Match ratings vs Creepy

[1955pie]

Very good post Driller

[Kent Magpie]

Vary fair assessment
In retrospect we should never have lost that game
Wasteful up front, missing a host of chances that could have put the game to bed before half time. Start of 2nd half more chances missed then you could see nervousness creep in and we dropped further and further back but without getting a foot in
I was astonished when Dan and JJ were subbed after the send off and assumed one or both must have had knocks
But apparently not
A major ricket which went down like a lead balloon with the team and fans

I could see the logic in replacing Jones and Crowley to be honest. At the time Nemane was playing right back and Jones as a wing. Clearly Maynard feels Nemane is a better defender than Jones (he is probably right...but neither are great). Robertson was supposed to be shielding the back 4 as it was by then, then you can take jones off bring Colkett on an have a marginally stronger defence. Then to strengthen the defence he brings on TAR.. he could have taken Austin off I guess, but it would have been marginal.

Personally I can see the logic in what he is trying to do, the side are low on confidence and it really showed . Unfortunately he has lost the fans and there is no coming back from that (as the idiot who seemed to want to fight everybody because Nemane wasn't taken off showed).

[SmiffyPie]

I couldn't see the sense in those subs (Jones off yes, not both!) How on earth could SM expect us to sit back and hold out for 25 mins with our defence?

[drillerpie]

I could see the logic in replacing Jones and Crowley to be honest. At the time Nemane was playing right back and Jones as a wing. Clearly Maynard feels Nemane is a better defender than Jones (he is probably right...but neither are great). Robertson was supposed to be shielding the back 4 as it was by then, then you can take jones off bring Colkett on an have a marginally stronger defence. Then to strengthen the defence he brings on TAR.. he could have taken Austin off I guess, but it would have been marginal.

Personally I can see the logic in what he is trying to do, the side are low on confidence and it really showed . Unfortunately he has lost the fans and there is no coming back from that (as the idiot who seemed to want to fight everybody because Nemane wasn't taken off showed).

I think Crowley is our best player bar the recent dip in form, which he seems to be over now. Not having him on the pitch just makes us worse, whichever way you look at it. Jones is great but he does his business in bursts. Crowley is usually making a difference all game.

He provides a goal threat, even in the air, he makes assists, he starts moves, he comes deep and relieves pressure, he puts a foot in, he dribbles out of tight situations, he runs everywhere for the whole 90 and he does all these things so often and makes them look so easy you think it's normal but it really isn't.

Hindsight I know, but I would've liked to have seen Robertson taken off (he was the epitome of bad decisions and poor execution all night) for Jatta, and Langstaff and Jatta on together while we were at 11v11 and 1-0 up so we could play on the counter with a credible attacking threat.

It's amazing to think how long our 150k striker has been here and we still don't know what he can do with a decent ball played in front of him for him to run on to while facing in the right direction.

By all means swap Nemane for TAR if you want to bolster the defence, but bear in mind that TAR is a physically impressive but slightly clumsy National League wide speedster, not Denis Irwin.

IMO we needed to defend much more narrowly and have the strikers providing wide cover IMO. Think Mourinho's Inter or Di Matteo's Chelsea vs Barcelona back in the day. In the end we just downgraded our attacking options for defensive ones but then had them spread out the full width of the pitch like training cones to slalom between.

Also if I see one more team being able to take multiple touches to line up a shot on the edge of our box with no closing down whatsoever I am going to smash so many screens that I will move the Nasdaq on my own.