⚽ Match Thread vs. Shrewbury Town FC 01.12.23 [FAC R2]

[matt_magpie]

You cant comment on what those at the game have witnessed, if you haven't attended yourself. There are too many so called armchair fans giving unfounded comments and criticism....

I don’t think that’s strictly true. When you watch live you see some of the nuances that you can’t see on TV but on the whole you can make a pretty good assessment and vice versa we are all more emotional at games and that can cloud our judgements.

[durhampie]

Drillerpie back to his disingenuous best...Here are the facts I set out which you want to call opinions

1) We have only 3 defenders.

2) They, along with the keeper, are charged with playing the ball out (usually between the 3 of them) and are expected to keep the ball in play as much as possible.

3)They see more of the ball than any other outfield players.

4) Ideally we want to 'play through the press' to create overloads further up the pitch.

But you just want to win an argument, don't you? As always. Mr. Anally Retentive. OK then, that we play a back 3 is just my opinion. You win.



He's also said recently that he has to find that balance between attack and defence so as not to expose the back three. And that sometimes he doesn't. I like the attacking, positive approach. But it acknowledges that he does ask a lot of his defenders.




It happens far more frequently than that.



The film's there for all to see.

Take the 3 goals against Shrewsbury. They weren't missed tackles, lost aerial challenges or marking assignments.
No, they were all attempts to play out 1) Baldwin tried to beat his man 2) Randall and Rawlinson were attempting passes. 3) Both Brindley and Baldwin were trying to control the ball in order to use it.
Correct me if my maths is wrong but I make that 3 out of 3
Many other times, it has been the keeper's passes.

Most fans will recognise this. But you want to win, don't you? So scuttle off to your desk or whatever, say "I'll get him this time'' like a latterday Dick Dastardly, and concoct another way to say black is white.



I'm fine with that. There are many excellent posters here I would look for opinion and analysis before you.
I can't recall you writing a single interesting or insightful thing about the team.

The one thing we cant argue about is the defence being crap. LW has done nothing to rectify the problem, other than keep talking about it...If it wasnt for our attackers, we would be in a relegation battle...

[matt_magpie]

The one thing we cant argue about is the defence being crap. LW has done nothing to rectify the problem, other than keep talking about it...If it wasnt for our attackers, we would be in a relegation battle...

That’s because all our budget went on attackers mainly. We haven’t signed a defender that was playing in the prem not long ago.

[thefulltenyards]

Correction. That is the one negative thing we can't argue about is the defence being crap. They have been collectively crap.

There are plenty of positive things that I believe we can't argue about, including scoring lots of goals, lots of attacking play, entertaining games, controlling games, continued impressive attendances, the head coach's performance at the club and the owners .

Plenty to choose from.

[Woodypie]

Correction. That is the one negative thing we can't argue about is the defence being crap. They have been collectively crap.

There are plenty of positive things that I believe we can't argue about, including scoring lots of goals, lots of attacking play, entertaining games, controlling games, continued impressive attendances, the head coach's performance at the club and the owners .

Plenty to choose from.

Is it the players or the system or both that is crap?

[thefulltenyards]

The balance isn't right in terms of recruitment and clearly in terms of style of play. We could have signed two big upgrades on last season's defence, top quality L2 or even L1 defenders and improved our goals against dramatically at the expense of not signing McGoldrick and Crowley. Crowley has been superb and you could not have passed the opportunity to sign proven quality in McGoldrick.

Choices.

[SmiffyPie]

The balance isn't right in terms of recruitment and clearly in terms of style of play. We could have signed two big upgrades on last season's defence, top quality L2 or even L1 defenders and improved our goals against dramatically at the expense of not signing McGoldrick and Crowley. Crowley has been superb and you could not have passed the opportunity to sign proven quality in McGoldrick.

Choices.

In the grand scheme of things, no choice at all really.

[keldsyke]

I am sorry but that's makes no sense in relation to my post. I have attended hundreds and hundreds of Notts games both home and away and my description above of past Notts is accurate. The ball used to be out of play far more than in the past few years.

In recent times the games I've watched are very similar to the ones the_anticlough describe and I also tend to agree with a lot of his views on tactics, formation and players. Others will disagree, clearly. Plus he never goes out his way to draw at attention to himself by being controversial or holding a grudge against a player. Which is a bonus.

I do however totally agree that if you haven't watched the game live in person on the television or on a live stream then you are on very dodgy ground. Lots of armchair fans at every club, and with freezing temperatures and a cup match who can blame them.

Wow 😳😳 this coming from the man who has commented on matches from his ‘trusted sources’ 😂😂

[the_anticlough]

The one thing we cant argue about is the defence being crap. LW has done nothing to rectify the problem, other than keep talking about it...If it wasnt for our attackers, we would be in a relegation battle...

Well the statistics in the league table don't lie, do they?

I'd just like to pose a question. If we were 6th with the same pts won (36 from 20 games) on the back of 1-0 wins, 0-0,1-1 draws and an overall defensive approach, would fans be up in arms about the attack? Would they be clamouring for attackers to be replaced for some missed chances? Or would they be saying they need better service? Would they be more generally satisfied? I don't know the answer, nobody can know. But you can wonder.

Yes, sometimes the individual defending has been shocking but I hope we haven't been trained over the years to expect anodyne, uneventful, cautious football and are freaking out because Notts County games (bar Swindon's) have seen more goals and action than any other club in all 4 divisions.

[durhampie]

Well the statistics in the league table don't lie, do they?

I'd just like to pose a question. If we were 6th with the same pts won (36 from 20 games) on the back of 1-0 wins, 0-0,1-1 draws and an overall defensive approach, would fans be up in arms about the attack? Would they be clamouring for attackers to be replaced for some missed chances? Or would they be saying they need better service? Would they be more generally satisfied? I don't know the answer, nobody can know. But you can wonder.

Yes, sometimes the individual defending has been shocking but I hope we haven't been trained over the years to expect anodyne, uneventful, cautious football and are freaking out because Notts County games (bar Swindon's) have seen more goals and action than any other club in all 4 divisions.

Thats an hypothetical question, simply because we are not in that situation. What we do have is a defence who were very dodgy last season and are even more dodgy this season. We all saw this defensive scenario coming, but nothing was done to address it, other than sign some midfield players... I'm more than happy that we are doing well in the league, but with a little more hindsight from the recruiting team we could and should be at the top of this division.

I have seen nothing from any of those teams we have played this season to suggest why we shouldn't win this league...