Conclusions v Bristol City

kirsikka

kirsikka

UTC Legend
--- Conclusions v Bristol City ---
It was the worst of halves, it was the best of halves. Ok, maybe not quite that dramatic but we were poor for the first 45 but the better team for the second. Plus, sneaking that winner means I’m not stuck in a bleak house tonight.

JT swapped to his other favoured formation and it does look like we’re going to be switching mainly between the two depending on the opposition. It made sense to try and attack more in this match which make the first half performance baffling.

It seems like a half time rocket in the dressing room did the job again as they came out a different side in the second half and dominated most of the play. So we have to acknowledge Tindall seems to have the ability to motivate a performance out of them when they are misfiring.

When Danjuma scored in the 81st minute with our 11th shot on goal, it was only the second effort on target with the other being a long range shot straight at the keeper. The stats were similar against Watford, 14 attempts but only 3 on target. This is something we need to address as if we don’t work the opposition keepers more then we’re going to struggle.

I don’t know what to say about the Adam Smith situation. There were times when he looked alright but once again there were times when his lack of a left foot completely sucked the attacking impetus from a break. I hope Rico is rotated back into the position for Saturday. Maybe give AS a chance on the right and Stacey a match off to get some well earned rest?

One thing is for sure. If we do have any transfer funds available then we should have the whole scouting team out looking for a left footed Stacey to bring in come January. It’s what Tindall’s favoured formations demand but we don’t have one in the squad and it’s a genuine problem.

Selected players

Asmir Begovic
An excellent full stretch diving save to tip one around the corner in the first half. Unless something monumental happens, I can’t see him being dislodged this season now.

Joshua King
I wasn’t sure if the last match was a sign of rustiness or lack of effort but this time he started to look more like his old self. Still a way to go but the effort was definitely there. Good to see he’s on board, if not yet firing on all cylinders.

Steve Cook
Imperious at the back. An absolute rock. Mepham and Kelly both had good and bad moments but SC was a line of purely positive ticks tonight. A captains performance.

Overall Grade: B-
It’s a hard one to summarise in that there weren’t too many outstanding or terrible performances. It some good and some bad from the majority of the team. However, they picked up the three points.

It may be I’m too harsh in including a – but the first half was extremely worrisome and the lack of genuine threat on goal for most of the match also something we need to address.

Having said that, eight games in and we’re unbeaten and second in the table. If you’d have offered me that when JT was appointed I’d have ripped your arm off. Fair play, he’s getting results. I’d still love to see a complete performance against a decent team but then, when are football fans ever satisfied?
 
I think second half solanke and king played closer together, further forward and both more centrally
 
bpl234 said:
I think second half solanke and king played closer together, further forward and both more centrally
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They played that way first half. They were just isolated with Stanislas.

The improvement came with Mepham and Kelly getting further forward, that pushed Bristol City a bit back and enabled Lewis Cook and Gosling to be a bit more advanced shrinking the gap to Stanislas.

With them all a bit closer together and more advanced that improved the play, along with support down the flanks.

King improved in the second half as he also dropped a bit deeper looking for the ball and drifted outwide for some link up play.
 
We are still very much WIP. New manager getting used to new formations. I like our adaptability and we are still unbeaten (just).
 
Most important thing tonight was the result, good teams will win when not firing on all cylinders, and I don't think we've got close to our potential yet this season. I'm not a fan of us playing with 2 in the middle but can't complain with us being unbeaten!
 
Asmir 10 Did nothing wrong
Smith 8
Stacey 6
S Cook 10 Did nothing wrong
Mepham 7
Kelly 9
Gosling 5 "awful and out of position most of the time."
L Cook 8
King 7
Solanky 8
Stan 6
 
yeah king shouldn't be judged harshly yet, barely played in months so will take a few games to find his stride.
 
Who would have believed Bego would establish himself as our number 1 again. Nobody saw that one coming.

We are 2nd in the league despite only really playing at what I feel is our best for 1 match (Coventry). That's hugely encouraging.
 
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AFCB_Liam said:
Who would have believed Bego would establish himself as our number 1 again. Nobody saw that one coming.

We are 2nd in the league despite only really playing at what I feel is our best for 1 match (Coventry). That's hugely encouraging.
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Everybody keeps saying we played so well v Coventry. They gave us more time on the ball than anyone else has and were overawed by us. It's no surprise we looked like world beaters in that game.
The challenge is how we play against teams that get in our faces and don't give us space. So far, we're doing all right.
 
Looks like we're finally seeing the Lewis Cook we bought before his injury, an absolute engine in midfield: harrying players, intercepting, advancing the ball, he was everywhere. Mostly made up for Gosling having a bit of an off day. Zero complaints with him and I'd put him with Steve Cook and Begovic as MOTM contenders in my eyes.
 
...yes we have flaws but the effort tonight was good, Smith on the left is not great but he had a few good runs....Solanke can’t control a ball but his shooting is improving...Lewis and Steve Cook were a real positive in their performances...Dan was often too static and slow but he has been generally consistent so one game below his usual can be excused...Stanislas had a shocker but looked out of position in a central role...Kelly and Mepham will improve with more game time but both look comfortable on the ball..Begovic hasn’t done much wrong but a lot good since his resurrection to duty and is a real plus so far....Stacey continues to bed in with some decent efforts...King looks off the pace and ring rusty or even a tad forlorn and his touch and accuracy was distinctly lacking we must hope that he clicks into action soon..all in all we are what we are....but at the right end of the league and the momentum will only help lift the team and manager...and I will take Danjuma and his finishing to bag us at least 12 goals this season...don’t forget we were without two true class players in Lerma and Brooks
 
Garbo said:
...yes we have flaws but the effort tonight was good, Smith on the left is not great but he had a few good runs....Solanke can’t control a ball but his shooting is improving...Lewis and Steve Cook were a real positive in their performances...Dan was often too static and slow but he has been generally consistent so one game below his usual can be excused...Stanislas had a shocker but looked out of position in a central role...Kelly and Mepham will improve with more game time but both look comfortable on the ball..Begovic hasn’t done much wrong but a lot good since his resurrection to duty and is a real plus so far....Stacey continues to bed in with some decent efforts...King looks off the pace and ring rusty or even a tad forlorn and his touch and accuracy was distinctly lacking we must hope that he clicks into action soon..all in all we are what we are....but at the right end of the league and the momentum will only help lift the team and manager...and I will take Danjuma and his finishing to bag us at least 12 goals this season...don’t forget we were without two true class players in Lerma and Brooks
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Hope your right about brooks .but I have said many times for me he is overated and hasn't even played for us this season.lerma is definitely a miss.
 
Lerma was a huge miss for us tonight and it becomes just how important he is when he isn't playing. I want King to focus on getting in the right position and scoring goals. Just too many flicks last night that gave possession back to the opposition.
 
One tactic (I think it was an intentional tactic?) I thought interesting about Brizzle City was the way they intermittently changed how they handled our possession. They went through phases of sitting off us and allowing us to have the all in our own half, sitting deeper themselves like Coventry did all game. Then suddenly they'd decide to press us high for a phase like most sides have done.

I guess they were trying to test how we coped with their changes in approach. And for the most part we seemed to take it in our stride.

The area we did struggle in was the congested central midfield where it was usually their 3 on our 2. The only tweak I'd have made was encouraging us to go a little more direct to stretch the pitch a bit more. Every game we seem to throw in the occasional direct ball, maybe 1-2 per half, and it almost always causes chaos. We're not a John Beck side and nor should we be, but let's throw a few more direct balls in there.
 
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