Match Thread vs. Wealdstone 14.09.21 [NL]

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[ncfcog]

Anyone who thought this was going to be an easy win needs to take a closer look at the teams in this league and some of the players they have at their disposal. As most have said on this thread Wealdstone made a very good account of themselves. I managed to get a truncated preview out earlier yesterday and I mentioned two of their players, the 19 year old keeper Wicken who is on loan from Fulham and looked a very good prospect, and their No.9 Umerah who they signed from Torquay in the summer and scored both of their goals and made a real nuisance of himself. I was pleased to see him subbed but it didn't last for long because the lad they brought on in his place was like lightening!

It's clear listening to Slocombes interview last night that we are expecting to ship goals, that said so is just about everyone else in the league. People saying the defence needs improving, I disagree. Our defending of set pieces has vastly improved, despite their first goal last night. The issue is with the fact our attack minded midfield have been told to be brave on the ball, this leads to misplaced passes when we are pushing up leaving acres of space for the opposition if they can pick up the loose ball. I think once we are more coherent with our link up play going forwards we will see fewer misplaced passes and less pressure put on our back line.

Anyway, another 3 points and that was typical of a game we would have lost or got a draw from over last couple of seasons so let's take the positives from that.

[Elite_Pie]

Player interviews are often bland, formula stuff, but this one from Slocombe is well worth a listen. Honest and insightful, he gave some very interesting answers.

[Bushwacka]

Anyone who thought this was going to be an easy win needs to take a closer look at the teams in this league and some of the players they have at their disposal. As most have said on this thread Wealdstone made a very good account of themselves. I managed to get a truncated preview out earlier yesterday and I mentioned two of their players, the 19 year old keeper Wicken who is on loan from Fulham and looked a very good prospect, and their No.9 Umerah who they signed from Torquay in the summer and scored both of their goals and made a real nuisance of himself. I was pleased to see him subbed but it didn't last for long because the lad they brought on in his place was like lightening!

It's clear listening to Slocombes interview last night that we are expecting to ship goals, that said so is just about everyone else in the league. People saying the defence needs improving, I disagree. Our defending of set pieces has vastly improved, despite their first goal last night. The issue is with the fact our attack minded midfield have been told to be brave on the ball, this leads to misplaced passes when we are pushing up leaving acres of space for the opposition if they can pick up the loose ball. I think once we are more coherent with our link up play going forwards we will see fewer misplaced passes and less pressure put on our back line.

Anyway, another 3 points and that was typical of a game we would have lost or got a draw from over last couple of seasons so let's take the positives from that.

Agree with this. Watching last night, you might be surprised to see Wealdstone only have 5 points so far, but their set up is ideal against teams like Notts that take risks; they will struggle against more rigid teams. That's the difference between Ardley and Burchnall's styles of play, we'll have to wait and see whether the risks are worth it.

[Notts_Popular_Front]

If significant improvements aren't made in defence and attack, you can forget about 1st place - or even seriously challenging for it. We will reach the playoffs - just as the last two seasons - and anything can happen there.

Still early days, and six unbeaten and 12 points is good - averaging two points a game will very likely win the division. But, as is often said, the season is a marathon not a sprint - and we won't continue to get away playing as we are over nine months.

You can't really fluke a 5-0 win, a decent enough draw at Wrexham, considering all the circumstances - although I daresay they will prove to be more hype than substance, two disappointing draws and two possibly somewhat undeserved wins.

If you have to score three goals a time to beat teams that won't be troubling the end of the table -or even the top half of the table- in May, it will be a tough season.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

Anyone who thought this was going to be an easy win needs to take a closer look at the teams in this league and some of the players they have at their disposal. As most have said on this thread Wealdstone made a very good account of themselves. I managed to get a truncated preview out earlier yesterday and I mentioned two of their players, the 19 year old keeper Wicken who is on loan from Fulham and looked a very good prospect, and their No.9 Umerah who they signed from Torquay in the summer and scored both of their goals and made a real nuisance of himself. I was pleased to see him subbed but it didn't last for long because the lad they brought on in his place was like lightening!

It's clear listening to Slocombes interview last night that we are expecting to ship goals, that said so is just about everyone else in the league. People saying the defence needs improving, I disagree. Our defending of set pieces has vastly improved, despite their first goal last night. The issue is with the fact our attack minded midfield have been told to be brave on the ball, this leads to misplaced passes when we are pushing up leaving acres of space for the opposition if they can pick up the loose ball. I think once we are more coherent with our link up play going forwards we will see fewer misplaced passes and less pressure put on our back line.

Anyway, another 3 points and that was typical of a game we would have lost or got a draw from over last couple of seasons so let's take the positives from that.

Nice summary

[upthemaggies]

If significant improvements aren't made in defence and attack, you can forget about 1st place - or even seriously challenging for it. We will reach the playoffs - just as the last two seasons - and anything can happen there.

Still early days, and six unbeaten and 12 points is good - averaging two points a game will very likely win the division. But, as is often said, the season is a marathon not a sprint - and we won't continue to get away playing as we are over nine months.

You can't really fluke a 5-0 win, a decent enough draw at Wrexham, considering all the circumstances - although I daresay they will prove to be more hype than substance, two disappointing draws and two possibly somewhat undeserved wins.

If you have to score three goals a time to beat teams that won't be troubling the end of the table -or even the top half of the table- in May, it will be a tough season.

I wouldn't ever expect 1st place in any English division whoever your team is, but you would expect a club the size of Notts to seriously challenge for top spot two in every three seasons, certainly one in three - and by that I mean several months of at least moving up and down between 1st, 2nd and 3rd and not being more than a win behind 1st for any significant length of time and speculating about games in hand.

Two seasons into our non-league sentence, we still haven't done that. Fans have and continue to turn up in numbers, so you can't blame a lack of support (as you could in the past, much higher up). Questions will need to be asked if we end up in a similar position to last season, or fail in the play offs in the manner we did under Arsley.

As things stand, there's good reason to be hopeful but there are also valid concerns.

Next month will tell us a lot more than this one.