Tues April 24th 20:00 - St. Judes

Wobbler

Last night was tough to take lads, especially considering how well we played last week. They weren't that much better than us (becoming a cliché) yet we still got fuppin' thrashed

In my opinion there were a number of factors which caused us to lose.

Firstly, our fitness was not up to scratch. I fully hold my hands up here and admit I didn't have a great game at all, and I just felt jaded esp. in the second half. This is something we can all work on, and hopefully it will come with the training.

Secondly, the long ball. In the second half when we consciously tried to play it rather than hoof it we looked, as Jules said, a much better team. I reckon about 85-90% of our (non-long ball) passes were going to their intended targets, which is actually a very high percentage. So we've got the skill there lads and we just need to get the confidence to start picking passes, and not be afraid to hold the ball up or pass backwards if needs be. The long ball which we invariably kept loosing is both tiring (as we have to chase back) and demoralising.

The final thing I'll say is about communication. There needs to be constant talking on the pitch. Des was right when he said it was like a grave-yard at one stage. We should be continuously shouting at each other, letting each other know exactly who's behind them and who's free, or who needs picking up. The defenders and goalie have the best view up the pitch during a match so they really should be screaming at the rest of the players.

It's not all doom and gloom though, we've a committed manager and some committed and talented players so I've no doubt that we will improve as the weeks go by.

kaizersoze123

Problem was defense sitting too deep, leading to midfield players needing to drop to cope with the onslaught. This left the strikers isolated up front with a massive gap between midfield and strikers. Keeper was excellent in fairness, couldnt fault him for any goal. I thought John added a bit of quality on the left when he came on in the last 10 minutes also.

Mikie

Let the defense play in defense - let the midfield play in the midfield and let the forwards stay forward.

The reason we are always defending is our entire midfield comes back to defend and even some of the forwards. This doesn't mean we have a better defense. Having won the ball it just results in in long balls to isolated players who struggle up front because of numbers and then we face attack after attack.

I don't know if anyone has noticed this yet but every team we play does not send their entire midfield never mind wingers back to defend. This allows them to distribute the ball with meaning when they get it. Take the tall midfielder in the last game as an example.

One more thing players need to be allowed to take on other players - sometimes it will go wrong and we will pay but you need to back your judgement and say more often than not the opposition will pay. You beat a player draw a player from his position and pass to the free man - basic but true.

If you have any thoughts??

Mikie.

thelepo

I think Mikie is right re:midfielders comnig back. I noticed that when I stayed forward and didn't immediately sprint back I got the ball back to me in much more favourable positions. It didn't put additional stress on the defence and we played a lot better during that period of the game.
Lepo