Post by stevek192 on Jan 18, 2015 1:47:57 GMT
So the pre-match requirement was met with a 3-1 defeat of Barnet setting today's game up perfectly for us to show off two new signings and cut the gap to three points. What followed can only be described as a total fanti climax by the club to give a performance to match the brilliant turn out of gasheads. The secret of any team selection is to field your best players and having signed a class of striker far beyond the League we are in and to then not start him was a Management disaster. The only decision as far as I was concerned was who would make way for Easter so it was a real surprise to find him starting on the subs bench and made worse when the news of Sinclairs injury came through. The fact is that when Sinclair can't play then the standard of our midfield automatically falls to a midfield of possibly below mid table standard as regards creativity. Sinclair manages to cover up through his workrate a mediocre midfield moving forwards and IMO the signing of a quality central midfielder is as important as strikers.
There is little doubt that our defence is top two quality and that we now have a variety of wingers and strikers who can,given the service, score goals.
So to the match itself and the individuals who provided a very scrappy game with very few chances but one that we didn't really look like losing but also cannot really say we deserved anymore than a point.
Puddy 6 Did nothing wrong,saved his only real shot with a one handed catch but distributed the ball exceelently throughout.
Lockyer 6 Defensively was good in both the full back position and in midfield but that is the limit of what he can provide and there is nothing creative about his game in either position.
Parkes 9 MOM Outstanding in everything he did wheteher it was contesting the ball in the air or tussling for and reading the game so well on the ground. His confidence has returned and with that his ability to bring the ball out from the back and distribute well.
McCrystal 8 Not far behind Parkes in his performance which limited Woking to very few chances over the 90 minutes
Brown 7 A superior first half performance where he managed to get forward quite often and work clever moves with Monkhouse but a more restricted performance in the second half as Woking broke well from their midfield.
Gosling 4 Drifted out of the games for long spells and didn't really get past his full back often at all. I fail to see how DC allowed him to stay on the pitch when we had Dawson who was raring to go.
Mansell 6.5 Worked hard througout and defensively kept our midfield together winning lots of tackles but without Sinclair there is no flair whatsoever.
Clarke 3 Booked and injured from the same tackle that ended his game today and it was caused by him allowing the home central midfielders to break far too often early on. Sorry but he is not good enough for a promotion challenging team and his only position should be as a squad player.
Monkhouse 4.5 Not one of his best games although he was better in the first half than the second. Got through some useful moves with Lee Brown in the first half.
Blissett 5 Should have scored but for a heavy touch in the first half but faded out due to poor service as much as anything else. He is crying out for quality crosses but today all we really mustered was overhit crosses. He would be far more dangerous with a bit of help from the midfield to pressurise opponents defenders rather than us sitting deep and allowing opponents to pass the ball out.
Taylor 5 Two disallowed for offside - one correctly and the other incorrectly. Is it too much to expect that the referee would know the rules and spot that right in front of him Taylor was set up by a opposition player? Even so not his usual high standard of holding the ball up.
Easter 6 What is the point of acquiring a class striker for this League that we have been crying out for and not start him? Looked lively and showed class when he came on but it was an hour too late.
Leadbitter 6 Defensively he had a good game but I am not convinced with the substitution that saw Lockyer moved into midfield.
Harrison Not long enough to mark but during the short time he was on should have stayed on his feet more.
DC 5 I question now why we are always having to substitute our strikers. To me it means that he has made an incorrect decision in the first place. I would have thought he would also have learnt by now that we do not look good with two shorter strikers and he should have worked on a Blissett/Easter combination and got Dawson on when it was obvious that Gosling was struggling to get in the game. I particularly question both his failure to get a quality central midfielder in and why he has not yet managed to get any quality out of Balanta.
I very much hope he will sort this out quickly if we are to at the least hold onto second place. On the plus side it is hard to be really heavily critical of a Manager whose team has only lost 1 of the last 24 games.
Referee 5 Usual Conference League inconsistent tripe.
Woking 6 Not as good as the team that played at the Mem but i was impressed by their central midfield pairing who unlike ours, were always looking to run at us and through the middle.
To conclude, the magnificent following deserved a lot better and DC now has two weeks to find a quality midfielder to start creating chances and running at the opposition or there will be more scrappy games , more lost points and more frustration in the final third.
There is little doubt that our defence is top two quality and that we now have a variety of wingers and strikers who can,given the service, score goals.
So to the match itself and the individuals who provided a very scrappy game with very few chances but one that we didn't really look like losing but also cannot really say we deserved anymore than a point.
Puddy 6 Did nothing wrong,saved his only real shot with a one handed catch but distributed the ball exceelently throughout.
Lockyer 6 Defensively was good in both the full back position and in midfield but that is the limit of what he can provide and there is nothing creative about his game in either position.
Parkes 9 MOM Outstanding in everything he did wheteher it was contesting the ball in the air or tussling for and reading the game so well on the ground. His confidence has returned and with that his ability to bring the ball out from the back and distribute well.
McCrystal 8 Not far behind Parkes in his performance which limited Woking to very few chances over the 90 minutes
Brown 7 A superior first half performance where he managed to get forward quite often and work clever moves with Monkhouse but a more restricted performance in the second half as Woking broke well from their midfield.
Gosling 4 Drifted out of the games for long spells and didn't really get past his full back often at all. I fail to see how DC allowed him to stay on the pitch when we had Dawson who was raring to go.
Mansell 6.5 Worked hard througout and defensively kept our midfield together winning lots of tackles but without Sinclair there is no flair whatsoever.
Clarke 3 Booked and injured from the same tackle that ended his game today and it was caused by him allowing the home central midfielders to break far too often early on. Sorry but he is not good enough for a promotion challenging team and his only position should be as a squad player.
Monkhouse 4.5 Not one of his best games although he was better in the first half than the second. Got through some useful moves with Lee Brown in the first half.
Blissett 5 Should have scored but for a heavy touch in the first half but faded out due to poor service as much as anything else. He is crying out for quality crosses but today all we really mustered was overhit crosses. He would be far more dangerous with a bit of help from the midfield to pressurise opponents defenders rather than us sitting deep and allowing opponents to pass the ball out.
Taylor 5 Two disallowed for offside - one correctly and the other incorrectly. Is it too much to expect that the referee would know the rules and spot that right in front of him Taylor was set up by a opposition player? Even so not his usual high standard of holding the ball up.
Easter 6 What is the point of acquiring a class striker for this League that we have been crying out for and not start him? Looked lively and showed class when he came on but it was an hour too late.
Leadbitter 6 Defensively he had a good game but I am not convinced with the substitution that saw Lockyer moved into midfield.
Harrison Not long enough to mark but during the short time he was on should have stayed on his feet more.
DC 5 I question now why we are always having to substitute our strikers. To me it means that he has made an incorrect decision in the first place. I would have thought he would also have learnt by now that we do not look good with two shorter strikers and he should have worked on a Blissett/Easter combination and got Dawson on when it was obvious that Gosling was struggling to get in the game. I particularly question both his failure to get a quality central midfielder in and why he has not yet managed to get any quality out of Balanta.
I very much hope he will sort this out quickly if we are to at the least hold onto second place. On the plus side it is hard to be really heavily critical of a Manager whose team has only lost 1 of the last 24 games.
Referee 5 Usual Conference League inconsistent tripe.
Woking 6 Not as good as the team that played at the Mem but i was impressed by their central midfield pairing who unlike ours, were always looking to run at us and through the middle.
To conclude, the magnificent following deserved a lot better and DC now has two weeks to find a quality midfielder to start creating chances and running at the opposition or there will be more scrappy games , more lost points and more frustration in the final third.
