Another poor start to the season
Aug 11, 2018 23:31:38 GMT
eppinggas, Swedish Gas, and 3 more like this
Post by stevek192 on Aug 11, 2018 23:31:38 GMT
What is it about DC's sides that brings about such a poor start to the season? Is it misuse of friendly matches, Signings too late to gel, too many changes in selection or formation, or just the players find it difficult to get back into the game after the break? I really don't know the answer although it could be any of these reasons or possibly even some other reasons. I could accept the defeat last week because we were up against a very good Peterborough side and away from home and although we lost to two headed goals overall I didn't think we defended too badly generally and were on top the entire second half. Based on this and the improvement when we went to two up front I went into the home game against what will be a very ordinary Accrington side expecting to see an attacking side and maybe a change at left back. DC managed to do his usual and be unpredictable and pretty well shake up the defence completely and also start the game with one up front which was a tactic that he heavily criticised his predecessor (John ward) for.
Thankfully relegation or promotion is not gained in the first two games and there is plenty of time to sort the team out as well as a loan market which should be used to shore up the defence and maybe try to bring in another wideman with a bit of pace however what is the use of making signings if you are not going to use them? Jacubiak may only be a loan but no place on the bench today worries me that we are going to have another Dom Telford who only gets rare chances especially if DC continues with his one up top system. There have been signs he was moving towards a three up front with a sort of 4-3-3 but his lack of strikers seemed to move him towards 4-5-1. Towards the end of last season he seemed to be moving back to the 4-4-2 at home and then there was always the chance to go back to wing backs however we have started this season with an overload of central midfielders and no true left back available other than Kelly. I really feel that today DC lost us the game with his entire selection- a home game against Accrington is a far easier proposition than away to Peterborough so IMO there was no need to change the defence especially as Accrington did not appear to hold an aerial threat and therefore why did he change what has clearly been our best central partnership of Lockyer and Craig and also leave out the speedy Leadbitter for the slower James Clarke and revert the slower Craig to full back. Will DC ever learn that a settled team can bring more consistency especially when you have so many new players? Personally I don't think he ever will and its something we have to accept and say in DC we trust. We are really saying that we trust he will get it right in the end.
Anyway on to the individual ratings for a game which to be honest was a poor team performance but also was a result brought about by the individual performances representing an overall display which was the sum of the majority of the parts! Only one player (Stefan Payne ) really came out of the game with much credit which is unusual even for a poor result as you generally fing that at least 4 or 5 players will have reasonable games.
This was one of the worse games I have watched and there have been some bad ones!
Slocombe 5 Distribution awful generally and too slow to distribute generally but had little to do other than pick the ball out of the net twice.
J. Clarke 4.5 Brilliant cross for the equaliser but caught out on both goals allowing his man too much time and space. For me he is ok as a stand in when we are short but too slow to be a regular player and if we are ever going to become a top six side then we need better players.
Lockyer 4 Oh how I wish that Ellis had stayed and that somebody had come in for our Welsh international defender instead! Showing all the signs of the poor form he showed last season before Christmas and I will never accept he is Captain material especially when we give opponents the lead. Too much indecision today and his distribution overall was poor.
Broadbent 4 Selected for his size but won very few of balls played into the box. it is a great shame that he didn't sign for us a season earlier and got the chance to play regularly in League 2 or otherwise be loaned out to a league 2 side to get regular football because that is what he needs to improve as at present he has too many mistakes in his game although I have to say that he does have the ability to play football and bring the ball out but today even that aspect of his game was hit or miss. Overall his performance was not really any worse than others in defence where it really was a bad day at the Office but that could be said about eight of the players out there!
Craig 4 Too slow to be a full back and can see no reason for playing him there. We should have stuck with the defence we had last week until the new full back is fit.
Bennett 4 Started off reasonably and showed good trickery at times but last season he gave us good width on the left and was a danger cutting inside. for me he does not possess the upper body strength to play in the hole and it worries me that when we already had two full backs who lack the attacking qualities we then lost the width. DC has become very predictable with having wingers but only wanting them to cut inside all the time.
Sercombe 4 Not a wide player and never will be as he lacks the defensive qualities but also we lose his ability to get strikes at goal. Didn't play well out wide last season so IMO another huge selection error which resulted in a square peg in a round hole performance.
Upson 4 Looks a good player who unfortunately hasn't fitted in to our style yet and who will never fit in the same team as Ollie Clarke
Rodman 5 Another who started well but then went missing too often. Has the ability to beat players and provide width and I am sure that we will see much better performances from him once he settles in.
O Clarke 3 awful. not a top six player and will never be. if he isn't putting in crunching tackles then he is no use to the side and today he certainly wasn't involved enough and there was little creativity in the middle as he went missing for most of the game. One good shot but that apart did nothing and we just ended up playing far too much football in our own half and put unnecessary pressure on ourselves..
Payne 7 Looks the part and a good signing however to get the best out of him he needs somebody to play up top with him. I would like to have seen Reilly or even Jacubaki given the chance but even Nichols would have been better than just playing Bennett anywhere near him. His goal showed what we can expect but really that was the only chance we created for him.
Subs
Nicholls 5 Tried hard and did ok but it was too late when he came on and the damage had already been done with 60 minutes of lack lustre football.
Lines 4.5 Should have started as at least he does have creative skills but it was not an easy game to come on in as we lost our shape very early on and never really got going as a team and when DC went three at the back it almost immediately should have signalled the end of the game as Accrington tore us apart and hit the underside of the bar when they should have scored.
Matthews NOLE Impressed in a short appearance last week but left out again this week. Maybe we have too many luxuries in the midfield area and not enough elsewhere.
Ref 3 dreadful from start to finish. didn't cut out Accringtons time wasting tactics which went on from the minute they took the lead and was far too lenient. I like referees who don't use yellow cards but he was too much the other way and allowed Accrington to commit numerous fouls and break up the flow of the game.
D.C. 3 I think I have said enough about his bad day at the office. I worry that his jibes at the owners are going to result in his sacking if results don't improve quickly because it is clear in his interviews that he is not a happy man. I don't think he will get the chance to leave us which is great as I am sure he can change this around like he normally does. He is managing like John Ward at the moment and our side lacks attacking threat even for a home game.
Accy 6 Played some good football but are a very niggly side who were made to look much better than they are by our style of football or lack of it as we played into their hands.
Crowd 5 hardly surprising as the football bored the pants off of them. Didn't impose ourselves on the game and the lack of chances created was reflected in the atmosphere at the game.
Where do we go to from here? Tuesdays game against crawley would have been ideal to give players a game but now it would be more use to play the side that will play at Wycombe next Saturday.Personally I would be on the phone to sign a left back on Monday and look for a new tall centre half too but would probably go for
Smith
Leadbitter Lockyer Craig New left Back or Kelly
Rodman Sercombe Upson Bennett
Reilly Payne
Subs Slocombe, Lines. Jakubiak, Mensah, J Clarke, Nichols, Matthews
UTG
Thankfully relegation or promotion is not gained in the first two games and there is plenty of time to sort the team out as well as a loan market which should be used to shore up the defence and maybe try to bring in another wideman with a bit of pace however what is the use of making signings if you are not going to use them? Jacubiak may only be a loan but no place on the bench today worries me that we are going to have another Dom Telford who only gets rare chances especially if DC continues with his one up top system. There have been signs he was moving towards a three up front with a sort of 4-3-3 but his lack of strikers seemed to move him towards 4-5-1. Towards the end of last season he seemed to be moving back to the 4-4-2 at home and then there was always the chance to go back to wing backs however we have started this season with an overload of central midfielders and no true left back available other than Kelly. I really feel that today DC lost us the game with his entire selection- a home game against Accrington is a far easier proposition than away to Peterborough so IMO there was no need to change the defence especially as Accrington did not appear to hold an aerial threat and therefore why did he change what has clearly been our best central partnership of Lockyer and Craig and also leave out the speedy Leadbitter for the slower James Clarke and revert the slower Craig to full back. Will DC ever learn that a settled team can bring more consistency especially when you have so many new players? Personally I don't think he ever will and its something we have to accept and say in DC we trust. We are really saying that we trust he will get it right in the end.
Anyway on to the individual ratings for a game which to be honest was a poor team performance but also was a result brought about by the individual performances representing an overall display which was the sum of the majority of the parts! Only one player (Stefan Payne ) really came out of the game with much credit which is unusual even for a poor result as you generally fing that at least 4 or 5 players will have reasonable games.
This was one of the worse games I have watched and there have been some bad ones!
Slocombe 5 Distribution awful generally and too slow to distribute generally but had little to do other than pick the ball out of the net twice.
J. Clarke 4.5 Brilliant cross for the equaliser but caught out on both goals allowing his man too much time and space. For me he is ok as a stand in when we are short but too slow to be a regular player and if we are ever going to become a top six side then we need better players.
Lockyer 4 Oh how I wish that Ellis had stayed and that somebody had come in for our Welsh international defender instead! Showing all the signs of the poor form he showed last season before Christmas and I will never accept he is Captain material especially when we give opponents the lead. Too much indecision today and his distribution overall was poor.
Broadbent 4 Selected for his size but won very few of balls played into the box. it is a great shame that he didn't sign for us a season earlier and got the chance to play regularly in League 2 or otherwise be loaned out to a league 2 side to get regular football because that is what he needs to improve as at present he has too many mistakes in his game although I have to say that he does have the ability to play football and bring the ball out but today even that aspect of his game was hit or miss. Overall his performance was not really any worse than others in defence where it really was a bad day at the Office but that could be said about eight of the players out there!
Craig 4 Too slow to be a full back and can see no reason for playing him there. We should have stuck with the defence we had last week until the new full back is fit.
Bennett 4 Started off reasonably and showed good trickery at times but last season he gave us good width on the left and was a danger cutting inside. for me he does not possess the upper body strength to play in the hole and it worries me that when we already had two full backs who lack the attacking qualities we then lost the width. DC has become very predictable with having wingers but only wanting them to cut inside all the time.
Sercombe 4 Not a wide player and never will be as he lacks the defensive qualities but also we lose his ability to get strikes at goal. Didn't play well out wide last season so IMO another huge selection error which resulted in a square peg in a round hole performance.
Upson 4 Looks a good player who unfortunately hasn't fitted in to our style yet and who will never fit in the same team as Ollie Clarke
Rodman 5 Another who started well but then went missing too often. Has the ability to beat players and provide width and I am sure that we will see much better performances from him once he settles in.
O Clarke 3 awful. not a top six player and will never be. if he isn't putting in crunching tackles then he is no use to the side and today he certainly wasn't involved enough and there was little creativity in the middle as he went missing for most of the game. One good shot but that apart did nothing and we just ended up playing far too much football in our own half and put unnecessary pressure on ourselves..
Payne 7 Looks the part and a good signing however to get the best out of him he needs somebody to play up top with him. I would like to have seen Reilly or even Jacubaki given the chance but even Nichols would have been better than just playing Bennett anywhere near him. His goal showed what we can expect but really that was the only chance we created for him.
Subs
Nicholls 5 Tried hard and did ok but it was too late when he came on and the damage had already been done with 60 minutes of lack lustre football.
Lines 4.5 Should have started as at least he does have creative skills but it was not an easy game to come on in as we lost our shape very early on and never really got going as a team and when DC went three at the back it almost immediately should have signalled the end of the game as Accrington tore us apart and hit the underside of the bar when they should have scored.
Matthews NOLE Impressed in a short appearance last week but left out again this week. Maybe we have too many luxuries in the midfield area and not enough elsewhere.
Ref 3 dreadful from start to finish. didn't cut out Accringtons time wasting tactics which went on from the minute they took the lead and was far too lenient. I like referees who don't use yellow cards but he was too much the other way and allowed Accrington to commit numerous fouls and break up the flow of the game.
D.C. 3 I think I have said enough about his bad day at the office. I worry that his jibes at the owners are going to result in his sacking if results don't improve quickly because it is clear in his interviews that he is not a happy man. I don't think he will get the chance to leave us which is great as I am sure he can change this around like he normally does. He is managing like John Ward at the moment and our side lacks attacking threat even for a home game.
Accy 6 Played some good football but are a very niggly side who were made to look much better than they are by our style of football or lack of it as we played into their hands.
Crowd 5 hardly surprising as the football bored the pants off of them. Didn't impose ourselves on the game and the lack of chances created was reflected in the atmosphere at the game.
Where do we go to from here? Tuesdays game against crawley would have been ideal to give players a game but now it would be more use to play the side that will play at Wycombe next Saturday.Personally I would be on the phone to sign a left back on Monday and look for a new tall centre half too but would probably go for
Smith
Leadbitter Lockyer Craig New left Back or Kelly
Rodman Sercombe Upson Bennett
Reilly Payne
Subs Slocombe, Lines. Jakubiak, Mensah, J Clarke, Nichols, Matthews
UTG
