Harrogate

Even thousands of miles away, it seems strange not to be 'on your marks' for the Alex to kick. In fact we'll be checking in as the Alex kick off on Monday night so I'm hoping the airport WiFi is up to scratch.
I really don't know what to expect from this game. With the exception of the very first meeting at Gresty Road, these encounters have always been closed. Defensively, they seem to be well organised so the Alex will have to get their tactics spot on this time. This really will mean an aggressive high press to win the ball high up the pitch. To do this they have to be well-drilled. Leaving March alone up front with a huge gap behind is just never going to work. So March needs another player to back home up. Maybe a 4-4-2/4-3-3 would work. Lankester could link up with him and sometimes switch outside. O'Reilly could operate wide midfield and push on either inside or outside Lankester. There's no Agius so bring in Rankine. Whatever, don't push March wide. It's important he operates down the middle.
Alternatively, give O'Reilly a rest, drop Lankester into wide midfield and put Tezgel with March.
You could go straight 4-3-3 with Lankester and Rankine wide and Lunt down the middle behind the front line.
It's absolutely essential that we don't give their back line time on the ball.
Will it happen?😏
So a 1-1 draw. If we score first.

With a close to fully fit squad and so many options to choose from it is a convincing Alex win for me. Concerns for me with this game are that when players have come back from injury (Lankester, and particularly Holicek) they have done very well but it hasn?t added overall because O?Reilly and Agius dipped. LB needs to work out how it fits together because I don?t think the players are sure. March is excellent but has to go and find the ball in the second half of games and the whole game becomes a bit schoolboy like. I do suspect we will lose a couple of loan players in January due to recalls because their parent clubs didn?t send them to sit on the bench or get five minutes at the end of games. Good to have all of these options but a few too many in some areas and not others. Not convinced the players know what the plan is at times and they?re not a team yet, however, we have far too much for Harrogate, strong win.

Once again have no idea what our management will put on display. So no prediction. Would like to see the pairing of Golding and our Captain again. Believe it has potential. Think 2 changes would benefit us in midfield, Lankester and Lunt to replace Finney and Holicek. Like a lot of our supporters i would love to see us return to the in your face pressing game, but believe our management are not in favour. What really does bother me is that it looks clear that LB and RD have no idea how a midfield should play in this modern day game.

Totally agree, that the midfield blend is not there, bringing in injury repaired folk, seems to upset any balance. Also agree that March goes looking for the ball out wide, however it's due to no wide support. Feel he is more useful with us playing a dedicated winger, feeding the ball into the box. I think we will (should) get 3 x point's, so going with , squeaky bum, 3-2, with us going 2-0 up, by halftime, then a counter attacking 3-1 up and rugged defense last 10 mins. Golding looks good, but a little niave, so advice from the captain in his ear all game and ensure cover if both go up for set pieces. Any idea why it was Monday night (did not see either teams with Bratislava under 18 International call ups!!!).

Game is on Sky Sports

All the bookies have the Alex as slight favourites. Not a good omen!

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Originally Posted by lukcour

Once again have no idea what our management will put on display. So no prediction. Would like to see the pairing of Golding and our Captain again. Believe it has potential. Think 2 changes would benefit us in midfield, Lankester and Lunt to replace Finney and Holicek. Like a lot of our supporters i would love to see us return to the in your face pressing game, but believe our management are not in favour. What really does bother me is that it looks clear that LB and RD have no idea how a midfield should play in this modern day game.

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Lankester for Finney?? Fortunately it was Hutchinson who returned for him at LB, not midfield, and scored! Then Lanks with the assist for Sanders' winning goal, so a combination of the two (as he replaced Holicek before half time.)

Pleased with the win. Tactics were better. Team possession big improvement. Good run by Hutchinson for a quality goal, Even a better goal by Sanders. What a lovely run.

For me Lankester is a must for forward midfield. Takes up excellent positions, good concentration, good distribution, and well worked assist for the winning goal.

Inclined to continue with our Skipper and Golding pairing but aware o Lordks comment. Golding can be a bit rash at times, but worth persevering with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lukcour

Pleased with the win. Tactics were better. Team possession big improvement. Good run by Hutchinson for a quality goal, Even a better goal by Sanders. What a lovely run.

For me Lankester is a must for forward midfield. Takes up excellent positions, good concentration, good distribution, and well worked assist for the winning goal.

Inclined to continue with our Skipper and Golding pairing but aware o Lordks comment. Golding can be a bit rash at times, but worth persevering with.

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Yes, a very good win.

I would suggest that Hutchinson is far too good to be playing full back and needs to be in the midfield or even a striker with the power he has on his shots.

A good win and 2 quality goals. And the response has been incredible. Six posters. It makes you wonder is Crewe the modern version of the Walking Dead?