I think he's got to consider then, surely, if he wanted us to go on and crush them, why did he take both strikers off?
I agree, we didn't move it as well as we could have hypothetically done but without Yates movement up front and latterly Simms presence, that's almost inevitable as the movement up front creates the space to play.
I just think it's over thinking it all a bit 'on another day...' - yeah, of course but football is made of lots of if, buts and maybes and thousands of interconnected moments. I think stats are useful over a period of time but I think they're over analysed in individual games.
At the beginning of the year we dominated possession and had the ball a lot in the 'right places' - the problem was, that masked the fact we weren't taking risks, we weren't getting enough players in the box or taking on shots. The good stats were a function of that conservative approach. Now we're a bit more direct, we are creating and converting more chances but as a result, we turn over possession more. I know that's not your point in relation to last 20 (which ultimately, I agree with) but I think it shows why stats don't tell the full picture.
I did think Embleton did well when he came on. He's got something imo. He's very quick thinking, looks pretty well built for a young lad and is decisive and seems technically good - his stats (ok, hypocritical!) show he does well stuff that a lot of our midfielders don't so far. He dribbles and he plays through balls and not many of our players actually do that regularly
Also Demi and Shaw had their moments and I think that's a really good sign. Squad is looking quite good now, especially with Simms finding his feet.
I think our pitch, when not frozen or under water is the best I've seen in the division.
Well he's thinking of games to come also, but at times the passing breaks down before the forward line, it's the old they let the defence have it then we have at times struggled to get it though midfield.
This is when you need players taking the ball on the half turn and progressing.
I'm just going off what he's saying and something I noticed too, usually a man down means we have more of the ball and not really until they were down to 9 did we really dominate.
As for early season we were doing so much right and then kind of abandoned it.
Was the system wrong, not really we dominated and created the positions or even chances but poor final ball etc.
For me that is down to a brand new squad and look at the difference in the strikers now. Yates couldn't buy a goal at the start. If we played those games again now and dominated the same I think we would put a good few goals away. So I dont think passing the ball well and dominating was the issue. We did need to mix it up a little and at times still I think we go long a bit too much still, as crith has also mentioned we could still pass better at times.
I think we look a better side when we do pass a bit more, it as without madine long aimless balls are most often a waste. Pass it through, get it down the wings, take someone on and get the ball in, cut it back etc. More likely to score from that than long balls usually.
Most the impressive goals we score are when we pass it on the floor, cutting though sides, either with them pinned in or on the break. I know we're capable, sometimes its about taking that risk of a pass or taking someone on to create space. A lot of the times we can hesitate and go back across the defence only to go back to keeper and launch and then lose the ball, in that instance its surely better to try and pass through even if it doesn't happen, rather than a long ball which most times their defence is taller and outnumbers our attackers.
I'd just like to see a bit more of it for me and Critch keeps mentioning it in multiple interviews so he still wants to improve it. We aren't the complete article yet despite the big improvement but we look much better and are on the right path. Just a bit more belief in passing ability, take a good touch and try stuff, don't be afraid to be positive and play with freedom. Run at teams more and shoot more. Players like Cj coming back will help this though.