Reply With QuoteI think the ratings given are pretty accurate - everyone played well.
A few things that caught my eye were:
Cameron lost the ball twice doing dragbacks on the edge of their box which led to us being countered twice, one of them I think led indirectly to the penalty attack. That could've been significant on another day, however I was very pleased to see we varied up our corners a bit to take advantage of his heading ability (the best part of his game IMO) which will obviously not work every time but if we keep him loitering on the edge of the box and give him something to attack every 1 in 5 corners that will keep people guessing and bear fruit sooner or later.
Yesterday was mostly about the mesmerising attacking play, but Baldwin was almost impeccable. There was one risky pass near the end which didn't come off but it was far from a brain fart, and for the rest of the game he was alert, purposeful and decisive. There's a saying that the devil makes work for idle hands, and I think the devil also makes work for Baldwin's brain when he hasn't got a clear idea of what he wants to do. Somebody wrote recently that he is wasting his talent, and that was true at the time, but in the last two games we have seen peak Baldwin and it really is a sight to behold. A player that can surely grow with us as we hopefully move up the leagues.
Nothing I can say about Crowley that hasn't already been said. Remarkable performance.
McGoldrick can seem to drift in and out of games but my word, when he's on form and on the ball he has some sublime skills and football intelligence.
Langstaff is not quite as lethal as we know he can be but he has been deprived of chances in the recent poor run of performances. Seems to be much happier getting on the ball more in his new role and I imagine his finishing will improve now that he's more involved and in the thick of the action more often.
I don't want to simplify things too much but the positional changes up front in an attacking sense seem to be secondary to the fact that we now have nipper and more skilful players dropping deeper to start attacks, solving the problem of not being able to get out.
Anticlough suggested dropping Crowley further back and this has happened (he has taken possession very deep straight from the defense a few times in the last 2 games) but other players have done it too - Bostock has popped up actually in the back 3 as we are playing out more times this week than I can remember seeing before, and Langstaff and Austin have made themselves available much deeper. Speed and constant running make such a difference, and JoB just doesn't offer that, despite his grit and determination.
During the bad run we were just not in games at all. We couldn't get going and never really had a foothold in games. Apart from being utterly boring to watch, it was depressing because you knew that sooner or later we would make a mistake or get picked off.
After the performance against Stockport I was confident we would win today, and injuries permitting (Crowley in a soft padded cryochamber between games?) I am confident our bad spell is over now and we won't have another run like that this season.
Originally Posted by SmiffyPie
