Just Back

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

My eyes along with most others must need checking then it was clearly their player who headed the ball the third official must have also seen it that is why the ref changed it from corner to a goal kick.

We must be thinking about different incidents, I was referring to the one after about 20 minutes, a corner that was headed towards goal via Rose and cleared off the line by Davies, it was then blasted over via what appeared to be the back of a Luton player.

To be honest I cannot think of another effort they had cleared off the line.  

I don't think we were awful yesterday by any means, but we weren't that good either. A bit similar to when we played Portsmouth (h) and Doncaster (a) last season , teams who were flying high and who we contained during the game but lost to a set piece.

I think if we looked at yesterday's game as an isolated game, it wasn't too bad. It's made worse by the facts of the run we're currently on.i thought we tried to play football generally and just lacked any pace in the final third. This resulted in our "chances" being shots from 20+ yards out as none of our players had the pace to break beyond their defence or get away from a recovering defender.

Some tidy bits of play particularly when it was 11v11. Summerfield's effort that hit the bar must have been 35 yards out and would've been a belter had it gone in. Vernam had a few efforts including one where a recovering defender was gaining ground on him so he had to take it earlier than he would've liked.

Dixon and Davies had reasonable games at wing back and played quite high up the pitch. The problem was, again, their lack of pace. Loads of times we overloaded one side, switched it across to the opposite flank to get the other wingback 1v1 against their full back. But they were having to deliver crosses early because they just aren't players who can beat a player 1v1 or go round the outside then deliver. No fault of theirs, they're just not that player. Mills 2nd half gave us that option but his delivery as ever was poor several times.

Rose appeared to be the midfielder sitting deep in front of the 3 centre backs. Maybe a strange one when he's the midfielder who has popped up with a few goals. Summerfield was probably our only player who puts some zip on his passes and he looks to play forward more often than not. But he came out for the first few minutes of the 2nd half too excited and gave away a daft free kick for their goal. Berrett, I'm sorry, is a passenger in and out of possession.

Worst game I've seen Jamille Matt have. Thought he was really poor. Nothing stuck with him all afternoon. Vernam looks like a footballer but when he plays as a #10, we'd be better off with Wilks up top ahead of him and that's a change I'd have made (Wilks on for Matt).

Dembele coming on as an advanced midfielder behind the front 2 was worth trying as I think he could do that role. Sadly yesterday Luton had become content go just sit deep and get compact by the time he came on. So for the first 10 minutes Dembele was on he barely touched the ball because he was playing in the area and trying to find space in the area Luton had all their bodies in the compact shape. To be fair when he did get the ball in his time on the pitch he was poor and his touch was letting him down.

No lack of effort from our lot. Just not the right blend in the XI for me, and we're not bright/inventive enough with movement off the ball when we're in possession.

Massive next 3 games now.

Quoted from Tommy

I don't think we were awful yesterday by any means, but we weren't that good either. A bit similar to when we played Portsmouth (h) and Doncaster (a) last season , teams who were flying high and who we contained during the game but lost to a set piece.

I think if we looked at yesterday's game as an isolated game, it wasn't too bad. It's made worse by the facts of the run we're currently on.i thought we tried to play football generally and just lacked any pace in the final third. This resulted in our "chances" being shots from 20+ yards out as none of our players had the pace to break beyond their defence or get away from a recovering defender.

Some tidy bits of play particularly when it was 11v11. Summerfield's effort that hit the bar must have been 35 yards out and would've been a belter had it gone in. Vernam had a few efforts including one where a recovering defender was gaining ground on him so he had to take it earlier than he would've liked.

Dixon and Davies had reasonable games at wing back and played quite high up the pitch. The problem was, again, their lack of pace. Loads of times we overloaded one side, switched it across to the opposite flank to get the other wingback 1v1 against their full back. But they were having to deliver crosses early because they just aren't players who can beat a player 1v1 or go round the outside then deliver. No fault of theirs, they're just not that player. Mills 2nd half gave us that option but his delivery as ever was poor several times.

Rose appeared to be the midfielder sitting deep in front of the 3 centre backs. Maybe a strange one when he's the midfielder who has popped up with a few goals. Summerfield was probably our only player who puts some zip on his passes and he looks to play forward more often than not. But he came out for the first few minutes of the 2nd half too excited and gave away a daft free kick for their goal. Berrett, I'm sorry, is a passenger in and out of possession.

Worst game I've seen Jamille Matt have. Thought he was really poor. Nothing stuck with him all afternoon. Vernam looks like a footballer but when he plays as a #10, we'd be better off with Wilks up top ahead of him and that's a change I'd have made (Wilks on for Matt).

Dembele coming on as an advanced midfielder behind the front 2 was worth trying as I think he could do that role. Sadly yesterday Luton had become content go just sit deep and get compact by the time he came on. So for the first 10 minutes Dembele was on he barely touched the ball because he was playing in the area and trying to find space in the area Luton had all their bodies in the compact shape. To be fair when he did get the ball in his time on the pitch he was poor and his touch was letting him down.

No lack of effort from our lot. Just not the right blend in the XI for me, and we're not bright/inventive enough with movement off the ball when we're in possession.

Massive next 3 games now.

...is what Russell Slade should have said, post match. Tell it like it is.

You are joking Dixon did not get one cross past  the first man

Quoted from friskneymariner

You are joking Dixon did not get one cross past  the first man

Certainly not my recollection I recall a very good ball in the first half and at least two in the second which is 3 more than when he has played previously, thought he actually looked a bit better going forward but left for dead by their number 14 when in our defensive third.

Certainly support us getting a new number 3 but I actually felt we were less of a threat going forward yesterday after he went off as we lost our width and a natural left footer. That said I wanted DJ to come on in his place at half time along with a Dembele for Davies as I wanted us to stretch them out and take the game too them.

Im not a fan of dixon but i really dont think he had s bad game yesterday at all

Absolutely excellent post Tommy

The idea that Wilks should have been thrown in up front alongside Vernam is a daft one, for me.

Looks like he'll be the sort of player who will be a poacher and a decent finisher, but barely touched the ball after he came on and certainly doesn't have the attributes to lead the line at present. In fact, the only thing I remember him doing was attempting the pass to Mills when I thought he should have shot instead.

Otherwise, the wing-backs did fine, though they obviously don't have the pace to get beyond the last man. At 11 vs 11, we played some decent stuff and actually picked passes through midfield. When they sat back after their goal, we didn't have a clue what to do because the space disappeared and it nullified the threat of Vernam who had been our best player in the first half.

Very poor management indeed to leave all 3 centre-halves on until the end and you know you're struggling when you chuck a central defender up front and attempt to whack it long to him - if we'd put another man in attack or midfield with 30 minutes to go, we might well have been able to put enough pressure on their defence to create some proper chances.

Quoted from arryarryarry

We must be thinking about different incidents, I was referring to the one after about 20 minutes, a corner that was headed towards goal via Rose and cleared off the line by Davies, it was then blasted over via what appeared to be the back of a Luton player.

To be honest I cannot think of another effort they had cleared off the line.  

Maybe right there Arry my incident was when the ref initially gave a corner when it was, in fact, their player that headed the goal-bound shot off the line.

After the outcry from the fans and players, the decision was rightly overturned probably by the third officials say so it's obvious the lino did not have a clue what he was doing.

Without doubt, if that player had ducked his head that was 2-0.

"Dixon and Davies had reasonable games at wing back and played quite high up the pitch. The problem was, again, their lack of pace. Loads of times we overloaded one side, switched it across to the opposite flank to get the other wingback 1v1 against their full back. But they were having to deliver crosses early because they just aren't players who can beat a player 1v1 or go round the outside then deliver. No fault of theirs, they're just not that player. Mills 2nd half gave us that option but his delivery as ever was poor several times."

This by Tommy summed up my views as well. Mills, unlike Davis, can beat his man he as that skill but his crosses never got past the first defender which was disappointing more for Matt than anyone