irishrover
Global Moderator
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Post by irishrover on Sept 28, 2016 0:25:02 GMT
Report in a sentence - 2 disastrous second half minutes cost us what would have been a well earned point against a solid (if somewhat unadventurous) Sheffield United side who we competed well with throughout. If you wish for gubbins then read on....
Experience: I had a nice time. Just got back to Manchester from Sheffield. I like Sheffield and it was a spectacular train journey through the peaks with a late autumn red sunset as the backdrop. The ground (which I'd not been to before) was pleasingly close to the station. But the really striking thing is how much space they have there for a ground that has old fashioned terrace housing surrounding it. I know it used to be a cricket ground (I've added both a new football ground and a Test Match venue to my list in one sitting!) but it seemed to me that at the home (Kop) End you could fit in another football ground just between the entrance to the ground and the stadium itself. Weird experience watching the game though - it is a cavernous ground and I felt like I was as far away from the pitch as I've been at any ground other than the Withdean - be interesting to see if anyone else thought that. The only game I've seen us play so far is Chelsea (which is hardly representative) so my judgement is based on very little experience of watching this side play, particularly the new players.
First Half. I thought we started the game really well and came out on the front foot that suggested, as it should, a team that is full of confidence. We set up with a 5-3-2 formation with Brown and Leadbetter as genuine wing backs and they hugged the touchline and looked to get forward when we had the ball. James Clarke, Clarke-Saltar and Lockyer were the 3 Centre Backs. The midfield 3 were Lines, Ollie Clarke and Boateng - Easter and Harrisson up front. It worked very well early on - they were really struggling to get any kind of presence in the midfield. We seemed sharper and we seemed more confident on the ball. The only thing we didn't really do was carve out clear cut chances. It looked to me as if Harrison missed a free header at the near post but the angle I had on the game may have been deceiving. After that first 15 minutes Sheffield United (who really had come out strangely flat) seemed to wake up and begin to impose themselves on the game. They didn't dominate but they created a number of half chances, got in behind us a couple of times and did produce the best 2 scoring opportunities of the half - one of which was very well saved by Roos. My feeling was that they started running at us a bit more through the middle and breaking past our midfield 3 a bit too often and we seemed to visibly drop back from about the 25th minute to counter that. The last bit of the 2nd half largely involved both teams cancelling each other out - although Lines went close from a free kick and we definitely finished the half stronger. I'd have awarded us the first half on points as I felt we looked a bit more consistently threatening than they did although there is no doubt that they had the best 2 actual chances.
Second Half It began largely as the first half ended with neither team really looking like they were going to break through. However, this time there's no doubt that Sheffield United were more on the front foot than us - wouldn't be surprised if they had a half-time rollicking given how flat they were in the 1st half. Again though, despite playing second fiddle we still managed to get our best chance during this period which Easter completely fluffed. Then came what I thought was a strange turning point. DC (as he does) made an attacking double substitution with a fair bit of time left on the clock. He switched to 4-4-2, took off a wing back and a centre midfielder and bought on 2 wide players. That's pretty ballsy stuff given that we were 0-0 and (I felt) pretty comfortably dealing with what they were throwing at us in what, in theory at least, is one of our toughest away fixtures. No one could accuse him of being negative but on this occasion fortune definitely didn't favour the brave. First we conceded almost immediately. It's tempting to say that the substitution opened up space in midfield for them to exploit that hadn't previously been there. But, I don't think that's fair. I think they just scored a goal from the only real high quality final ball either side provided all night. A bit of a sucker punch given that we had just made our 'impact' substitutions though and combined with Easter's moment of madness seconds later meant it was always going to be an uphill struggle from there. They were the dominant side after that unsurprisingly but we still looked comfortable in dealing with their threat - we just struggled to get any momentum back the other way. We retained a punchers chance and it nearly came off in the dying nervous minutes where we had a couple of near misses and one cleared off the line. Until those 2 minutes that turned the game I felt confident we'd get at least a point out of it - and I can understand where DC was coming from in thinking that Sheffield United might have been there for the taking. Unfortunately it turned out that equally applied to us.
A lot of people might think this was quite a dull game. There was certainly a lack of end product from both teams. However, as someone who was only able to go to a handful of league games last season the step up in quality was quite striking. This was not harem-scarem football. This was a different type of game. Both teams were trying to spread it around, hold position, be patient on the ball. Whereas in most games I've seen over the last few seasons the key battle was generally who won the midfield physical contest, this was far more of a tactical chess match and we matched them in it. It's questionable whether either side had the quality to actually make that approach work effectively - but there's no doubt that they both aspired to play that way; the billiard table pitch likely also played a part in that. I felt we were as skilled on the ball in midfield, I felt we were as organised and that at times we had a slight physical edge. Where I felt they edged us was their defensive strength (their centre backs looked excellent to me) and they seemed a bit more composed in and around the box at times. But, really, we comfortably coped with what they threw at us - in that sense it was a very solid away performance. No doubt some will dismiss them as overhyped - but I think Sheffield United look like the kind of team that will be very hard to beat and will carve out enough 1-0 wins like this to be right up there. They're not going to play anyone off the park though and we absolutely showed we can live with a side like that. However, while we showed we can play that way we did make quite a large number of individual mistakes in the process - so there is room for improvement but if that's typical of the way we're going to go this year then we're far more likely to finish middle or top half then be involved in a relegation scrap I think. The depth and ability to change it up is also impressive even if it didn't work today.
Roos - 7. Sorry Mildenhall fans but, to me, based on this game Roos seems a visible step-up. He seems more athletic and more commanding. He kept us level with some smart saves in the first half and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet. I think Mildenhall is a perfectly adequate goalie but this guy seems an improvement. Brown-7. Played well in the wing-back role. Held his position and tucked in nicely defensively. They didn't put him under that much pressure but he dealt well with what he had to deal with. Leadbetter -6. Basically the same as Brown but he lost his head a bit at the end of the game and was slightly lucky to stay on the pitch (not for the pull back when Roos was out of his goal - but the subsequent stupid challenge born of frustration. A more 'home town' ref would have sent him off -I thought the ref was good tonight). Lockyer - 8. I thought he was excellent and my MOM. Played the sweeper role well and dealt with danger when the centre backs looked exposed to midfield runners. Drove players wide and made life constantly difficult for their attacking players. Salter-Clarke - 7. Seemed solid to me. Had a physical presence about him but also quite mobile. Didn't really seem to have all that much to do - I thought the hyped Sheffield United forward line had a quite a bad evening actually. J.Clarke - 5. Maybe harsh but I felt he was the weak link defensively tonight. He didn't seem particularly comfortable in the role he'd been given and occasionally drifted out of position. But my main beef was that he seemed to make a lot of sloppy errors on the ball where he waited too long or played a panicked pass etc. Not awful but nowhere near as assured as the other 2. O.Clarke - 7. Played very well in the first half but seemed to fade a bit in the 2nd. That could go for the whole team though - I felt like to some extent we went out with a strategy of high energy early on to try and catch them off guard and it worked but is hard to sustain for 90 minutes. Definitely looked like he belonged though. Lines - 6. Did a lot more of the donkey work than perhaps he might prefer. But worked very hard alongside the others in midfield. Created a threat from set-pieces. I think I'd have liked to have seen a bit more support for the front 2. I didn't feel anyone offered much scoring threat from midfield - maybe I'm putting that too much on Linesey. Boateng - 7. I really liked Boateng. There was a scrappy ankle biting quality to the way he went about things in the first half. He really did a good job of making a nuisance of himself and clearly doesn't mind 'playing in traffic'. Wasn't the same player after he was booked though as I think it took away some that aspect of his game. Harrison - 7. Ellis worked really hard and often quite thanklessly against what I thought was a very solid pair of centre backs who gave him very little space to work with. I still think I'd rather see Harrison playing more of the game with his front to goal (as I think that's where he's most threatening) whereas he was clearly given a back to goal role here. But he did everything you'd want apart from score. Easter - 4. Bloody stupid sending off and missed a sitter before that. So bad day at the office really. Did link very well and looked like the clever striker he is before that though. Only got himself to blame having finally gotten a good run in the side and looking like a key player for us now he might have to battle his way back in again with a 3 game ban. Frustrating. Overall - disappointing result but I feel pretty optimistic that we are a decent side at this level, with some potential match winner and that we should be able to compete with anyone.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 0:58:29 GMT
I didn't think it was a dull game at all. I'm just miffed we lost it.
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markwind
Joined: September 2014
Posts: 92
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Post by markwind on Sept 28, 2016 4:15:42 GMT
Thanks for the write up!
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Post by stig-of-the-gas on Sept 28, 2016 6:43:45 GMT
Yeah, great write up, especially as it was written in the middle of the night !!!
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Sept 28, 2016 7:14:52 GMT
We were well worth a point.
What an amazing performance from our crowd. Outsung 18,000 pretty much all the match.
We can also show we can compete and mix it with the larger clubs of this division.
A great away day, shame about the result.
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warehamgas
Predictions League
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,430
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Post by warehamgas on Sept 28, 2016 11:55:51 GMT
Thanks Irish, didn't go so it was good to read your thoughts. I guess after 10 games or so we can start to see, make and have realistic expectations about how we might do this season. Firstly, from the matches I've seen and from reading posts such as yours if I haven't been to the match, we appear to be competing with teams we play. We are not being out-classed or out-played although we had a poor game in the abandoned match at Swindon. Our players are as good as we hoped they might be and Matty Taylor has continued to score at the rate of last season. That we are competing and winning gives me hope that we will have another good season. Secondly, DC said at the start of pre season he wanted 4/5 new players and he's got them and they appear to have raised the standard of the squad. We have options in all areas of the field so again gradual improvement on what we had last season. The players brought in seem to have settled well into the club with Hartley, Moore and Roos doing very well in certain games. The Chelsea lads sound very talented although I haven't seen any match with them so far so am relying on what others have said. After what we've achieved in the past two seasons I would be happy for consolidation and a mid table place or at least avoiding relegation esp as much of the squad is that we had in the conference, but I suspect DC won't be happy with consolidating, or rather he won't admit it and will be looking at as much improvement as he can get. Thirdly, we know DC likes to change systems mid-match and that he is very flexible over the system he plays. That is a good thing but I just wonder if despite it working well against Port Vale when he changed, against the better teams we may be punished if we haven't chosen the right formation from the start. Against Bolton when he changed it we looked far better and were as good as them in the second half but by then we were already two down and it proved too big a deficit to overcome. I guess DC will also learn as the season progresses as to what, when and how to change systems. But all in all I am very satisfied with our start and feel genuine hope that we can have a good, solid season in League 1. UTG!
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Post by stevek192 on Sept 28, 2016 15:29:18 GMT
A very good read. I thought it was a very entertaining game and we deserved a point at least.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 17:21:34 GMT
Good read thanks,haven't heard the term sweeper in a long time,Lockyer definately didn't play the sweeper role as i remember it being played many moons ago.
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irishrover
Global Moderator
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Post by irishrover on Sept 28, 2016 18:42:27 GMT
Good read thanks,haven't heard the term sweeper in a long time,Lockyer definately didn't play the sweeper role as i remember it being played many moons ago. No -you're probably right there. Bad use of terminology. What I was trying to describe was a player in the central defensive 3 whose job it is to cover in behind or take out the threat from wide areas. In other words - the mobile one. Anyone have a better word to describe that?
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irishrover
Global Moderator
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 3,372
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Post by irishrover on Sept 28, 2016 18:45:53 GMT
A very good read. I thought it was a very entertaining game and we deserved a point at least. Thank you and I hope you don't feel I was stepping on your toes! You are still very much official forum match reporter as far as I'm concerned!
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Post by a more piratey game on Sept 28, 2016 21:07:32 GMT
A very good read. I thought it was a very entertaining game and we deserved a point at least. Thank you and I hope you don't feel I was stepping on your toes! You are still very much official forum match reporter as far as I'm concerned! I think more is merrier
the fact that steve192 does one for every match makes all of us readers lucky peeps I think
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faggotygas
Byron Anthony
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,862
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Post by faggotygas on Sept 29, 2016 8:00:29 GMT
Good read thanks,haven't heard the term sweeper in a long time,Lockyer definately didn't play the sweeper role as i remember it being played many moons ago. No -you're probably right there. Bad use of terminology. What I was trying to describe was a player in the central defensive 3 whose job it is to cover in behind or take out the threat from wide areas. In other words - the mobile one. Anyone have a better word to describe that? Spare man?
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2016 11:06:36 GMT
Here's my report:
St Mary's Gate Holiday Inn - Banged a couple of voddy lemonades at the bar when waiting for folk to come down, was reasonable and the room was ok. Managed to watch Frasier and Undercover Boss the next morning which was great. 7
The Sheaf Island - Wetherspoons Pub, I had a book of vouchers from the Freshers thing at work. It had 86 vouchers in and by the time we'd finished there was 16 left with ten of them being food vouchers. A great mix of beer, cider, lager, cocktails, shots and bombs. Left us quite to very drunk pre-match. The Sheffield United fans in there were nice as well. 8.5
Bramall Lane - Sold beer in there, had a couple, was quite expensive I think, but my memory at best is hazy. 5
Shapla - Quite drunk by this point, we all went to get a curry. Lovely scenes as 18 sat down and went to town on naan bread and dips. Curry's came out in good time and with the lubrication of Tiger on tap we had a lovely time. I went for a Dupiaza and was embarrassed when two of our travelling party went for Korma. Worked it out in the end it cost about fifteen quid each. 7.5
Soyo - Proper s**t trendy club, expensive drinks, left after one. 3
Pop World - Four WKD's for a fiver and Cher being played. Greatest place on earth. 10
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Post by pirate49 on Sept 29, 2016 17:16:01 GMT
No -you're probably right there. Bad use of terminology. What I was trying to describe was a player in the central defensive 3 whose job it is to cover in behind or take out the threat from wide areas. In other words - the mobile one. Anyone have a better word to describe that? Spare man? Could become a 'Libero' if his distribution improves! thesefootballtimes.co/2015/08/12/the-libero-footballs-forgotten-man/
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Post by Curly Wurly on Sept 29, 2016 23:05:43 GMT
Here's my report: St Mary's Gate Holiday Inn - Banged a couple of voddy lemonades at the bar when waiting for folk to come down, was reasonable and the room was ok. Managed to watch Frasier and Undercover Boss the next morning which was great. 7 The Sheaf Island - Wetherspoons Pub, I had a book of vouchers from the Freshers thing at work. It had 86 vouchers in and by the time we'd finished there was 16 left with ten of them being food vouchers. A great mix of beer, cider, lager, cocktails, shots and bombs. Left us quite to very drunk pre-match. The Sheffield United fans in there were nice as well. 8.5 Bramall Lane - Sold beer in there, had a couple, was quite expensive I think, but my memory at best is hazy. 5 Shapla - Quite drunk by this point, we all went to get a curry. Lovely scenes as 18 sat down and went to town on naan bread and dips. Curry's came out in good time and with the lubrication of Tiger on tap we had a lovely time. I went for a Dupiaza and was embarrassed when two of our travelling party went for Korma. Worked it out in the end it cost about fifteen quid each. 7.5 Soyo - Proper s*** trendy club, expensive drinks, left after one. 3 Pop World - Four WKD's for a fiver and Cher being played. Greatest place on earth. 10 I'm only surprised you got let in with that green lumberjack shirt on.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2016 7:28:26 GMT
Here's my report: St Mary's Gate Holiday Inn - Banged a couple of voddy lemonades at the bar when waiting for folk to come down, was reasonable and the room was ok. Managed to watch Frasier and Undercover Boss the next morning which was great. 7 The Sheaf Island - Wetherspoons Pub, I had a book of vouchers from the Freshers thing at work. It had 86 vouchers in and by the time we'd finished there was 16 left with ten of them being food vouchers. A great mix of beer, cider, lager, cocktails, shots and bombs. Left us quite to very drunk pre-match. The Sheffield United fans in there were nice as well. 8.5 Bramall Lane - Sold beer in there, had a couple, was quite expensive I think, but my memory at best is hazy. 5 Shapla - Quite drunk by this point, we all went to get a curry. Lovely scenes as 18 sat down and went to town on naan bread and dips. Curry's came out in good time and with the lubrication of Tiger on tap we had a lovely time. I went for a Dupiaza and was embarrassed when two of our travelling party went for Korma. Worked it out in the end it cost about fifteen quid each. 7.5 Soyo - Proper s*** trendy club, expensive drinks, left after one. 3 Pop World - Four WKD's for a fiver and Cher being played. Greatest place on earth. 10 I'm only surprised you got let in with that green lumberjack shirt on. It's a strong look, goes well with the beard.
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Swedish Gas
Bob Lee
BRFC in exile, IK Sirius Fotboll som andra lag, heja Sirius!
Joined: June 2014
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Post by Swedish Gas on Sept 30, 2016 13:16:54 GMT
Good read thanks,haven't heard the term sweeper in a long time,Lockyer definately didn't play the sweeper role as i remember it being played many moons ago. No -you're probably right there. Bad use of terminology. What I was trying to describe was a player in the central defensive 3 whose job it is to cover in behind or take out the threat from wide areas. In other words - the mobile one. Anyone have a better word to describe that? Cattenacio (Door-bolt) From the Italian cattenacio, meaning, er, door-bolt.
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irishrover
Global Moderator
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Post by irishrover on Sept 30, 2016 19:30:31 GMT
No -you're probably right there. Bad use of terminology. What I was trying to describe was a player in the central defensive 3 whose job it is to cover in behind or take out the threat from wide areas. In other words - the mobile one. Anyone have a better word to describe that? Cattenacio (Door-bolt) From the Italian cattenacio, meaning, er, door-bolt. Doesn't that refer to a system though rather than an individual role?
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