Quote Originally Posted by the_anticlough View Post
I'll have a go

Was the midfield better? - Yeah, they're getting used to the midfield 5 now, Enzio and Barnett did a lot of good work.
Reeves was everywhere, even missing 2 easy headers on their 6 yard line. But O'Brien and especially Griffiths were poor IMO

Did we play too ‘sideways’? - Not like in previous games. They pushed up making us play backwards and back to the keeper too often. But there was none of the pointless passing like in the Aldershot game. The team were obviously under orders to be more positive.

I noticed we scored thrice when Knight came on, what difference did he make...and how? Is he a Luke Rogers kind of player? - It was strange (and fantastic) to see a mobile player like that flitting around and threatening to get in behind them (and actually doing so). He didn't actually play well though IMO and I think they'll have him on shooting practice this week, or at least boost his confidence in his shooting boots before Hartlepool

For me, a hidden highlight was Enzio's clever ball with the outside of his foot for Ellis' opener - there isn't another midfielder in the club who would've played that ball.

Knowles cool finishing and opportunism in punishing their mistakes was superb. Any other player we have might have messed up one or two of those - top class finishing

Back three looked like they'd been playing there all season (their goals were due to individual errors by Barnett and Griffiths I think), Chicksen and Rawlinson looked comfortable as the left and right sided defenders - very encouraging.
Pretty much all of this - I think it was the first early signs of the kind of football that Burchnall wants to play. We were still happy to keep possession and go sideways or backwards when it was the right option, but when there was a run in behind we were equally happy to play a quicker, longer pass in behind the opposition. There were also plenty of bad bits that told us what we already know, mind - that this isn’t the most balanced set of players with some obvious weaknesses.

Ultimately I think that the last couple of games have been really positive just because they’ve proven that the players haven’t jacked it in and are playing for the new manager, which should be enough to see us into the play-offs this year where you never know what might happen.