Why we lost last night

[Filo]

Last nights team on paper was good enough to get a result in my opinion, our problems were, the entire lack of movement from the midfield players, five traffic cones would have moved more! When the ball eventually found it's way to McCoombe his lack of short options gave him no choice but to lump it forward, whenever De Val got it he was looking for an outlet in midfield, there was nothing, no one wanted it! Tyson was feeding on scraps yet again, because our midfield, our supposed strongest area, were static, no one was looking for some space, no one was showing for the ball, it just makes me wonder what they do at Cantley Park!

[wing commander]

   We had the same conversation actually Filo,we can go on about the defence and toothless attack,but that midfield last night was terrible..Wellens needs to start having a look at his own shortcomings at the minute before he shouts and screams at everyone else,he gave Wabarra a roasting last night for not closing down when he was stood closest,laughable..Forrester might as well as been sat next to me and Furman was poor..Copps tried to get going but it wasn't happening for him but at least he looked like he was interested...

[wing commander]

  As for Cantley park..we were asking the same thing..We guessed they must all be shit hot at poker,darts and pool...

[dickos1]

I think we lost last night because coppinger missed an open net, mcCombe can't defend and the ref never have us a blatant pen and sent their guy off.

[roversam]

Why single mccombe out what about the rest of the useless tw#ts.

[Filo]

Why single mccombe out what about the rest of the useless tw#ts.

I single  McCoombe out because thats where the ball usually ended up when De Val had no options, McCoombe then had no options because the whole midfield was so static, so he had to lump it long

[dickos1]

Because he was at fault for both goals

[GazLaz]

LM was just brushed off for the first goal. We played a decent side who are unbeaten away. People can't just expect us to beat these sides.

[Filo]

LM was just brushed off for the first goal. We played a decent side who are unbeaten away. People can't just expect us to beat these sides.

Personally I can take a defeat if the team has shown effort and desire, I'll bow all day long to the better team, but I won't accept that rubbish last night wether the opposition has a great away record or not. Take the result out of the equation and that was not acceptable last night, by a long long way!

[Donnywolf]

I think we lost last night because coppinger missed an open net, mcCombe can't defend and the ref never have us a blatant pen and sent their guy off.

but we may have missed the Penalty - and we would still have been 1 down anyway ... also the Ref (being pretty inept) might have awarded only a Yellow ... giving deliberate handball but leaving it at that

[eastender]

LM was just brushed off for the first goal. We played a decent side who are unbeaten away. People can't just expect us to beat these sides.

Wabara was brushed off not McCullough.

[dickos1]

I couldn't see from where I was sat,,, mcCombe though was definitely at fault for the 2nd goal.. It was a great finish but he shouldn't have been given the chance

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Again the ball was treated like a bar of soap. Just kept slipping away. When we needed players to show for the ball, they were running away. Their first goal was a bit of a comedy with Keystone Cops defending, our players playing as if on ice.

[RobTheRover]

No one wanted to put a challenge in. Far too much respect given and no responsibility taken.

Henderson was given acres of space to get his cross cum shot in. Not enough pressure on the ball. It's football basics - my u12s team press the ball better than we did last night.

[silent majority]

I think it's clear that there's a disconnect between what Dickov thinks he's getting, or how he's setting up the team, with what the players think they're doing. So many seemed lost at sea last night.

[Al4475]

The whole team (bar maybe Tyson and Wakefield) looked devoid of ideas last night for long stretches of play! It was painful to watch at times!

[RobSlingDog]

Far to ridged in my eyes. When you watch a good team they all pass and move and interchange postions. There was none of that it was almost like they had zones and couldnt leave them? Wellens, De Val and Furman should all interchange and Copps and Forrester should switch surley to mix it ul? But could that be partly because of Copps giving Wakefield abit more cover? As i can understand that.

[IDM]

Here's my take on Tuesday.  I was too frustrated to post after the game:

Overall, very frustrating.  A "nearly" game.  Passes nearly coming off, channel balls to Tyson just a couple of yards over hit, Tyson not quite reaching Copps' cross, Copps best positions to shoot on his left foot so he didn't, blatant penalty not given etc etc.

By far, not a good performance, disjointed, underconfident, shot shy but with glimpses of good play.  Orient had 2 shots on goal and scored twice.  Had we got the penalty and scored, we would have won IMHO and confidence would have improved.

Player thoughts:

Steer:  Did nowt wrong, almost saved the second goal.

Wakefield:  Also did nothing wrong.  Put in a poor cross but do we want him to be a defender or a wing back?

McCullough:  Average, can't remember anything particularly bad but why didn't he shoot when in their penalty area?

McCombe:  A solid defender IMHO but not a "footballer", not the player you want to be the main passer out of defence.

Wabara:  Poor, too easily brushed off for the first goal.  Should have been sent off for the rugby tackle towards the end.

Furman:  Plenty of energy but not too much else, struggled to get in the game but a victim of the overall team performance.

De Val:  A bit like Furman but more involved,  gets stuck in.

Wellens:  not his best game but still on a different plane mentally to others.

Coppinger:  One of the better players on Tuesday. Looking at a clip, the defender did well to block his snap shot in the first half.  He'd have probably scored with a miss-kick!

Forrester:  Way out of form, should have not started.  Clearly a dangerous player but was close to getting out of control, a liability waiting for a red card to happen.  Should not have come out for the second half even though he only lasted 5 minutes.

Tyson:  Tireless work once more, one of those not to blame at all for the defeat

Bennett:  Looked a threat when he came on, got stuck in.  Must start on Saturday.

Main:  May be fit, but nowhere near "match sharp".  Showed some good touches and movement, and the ball got stuck in his feet when he couldn't shoot.  Bench again for Sat IMHO.

Robinson:  Not enough time to make a difference.

[RobTheRover]

Steer did nowt wrong?

Apart from half coming out, changing his mind and going back about 5 times?  Apart from not coming out to close the angle for the first goal?

The jury is still out on Steer for me.  He's a decent shotstopper with good reactions, but slow at making decisions and stays on his line far too much for my liking.  When your defence is as jittery as ours is at the moment they need someone behind them who owns that space.  Steer is young, he may eventually be that keeper, but for now I dont think he is.

[Bentley Bullet]

Bramall saves - Steer doesn't!

                     

[IDM]

Rob,

It is probably because Orient created very little that I rated Steer as I did - there was nothing more memorable.

 I think I recall perhaps once where he didn't come out when he could have, but then again he did catch a cross or two, no dodgy punches.  I don't think he was at fault for either goal and even the second one he got fingers to.