weakest links

[bigfatjoe1]

looked good in first half but the weaknesses are there to see. unlucky not to score more. however, Byrne and Tarky were slow/naive. we need at least one if not two defenders. no balance on the left. squad at least 4-5 light. need at least a couple of experienced players.

on this show, mid-table again.

[ceskylatic]

looked good in first half but the weaknesses are there to see. unlucky not to score more. however, Byrne and Tarky were slow/naive. we need at least one if not two defenders. no balance on the left. squad at least 4-5 light. need at least a couple of experienced players.

on this show, mid-table again.

 

I'm not sure you can say Byrne is naive,slow yes but hardly naive.

We may bring in a couple of players in before end of August,one being a much needed left winger.

Mid-table is what most would expect I would've thought.

I'd like to see Brown in at right back & Byrne in the centre alongside M'voto though suspect Dickov will stick with tonight's back four against MK Dons.

[laticdickovarmy]

I'm not sure you can say Byrne is naive,slow yes but hardly naive.

We may bring in a couple of players in before end of August,one being a much needed left winger.

Mid-table is what most would expect I would've thought.

I'd like to see Brown in at right back & Byrne in the centre alongside M'voto though suspect Dickov will stick with tonight's back four against MK Dons.

 

Agree with 100% of the above we need a CB who commands and orgainses Byrne could be that but then a RB could be an issue, 5 days left a big test for PD already and a winger top priority still a tad worried that he makes his subs too slow as well

Postives as well, Grounds, Croft & Slew

[Gaz_Oafc]

CB, LW + ST as a minimum.

 

All 3 need to be good enough to be 1st choice too.

[MaskedOwl]

set pieces....still look likely to concede from them and every one we take is overhit or aimed to be headed back in front of goal.

[laticdickovarmy]

Not sure about the striker Slew was impressive was actually suprised how hard he worked the channels

 

We have 5 days maybe the cup game 1st is a blessing in disguise

[stargazer]

centre halfs , just like last season ... not too surprising as they are two of last years centre backs.

[oafc1955]

Good first half, strong and first to the ball all over the pitch, could have gone in 3 or 4 up. 2nd half was like a different team turned up and we never got hold of the ball, even so if we'd been more composed around their penalty area the game would have been over.

 

We still can't defend a lead......as good as Tarkowski was in the first half he was all over the place 2nd half. Does he tire or what because he got caught for pace time and time again, the longer the game went on the worse he seemed to get. We need an experienced CB or put Byrne in the middle with M'voto. I haven't seen Brown but he could be the answer at RB.

 

Plenty of positives but tonight was the same old story and if we want to progress we simply have to find the right blend at the back. Smith on again when we were chasing the game....I don't think the lad is good enough but to ask him to change the game every time he comes on is asking a lot!

 

We conceeded two soft goals, one a free header in the box and the other was a bad mistake from Cisak........he was so, so slow to get down to a weak shot he really should have saved.

 

We definitely need a couple more players and not inexperienced youngsters either........I think with the squad we have a mid table finish would be the best we could hope for!

[stargazer]

Smith got about 10 minutes.. ..... yet again. As mentioned when we were chasing the game . Can't see how this is going to prove whether or not he is up to this level , more likely to dissilussion him I would think.

[byrnes boots]

dickov doesnt seem to be able to motivate at ht how many times last season did we do the same thing

we played like two different teams premier league first half dog and duck second half sort it out please pd

can we not send smith out on loan again cant see that he will get the time on the pitch here

Edited August 13, 2012 by pogsknee

[HarryBosch]

It's the first game of the season against higher league opposition who have strengthened!

 

Saturday's gonna be similar.

 

Walsall and Stevenage will give us an idea of where we are, whether we've got weak links or not.

[bossrocks]

Let's not be too down about tonight, we were playing a Championship Sheff W who (in the second half at least) looked a much improved team from when we played them last year.

 

First half we played some excellent football but we were certainly allowed to play - Sheff W didn't turn up.

 

Second half we had 2-3 great chances with Kirkland making 2 outstanding saves but generally we panicked a bit when they put us under pressure. We stopped playing football and resorted to getting it away from the back as quickly as possible, usually with a hoof.

 

Positives - playing as we did in the first half, we'll do well against L1 opposition and won't face many better than Sheff W.

Negatives - a lot of the frailties of last season remain and after the first 11, the bench doesn't look too strong. We still can't get a full 90 minutes out of the team.

[stargazer]

The keepers save from Crofty stopped it being 3-0 , minutes later it was 2-1.

 

We have an exciting front line , but will need it me thinks.

 

Might be a season of 3-2 and 2-3 .....at least not as dull as last year.

[slystallone]

I'd have to agree with chunks of oafc1955 post & with HarryBosch.

 

Sheffield Wednesday finished 2nd in our league last season, were a stong side then; and have added very decent Championship, Ex-Premiership & international players to that side also. They're a strong side.

 

For 45 minutes we dominated them. We played at a great tempo, we pressed, we battled, we zipped the ball around, we looked a threat, and we scored 2 good goals.

 

Plenty of positives to take away from that.

 

The down side was that individual errorrs cost us again - from Cisak, Grounds, Cisak & Tarky and the manager.

 

We look at present like a side who will cause problems & score goals - but also will always be likely to give you a chance. The same frailties from set-plays are there - strange as we've added 2 big full-backs into the mix, and individual errors are still hurting us. Like StarGazer says, plenty of scoring games on show I'd say.

 

IMO we should have changed our tactics to counter their fresh approach after HT - we didn't - and it cost us big time.

 

Not sure what PD said at half time, but without being in there to hear it - and only going off what happened, it can't have been 1/2 as good as what Dave Jones said to his lot. It's been the same story for all of PD's reign, we look sloppy after half time. I'm not sure what goes on, but if I was to look it it from the outside looking in; something different needs to be done.

 

Missed opportunity last night. We could have been in the hat for the next round, we could have had a moral boosting win. We didn't. Regroup and go again on Saturday; against another very strong side - hopefully with some lessons learned from.