Thoughts v Millwall

kirsikka said:
Before. Afobe, accidentally and perfectly legitimately, gave him a good kick when going for the ball. What was unusual was BA then walked away without even checking he was ok, which players usually do in those circumstances.

I get the feeling Benik doesn't like us. Which is an odd situation since, in all likelihood, we'll be the club where he played at the highest level when his career is over. Even if it didn't end so well.
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Not sure about that, he did come and applaud our fans and they surprisingly sung the "Oh Benik Afobe" song a couple of times.
 
kirsikka said:
Before. Afobe, accidentally and perfectly legitimately, gave him a good kick when going for the ball. What was unusual was BA then walked away without even checking he was ok, which players usually do in those circumstances.

I get the feeling Benik doesn't like us. Which is an odd situation since, in all likelihood, we'll be the club where he played at the highest level when his career is over. Even if it didn't end so well.
Click to expand...
Not sure about that, he did come and applaud our fans and they surprisingly sung the "Oh Benik Afobe" song a couple of times.
 
kirsikka said:
Before. Afobe, accidentally and perfectly legitimately, gave him a good kick when going for the ball. What was unusual was BA then walked away without even checking he was ok, which players usually do in those circumstances.

I get the feeling Benik doesn't like us. Which is an odd situation since, in all likelihood, we'll be the club where he played at the highest level when his career is over. Even if it didn't end so well.
Click to expand...
Not sure about that, he did come and applaud our fans and they surprisingly sung the "Oh Benik Afobe" song a couple of times.
 
My thoughts
- poor performance - lacked composure and confidence on the ball. Too many hopeful balls up to Solanke
- Mepham good 1st half bad 2nd
- Chrstie through the middle doesn't work, need him out wide
- Their crowd got going 2nd half and the team fed off if it and we looked rattled
- Benik Afobe getting his own genuine (not ironic) chant was a bit odd, I did say "bet he scores now".
- Without Billing we lack the link with Solanke who was feeding off scraps
- Ref was very inconsistent and made some odd decisions
- Overall not a pleasant watch but at least we were able dig in for a point
 
AFCB_Liam said:
My thoughts
- poor performance - lacked composure and confidence on the ball. Too many hopeful balls up to Solanke
- Mepham good 1st half bad 2nd
- Chrstie through the middle doesn't work, need him out wide
- Their crowd got going 2nd half and the team fed off if it and we looked rattled
- Benik Afobe getting his own genuine (not ironic) chant was a bit odd, I did say "bet he scores now".
- Without Billing we lack the link with Solanke who was feeding off scraps
- Ref was very inconsistent and made some odd decisions
- Overall not a pleasant watch but at least we were able dig in for a point
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I thought the ref was poor too especially the further into the second half we got
 
First half was fairly comfortable but dull. 1-0 just before the whistle, perfect timing. Second half was awful, Millwall started playing it long behind Cahill and Mepham and we went to pieces. It was like watching us every time we come up against Burnley. No matter who is on the pitch for AFCB, we have always struggled against that sort of game. The bit I have never understood is why does that suddenly stop you from being able to control a football or even pass to your team mates? It happens every time and it infects the whole team. And you could bet your house on Benik 'Barn Door' Afobe suddenly turning into a centre forward last night.

I understand we have our injuries but so does everyone else, we have to deal with it. Apart from the odd game where we get a brief glimpse of what we are really capable of, this team doesn't play in an exciting way that gets you on the edge of your seat. With Coventry and Fulham up next, we need to get our mojo back. One thing to note from last night, Fulham minus Mitrovic = 0. Only one game, but might just confirm how reliant they are on one particular player.
 
Cahill had suffered a knock to his ribs, how much this affected him I don't know but he seemed unable to generate any pace and possibly had breathing problems. Afobe showed him his heels and left him well behind. Surely if he was struggling he should have asked to come off or to get some cover from other players?
 
Neil Dawson said:
Funny how fluidity waxes and wanes in teams. I stood at Bristol City wondering if anyone could beat us, fast forward to JZ, Kelly and Billing injured or out, a few others dipping form and I’m now wondering when we will win again.

Our whole game plan was a high back line and then lots of interplay with the forwards pressing. That high back line went with Kelly, now the team just looks stretched out. Proof of that was how little the two wide forwards had the ball compared to the first few months. They are just too far out of it in a stretched team.

It also makes whoever plays in defensive central midfield look like an adrift traffic cone deposited by a student in the middle of a field. Nobody remotely near them and the only option to pass back.

The forward five press is being by passed with balls into our defensive third.
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This is a hugely important point.

The loss of Zemura was a more obvious loss when replaced by Mepham at left-back. It's easy to spot that playing a centre back at left-back won't bring the same attributes to the game as another left-back, let alone an attacking left-back.

This upsets the balance of the team, the side lose its ability to attack down one flank and the opposition are able to adapt to defend the right side better knowing we have one less threat.

The loss of Kelly, due to his pace, upsets the balance of the whole side too. Again this isn't trying to run down Mepham, again it's a different set of attributes. The loss of pace means the defence cannot hold the extreme high line it sometimes does. It cannot push up to the half way line or even into the opposition half due to being so exposed to longer balls, so they drop deeper. This then means too much space in front of the back four, which causes problems through the whole side from Kilkenny right through to Solanke.

Neil Dawson said:
It’s all becoming a bit predictable and we need to break the loop, maybe even by trying different formations or style of play until the key players are back.

Every side has a spell in the season and I think we may well continue ours until after the Fulham game.
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In general, I'm opposed to just changing around formation and styles under any manager, they work hard on a particular system, style, patterns of play etc, so I understand why managers stick "stubbornly" to this even when they are struggling with injuries.

Parker however doesn't appear to be like that. Such as his changes to a back three and throwing on forwards and Cahill up front when chasing games.

On the red button, it was hard to tell, but he moved Lerma to either right-back or right-sided centre back to offer some more cover and pace, so he's definitely happy to change things quite dramatically rather than tweaks.

Unfortunately, overall he hasn't seen many rewards for these changes and overall we've just looked at a loss with no real plan during those phases.

I don't profess to know how to fix it, but having Steve Cook as an option couldn't hurt if it wasn't for whatever background politics is being played out.
 
I thought the partnership with Cahill and Mepham was poor last night, though I didn't think Mepham had a particularly poor game, the amount of time we got caught out over the top was scary. Stacey is barely capable as cover for Smith, that needs to be addressed in the January transfer window depending on how Smiths injury is and Anthony had another poor game last night imo.
 
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bog_standard said:
I thought the partnership with Cahill and Mepham was poor last night, though I didn't think Mepham had a particularly poor game, the amount of time we got caught out over the top was scary. Stacey is barely capable as cover for Smith, that needs to be addressed in the January transfer window depending on how Smiths injury is and Anthony had another poor game last night imo.
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I like Stacey, he is currently not at Smith’s level but he is 5 years younger.

Anthony just doesn’t look as good as he does when Zemura is behind him. That partnership is a massive part of both of their games.

Switch Anthony over to the right or take Zemura away from him down the left and you lose their link up play and movement as a duo.
 
The Zemura and Anthony partnership is as already as good as Pugh's and Daniels ever was, and these lads are so young... Losing Zemura has been and will continue to be huge in terms of the partnership, however, I'm still hoping that Davis can continue to grow into the LB role with us and give Parker a decision to make when Zemura is fit...

As has been said, losing Kelly as well is the nail in the coffin for a consistent style and team... With Anthony's dip in form (from Zemura's absence), you then have your entire left side weakened or missing...

Getting Billing back for Saturday will help and it 'sounds like' Kelly could be back, but if not he wont be too far off, which is great news...

I too think saying "Stacey is barely capable as cover for Smith" is harsh... On the whole Stacey has been a very good signing for us. I agree in that I'd take Smith over Stacey, but he's not too far behind...

If we can keep the gap to arms length and get some bodies back, I'm sure well son see us winning more than losing again soon...
 
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