level yet.

2 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

 

Aren't the French just highly strung as a default? They don't take kindly to being played by a football club nor a government. Us meanwhile, are just happy to be shat on. Hearty booing is what we're told to do by the class system.

 

Anyway, not listened to the pod but I don't boo until really fucking angry. Like when that shortarse pipsqueak Johnson came back with Barnsley just a few weeks after leaving us. I made sure I got an extra close position in the main stand paddock for that one. At the moment, I'm about Jeff Lebowski in terms of rage. I'll be more like Walter Shobchak if we're still near the bottom four come October.

Currently available isn't he.....

5 minutes ago, LightDN123 said:

Please don’t appeal. Shelton is a fraud. Wish it was a straight red, the guy can’t pass a football. 

He's probably the best of the midfield 3....