Post by stevek192 on Dec 20, 2014 19:38:52 GMT
Some will look at the first half and will say that it was not a "great" win but IMO any game where you are 1-0 down for a long time and finally equalise only to give a goal away straight away and still manage to come back and win shows a "Never say die" attitude and it was achieved with a much improved second half.
Personally I was very surprised that we didn't pressurize them more up top from the first minute but the second half performance more than made up for the poor first half.
Spiess 6 To be fair I was quite worried about him after the Bath game but i felt he dealt with everything well and made a couple of good saves. No point coming for crosses if you aren't going to get them and distribution was good.
Lockyer 4 Didn't get anywhere near his winger often enough and this contributed to both goals but defended well at other times. He is,without doubt a centre half and his natural movement drags him across to the centre. Dc seems to have decided that Leadbitter is not worth persevering with so if this is the case then we need to get a right back in January and try to offload Leadbitter (This is not what I would necessarily do as I think he is coachable similar to when Smith who got caught out a lot in his early days was ) but DC seems to not consider this and Lockyer is his next best option.
McChrystal 5.5 A bit off par and at fault for the first goal that he should have cleared and also lucky to get away with shirt pulling in the first few minutes when he got turned far too easily.
Hope his injury is not as bad as it looked
Parkes 8 Very good game.Fought manfully all game and not much went past him.
Brown 5.5 Quite a mixed game from Lee. Solid but his passing was generally poor but was always willing to get forward.
Monkhouse 6
Skilful on the ball and powerful in the air but is not a winger in his twilight days. Is more effective when he moves inside.
Mansell 8 Strong in the tackle and worked hard throughout. Great goal and was unlucky with a class effort in the first half and could have ended up with a hatrick. He is certainly dangerous when he gets forward but is restricted in his movement forward due to him having to cover large parts of the midfield to allow Sinclair to play his natural game of running everywhere.
Sinclair 9 His best all round game last night
. Covered every inch of the pitch and caused all sorts of problems to Gateshead. Was one of the main reasons we stayed in the game and his goal was a just reward for his skill,effort and commitment.
Balanta 3
Felt he isn't helped by having a non attacking full back behind him. He is best when inter changing short swift passes but was let down by his final ball into the box. The substitution was the correct tactical decision but i still feel he has the ability to do well for us. He seemed to pull up just before he was substituted and I wonder if he had a slight muscle pull.
Taylor 5.5
Is he playing to a Plan? His general link up play is good but I want to see my striker scoring goals or at the nvery least making the keeper work. His shooting is shocking but at least he had an assist in the winning goal.
Wall 5.5 - Battled hard and I actually thought he played quite well but should have scored with his header or at the least got it on target.Had a few decent efforts but is he good enough to retain..I am not sure?
Subs: Clarke 6.5 Not his greatest fan but he yet again came up with a great goal and unlucky with another effort. Mistake on the second goal but overall I thought his general play was good and I don't recall the
"Poor passing and disappearing after he scored" in fact I seem to recall quite a few occasions where he showed skill in retaining possession and passed the ball well. Of course its all about opinions.
Trotman 6.5 For me he slipped effortlessly into the back 4 and brought power in the air to the defence which is very important if your keeper is not the most able in the air. Definitely his very presence in the defence gives others confidence that he will win the majority of any aerial threats and that aspect is very important.
Harrison Didn't have long enough to give a mark but i really think he is more of a goal threat than Taylor.
DC 7
saw the problems and put them right so no complaints but a little surprised he didn't get it right at the start having seen Gateshead on TV.
Ref 4
What can be said? Poor in other games I have seen him and no change last night.
Gateshead 7 Players seemed to control the ball very well and play to a definite game plan which if allowed to take place is very effective but for all their possession (which i found pretty boring after a while) they did not really look like penetrating other than when they scored. When we turned the screw in the second half they really did look very ordinary.
Personally I was very surprised that we didn't pressurize them more up top from the first minute but the second half performance more than made up for the poor first half.
Spiess 6 To be fair I was quite worried about him after the Bath game but i felt he dealt with everything well and made a couple of good saves. No point coming for crosses if you aren't going to get them and distribution was good.
Lockyer 4 Didn't get anywhere near his winger often enough and this contributed to both goals but defended well at other times. He is,without doubt a centre half and his natural movement drags him across to the centre. Dc seems to have decided that Leadbitter is not worth persevering with so if this is the case then we need to get a right back in January and try to offload Leadbitter (This is not what I would necessarily do as I think he is coachable similar to when Smith who got caught out a lot in his early days was ) but DC seems to not consider this and Lockyer is his next best option.
McChrystal 5.5 A bit off par and at fault for the first goal that he should have cleared and also lucky to get away with shirt pulling in the first few minutes when he got turned far too easily.
Hope his injury is not as bad as it looked
Parkes 8 Very good game.Fought manfully all game and not much went past him.
Brown 5.5 Quite a mixed game from Lee. Solid but his passing was generally poor but was always willing to get forward.
Monkhouse 6
Skilful on the ball and powerful in the air but is not a winger in his twilight days. Is more effective when he moves inside.
Mansell 8 Strong in the tackle and worked hard throughout. Great goal and was unlucky with a class effort in the first half and could have ended up with a hatrick. He is certainly dangerous when he gets forward but is restricted in his movement forward due to him having to cover large parts of the midfield to allow Sinclair to play his natural game of running everywhere.
Sinclair 9 His best all round game last night
. Covered every inch of the pitch and caused all sorts of problems to Gateshead. Was one of the main reasons we stayed in the game and his goal was a just reward for his skill,effort and commitment.
Balanta 3
Felt he isn't helped by having a non attacking full back behind him. He is best when inter changing short swift passes but was let down by his final ball into the box. The substitution was the correct tactical decision but i still feel he has the ability to do well for us. He seemed to pull up just before he was substituted and I wonder if he had a slight muscle pull.
Taylor 5.5
Is he playing to a Plan? His general link up play is good but I want to see my striker scoring goals or at the nvery least making the keeper work. His shooting is shocking but at least he had an assist in the winning goal.
Wall 5.5 - Battled hard and I actually thought he played quite well but should have scored with his header or at the least got it on target.Had a few decent efforts but is he good enough to retain..I am not sure?
Subs: Clarke 6.5 Not his greatest fan but he yet again came up with a great goal and unlucky with another effort. Mistake on the second goal but overall I thought his general play was good and I don't recall the
"Poor passing and disappearing after he scored" in fact I seem to recall quite a few occasions where he showed skill in retaining possession and passed the ball well. Of course its all about opinions.
Trotman 6.5 For me he slipped effortlessly into the back 4 and brought power in the air to the defence which is very important if your keeper is not the most able in the air. Definitely his very presence in the defence gives others confidence that he will win the majority of any aerial threats and that aspect is very important.
Harrison Didn't have long enough to give a mark but i really think he is more of a goal threat than Taylor.
DC 7
saw the problems and put them right so no complaints but a little surprised he didn't get it right at the start having seen Gateshead on TV.
Ref 4
What can be said? Poor in other games I have seen him and no change last night.
Gateshead 7 Players seemed to control the ball very well and play to a definite game plan which if allowed to take place is very effective but for all their possession (which i found pretty boring after a while) they did not really look like penetrating other than when they scored. When we turned the screw in the second half they really did look very ordinary.
