Match Thread vs. York City 26.09.20 [PSF]

[lunaspie]

Whose to say Neil's Diamond, (pun intended) won't click at some point? Can we wait till it happens?

We're slow, predictable, passing and ball retention is atrocious but apart from that we're doing OK.

That's right, crackling Gumpy get on board

[nw6pie]

Well, I think from Tuesday and today combined, we may have had 1 shot on target (though I'm actually struggling to remember if we had that many). There's been a complete lack of zip and energy to our play, as if the players are trying to remember what they should be doing rather than just doing the basics that should be second nature to them.

Contrast that to Harrogate and York, who had game plans and stuck to them. Makes you wonder what the hell we're doing in training. We managed to give York a closer game last season even after all the chaos of the summer!

There was an interesting story on the Football Weekly podcast this week about Roy Hodgson and how his training is all based around repetition - so that when it comes to match day it's just drilled into you what to do. Watching us attempting our tika taka and intricate flicks today, it struck me that we were making it up as we went along - hence the fact that so little came off.

Players were popping up in the most unlikely areas - I too couldn't understand why Enzio was "challenging" their player when a hopeful cross came in for the first goal. Makes you wonder if it was Neil Cox who worked more on drills and coaching with the players than NA. Alas, our efforts at total football ended up as total crap football.

It does feel like we've wasted most of this pre-season on a diamond experiment that the manager keeps insisting we probably won't use when the season starts. But why not try other options too? I look at our squad and keep thinking 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2 looks a better bet if we want to move away from 4-4-2 and want to get the likes of Roberts, Enzio and Rodrigues on the ball in the right areas.

Anyway, well done Notts for killing all of the optimism I had for the season just a week ago!

PS The second goal came from a horrible pass out from the back, so that's two goals conceded in the game from faffing around at the back (though the Brindley one was particularly lackadaisical and inexcusable for a pro footballer).

[TSANHO]

Glad I wasn’t able to watch the game by the sounds of it, but the score line most likely tells me everything I need to know.

As others have said, I don’t get the diamond formation with the players we have at our disposal. Roberts is never a number ten so why negate our biggest threat along with Enzio. I’m surprised no other formation has been tested so far.

I was a critic of his last season, but have we missed Mitch Rose’s muscle? I don’t know, but alleged performances like today’s certainly won’t instil fear into the hearts of Dover.

The manager has a huge couple of months coming up.

[optipez]

Glad I wasn’t able to watch the game by the sounds of it, but the score line most likely tells me everything I need to know.

As others have said, I don’t get the diamond formation with the players we have at our disposal. Roberts is never a number ten so why negate our biggest threat along with Enzio. I’m surprised no other formation has been tested so far.

I was a critic of his last season, but have we missed Mitch Rose’s muscle? I don’t know, but alleged performances like today’s certainly won’t instil fear into the hearts of Dover.

The manager has a huge couple of months coming up.

Yes, we are missing Rose or a player like him. I think we've signed a couple too many bits and pieces players.

[downunderpie]

I watched this on my big screen,great picture in HD and thought back to the time in 1955 when there was a few more fans there including me. I listened to the them saying it was only a friendly and not the team or pattern of play they would use next week but it gave the lads match play time(whatever that means) Les Bradd was a great player but his rose-coloured specs do not suit him.
As for the game, not as disappointed as in 1955,is the best I can say...

[uysapie]

Well, I think from Tuesday and today combined, we may have had 1 shot on target (though I'm actually struggling to remember if we had that many). There's been a complete lack of zip and energy to our play, as if the players are trying to remember what they should be doing rather than just doing the basics that should be second nature to them.

Contrast that to Harrogate and York, who had game plans and stuck to them. Makes you wonder what the hell we're doing in training. We managed to give York a closer game last season even after all the chaos of the summer!

There was an interesting story on the Football Weekly podcast this week about Roy Hodgson and how his training is all based around repetition - so that when it comes to match day it's just drilled into you what to do. Watching us attempting our tika taka and intricate flicks today, it struck me that we were making it up as we went along - hence the fact that so little came off.

Players were popping up in the most unlikely areas - I too couldn't understand why Enzio was "challenging" their player when a hopeful cross came in for the first goal. Makes you wonder if it was Neil Cox who worked more on drills and coaching with the players than NA. Alas, our efforts at total football ended up as total crap football.

Makes me wonder how much input Abbott is having.

[jackal2]

Glad I wasn’t able to watch the game by the sounds of it, but the score line most likely tells me everything I need to know.

As others have said, I don’t get the diamond formation with the players we have at our disposal. Roberts is never a number ten so why negate our biggest threat along with Enzio. I’m surprised no other formation has been tested so far.

I was a critic of his last season, but have we missed Mitch Rose’s muscle? I don’t know, but alleged performances like today’s certainly won’t instil fear into the hearts of Dover.

The manager has a huge couple of months coming up.

Mitch Rose wasn't an exceptional player but I think we did need to replace him with another muck and nettles ball-winner type, and I'm not sure Reeves fits that bill even though he has other qualities.

The truth is that Enzio is (just) a very inconsistent winger. On a good day he can cut in and score a "worldy" goal out of nothing, but the rest of the time he is either anonymous or even a liability. Ardley has defended him publicly, but the fact that he has tried experimenting with him in a midfield three and at the front of a diamond to get him more involved, and has only named him as substitute in our two most important recent matches, suggests to me that patience is running out with our big-money signing. There's no doubt he has talent, but unless he finds the consistency and concentration to go with it, he will never be anything other than a show pony at League Two or National League level.

You are correct that Roberts isn't a number 10 either. He's a better, more consistent winger than Enzio, and can cross the ball with real quality, and he carries a significant goal threat coming in from wide, so let him get on with it.

In my opinion, Rodrigues and maybe Sloth are the two contenders for a number 10 slot, because they are both creative central midfield players who are best deployed in an attacking role with lesser defensive responsibility. Play one of them in the middle of an attacking midfield three, flanked by Enzio and Roberts as wingers, with Wootton up top, and you should have a decent attacking unit with considerable goal power.

Then you would need a couple of defensive midfielders behind them to screen the defence and supply the more creative options, which is where Doyle, Reeves and O'Brien are the obvious contenders, with the bonus that O'Brien and Rodrigues can also play as wingers if our first options get injured. We still would have been better off keeping Osbourne though, because he was more natural in that position. In fact, I think he was more worthy of a place then Enzio at times.