Donny

[gazan]

From an Alex Exile in Solihull. At the Morecambe game last weekend, Shilow and Charlie didn't offer enough 'presence' in midfield. At times I thought we were bullied. I didn't go today but the same players with Aaron added, there just can't have been enough force in midfield. Was good to see Tom back though. Josh is a class act and not surprised to hear that he was out best player today.

Tom?
Yes, I agree generally. We are stuck on this idea on going 'around' the opposition. For that to be effective, both Tracey and Kirk need to be pushing on a lot more. Tracey looks like he no longer knows what to do when facing the fullback. Charlie rarely carries the ball forward, preferring to simply give-and-go every time. Charlie is also wasting the huge resource that is Rio bombing forward on the outside. Rio's surges when Kirk has the ball are a little reminiscent of Pixie. However, Kirk has ignored every one of these runs, preferring to stop any forward motion and playing a sideways pass infield instead. Also Billington is much more suited to this idea than Cooney.
However, it really needs mixing up and the Alex need to reestablish a midfield presence. For too long, the main distributors of balls forward have actually been 2 CHs. The current two are actually quite good at this but shouldn't there also be some interplay between the midfielders to get the ball forward (not to mention playing the ball to the feet of strikers in the box!).
With the return of Tabiner, I expect things to improve in this department. However, my footnote to this is, although I was as chuffed as the next fan to see Charlie return, I do wonder if his return has upset the balance and that workable formations are being sacrificed to fit him in the team.

[Timmy58]

Tom?
Yes, I agree generally. We are stuck on this idea on going 'around' the opposition. For that to be effective, both Tracey and Kirk need to be pushing on a lot more. Tracey looks like he no longer knows what to do when facing the fullback. Charlie rarely carries the ball forward, preferring to simply give-and-go every time. Charlie is also wasting the huge resource that is Rio bombing forward on the outside. Rio's surges when Kirk has the ball are a little reminiscent of Pixie. However, Kirk has ignored every one of these runs, preferring to stop any forward motion and playing a sideways pass infield instead. Also Billington is much more suited to this idea than Cooney.
However, it really needs mixing up and the Alex need to reestablish a midfield presence. For too long, the main distributors of balls forward have actually been 2 CHs. The current two are actually quite good at this but shouldn't there also be some interplay between the midfielders to get the ball forward (not to mention playing the ball to the feet of strikers in the box!).
With the return of Tabiner, I expect things to improve in this department. However, my footnote to this is, although I was as chuffed as the next fan to see Charlie return, I do wonder if his return has upset the balance and that workable formations are being sacrificed to fit him in the team.

I am struggling to work out why we signed Kirky other than the fact he would have cost nowt. That said, he starts on the bench for me as he is offering very little, Shilo starts every match if fit because he occupies at least 2 every time he has the ball. He has pace and creates opportunities that, for example, Charlie doesn't. Rowe is decent but is not a winger and is not as good as Tracey but better than Kirky. Just my opinion and probably contrary to most. There seemed to be a lot of positivity surround the signong of CK but I felt it was somewhat misplaced. Not many come back to the club successfully!