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Post by stevek192 on Nov 19, 2016 23:27:57 GMT
After the excitement of the FA Cup it was back to the real serious stuff today and a quick return match with "Franchise FC". It is often a good game- no not the game against MK Dons but trying to guess the starting line up and today I think even the biggest DC supporters must have seen that he had totally over done it and in some ways Lost the Plot. I can assure you this is not an "After the Match" criticism but one I felt on seeing the Team Sheet. No less than seven changes is bordering on the ridiculous especially taking into account the Performance on Tuesday. I could see no reason for the inclusion of Ollie Clarke when you already have a defensive "sideways and backwards" Man in Sinclair and none of Taylor, Gaffney,Lines or Montano deserved to be left out and probably Connor Roberts will be very disappointed to have been left out of the squad completely. Many will say that DC does not deserve any criticism because the results gained by his tinkering has far exceeded defeats however IMO he deserves criticism on this as much as any player for a bad performance. because he left us totally devoid of any width and playing Harrison based on his recent performances was poor to say the least and I honestly think that now his many changes are affecting individuals performance and the understanding of the various departments.
That said apart from the three or four saves that Roos had to make there were few other anxious moments and bad luck,poor finishing and poor refereeing decisions all added up to a frustrating afternoon. It certainly was not an epic nor was it a poor game but it was very compact both halves with little width to the team and until Gaffney appeared an inability to hold the ball up or run at the opposition.
Roos 8 Thank god that he has answered all his critics from a few games ago with three spectacular saves, good handling and command of his area and good consistency in his performances . Overall he didn't have a great deal to do after the first 35 minutes.
Leadbitter 7.5 Good at both ends of the pitch and worked tirelessly with his pace proving too much in several touch and go races for the ball with an opponent. Had to return when DC decided to go without wingers as Roberts does lack confidence or maybe the ability to attack down the flanks.
Lockyer 8.5 MOM For me his best game of the season against decent opposition. it has taken quite a time to come but hopefully Tom can now maintain this level of both defending and use of the ball when bringing it out.
Clarke-Salter 8 Calm and authorative on the ball and won most of the aerial battles. He really looks to be one for the future although he does not possess quite the attacking threat at corners that Hartley brings to the team but I would say that defensively he has the edge on Hartley.
Brown 5.5 Not at his best and wasted far too much of the ball with overhit passes and crosses. Without a winger in front of him he lacked the outlet to set him up behind the opponents defence and was probably as ineffective as I have seen him although he did manage to get some crosses in late in the game.
Colkett 4 His poorest game so far as he struggled to get into the game and deserved to be subbed.The only surprise was that it wasn't done at half time.
Sinclair 7 Just "another day at the office" for Sincs. Worked and worked to unsettle MK Dons and even managed to get forward on a couple of occasions but should have got his shots on target. Kept us in possession often even if the majority of his passes were backwards and sideways.
Ollie Clarke 5 Just didn't get involved enough and I honestly cannot see why he was selected when we already have one player in Sinclair who fails to pass the ball forward very often. I felt he should have been subbed before Boateng who at least always wants the ball and has the skill to both run with the ball and pass it accurately. Was slightly better in the second half.
Easter 6 Was far better in the second half when he was just behind the forwards but spent most of the first half trying without success to close the opposition down and stop then playing.
Boateng 6.5 I felt he was unlucky to have been subbed as he was probably our most creative midfielder in the first half. Does lose the ball at times but I would rather a midfielder try to play the ball forward and run forward than spend most of the game playing sideways and back. He really looks like he has talent and is very skilful but for me will never hold down a place in a DC side that is mainly based on hard work ethic and effort.
Harrison 4.5 Should have scored at least one goal with headers from good positions. He did not warrant a starting place and overall IMO did not do anywhere near enough to start on Tuesday.
Subs
Lines 7 A mystery why he was left out as we struggled to dominate the midfield which IMO was not surprising as I have yet to see us do that with a midfield that contain both Sinclair and Ollie Clarke, Started to really dominate possession when he came on and finished the game well on top.
Gaffney 7 A great improvement on Harrison and suddenly the MK Dons defence looked unsettled as Rory set about them and spraed the ball about well and was unlucky not to add to the two he scored on Tuesday.
Taylor 6 Did not really do that much but why was he left out when he is far away our best striker and goals are so hard to come by for the rest of the team..
DC Far too much respect shown to a team that are fourth from the bottom for a reason. The trouble with his selection today was that only three substitutes could be made as very few of his 7 changes really came off and to start with three of the main successes the other night on the bench for a team that struggles to score regularly was the main reason why we struggled poorly first half and yet we still should have scored a few. Please Darrell lets have at least one winger back on Tuesday and lets try to make a good start to the game and one other point-using three subs so quick is I am sure going to cost us points at some stage and today could have seen us go down to ten men when Sincs was injured and there were no substitutions left. The main trouble today was that we really needed about five substitutions to put right what seven changes had made wrong. In fact 7 changes was not in the "spirit of the game" and perhaps Darrell should be fined £3000 ! or perhaps as he had suggested it was not his selection today and the FA had obliged!!
Referee 5 Far too easily conned but was OK which shows mjust how bad the majority are..
MK Dons 7 Play good expansive football but their defence really is an accident waiting to happen which is obviously the reason they are near the bottom because to me they look a much better team than their position suggests. That said much of their success was down to the way we set up and allowed them to attack us far too often. I really feel we are starting to try to "hide" our tactics but in fact all we are doing is playing into the hands of a team like MK Dons who played no differently than they played in the home match and with very few changes.
Crowd 5 Just over 9,000 is good numbers and they tried to get behind the team but that can be difficult when we set up so defensively and allow so much possession to our opponents. The crowd woke up second half as did the team.
So Tuesday we get a chance to put right the last two results with another home match which would be idea if we win to give us a win , a draw and a defeat from the last three games which would be a reasonable return. I really hope that DC stops tinkering so much and decides which are his best formation and players and gives them a chance to get a bit of understanding as I really hope this is just a bleep and not going to be the start of a poor run. I see Charlton as being another side that will be over respected and another game where wingers will be unlikely to be played so there is no doubt that we will be pushed to the limit. For me, at the present time Ollie Clarke and Harrison are not good enough and Gaffney and Taylor are our best option upfront. Lines should be the first name on the team sheet in midfield and a place found for Montano to give us width. Boateng is worth a start probably with Sinclair. At the end of the day it is a pretty pointless exercise picking a team because it is just impossible to see exactly what DC is doing and the number of changes is now starting to hinder our ability to play as a team.
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Post by mrbluesky on Nov 19, 2016 23:42:15 GMT
i dont think your taking into account the fixture pile up and the fatigue of playing millwall with 10 men and extra time on tuesday. we still had a decent team but boateng and colkett didnt really perform which undermined the managers plan. dc makes bold decisions and sometimes they dont work but mostly they do,i think you prefer the predictable play it safe manager like john ward but i dont.
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Post by stevek192 on Nov 19, 2016 23:58:06 GMT
Mrbluesky, I HATED the John Ward style of management and I am sorry if you don't think Professional footballers are fit enough to play one game with ten players,120 minutes of a cup tie and another League match within 1 week? Hardly a fixture pile up. Boateng was far more effective qualitywise than the other midfielders and I think you will find that a large percentage of fans would have disagreed totally with the side selected today. Lines, Gaffney and Taylor were three of our most influential players on Tuesday and Montano was dangerous and none played and yet I bet you will find that 90% of teams in this division play the same team every week or very few changes.
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Post by mrbluesky on Nov 20, 2016 0:08:57 GMT
Mrbluesky, I HATED the John Ward style of management and I am sorry if you don't think Professional footballers are fit enough to play one game with ten players,120 minutes of a cup tie and another League match within 1 week? Hardly a fixture pile up. Boateng was far more effective qualitywise than the other midfielders and I think you will find that a large percentage of fans would have disagreed totally with the side selected today. Lines, Gaffney and Taylor were three of our most influential players on Tuesday and Montano was dangerous and none played and yet I bet you will find that 90% of teams in this division play the same team every week or very few changes. 22 very fit young men,mk dons no midweek game,us extra time so it makes sense to make changes,did he over do it? possibly but he was backing colkett,boateng,harrison and easter to prove him right but it didnt quite work out. thats how our manager plays it,i love it you hate it,never mind
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Post by chelt_gas on Nov 20, 2016 1:22:34 GMT
What Clarke appears to have done well is build a real identity and culture in the players. Commitment, togetherness and a mentality where the team is greater than individual. That is becoming increasingly rare in a world where each player has their own agent constantly undermining a manager's attempt to build a team by making the said player focus on his next steps, likely to be away from the club should there be more commercial opportunities.
The culture of a squad is greater than any tactics or strategies that a manager may come up with. Even the most masterful tactician will get nowhere if he hasn't got a squad of players all sharing the same aims and ethos as the club.
I largely have confidence that any 11 players that Darrell put outs will achieve positive results over the season. In some games hindsight may expose certain game tactics but over the course of a season we will see all payers give their all for the club. That's a very rare thing in today's game and I am more that happy to see 11 changes in the next game so long as I know Bristol Rovers have a culture of commitment.
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Post by Wilkimania on Nov 20, 2016 5:00:02 GMT
Was my first time in seeing Rovers since the Bolton game thanks to Uni getting in the way and so it was interesting seeing the team now that we're starting to get towards the midpoint of the season. The biggest worry for me (like most of us I expect) is how do we go about winning points if Matty gets injured/sold/loses form? As we've seen in recent years the answers to these questions aren't always simple e.g. Remember when we thought Jamie White would get us 20 in the conference? Whilst the idea of going out and splashing money on a shiny new striker sounds nice, with a squad of our size I can't imagine with have loads of money to be playing around with to meet FFP regulations so could we end up seeing more movement than we originally thought in January?
Can definitely understand why all 4 of MK Dons wins have come away from home this season as they were definitely a well organised side who didn't look like they'd concede many but also didn't look like scoring a whole lot of goals. So how we managed a 3-3 draw with them about a month ago seemed like a miracle in comparison to the team I watched today.
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Rex
Predictions League
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Posts: 3,287
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Post by Rex on Nov 20, 2016 6:41:40 GMT
After the excitement of the FA Cup it was back to the real serious stuff today and a quick return match with "Franchise FC". It is often a good game- no not the game against MK Dons but trying to guess the starting line up and today I think even the biggest DC supporters must have seen that he had totally over done it and in some ways Lost the Plot. I can assure you this is not an "After the Match" criticism but one I felt on seeing the Team Sheet. No less than seven changes is bordering on the ridiculous especially taking into account the Performance on Tuesday. I could see no reason for the inclusion of Ollie Clarke when you already have a defensive "sideways and backwards" Man in Sinclair and none of Taylor, Gaffney,Lines or Montano deserved to be left out and probably Connor Roberts will be very disappointed to have been left out of the squad completely. Many will say that DC does not deserve any criticism because the results gained by his tinkering has far exceeded defeats however IMO he deserves criticism on this as much as any player for a bad performance. because he left us totally devoid of any width and playing Harrison based on his recent performances was poor to say the least and I honestly think that now his many changes are affecting individuals performance and the understanding of the various departments. That said apart from the three or four saves that Roos had to make there were few other anxious moments and bad luck,poor finishing and poor refereeing decisions all added up to a frustrating afternoon. It certainly was not an epic nor was it a poor game but it was very compact both halves with little width to the team and until Gaffney appeared an inability to hold the ball up or run at the opposition. Roos 8 Thank god that he has answered all his critics from a few games ago with three spectacular saves, good handling and command of his area and good consistency in his performances . Overall he didn't have a great deal to do after the first 35 minutes. Leadbitter 7.5 Good at both ends of the pitch and worked tirelessly with his pace proving too much in several touch and go races for the ball with an opponent. Had to return when DC decided to go without wingers as Roberts does lack confidence or maybe the ability to attack down the flanks. Lockyer 8.5 MOM For me his best game of the season against decent opposition. it has taken quite a time to come but hopefully Tom can now maintain this level of both defending and use of the ball when bringing it out. Clarke-Salter 8 Calm and authorative on the ball and won most of the aerial battles. He really looks to be one for the future although he does not possess quite the attacking threat at corners that Hartley brings to the team but I would say that defensively he has the edge on Hartley. Brown 5.5 Not at his best and wasted far too much of the ball with overhit passes and crosses. Without a winger in front of him he lacked the outlet to set him up behind the opponents defence and was probably as ineffective as I have seen him although he did manage to get some crosses in late in the game. Colkett 4 His poorest game so far as he struggled to get into the game and deserved to be subbed.The only surprise was that it wasn't done at half time. Sinclair 7 Just "another day at the office" for Sincs. Worked and worked to unsettle MK Dons and even managed to get forward on a couple of occasions but should have got his shots on target. Kept us in possession often even if the majority of his passes were backwards and sideways. Ollie Clarke 5 Just didn't get involved enough and I honestly cannot see why he was selected when we already have one player in Sinclair who fails to pass the ball forward very often. I felt he should have been subbed before Boateng who at least always wants the ball and has the skill to both run with the ball and pass it accurately. Was slightly better in the second half. Easter 6 Was far better in the second half when he was just behind the forwards but spent most of the first half trying without success to close the opposition down and stop then playing. Boateng 6.5 I felt he was unlucky to have been subbed as he was probably our most creative midfielder in the first half. Does lose the ball at times but I would rather a midfielder try to play the ball forward and run forward than spend most of the game playing sideways and back. He really looks like he has talent and is very skilful but for me will never hold down a place in a DC side that is mainly based on hard work ethic and effort. Harrison 4.5 Should have scored at least one goal with headers from good positions. He did not warrant a starting place and overall IMO did not do anywhere near enough to start on Tuesday. Subs Lines 7 A mystery why he was left out as we struggled to dominate the midfield which IMO was not surprising as I have yet to see us do that with a midfield that contain both Sinclair and Ollie Clarke, Started to really dominate possession when he came on and finished the game well on top. Gaffney 7 A great improvement on Harrison and suddenly the MK Dons defence looked unsettled as Rory set about them and spraed the ball about well and was unlucky not to add to the two he scored on Tuesday. Taylor 6 Did not really do that much but why was he left out when he is far away our best striker and goals are so hard to come by for the rest of the team.. DC Far too much respect shown to a team that are fourth from the bottom for a reason. The trouble with his selection today was that only three substitutes could be made as very few of his 7 changes really came off and to start with three of the main successes the other night on the bench for a team that struggles to score regularly was the main reason why we struggled poorly first half and yet we still should have scored a few. Please Darrell lets have at least one winger back on Tuesday and lets try to make a good start to the game and one other point-using three subs so quick is I am sure going to cost us points at some stage and today could have seen us go down to ten men when Sincs was injured and there were no substitutions left. The main trouble today was that we really needed about five substitutions to put right what seven changes had made wrong. In fact 7 changes was not in the "spirit of the game" and perhaps Darrell should be fined £3000 ! or perhaps as he had suggested it was not his selection today and the FA had obliged!! Referee 5 Far too easily conned but was OK which shows mjust how bad the majority are.. MK Dons 7 Play good expansive football but their defence really is an accident waiting to happen which is obviously the reason they are near the bottom because to me they look a much better team than their position suggests. That said much of their success was down to the way we set up and allowed them to attack us far too often. I really feel we are starting to try to "hide" our tactics but in fact all we are doing is playing into the hands of a team like MK Dons who played no differently than they played in the home match and with very few changes. Crowd 5 Just over 9,000 is good numbers and they tried to get behind the team but that can be difficult when we set up so defensively and allow so much possession to our opponents. The crowd woke up second half as did the team. So Tuesday we get a chance to put right the last two results with another home match which would be idea if we win to give us a win , a draw and a defeat from the last three games which would be a reasonable return. I really hope that DC stops tinkering so much and decides which are his best formation and players and gives them a chance to get a bit of understanding as I really hope this is just a bleep and not going to be the start of a poor run. I see Charlton as being another side that will be over respected and another game where wingers will be unlikely to be played so there is no doubt that we will be pushed to the limit. For me, at the present time Ollie Clarke and Harrison are not good enough and Gaffney and Taylor are our best option upfront. Lines should be the first name on the team sheet in midfield and a place found for Montano to give us width. Boateng is worth a start probably with Sinclair. At the end of the day it is a pretty pointless exercise picking a team because it is just impossible to see exactly what DC is doing and the number of changes is now starting to hinder our ability to play as a team.
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Peter Parker
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Richard Walker
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Post by Peter Parker on Nov 20, 2016 7:53:07 GMT
It can be argued there were too many changes, but you can pick the same team for 3 games and get 3 completley different peformances. It doesnt garauntee anything
This is the way DC works. Sometimes it wont work and the team will have an off day. Same for any team.
I am sure anyone who went Tuesday could see Gafney coyld barely walk at the end, so that obviously had some impact.
MK Dons disnt cerate any rral chanes and their best efforts were long range
We disnt click at all. Yes we could have been better and we also could have thrown it away on paast defensive peformances.
Perhaps we should have conceeded early as maybe that effected our game
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Rex
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Post by Rex on Nov 20, 2016 8:59:56 GMT
It can be argued there were too many changes, but you can pick the same team for 3 games and get 3 completley different peformances. It doesnt garauntee anything This is the way DC works. Sometimes it wont work and the team will have an off day. Same for any team.
I am sure anyone who went Tuesday could see Gafney coyld barely walk at the end, so that obviously had some impact. MK Dons disnt cerate any rral chanes and their best efforts were long range We disnt click at all. Yes we could have been better and we also could have thrown it away on paast defensive peformances. Perhaps we should have conceeded early as maybe that effected our game Exactly. I am bored s**tless by the amount of people complaining about the changes, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, the bigger picture is that 2 years ago we were a conference team, and now we are pushing for the play offs in League One, and that is what matters. I actually thought it was a decent game yesterday, I was amazed when someone told me MK were bottom 4, I don't think that is where they will end the season.
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Post by fatherjackhackett on Nov 20, 2016 9:09:52 GMT
I think that for the first time probably since leaving Eastville we have a SQUAD of over 20 players, all of whom are capable of performing at first team level. I have no problem at all with the squad rotations at all, though would agree that Ollie Clarke and Sinclair probably would better off complimenting Lines rather than each other.
Yesterday was a game of two halves, and we didn't really get going until the substitutions. Having said that I think that DC's tactics are very much 'Rope a Dope'. Knacker the opposition out then go for the throats in the latter stages. The number of late goals is no coincidence. Also, this is arguably the fittest side in my 40 years of going, and rotating the team only enhances this.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 20, 2016 9:24:06 GMT
If DC made little changes, sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't!
I am bemused by his change including lack of flank player, hence no width; playing Ellis from the start, mostly ineffective and like I said in a previous thread, little creativity in midfield with no Lines..
If you drop Taylor, fair enough, but forme his natural replacement is Luke James. Decent player and similar. He wasn't even on the bench.
MkD came at straight from the start, credit to them.
But, (not with hindsight as I highlighted it at the time) I'm afraid DC got it wrong. We missed a trick to take advantage of a team low on league position without no manager.
We move on to Tuesday, a similar proposition..
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Post by mrbluesky on Nov 20, 2016 10:25:46 GMT
If DC made little changes, sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't! I am bemused by his change including lack of flank player, hence no width; playing Ellis from the start, mostly ineffective and like I said in a previous thread, little creativity in midfield with no Lines.. If you drop Taylor, fair enough, but forme his natural replacement is Luke James. Decent player and similar. He wasn't even on the bench. MkD came at straight from the start, credit to them. But, (not with hindsight as I highlighted it at the time) I'm afraid DC got it wrong. We missed a trick to take advantage of a team low on league position without no manager. We move on to Tuesday, a similar proposition.. but we had creative midfield players in colkett and boateng,its just that they were off form on the day also we have played the narrow diamond midfield several times,the width coming from the full backs at least in theory.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 20, 2016 11:08:02 GMT
If DC made little changes, sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't! I am bemused by his change including lack of flank player, hence no width; playing Ellis from the start, mostly ineffective and like I said in a previous thread, little creativity in midfield with no Lines.. If you drop Taylor, fair enough, but forme his natural replacement is Luke James. Decent player and similar. He wasn't even on the bench. MkD came at straight from the start, credit to them. But, (not with hindsight as I highlighted it at the time) I'm afraid DC got it wrong. We missed a trick to take advantage of a team low on league position without no manager. We move on to Tuesday, a similar proposition.. but we had creative midfield players in colkett and boateng,its just that they were off form on the day also we have played the narrow diamond midfield several times,the width coming from the full backs at least in theory. Boateng couldn't create a theory let alone a midfield. He played one brilliant pass in first half, but led to nothing. Very disappointed with him so far. Colkett I like bless him, but hasn't had the imposing form of creativity we need. It's no surprise we struggled to make any inroads as both (I feel) should compliment Lines, not replace.
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gas53
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Post by gas53 on Nov 20, 2016 12:17:01 GMT
I always look forward to Steves post match analysis and player assessment, and although I dont always agree with him I think his report was just about spot on.
However I would defend Colketts performance as he was playing in front of a non existent creative midfield and was having to feed off scraps. If he had still been playing after the subs had been made, I think he would have made a greater contribution. Sinclair as usuai was 100 % commitment but too often we were attacking the Dons defence, he gets the ball and either plays it back or sideways, mostly backwards and allows us to lose forward momentum and the defence to get back in numbers. If anyone can tell me what Harrison adds to this team I would dearly love to know. He must certainly impress DC during training but leaves it all behind in the dressing room on match days. Spent more time on his arse than on his feet, appeared totally disinterested, and made very little attempt at winning 50/50 balls. Gaffney had more impact in his first 10 minutes on the pitch than Harrison did during his 50. I am at a loss why DC keeps perseveering with him when there are other players in the squad who actually want to play for the shirt, and for me personally if he never wears the shirt again it will be too soon. Think a move away on loan would be the best move for him, but moreso for us.
Other than that I thought it was a good game between 2 evenly match sides, but sure we would have won if we had started with the team that finished.
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Alveston Gas
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Post by Alveston Gas on Nov 20, 2016 13:06:23 GMT
I think you will find most of Sinclairs ball possession comes about when he has had to recover the ball carelessly or lazily lost sometimes by the likes of Ellis, Charlie or Boateng. His job is to recover the ball, keep possession & lastly move us forwards if he can't find Linsey or someone better at it than he is.
To criticise his play is to not really understand his role in the side. Get it, keep it, give it!
He was bloody brilliant again yesterday - never shirks a challenge & without him we are a poorer side!
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laughinggas
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Post by laughinggas on Nov 20, 2016 13:44:52 GMT
With regards to Ollie C I guess you have made up your mind before the game starts. He gave us a great surging run early that led to a cross from Brown, had a header from a corner, just wide and started various moves throughout the game you mark him below Boetang who managed to show great close control on a couple of occasions but was left standing by their midfield as was Colkett. Ollie C was playing the base of the diamond, which in the first half meant he had to really reign himself back and try and help the back four. Bringing on Lines and moving Easter back to head the diamond in the second half meant he had less to do defensively but still had to play the position. He had a better first half and an easier second half.
Good team performance by him and should have a mark far higher than Boetang!
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 20, 2016 15:27:25 GMT
I always look forward to Steves post match analysis and player assessment, and although I dont always agree with him I think his report was just about spot on. However I would defend Colketts performance as he was playing in front of a non existent creative midfield and was having to feed off scraps. If he had still been playing after the subs had been made, I think he would have made a greater contribution. Sinclair as usuai was 100 % commitment but too often we were attacking the Dons defence, he gets the ball and either plays it back or sideways, mostly backwards and allows us to lose forward momentum and the defence to get back in numbers. If anyone can tell me what Harrison adds to this team I would dearly love to know. He must certainly impress DC during training but leaves it all behind in the dressing room on match days. Spent more time on his arse than on his feet, appeared totally disinterested, and made very little attempt at winning 50/50 balls. Gaffney had more impact in his first 10 minutes on the pitch than Harrison did during his 50. I am at a loss why DC keeps perseveering with him when there are other players in the squad who actually want to play for the shirt, and for me personally if he never wears the shirt again it will be too soon. Think a move away on loan would be the best move for him, but moreso for us. Other than that I thought it was a good game between 2 evenly match sides, but sure we would have won if we had started with the team that finished. That sums it up for me. Great post.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 20, 2016 15:34:01 GMT
With regards to Ollie C I guess you have made up your mind before the game starts. He gave us a great surging run early that led to a cross from Brown, had a header from a corner, just wide and started various moves throughout the game you mark him below Boetang who managed to show great close control on a couple of occasions but was left standing by their midfield as was Colkett. Ollie C was playing the base of the diamond, which in the first half meant he had to really reign himself back and try and help the back four. Bringing on Lines and moving Easter back to head the diamond in the second half meant he had less to do defensively but still had to play the position. He had a better first half and an easier second half. Good team performance by him and should have a mark far higher than Boetang! Absolutely! Ollie hassled their mid all through the match. Industrious performance, that unfortunately led to not much - but then we were below par on more than one level. I think op (as you say) has made his mind up before the match as Ollie seems to have to do more than average to get noticed and even then it isn't good enough!
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GasMacc1
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Post by GasMacc1 on Nov 20, 2016 15:40:22 GMT
Sky Sports: "Conte has named the same [starting] side for the fifth game in a row. That's the first time Chelsea have ever done that in the Premier League". Embrace change!
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Post by The Concept on Nov 20, 2016 19:02:31 GMT
Glad to see a number defending Ollie C's performance. I find I regularly see marks given 1 down on my own (not just Steve's) and in this case it is 2 down.
OC and SS seemed to have to cover for HB and CC on a number of occasions. I like HB and CC, they look good in possession, going forward, but right from the start I've been slightly concerned about them when we haven't got the ball. Sometimes it appears the opposition get past them too easily - they've got time on their sides to improve that side of their games though.
On Saturday I thought that HB and CC struggled with their defensive role in the midfield formation. You could see it in marking from throw-ins and the way MK passed around us.
But that is what a team is all about. You can't play 10 OC's, you can't play 10 HB's, you can't play 10 SS's. Everyone brings their various qualities to the team and it's all about how they blend, gel and perform together as the team.
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