Post by stevek192 on Aug 5, 2018 8:51:48 GMT
So here we go again. After what seemed like a shorter summer break than usual with the World Cup it was back to League 1 action and in all honesty it really was a case of deja vu as we allowed the home side to take an early grip of the game which for all of our neat passing and possession they never looked likely to let go of. I know I keep on about if but Pace and Power is needed to be successful at both ends of the pitch and as a team we lack both in the entire squad. Substitutions are really a like for like and the players coming on are no better or worse than the players coming off.
My overall marking for all players is lower than possibly the performance deserved because for long periods of the game-the entire second half in fact we had pretty well total control of the ball but for all that we created very little in the way of a powerful shot or decent cross. Peterborough were gifted a goal within two minutes by slack marking and lack of physicality which allowed Godden too much time and space to jump and place a header beyond Slocombe's despairing dive and into the corner of the net.
For me the close season has been wasted in many ways as the loss of Lee Brown was known before the end of last season as was our inability to deal with balls into the box, Gaffney went pretty early and Ellis going certainly was the last straw and it showed yesterday as we looked ill prepared compared to a side who have seen 14 players in and a similar number out. Football is not just about pretty football and the number of passes made but more about aggression and the final pass or cross. Yesterday we lacked both as we allowed the skilful Dembele to twist and turn early in the game and for the first half hour he looked unbeatable with nobody in yellow able to make a crunching tackle to let him know he was in a game but thankfully then he; like the majority of his team; drifted out of the game and it was very much a case of one team (us) doing the attacking but the other having the physical strength at the back to withstand anything we threw at them and until the goal in injury time we never really looked likely to score.
It was the first game and we had a full back playing on the wrong side due to the fact that the replacement signed a few weeks back was nowhere near match fit, we had no traditional number nine due to the usual last minute rush to get a signing.over the line failing to materialise and the failure to find either a dominating physical centre half or a physically strong midfielder. It was the only team really that could have been put out and I would not criticise the selection however I would criticise the complete failure to bring in the qualities we clearly lacked last season and do again this year. We are three or four players short still at this late stage and other than the left back we do not have the type of players we need in the squad. Anyway enough of that and on to the markings-
Slocombe 5 No chance with either goal but his distribution in the early stages of the match was slow and pretty atrocious and he looked shaky when any ball was thrown into the box. Our problem is that both keepers have the same failures- both are average League 1 keepers who lack the ability to dominate their area.
Leadbitter 5 Some good running but too often his final ball was awful and he was slack at times allowing his opponent too much room. personally I would have liked a player like Barry Fuller brought in but Gillingham got him from Wimbledon- a no nonsence full back who defends r4ugedly and lets his opponent know he is there without fouling too often- Aggression is the word!
Lockyer 5 Most of the time he is dependable but I can't mark over a 5 because he did really cost us the game with his inability to mark or challenge Godden on the first goal. For a Welsh International he just switches off too often and it always seems to cost us a goal. he did manage to score our goal at the end but would rather he had not conceded the goal and defended properly.
Craig 5.5 Similar too Lockyer and yet very different. Knows all the tricks in the book but his problem is that he is just not tall enough to play alongside another relatively short centre half. our problem is that him and Lockyer are the best combination we can use as Broadbent for all his physical attributes is worse at marking a player and makes too many key errors. Craigs man beat him in the air for the second goal but in all honesty it was a great goal and that was more down to the failure of Leadbitter and Rodman to stop the cross coming in.
J. Clarke 5 tried his hardest but it was always the case of a player playing on his wrong side. When DC says a player CAN play in a certain position too often it is not ideal and in truth it is playing a square peg in a round hall. I am not convinced that either full back are good enough.
Rodman 5 Has the look of a player who is capable of causing problems for the opposition but is not yet up to speed. I hope and anticipate that we will see a lot more from him in the coming weeks.
Upson 7 MOM Ok he gave the ball away a few too many times in dangerous positions but overall I felt he dictated proceedings and everything seemed to revolve around him. He was very unlucky with a volley in the first half that drifted wide.
Lines 6 Another who had his good moments and a fair few bad ones.
Sercombe 5.5 Went missing far too often especially when in the wide position. Improved as the game went on but we seem to still have the problem we had last season which is coming up with the best combination in midfield. We have too many central midfielders and it seems that DC is trying to fit them all in rather than they naturally fill their position.
Bennett 5 Lightweight and struggled to really get in the game. He really needs more physical players around him to protect him and for all the possession we had he was not involved that much but at least he had the desire and was upset when he was rightly substituted.
Nichols 5.5 Actually I felt he showed a lot of good control without ever being a real danger and laid the ball off well a number of times however he cannot be expected to fill the role he is being asked to do and without an "Ellis" up there it was pretty well a lost cause.
Subs: Reilly 6 Looks like he could be good alongside the right player. Never gives up a chase but really needs to be playing in a team that plays high up and pressurises defenders.
Matthews 6 Another who looks good but unfortunately for him plays in an area (midfield) where we are strong. If only our defence and attack were as strong we would be Champions elect!
Mensah 6 There is something about him I like but he is very raw. I think this season if about making more appearances and working his way in.
DC- Lacks balance in his sides and very slow in transfer dealings- how much is him and how much is the owners I am not sure but if the player signing is the Walsall lad then I look at him and think surely that deal could have been completed two or three weeks ago. I could accept it if we were talking a name player like Devante Cole, Doidge etc. Yet again we have looked unprepared for the first game and again end up with players not playing in their strongest positions. We now have a defensive coach to go with a goalkeeping coach and Marcus as the attacking coach but all the coaches in the world will not work if you don't have the players with the right attributes for the role. Our goalkeepers,central defenders and attackers are not good enough.
Crowd 8 Noisy and unfortunately in a different class to the team. Didn't really know the Posh supporters were there.
Ref 5 made strange decisions without any which really influenced the result- just irritating ones like booking our player for arguing and then letting their player go for the same offence.
Peterborough 6 the difference between DC and Steve Evans is (apart from the fact that one has money and the other don't) is that he doesn't go for a pretty football team but puts players in their right positions with the attributes for the position and generally his side will be physical at the back and get stuck in all over the pitch. he generally goes out and signs the best person for the position from the League below and his record speaks for itself. I have only given them a six because overall they weren't that good. Will they do well? Probably yes but I still wouldn't be surprised if come the end of the season we are higher than them if we can bring in 3 players before the deadline.
So we move on to the next game but at this stage it is difficult to select a team because we don't know what players are available or will be signed. it would not surprise me if we sign two or three players and they still only make the bench! Being a Gashead is frustrating but the most frustrating thing is that we have some bloody good players but as yet do NOT have a good team.
My overall marking for all players is lower than possibly the performance deserved because for long periods of the game-the entire second half in fact we had pretty well total control of the ball but for all that we created very little in the way of a powerful shot or decent cross. Peterborough were gifted a goal within two minutes by slack marking and lack of physicality which allowed Godden too much time and space to jump and place a header beyond Slocombe's despairing dive and into the corner of the net.
For me the close season has been wasted in many ways as the loss of Lee Brown was known before the end of last season as was our inability to deal with balls into the box, Gaffney went pretty early and Ellis going certainly was the last straw and it showed yesterday as we looked ill prepared compared to a side who have seen 14 players in and a similar number out. Football is not just about pretty football and the number of passes made but more about aggression and the final pass or cross. Yesterday we lacked both as we allowed the skilful Dembele to twist and turn early in the game and for the first half hour he looked unbeatable with nobody in yellow able to make a crunching tackle to let him know he was in a game but thankfully then he; like the majority of his team; drifted out of the game and it was very much a case of one team (us) doing the attacking but the other having the physical strength at the back to withstand anything we threw at them and until the goal in injury time we never really looked likely to score.
It was the first game and we had a full back playing on the wrong side due to the fact that the replacement signed a few weeks back was nowhere near match fit, we had no traditional number nine due to the usual last minute rush to get a signing.over the line failing to materialise and the failure to find either a dominating physical centre half or a physically strong midfielder. It was the only team really that could have been put out and I would not criticise the selection however I would criticise the complete failure to bring in the qualities we clearly lacked last season and do again this year. We are three or four players short still at this late stage and other than the left back we do not have the type of players we need in the squad. Anyway enough of that and on to the markings-
Slocombe 5 No chance with either goal but his distribution in the early stages of the match was slow and pretty atrocious and he looked shaky when any ball was thrown into the box. Our problem is that both keepers have the same failures- both are average League 1 keepers who lack the ability to dominate their area.
Leadbitter 5 Some good running but too often his final ball was awful and he was slack at times allowing his opponent too much room. personally I would have liked a player like Barry Fuller brought in but Gillingham got him from Wimbledon- a no nonsence full back who defends r4ugedly and lets his opponent know he is there without fouling too often- Aggression is the word!
Lockyer 5 Most of the time he is dependable but I can't mark over a 5 because he did really cost us the game with his inability to mark or challenge Godden on the first goal. For a Welsh International he just switches off too often and it always seems to cost us a goal. he did manage to score our goal at the end but would rather he had not conceded the goal and defended properly.
Craig 5.5 Similar too Lockyer and yet very different. Knows all the tricks in the book but his problem is that he is just not tall enough to play alongside another relatively short centre half. our problem is that him and Lockyer are the best combination we can use as Broadbent for all his physical attributes is worse at marking a player and makes too many key errors. Craigs man beat him in the air for the second goal but in all honesty it was a great goal and that was more down to the failure of Leadbitter and Rodman to stop the cross coming in.
J. Clarke 5 tried his hardest but it was always the case of a player playing on his wrong side. When DC says a player CAN play in a certain position too often it is not ideal and in truth it is playing a square peg in a round hall. I am not convinced that either full back are good enough.
Rodman 5 Has the look of a player who is capable of causing problems for the opposition but is not yet up to speed. I hope and anticipate that we will see a lot more from him in the coming weeks.
Upson 7 MOM Ok he gave the ball away a few too many times in dangerous positions but overall I felt he dictated proceedings and everything seemed to revolve around him. He was very unlucky with a volley in the first half that drifted wide.
Lines 6 Another who had his good moments and a fair few bad ones.
Sercombe 5.5 Went missing far too often especially when in the wide position. Improved as the game went on but we seem to still have the problem we had last season which is coming up with the best combination in midfield. We have too many central midfielders and it seems that DC is trying to fit them all in rather than they naturally fill their position.
Bennett 5 Lightweight and struggled to really get in the game. He really needs more physical players around him to protect him and for all the possession we had he was not involved that much but at least he had the desire and was upset when he was rightly substituted.
Nichols 5.5 Actually I felt he showed a lot of good control without ever being a real danger and laid the ball off well a number of times however he cannot be expected to fill the role he is being asked to do and without an "Ellis" up there it was pretty well a lost cause.
Subs: Reilly 6 Looks like he could be good alongside the right player. Never gives up a chase but really needs to be playing in a team that plays high up and pressurises defenders.
Matthews 6 Another who looks good but unfortunately for him plays in an area (midfield) where we are strong. If only our defence and attack were as strong we would be Champions elect!
Mensah 6 There is something about him I like but he is very raw. I think this season if about making more appearances and working his way in.
DC- Lacks balance in his sides and very slow in transfer dealings- how much is him and how much is the owners I am not sure but if the player signing is the Walsall lad then I look at him and think surely that deal could have been completed two or three weeks ago. I could accept it if we were talking a name player like Devante Cole, Doidge etc. Yet again we have looked unprepared for the first game and again end up with players not playing in their strongest positions. We now have a defensive coach to go with a goalkeeping coach and Marcus as the attacking coach but all the coaches in the world will not work if you don't have the players with the right attributes for the role. Our goalkeepers,central defenders and attackers are not good enough.
Crowd 8 Noisy and unfortunately in a different class to the team. Didn't really know the Posh supporters were there.
Ref 5 made strange decisions without any which really influenced the result- just irritating ones like booking our player for arguing and then letting their player go for the same offence.
Peterborough 6 the difference between DC and Steve Evans is (apart from the fact that one has money and the other don't) is that he doesn't go for a pretty football team but puts players in their right positions with the attributes for the position and generally his side will be physical at the back and get stuck in all over the pitch. he generally goes out and signs the best person for the position from the League below and his record speaks for itself. I have only given them a six because overall they weren't that good. Will they do well? Probably yes but I still wouldn't be surprised if come the end of the season we are higher than them if we can bring in 3 players before the deadline.
So we move on to the next game but at this stage it is difficult to select a team because we don't know what players are available or will be signed. it would not surprise me if we sign two or three players and they still only make the bench! Being a Gashead is frustrating but the most frustrating thing is that we have some bloody good players but as yet do NOT have a good team.
