5 positives and a few less negatives.

Insider

Well-known member
Royalties go to "Ghosts" who's already said more positives than negatives today.
So my thoughts on that:
Positives.
We stopped the losing rot.
75% of our play is very good. We looked good up to the edge of their penalty area.
We pressed well and kept that up for longer today. Our energy levels looked better.
The set up of the team was more balanced today with Williams making me eat my words (really pleased that he has) and Robson offers far more higher up the pitch, Ward too. 👍 👍
Goal machine is a necessary evil. We do need a strong man as a focal point and he has filled that role quite well since his returnl
Negatives.
We don't get enough players in the box.
We don't get enough shots on target.

There's a lot of pressure on Ben Woodburn to provide a bit of flair in the top third of the pitch and hopefully get a few goals.
I don't expect today's starting 11 to be the solution however.
 
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Royalties go to "Ghosts" who's already said more positives than negatives today.
So my thoughts on that:
Positives.
We stopped the losing rot.
75% of our play is very good. We looked good up to the edge of their penalty area.
We pressed well and kept that up for longer today. Our energy levels looked better.
The set up of the team was more balanced today with Williams making me eat my words (really pleased that he has) and Robson offers far more higher up the pitch, Ward too. 👍 👍
Goal machine is a necessary evil. We do need a strong man as a focal point and he has filled that role quite since his returnl
Negatives.
We don't get enough players in the box.
We don't get enough shots on target.

There's a lot of pressure on Ben Woodburn to provide a bit of flair in the top third of the pitch and hopefully get a few goals.
I don't expect today's starting 11 to be the solution however.
Good summary insy.

Two points that stand out I massively agree with are shots on target being a worry and the starting xi will not be the solution. But I do think we have the solution within our squad, although the centre forward position does bother me.
 
Agree with that, the lack of shots and all around work in the final third is quite a worry though. I just hope Woodburn can be the missing piece to link up the midfielder and attack, like you said a lot of pressure on him but hopefully he can hit the ground running
 
Good o/p. It's the final third. The link up between the front five taking Williams out of it as he's the holding player. I know keeping possession is vital and if there's nothing on then don't give the ball away. But the problem is we need some-one on the ball who has the vision to make an incisive pass . Said it in the match thread that our opponents just need to keep their shape and they know we can't hurt them because we haven't got the player to play thru them. Hopefully Woodburn can be the answer.
We've still problems at the back.
 
We need to get the ball into the box quicker and cause problems, the amount of times today Hamilton gets the ball then turns back because he’s in the wrong foot, need to be playing balls into the box hoping we get in the end if it
 
RB is interesting. Turton looked more solid defensively than Gabriel but Gabriel was more prepared to whip early crosses in last week at pace which gave the goal machine a whole new threat and dimension.
If teams are going to double up on CJ then we should be looking for our full backs to fire early crosses in more often for GM to attack.
 
RB is interesting. Turton looked more solid defensively than Gabriel but Gabriel was more prepared to whip early crosses in last week at pace which gave the goal machine a whole new threat and dimension.
If teams are going to double up on CJ then we should be looking for our full backs to fire early crosses in more often for GM to attack.
See my comments on Phil's thread.
 
We need to get the ball into the box quicker and cause problems, the amount of times today Hamilton gets the ball then turns back because he’s in the wrong foot, need to be playing balls into the box hoping we get in the end if it
Problem with that is his crossing is poor (despite my apprentice 20s thinking he's got the copyright on that I'd identified it weeks before him 😉 ) BUT he gets his goals cutting in from the right and shooting with his left.
 
I’ve posted this a few times previously, The system we are playing means that the Midfielders/wingers need to become STRIKERS. When we are attacking , which seems mainly from the wings, then we need 3 or 4 anticipating what’s going on and getting in the box to get on the end of things. I really think Yates works so hard but he also seems to be playing out of position due to the way we are set up. How many clear cut opportunities has he had to score all season !! Whilst I agree with what has already been said, we don’t really look like we are going to score many goals. We are struggling every game to create real opportunities and if we concede, then the chances of of scoring more than once at the moment seem impossible. I do believe NC will get it right and we have to continue to be patient but it is very frustrating at the moment.
 
Good OP and agree with the majority of the points.

0 shots on goal in the first half against Ipswich and just 2 in total today show where our problems lie. I think Madine can be a useful part of the squad, but he's going to have to impose himself as a striker first and foremost by being a goal threat, and drop the histronics when every decision doesn't go his way.

Baby steps today. Let's build on it in the next 2 games.
 
The team will evolve over the course of the season. We dominated the first half without creating any clear cut chances. Opponents are doubling up on CJ but we have n't worked out how to exploit the extra man advantage. Brett Ormerod on the commentary reckoned that Yates and CJ play too far away from Madine. Woodburn and Sarkic may offer more as penalty box players time will tell.

The defence still looks very brittle. In their first meaningful attack Crewe scored. Turton was outpaced again and a simple cross resulted in a goal. Again the defensive re-inforcements will take time to knit together but we have to learn to keep a defensive shape. I hope Garbutt's injury is not too serious but at least we have decent cover in Husband/Mitchell.

The main plus point for me was the midfield three. They worked really well together, and has been commented before, Williams introduction allowed Grant and Robson to push forward. They just need to work on their shooting. It was important to stop the losing streak and I think that Critchley played safe in not making any late substitutions
 
We don't get enough players in the box.
We don't get enough shots on target.
Would love to see the players training to see how much of that is because of the way we're training and approaching games and how much is down to the opposition on the day?
 
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