Makofo

Quoted from rancido

But he only seems to do this when he has no other options ie run into a blind alley with two defenders on him. He could be more effective if he played the short ball to the supporting player then ran on to find space but he doesn't seem to comprehend this option.

To me its down to the management to use what he has to offer, he very often draws two and three players in so there must be some spare players somewhere for us to use. They should coach the team around that, drill them into providing certain options for Serge.
i know he will cut back inside from the left almost everytime when he gets level with the six yard box so why dont we have a player arriving as a second wave for a pull back to the edge of the box?
Why do all our attacking options head for the centre of goal or the far post every time one of our wide men is about to cross, we all know that 80/90 per cent of the time the ball wont beat the first man so why isnt one of our players that first man?

When you play football at any level after half a dozen games with your team mates you can start to read and predict what they are going to do and you place yourself accordingly, whether thats covering your keeper, a defensive partner or striking. These guys play all week together not just 90 mins once a week so they should be wise by now.

Quoted from moosey_club

To me its down to the management to use what he has to offer, he very often draws two and three players in so there must be some spare players somewhere for us to use. They should coach the team around that, drill them into providing certain options for Serge.
i know he will cut back inside from the left almost everytime when he gets level with the six yard box so why dont we have a player arriving as a second wave for a pull back to the edge of the box?
Why do all our attacking options head for the centre of goal or the far post every time one of our wide men is about to cross, we all know that 80/90 per cent of the time the ball wont beat the first man so why isnt one of our players that first man?

When you play football at any level after half a dozen games with your team mates you can start to read and predict what they are going to do and you place yourself accordingly, whether thats covering your keeper, a defensive partner or striking. These guys play all week together not just 90 mins once a week so they should be wise by now.

But maybe the Dynamic Duo do try to coach this but on more than one occasion I've read in the GET that the players haven't kept to the game plan. The problem with Makofo is that you never know what he will do next and I suspect that his team mates don't know either.

Not sure about him yet and its early days to make any judgement, like Bore has ability but lacks a footballing brain but on his day he can be a threat, we have more important issues at this time and Serge comes way down the list

Quoted from tintowner

Lets face it.....with Serge, you know exactly what is going to happen once he gets the ball.

Today, he never let us down...........until he got the ball and dribbled it from the Pontoon to the edge of the box in front of the Osmond and actually managed to get the cross in. Coulson (I think) just missed it, probably because he wasnt expecting it to come anywhere near him.

When he came off in the second half, was the applause genuine due to his input or was it more of a 'thank fcuk for that'.

can only speak from when Ive seen him (admittedly not that much) but did look promising and effective with that pace of his (maybe if not a starter because like others have said has tailed somewhat since his promising start to the season).A useful sub to bring on?

don't get this constant debate about serge - it can very easily be summed up - he's the archetypal bsp winger .he's fast he's got 1 or 2 tricks but his delivery is wayward to say the least. half of the conference teams have a player like makofo, and indeed so do many league 2 teams. i think shrews a couple of years ago had a lad who skinned our left back all afternoon but failed to put in 1 accurate cross or shot. at least makofo tries hard, and he's the only 1 in our team with any pace

When we played Tottenham, Aaron Lennon was lightning fast, and if he had got his crosses right on the night, we'd have been left for dead, but he was raw at the time.

Remember Alan Hinton in his Derby and Notts Forest days - no great shakes at running, no great pace, but my god, couldn't he cross a ball accurately?

Does Mafoko practice running at speed and then crossing at targets in the box? - probably not !

Some teams hit the ball without looking, as crosses, full well knowing that a player will be roughly where the ball is going to arrive in the box - why are we not practicing this type of attacking move with Mafoko to make use of his pace ? - he is still very raw and needs specific training on ball delivery during every training session until it sinks in, then we would gain from his natural pace.

Hearn, runs at speed when out wide, and can cross a wicked ball at speed - these two should practice passing across to each other, Hearn showing Mafoko how it's done.

Southwell would gain vast experience by perhaps being the one to receive headers in the middle of this double wing training session !

Quoted from acko338

Does Mafoko practice running at speed and then crossing at targets in the box? - probably not !

good point  if he did though would make a massive difference to his game.Depends on the player though whether they have  enough passion for the game.If they have they will be prepared to make the sacrifice.

If he's determined to keep on playing and hence improve, extra voluntary training sessions on his weaknesses as glaringly obvious to all spectators would greatly improve his ability to contribute and eventually could change the viewpoint and frustration that many of us have with him - pace to burn, skills need honing !

Well no point playing him left wing when he has to check back onto his right to cross and after 10 mins the fullback has sussed him out and nullified him totally why not swap him and Coulson wings every 15-20 mins?You have two very different players who are both a threat in there own way and Town should look to use that threat more than they do also from our regular players only Ridley seems capable of crossing the ball into the dangerzone?

If serge had a football brain he would be in a much higher division than this. Sadly all the coaching the world cant make him have a footballing brain