Owen Dale

Fatboy said:
When I saw the team sheet I was gutted to see Dale and CJ as wing backs, but as the game went on I thought Fook Me, a Critchley masterclass. Both of these players were excellent. Let’s hope they can be consistently good.
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For me, it was the selection of Dougall and Virtue that made the difference yesterday, winning the midfield battles and moving the ball
much more quickly to both Dale and CJ. I have to agree both CJ and Dale were excellent, and Dale provided a series of passes that the
Reading defence could not handle.
 
Danny Ocean said:
For me, it was the selection of Dougall and Virtue that made the difference yesterday, winning the midfield battles and moving the ball
much more quickly to both Dale and CJ. I have to agree both CJ and Dale were excellent, and Dale provided a series of passes that the
Reading defence could not handle.
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Agree with this. For the previous 7 games we’ve essentially had 1 player in midfield - Norburn. Yesterday we had 3. The two number 8’s have provided absolutely nothing prior to yesterday. Maybe Wigan aside, I wasn’t there.

It’s what failed in Critchley’s first season in those first 10 games. The two number 8’s that didn’t work. His teams work much better with solid midfielders who can sit that bit deeper and free the rest of the team.
 
I also feel like that’s where Appleton went wrong with the midfield - always a Carey/Fiorini/combo that was good technically, but young and inexperienced and we’d always end up with the simple ball winning stuff missing.
 
Chunkylad said:
Our best teams under him were Stewart / Dougall or Wintle and Dougall.
As soon as we try to play with creative midfielders it seems to be well, less creative?
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Spot on.

If we play 3 at the back we can have 3 in midfield plus the 2 wide men and 2 strikers, as we did yesterday.

Then you decide which 3 and how they support the strikers. Do you have one in behind the strikers or do they take it in turns to get forward? Etc.
 
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I think, as with a lot of our squad, Dale is a bit hit and miss and I largely put that down to Mr Tinkerman Critchley not putting out a settled side or a formation which everyone understands.
 
Always thought Dale had championship feet and and a Premier League footballing brain.
Glad to see him getting his chance.
When I see him and others playing to their full potential, in positions that suit them, I begin to believe again that we really can go up automatic.
 
29Days Late said:
Always thought Dale had championship feet and and a Premier League footballing brain.
Glad to see him getting his chance.
When I see him and others playing to their full potential, in positions that suit them, I begin to believe again that we really can go up automatic.
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He knows where the goal is as well unlike some of our players who prefer a tippy tappy approach!
 
29Days Late said:
Always thought Dale had championship feet and and a Premier League footballing brain.
Glad to see him getting his chance.
When I see him and others playing to their full potential, in positions that suit them, I begin to believe again that we really can go up automatic.
Click to expand...
It’s work rate and effort that’s let him down so far. Saturday was almost an epiphany- I just hope he watches the game back and accepts the development he needs to apply?

If he’s done by 60 mins and needs to come off, fine, he’s put in the max he can do. Coasting for 90 mins or a cameo off the bench is not what we need
 
He's not been given a run of games or given the chance to nail down a position. Maybe now he has got an opportunity to do that. Looks like he's competing with Connolly for the LWB position, personally my idea of a left wing back is a winger that can defend a bit, not a right footed centre back, be interesting to see how Critchley sees it.
 
Danny Ocean said:
For me, it was the selection of Dougall and Virtue that made the difference yesterday, winning the midfield battles and moving the ball
much more quickly to both Dale and CJ. I have to agree both CJ and Dale were excellent, and Dale provided a series of passes that the
Reading defence could not handle.
Click to expand...
Virtue seems to get a raw deal off a lot on here and I get it up to a point but he has a decent engine on him and does the up and down the pitch well for me.
He is not a gifted player but he does the basics very well and he is pretty consistent.
 
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