Post by irishrover on Mar 15, 2015 16:43:23 GMT
Though I'd put this down before I read other thoughts.
My overwhelming feeling is that it was a good point and that 2-2 was about the right result on the day. But for a game we could easily have lost I ended up feeling slightly disappointed we didn't win. It was a very strange game.
I liked Halifax, an interesting place to walk around. The market was particularly good and the Pennine setting was lovely. The ground itself was tidy, I actually thought it was in better knick than the Racecourse in Wrexham. However, I didn't understand why we were put in a pokey all seated stands with pillars in the way when there was a perfectly good quality covered terrace laying empty. It wasn't that bad and the old fashioned corrugated roof created quite a good atmosphere but it just seemed a bit of a strange way to go about things. I'd have thought it was easier managing a terrace than an all seater stand as well. Their support was disappointing really - I know they're not a massive club but they're big enough in this league and I'd have thought playing top of the table in a key game for their promotion push would have had a few more in. Going round the town it was noticeable that the club didn't seem to have much of a presence there - lots of things advertising Bradford City's cup run which I thought was slightly odd. You wouldn't have known there was a game going on until you got to the ground and it's pretty much in the Centre as well. They seemed a very nice bunch though. The pitch was absolutely dreadful, possibly the worst I've seen actually when it wasn't bucketing down, and I thought it was likely to make the game a lottery.
In the first half the most notable thing was how neither team was trying to play the pitch. Both sides were trying to pass it around a bit particularly in the other teams half. We were a bit more direct than they were but nevertheless our main threat was working it in the last 3rd. They weren't what I was expecting at all. I'd assumed due to their pitch problems they'd be quite direct but they actually tried to thread it through more often than not. They weren't particularly effective but it made for a slightly strange game because neither side really adapted to the conditions. I was thinking that the game was crying out for a big nasty targetman and neither team really had one. We had Monkhouse in a kind of makeshift role; he and Taylor worked hard but it was a bit of a thankless task. I felt a bit sorry for Chris Lines because obviously he would have wanted to impress yet the pitch made it pretty much impossible for anyone to run with the ball with confidence and both teams kept being caught out. The game was quite narrow, partly because we were playing 5-3-2 and partly because the state of the pitch outside made it quite difficult to generate anything there. Having said that it wasn't a bad game to watch by any means - both teams were trying to go forward and I thought we had the better of the half without being consistently threatening (I suspect that might put me at odds with some people). When Taylor had the ball around the edge of the box we looked dangerous but didn't really seem to produce the one killer ball. We certainly didn't deserve to go into half time 2-0 down. It was odd - they played some OK stuff but it was a very slow and they didn't really look much of a threat yet in 3 attacking moves they scored 2 goals. Both goals were poor on our part. On the first they found the gap behind the back of Leadbetter and pulled Mchrystal out of position; he did a poor job of cutting off the cross. Someone then hit a panicked clearance straight down the middle, they worked it wide and we hadn't gotten ourselves organised which left a free header in the middle. The second one we just switched off on a basic feint free kick. It was clear enough that they weren't going to shoot from the free kick because the guy next to me called it before it happened and they whipped it to the back post where they seemed to have 3 against 2 and scrambled it home. It was dozy defending. We then almost gave away a 3rd at the end of the half with a free header from a corner. We just seemed to completely lose it defensively for the last 15 minutes of the half. But what was weird is that I still felt we were having more of the ball and the game than they were. It's not like they had us pinned down in our own 3rd for 20 minutes; it's just that we looked terrible when they did get it in there. 2-0 down felt harsh at half time and a mountain to climb to chase the game on a pitch that made it hard to create space outwide but we were absolutely our own worst enemies.
It was interesting the way DC played it in the 2nd half. I think most people were expecting us to make substitutions at half time but instead he introduced the cavalry in stages. Harrison, then Easter, then Balanta. I was surprised that he took Taylor off. Taylor worked really hard and given that the 4 key attacking players we had left on at the end (Lines, Harrison, Balanta and Easter) barely knew each other let along had played together it seemed strange to take off a key playmaker. I'd have taken Monkhouse off at that point. But anyway much of the 2nd half was a bit of a non-event . They sat back on a 2 goal lead and made us do the work. They threatened a couple of times on the counter but I think that was inevitable as we were having to gamble more and more. What they did really well for ages was cutting off our midfield supply that often forced the Centre Backs to be the ones to make the ground which was asking a hell of lot of them on such a dreadful pitch. There just seemed to be a period where were just constantly coughing up the ball 40 yards from goal due to a bobble or a miss control. It just didn't seem to be happening for us - Halifax were killing the game quite effectively. But I think there was a moment where the critical mass of our attackers started to pay against their tiring legs (they are part-timers). There was also a point when Chris Lines started dropping off to pick up the ball from the Centre Backs which meant we started getting the ball forward more consistently and into more dangerous areas. Brown's strike was one of those fling a boot at it and hope moments. It came off his foot perfectly but could just as easily have sailed out the ground or been blocked by the melee in the box. But it was the break we needed and after that we battered them really. The 4 guys up front were a bit disorganised; as you might expected from players who had barely played together they didn't seem quite sure where they were supposed to be on the pitch (or where anyone else was either) and often got in each others way but that caused just as much chaos for them. Harrison was particularly good - actually looked like a proper striker; holding it up, laying it off, taking responsibility for making things happen. He had the most impact and he thoroughly deserved his goal which was very coolly taken because it looked like he had a lot left to do when the cross came in. They weere clinging on by the end and had it gone another 2 minutes I'm sure we'd have found the winner. In fact a golden chance fell to Mansell; had it fallen to Easter of Harrison I think we'd have won the game.
All in all it was a much more entertaining game than I'd expected and you have to be happy with a point when you're 2-0 down at HT away from home whatever the circumstances. But I didn't like the 5-3-2 from a defensive point of view. We didn't look solid at all there. Our Centre Backs don't seem mobile enough to operate in that formation; in a 5-3-2 two of your centre backs have to be able to cover outwide for the gap behind the full back and they looked all at sea in those positions. It also exposed them to crossfield runs which resulted in 3 bookings. So I don't like that formation at all but we looked good in midfield and we clearly have a bench that can hurt people which is a seriously major asset in the Conference I think and something we should be able to exploit in the run in.
Mildenhall - 6. Have to put him at least partly at fault for the 2nd goal but made a few smart saves in the 2nd half when they were countering.
Leadbetter - 7. Best I've seen him play. The pitch made it difficult for him but he worked extremely hard and at times was providing our only real attacking width in the game. Clearly more suited to being a wingback than a full back I'd say because he has a massive engine yet lacks a bit of composure on the ball.
Brown - 7. For the goal mainly but I don't think he is particularly well suited to being a wingback. He just doesn't have enough pace to cover that ground and that means he stays at home which is fine but means we lack that extra bit of width coming forward at times.
Parkes - 6. Did OK, battled well but ultimately was part of a unit that looked pretty shaky.
Mcchrystal - 5. I normally like Mccrystal but I thought he had a poor game. I don't think he's suited to a 5-3-2 at all. Just not very mobile and was being turned around a lot and exposed by crossfield runs. I thought he was at fault for the 1st goal for not getting tight enough to the earlier cross.
Lockyer - 5. I didn't think Lockyer had a very good game either. As a unit the centre backs just looked disjointed. Lockyer didn't seem clear what his role was at times and was dragged out of position a few times.
Mansell - 6. I thought he played well in the 1st half but picked up what looked like a silly booking and seemed to have less influence in the 2nd. Once on a booking he looked fairly ineffective having to play within himself and missed a good chance to score the winner too.
Lines - 7. Played well considering the pitch robbed him of his main attacking asset. It just wasn't possible to make the kind of forward driving runs you associate with him. Nevertheless his set pieces were a notable upgrade in quality and he read the game very well. His passing, movement and general game awareness were a key part of us turning the screw in the last 10 minutes.
Monkhouse -6. Worked hard but didn't seem comfortable in the targetman role. Was solid without ever really looking threatening.
Taylor - 8. I thought Taylor played really well considering what we were asking of him. I thought everything we did well in the 1st half went through him with his play around the box. His link play is really excellent - he brings people into the game. Again too often we were banging it onto his head not his feet but his workrate was superb and he didn't let his head go down. I would like to see him and Lines on a decent pitch. I think they have the potential to link up and create an attacking threat from deep.
Harrison -9. I really thought he was superb. His workrate, his hold up play, his determination on the ball. All of these things were there. Whenever he was on the ball we looked dangerous. I've always liked Ellis but I never really saw a striker in him until now. He turned the game for us as much as anyone else.
Easter - 7. The ball didn't seem to bounce for him but you could tell that he was a guy that knew what he was about. Confident on the ball, strong and decisive.
Balanta 7. Best I've seen from Balanta in a Rovers shirt. Again showed good composure in a congested midfield area to keep some of our attacks going. Picked a few good passes.
Onwards and upwards. This was a decent point but it becomes a much better one if we can win the next 2 games.
My overwhelming feeling is that it was a good point and that 2-2 was about the right result on the day. But for a game we could easily have lost I ended up feeling slightly disappointed we didn't win. It was a very strange game.
I liked Halifax, an interesting place to walk around. The market was particularly good and the Pennine setting was lovely. The ground itself was tidy, I actually thought it was in better knick than the Racecourse in Wrexham. However, I didn't understand why we were put in a pokey all seated stands with pillars in the way when there was a perfectly good quality covered terrace laying empty. It wasn't that bad and the old fashioned corrugated roof created quite a good atmosphere but it just seemed a bit of a strange way to go about things. I'd have thought it was easier managing a terrace than an all seater stand as well. Their support was disappointing really - I know they're not a massive club but they're big enough in this league and I'd have thought playing top of the table in a key game for their promotion push would have had a few more in. Going round the town it was noticeable that the club didn't seem to have much of a presence there - lots of things advertising Bradford City's cup run which I thought was slightly odd. You wouldn't have known there was a game going on until you got to the ground and it's pretty much in the Centre as well. They seemed a very nice bunch though. The pitch was absolutely dreadful, possibly the worst I've seen actually when it wasn't bucketing down, and I thought it was likely to make the game a lottery.
In the first half the most notable thing was how neither team was trying to play the pitch. Both sides were trying to pass it around a bit particularly in the other teams half. We were a bit more direct than they were but nevertheless our main threat was working it in the last 3rd. They weren't what I was expecting at all. I'd assumed due to their pitch problems they'd be quite direct but they actually tried to thread it through more often than not. They weren't particularly effective but it made for a slightly strange game because neither side really adapted to the conditions. I was thinking that the game was crying out for a big nasty targetman and neither team really had one. We had Monkhouse in a kind of makeshift role; he and Taylor worked hard but it was a bit of a thankless task. I felt a bit sorry for Chris Lines because obviously he would have wanted to impress yet the pitch made it pretty much impossible for anyone to run with the ball with confidence and both teams kept being caught out. The game was quite narrow, partly because we were playing 5-3-2 and partly because the state of the pitch outside made it quite difficult to generate anything there. Having said that it wasn't a bad game to watch by any means - both teams were trying to go forward and I thought we had the better of the half without being consistently threatening (I suspect that might put me at odds with some people). When Taylor had the ball around the edge of the box we looked dangerous but didn't really seem to produce the one killer ball. We certainly didn't deserve to go into half time 2-0 down. It was odd - they played some OK stuff but it was a very slow and they didn't really look much of a threat yet in 3 attacking moves they scored 2 goals. Both goals were poor on our part. On the first they found the gap behind the back of Leadbetter and pulled Mchrystal out of position; he did a poor job of cutting off the cross. Someone then hit a panicked clearance straight down the middle, they worked it wide and we hadn't gotten ourselves organised which left a free header in the middle. The second one we just switched off on a basic feint free kick. It was clear enough that they weren't going to shoot from the free kick because the guy next to me called it before it happened and they whipped it to the back post where they seemed to have 3 against 2 and scrambled it home. It was dozy defending. We then almost gave away a 3rd at the end of the half with a free header from a corner. We just seemed to completely lose it defensively for the last 15 minutes of the half. But what was weird is that I still felt we were having more of the ball and the game than they were. It's not like they had us pinned down in our own 3rd for 20 minutes; it's just that we looked terrible when they did get it in there. 2-0 down felt harsh at half time and a mountain to climb to chase the game on a pitch that made it hard to create space outwide but we were absolutely our own worst enemies.
It was interesting the way DC played it in the 2nd half. I think most people were expecting us to make substitutions at half time but instead he introduced the cavalry in stages. Harrison, then Easter, then Balanta. I was surprised that he took Taylor off. Taylor worked really hard and given that the 4 key attacking players we had left on at the end (Lines, Harrison, Balanta and Easter) barely knew each other let along had played together it seemed strange to take off a key playmaker. I'd have taken Monkhouse off at that point. But anyway much of the 2nd half was a bit of a non-event . They sat back on a 2 goal lead and made us do the work. They threatened a couple of times on the counter but I think that was inevitable as we were having to gamble more and more. What they did really well for ages was cutting off our midfield supply that often forced the Centre Backs to be the ones to make the ground which was asking a hell of lot of them on such a dreadful pitch. There just seemed to be a period where were just constantly coughing up the ball 40 yards from goal due to a bobble or a miss control. It just didn't seem to be happening for us - Halifax were killing the game quite effectively. But I think there was a moment where the critical mass of our attackers started to pay against their tiring legs (they are part-timers). There was also a point when Chris Lines started dropping off to pick up the ball from the Centre Backs which meant we started getting the ball forward more consistently and into more dangerous areas. Brown's strike was one of those fling a boot at it and hope moments. It came off his foot perfectly but could just as easily have sailed out the ground or been blocked by the melee in the box. But it was the break we needed and after that we battered them really. The 4 guys up front were a bit disorganised; as you might expected from players who had barely played together they didn't seem quite sure where they were supposed to be on the pitch (or where anyone else was either) and often got in each others way but that caused just as much chaos for them. Harrison was particularly good - actually looked like a proper striker; holding it up, laying it off, taking responsibility for making things happen. He had the most impact and he thoroughly deserved his goal which was very coolly taken because it looked like he had a lot left to do when the cross came in. They weere clinging on by the end and had it gone another 2 minutes I'm sure we'd have found the winner. In fact a golden chance fell to Mansell; had it fallen to Easter of Harrison I think we'd have won the game.
All in all it was a much more entertaining game than I'd expected and you have to be happy with a point when you're 2-0 down at HT away from home whatever the circumstances. But I didn't like the 5-3-2 from a defensive point of view. We didn't look solid at all there. Our Centre Backs don't seem mobile enough to operate in that formation; in a 5-3-2 two of your centre backs have to be able to cover outwide for the gap behind the full back and they looked all at sea in those positions. It also exposed them to crossfield runs which resulted in 3 bookings. So I don't like that formation at all but we looked good in midfield and we clearly have a bench that can hurt people which is a seriously major asset in the Conference I think and something we should be able to exploit in the run in.
Mildenhall - 6. Have to put him at least partly at fault for the 2nd goal but made a few smart saves in the 2nd half when they were countering.
Leadbetter - 7. Best I've seen him play. The pitch made it difficult for him but he worked extremely hard and at times was providing our only real attacking width in the game. Clearly more suited to being a wingback than a full back I'd say because he has a massive engine yet lacks a bit of composure on the ball.
Brown - 7. For the goal mainly but I don't think he is particularly well suited to being a wingback. He just doesn't have enough pace to cover that ground and that means he stays at home which is fine but means we lack that extra bit of width coming forward at times.
Parkes - 6. Did OK, battled well but ultimately was part of a unit that looked pretty shaky.
Mcchrystal - 5. I normally like Mccrystal but I thought he had a poor game. I don't think he's suited to a 5-3-2 at all. Just not very mobile and was being turned around a lot and exposed by crossfield runs. I thought he was at fault for the 1st goal for not getting tight enough to the earlier cross.
Lockyer - 5. I didn't think Lockyer had a very good game either. As a unit the centre backs just looked disjointed. Lockyer didn't seem clear what his role was at times and was dragged out of position a few times.
Mansell - 6. I thought he played well in the 1st half but picked up what looked like a silly booking and seemed to have less influence in the 2nd. Once on a booking he looked fairly ineffective having to play within himself and missed a good chance to score the winner too.
Lines - 7. Played well considering the pitch robbed him of his main attacking asset. It just wasn't possible to make the kind of forward driving runs you associate with him. Nevertheless his set pieces were a notable upgrade in quality and he read the game very well. His passing, movement and general game awareness were a key part of us turning the screw in the last 10 minutes.
Monkhouse -6. Worked hard but didn't seem comfortable in the targetman role. Was solid without ever really looking threatening.
Taylor - 8. I thought Taylor played really well considering what we were asking of him. I thought everything we did well in the 1st half went through him with his play around the box. His link play is really excellent - he brings people into the game. Again too often we were banging it onto his head not his feet but his workrate was superb and he didn't let his head go down. I would like to see him and Lines on a decent pitch. I think they have the potential to link up and create an attacking threat from deep.
Harrison -9. I really thought he was superb. His workrate, his hold up play, his determination on the ball. All of these things were there. Whenever he was on the ball we looked dangerous. I've always liked Ellis but I never really saw a striker in him until now. He turned the game for us as much as anyone else.
Easter - 7. The ball didn't seem to bounce for him but you could tell that he was a guy that knew what he was about. Confident on the ball, strong and decisive.
Balanta 7. Best I've seen from Balanta in a Rovers shirt. Again showed good composure in a congested midfield area to keep some of our attacks going. Picked a few good passes.
Onwards and upwards. This was a decent point but it becomes a much better one if we can win the next 2 games.
