Post by stevek192 on Sept 26, 2015 19:07:34 GMT
I am probably being kind to the overall performance with that title but that is how I see our performance both in terms of how we play and the result.Let's make no mistake Portsmouth were good but probably made to look even better than they actually are by a team willing to allow them to have the ball at the back and then try to close them down leaving midfield players totally unmarked and our two strikers spending the first 45 minutes chasing 4 players around with no chance of actually winning the ball. For me DC's tactics are as predictable as is the fact that he will make changes to the side no matter what and have to use 3 substitutes to put right what was wrong from the start. When will he realise that we don't have the pace to come out when we play so deep and also that swapping the same players is never going to result in a settled side. Sorry to upset people but i would say at the moment DC is starting to look out of his depth and makes changes for changes sake ,approaching every game with too much caution and making us worry about our5 opponents rather than them worry about us.
Nicholls 6.5 Felt he had a good game other than looking a little hesitant on the winning goal. Couple of good saves and looked in command of his area and strong on high crosses.
Leadbitter 7 A good return but not sure he needed to come straight back in. Strong going forward but defensively caught out on a couple of occasions but really not helped out by the tactics that see us allowing talented opponents the time to attack us.
J Clarke 6.5 A reasonable game. stuck to his task well but i thought he looked unsure at times when in the full back position and is really a centre half who needs a full back alongside him rather than a wing back . Was not really helped by our inability to come out with any pace.
Lockyer 7.5 MOM Our outstanding player for me,strong in the air and for a young player shows great composure and the ability to read the game which is just as well as Parkes falls well short and really struggling to regain his form of last season. The big problem is that both him and Clarke are probably natural centre halves but whilst Clarke is playing outside of him,Lockyer is probably the better of the two when the opponents winger attacks us.
Parkes 4 Very poor performance aside from a timely intervention in the second half to prevent what looked a certain goal. He looks very slow and seems to have less than a 50% chance of passing the ball to a team mate on a regular basis and also seems to totally lack the nastiness that you see with the better centre halves in this division. The time may now be right for him to0 have a rest and for McCrystal to come back in but will it make any difference i am not sure as they both lack pace but IMO McCrystal is more reliable and makes the better decisions.
Brown 6 Caught too often in no mans land particularly on the second goal. Got forward well but on too many occasions his crossing was poor. Not at all convinced that he is a wing back rather than predominantly a full back who can get forward well when necessary.
O Clarke 3 Saw no reason whatsoever to bring him back in. His early season form has deserted him and he is back IMO to being a bench player at best and probably only National League standard.
Sinclair 6.5 Again nobody can fault this mans enthusiasm and work rate but ability wise is a run of the mill midfield player and seems lost when he goes forward with the ball and resorts to passing sideways or back which might be OK if the back four are capable of accurate passing. There is definitely room for him in the side but him and Ollie Clarke with Lines generally behind them is going to provide very little creativity and the midfield in general is crying out for composure on the ball and the ability to dominate the midfield.
Lines 7 Good on the ball and the only player with the ability to hit a 30 yard pass but for me he needs a player of stature alongside him who can tackle and hold the position allowing Lines to charge forward. On a couple of occasions he should have tried his luck from long range.
Easter 6 Scored our goal and very unlucky with the shot that hit the post. Really needs to be playing either behind a front two or alongside a physically strong targetman. Most of the time he held the ball up well and laid the pass off accurately but feel sorry for whoever plays up front with DCs negative tactics where the front two have to waste their energy with no support from anyone else. It is bad enough against average ability sides like Accrington but totally ridiculous against the better sides like Pompey who looked very comfortable on the ball and needed to be pressurised in numbers.
Harrison 5 Good shot just over in the first half and won some headers but like Easter too often he just had a thankless task of constantly trying to close down to no avail and you could see the frustration of both strikers as they charged up to a defender only to see the ball passed nearby to another player totally unmarked.
Taylor 4 Did nothing in the time he was on the pitch and looked completely out of his depth and to be honest did not look particularly interested.
Bodin 7 Sorry but why on earth was he dropped from the starting line up? DC's team selection bewilders me at times. He definitely has some ability and brought at least some skill to proceedings and something that we completely lacked prior to his appearance- a bit of creativity.
Gosling 5 Couple of useful runs but really not sure if he is up to League 2 standard.
DC Not going to give a mark from now on because a lot of the time it depends on the result but for me when you are playing in front of an expectant home crowd you at least need to set out with an attacking intent. DC has become very predictable- 1 He will make changes irrespective of the last performance. 2. We will lack speed and width but will be full of workers 3. Our front two will be lacking in both height and support. Perhaps we need two managers DC for away games and somebody else for home games!! (Tongue in cheek!!) Not sure whether Lucas was injured but surely either him or Blissett should have taken a place on the bench to at least change things. I think the time is now here to decide who is good enough and who isn't and needs replacing. For me Ollie Clarke and Gosling are not good enough and Montano and Bodin need to be given a fair run to prove themselves. Until we actually start out with an attacking intent I will hold back on my assessment of the strikers.
Crowd 7 Another good turnout but as for the actual vocal support it started off well but allowing opponents so much of the ball and very fewchances actually created very much limits this support. John Ward was boring but DC is starting to go a similar way by paying too much respect to the opposition and setting us up to not concede and when we do find it very difficult to get back in the game. IMO fortune favours the brave and whilst it is far too early to panic our approach at the moment suits away matches but at home we really need to start out with at least one winger and compact the play in our opponents half rather than our own.
Referee 8 Best this Season.
Portsmouth 8 Best team we have played this season for ability on the ball but would have been interesting to have seen what would happen if they were pressurised with the team moving up as a unit. 4 draws points to them not being as good as they looked today and that is what worrys me. I really do worry that our lack of transfer activity has left us with too many players who are either not League 2 standard or maybe just not played right.
We now put extra pressure on ourselves to pick up at least three points from our next two difficult away matches but if we don't start playing better and picking up some more points at the Mem then I see a difficult season ahead. UTG Onwards and upwards or hopefully the only way is up!!!
Nicholls 6.5 Felt he had a good game other than looking a little hesitant on the winning goal. Couple of good saves and looked in command of his area and strong on high crosses.
Leadbitter 7 A good return but not sure he needed to come straight back in. Strong going forward but defensively caught out on a couple of occasions but really not helped out by the tactics that see us allowing talented opponents the time to attack us.
J Clarke 6.5 A reasonable game. stuck to his task well but i thought he looked unsure at times when in the full back position and is really a centre half who needs a full back alongside him rather than a wing back . Was not really helped by our inability to come out with any pace.
Lockyer 7.5 MOM Our outstanding player for me,strong in the air and for a young player shows great composure and the ability to read the game which is just as well as Parkes falls well short and really struggling to regain his form of last season. The big problem is that both him and Clarke are probably natural centre halves but whilst Clarke is playing outside of him,Lockyer is probably the better of the two when the opponents winger attacks us.
Parkes 4 Very poor performance aside from a timely intervention in the second half to prevent what looked a certain goal. He looks very slow and seems to have less than a 50% chance of passing the ball to a team mate on a regular basis and also seems to totally lack the nastiness that you see with the better centre halves in this division. The time may now be right for him to0 have a rest and for McCrystal to come back in but will it make any difference i am not sure as they both lack pace but IMO McCrystal is more reliable and makes the better decisions.
Brown 6 Caught too often in no mans land particularly on the second goal. Got forward well but on too many occasions his crossing was poor. Not at all convinced that he is a wing back rather than predominantly a full back who can get forward well when necessary.
O Clarke 3 Saw no reason whatsoever to bring him back in. His early season form has deserted him and he is back IMO to being a bench player at best and probably only National League standard.
Sinclair 6.5 Again nobody can fault this mans enthusiasm and work rate but ability wise is a run of the mill midfield player and seems lost when he goes forward with the ball and resorts to passing sideways or back which might be OK if the back four are capable of accurate passing. There is definitely room for him in the side but him and Ollie Clarke with Lines generally behind them is going to provide very little creativity and the midfield in general is crying out for composure on the ball and the ability to dominate the midfield.
Lines 7 Good on the ball and the only player with the ability to hit a 30 yard pass but for me he needs a player of stature alongside him who can tackle and hold the position allowing Lines to charge forward. On a couple of occasions he should have tried his luck from long range.
Easter 6 Scored our goal and very unlucky with the shot that hit the post. Really needs to be playing either behind a front two or alongside a physically strong targetman. Most of the time he held the ball up well and laid the pass off accurately but feel sorry for whoever plays up front with DCs negative tactics where the front two have to waste their energy with no support from anyone else. It is bad enough against average ability sides like Accrington but totally ridiculous against the better sides like Pompey who looked very comfortable on the ball and needed to be pressurised in numbers.
Harrison 5 Good shot just over in the first half and won some headers but like Easter too often he just had a thankless task of constantly trying to close down to no avail and you could see the frustration of both strikers as they charged up to a defender only to see the ball passed nearby to another player totally unmarked.
Taylor 4 Did nothing in the time he was on the pitch and looked completely out of his depth and to be honest did not look particularly interested.
Bodin 7 Sorry but why on earth was he dropped from the starting line up? DC's team selection bewilders me at times. He definitely has some ability and brought at least some skill to proceedings and something that we completely lacked prior to his appearance- a bit of creativity.
Gosling 5 Couple of useful runs but really not sure if he is up to League 2 standard.
DC Not going to give a mark from now on because a lot of the time it depends on the result but for me when you are playing in front of an expectant home crowd you at least need to set out with an attacking intent. DC has become very predictable- 1 He will make changes irrespective of the last performance. 2. We will lack speed and width but will be full of workers 3. Our front two will be lacking in both height and support. Perhaps we need two managers DC for away games and somebody else for home games!! (Tongue in cheek!!) Not sure whether Lucas was injured but surely either him or Blissett should have taken a place on the bench to at least change things. I think the time is now here to decide who is good enough and who isn't and needs replacing. For me Ollie Clarke and Gosling are not good enough and Montano and Bodin need to be given a fair run to prove themselves. Until we actually start out with an attacking intent I will hold back on my assessment of the strikers.
Crowd 7 Another good turnout but as for the actual vocal support it started off well but allowing opponents so much of the ball and very fewchances actually created very much limits this support. John Ward was boring but DC is starting to go a similar way by paying too much respect to the opposition and setting us up to not concede and when we do find it very difficult to get back in the game. IMO fortune favours the brave and whilst it is far too early to panic our approach at the moment suits away matches but at home we really need to start out with at least one winger and compact the play in our opponents half rather than our own.
Referee 8 Best this Season.
Portsmouth 8 Best team we have played this season for ability on the ball but would have been interesting to have seen what would happen if they were pressurised with the team moving up as a unit. 4 draws points to them not being as good as they looked today and that is what worrys me. I really do worry that our lack of transfer activity has left us with too many players who are either not League 2 standard or maybe just not played right.
We now put extra pressure on ourselves to pick up at least three points from our next two difficult away matches but if we don't start playing better and picking up some more points at the Mem then I see a difficult season ahead. UTG Onwards and upwards or hopefully the only way is up!!!
