Crawley Match Thread

Hewitt in the midfield with Rose gave Rose less physical work to do and disrupted the rhythm of the opposition which I don't think should be underestimated. Allowed Rose to put in his best performance for us. Going forward either Hewiit or Clifton (or both if we go with a three) should be in there with Rose to provide some physicality. Not sure where that leaves Taylor and Morton, probably at least one of them going back to their parent club in January.

Hopefully Wright will stay fit. Good pace, fantastic attitude and a bit of fight about him. It gives us something we've lacked recently. And if Scannell keeps playing like that as well we'll actually have the ability to get behind the opposition and stretch them.

Hewitt, Rose and Wright complimented each other and in my opinion should be the permanent midfield. Each plays a different role but work well together. If we have a solid midfield the attack and defence both benefit as was clear last night. If tactics have to change then we have Clifton and Tilley ready to step in.

I thought Max Wright was excellent. Really busy and he looks like he has got a bit more physical presence to me as well. I would like to see him get a proper run now. If Scannell can play like he did last night on a regular basis that makes a huge difference as well.

What a difference a win makes.,......

Noticed early on they pressed every short pass we made from the back, they’d obviously highlighted it. The good thing was we changed it up and went longer meaning they could do that a bit less. Looked loads better in that respect.

Very pleased IH took young Idehen off before he made another mistake which would have severely affected his confidence. He’s got promise but needs to be managed effectively, he didn’t have the best of games last night but he’s learning.

  I think one thing that made a big difference last night was that Macca was more willing to thump the ball up the field rather than try to play like a sweeper when under pressure. It's ok to play out from the back when it's safe, but you have to mix it up. If you do it all the time the opposition just presses high and that induces mistakes in dangerous areas. At least if the strikers or midfielders don't win the ball from a big boot, the opposition is getting control in their own half, not in front of our goal.

Quoted from TonySmith

  I think one thing that made a big difference last night was that Macca was more willing to thump the ball up the field rather than try to play like a sweeper when under pressure. It's ok to play out from the back when it's safe, but you have to mix it up. If you do it all the time the opposition just presses high and that induces mistakes in dangerous areas. At least if the strikers or midfielders don't win the ball from a big boot, the opposition is getting control in their own half, not in front of our goal.

Ideally you want to suck the opposition into pressing high, expecting the short pass and then bypassing them with a long ball. Once they stop pressing high, play it short again.

We clearly have some decent players. I think we should stop this constant rotation and play the best players, such as Edwards, Wright. Preston, Hendrie, Rose and maybe Windsor every game. These young guys should be easily capable of playing twice a week. A consistent team selection will help the team develop.