Isn't it the Yanks that say"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well by half time, it was very clear that it was broke and 0-1 flattered us. We had an opportunity to fix it & we didn't, in fact, we got worse. Definitely the worst Ive seen us this season and as already been noted, the scoreline papered over the cracks at the end. IMO we should have either gone 442 or if insisting on lumping it, 352 as Southend just played around us at will. They were very direct pumping it up and the midfielders were quick to join in and overrun us. Definitely targeted JJ as the weak link, another reason to help him out with 442. It may just be my perception, but I thought we looked as if we had no fire in our guts today. Ran around a lot but no crunch/bite in the tackle which is the very least I expect from a GA side. The referee was dire when it came to "buying" every fall from a Southend forward, which added to my personal misery, I would have shown a yellow card for simulation for some of that play acting!
Really time now for GA to "fix" the issues by playing a different way if needed during a game and not after the horse has bolted, as we need to start getting a few three pointers on the board to keep us mid table, we can't start to be "kicking ass" because we are three behind every game.
Couldn’t agree more re the 442 jj is often scape goat for people but when he’s left exposed 1 on 1 and sometimes 2 on 1 he’s gonna struggle. We get away with it a bit more on the right as McCarthy is bigger and quicker so can recover but for me it’s crying out for 442 to give more cover, we’re gonna concede more than we score if we go with the same gunho attitude and formation we had last season. Was the worst I’ve seen sido at CB, I don’t think he won a header all game against an average sized striker, if Stewart’s not fit surely McCarthy to cb and Harriman to come in. Agree about cms as well for me bayo can offer so much coming on for the last 20 against tired defenders. Overall we didn’t deserve anything, also thought their 3rd was offside but will have to see what the replay shows, the ref was ok for half an hour letting most things go and then changed his tune 2nd half and blew up for everything which was frustrating. My first game of the season so shame to be so negative but 2 positive notes to finish on great strike from cms and was also impressed with Williams long throws
Can someone please explain how Southend’s third goal was not offside . That aside we were poor until CMS scored. Southend’s second looked so soft. I pretty much share the other opinions posted
0-1 down after 45mins of if your honest complete shit! We looked rubbish our defence looks so bad jj spent 45mins backing off never looking like he was gonna go in for a tackle, McCarthy looked like he had a bomb at his feet every time the ball came near him and our cb looked like they were playing down the rye.... hoof hoof hoof..... i cant comment on the second half but the first was terrible viewing.
Thanks for your support @bigred87 . Just on the off chance you are not on a wind up I hope you never come back. The club is a better place without idiots like you.
Supporters support and the team needed support today.
It's shocking how the same XI from Pompey can be so flat today.
When you're chucking balls up to Bayo against 2 huge centre-halves, your midfield need to attempt to get knock-downs, and apart from Bloomers, there was real stark quality there.
That defence was mind-bogglingly shocking. McCarthy constantly too high up the pitch, Sido like a fawn learning to walk, and JJ has been consistently poor all season. That said, Charles has looked quite a smart, strong player in the couple of games he's started.
There was too much criticism of Fred around me today too. When you think Kashket offered absolutely nothing, and Fred at least vaguely looked like running, it's sad to single we've already singled him out as the scapegoat.
Its just a game @Right_in_the_Middle, its not life or death, i personally couldn't watch another 45mins of that today i found it extremely frustrating and for my own good decided to leave. @Malone your better than that, don't troll and that's incredibly insulting to be compared to dickie london....
Looking forward to Fleetwood on Tuesday evening. There’s got to be a reaction to that dross today. I said at 2.55 it was the wrong team. You can’t play 4-3-3 with both Scott Kashket & Fred Onyedinma in the side. It was just long balls up to Bayo ad infinitum.
I would personally have gone 4-4-2 but the question is: diamond in midfield or straight four across the width. Personally I would have gone with a diamond with Gape protecting Charles & Jombati in the middle.
Never been to Fleetwood before so looking forward to fish & chips followed by a massively-improved performance.
There seems to be a stark contrast between our home form and our away form. We appear to mix up our play and be much more competitive away from Adams Park. Something for Ainsworth to address, as our picking up wins at home will be vital if we're to stay up.
Surprised anyone left at half time, I thought we were quite bright going forwards in the 1st half and played some decent stuff in patches. 2nd half we were appalling, no question about it. I did contemplate leaving myself with 15mins or so remaining and I never leave early. Glad I did stay, as that strike from CMS was special.
@prufrock_91 , it's the classic human nature that you go into the Portsmouth and Charlton away type fixtures with a higher effort level then the bread and butter other games.
For me, today was the first time this season we looked like genuine relegation material.
The odd hint of shambles around our defensive performance was a throwback to previous seasons in which we’ve tried and failed at this level.
It was only one match though.
Like others on here I have serious concerns about GA’s unwavering faith in the 4-3-3 formation (more like 4-1-2-3 in reality).
I’m not sure it’s suited to the higher division. We can’t afford to have 3 players on the halfway line when defending and our full backs look horribly exposed, JJ for pace and McCarthy because he’s often too high up the pitch and his defending isn’t that great.
Without wanting to sound too much like Mike Bassett - “four four f**king two” - I’d like to see PCH or Michael Harriman in front of McCarthy and Freeman inform of JJ on Tuesday night in a standard 4-4-2 (not a diamond).
I actually thought going direct to Bayo worked quite well. Southend strugglesd to cope with him in the air and the referee let the normal tussling go. In fact they looked vulnerable whenever the ball went in the box, which makes it even more disappointing that our crossing isn’t better and Williams with that huge throw didn’t start.
Comments
You've got to be pretty hardcore to consider Fleetwood away on a Tuesday night in our position.
I'm a little gutted i'm elsewhere in the country at an event, as I can't even wheel the old ifollow out unfortunately.
Isn't it the Yanks that say"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well by half time, it was very clear that it was broke and 0-1 flattered us. We had an opportunity to fix it & we didn't, in fact, we got worse. Definitely the worst Ive seen us this season and as already been noted, the scoreline papered over the cracks at the end. IMO we should have either gone 442 or if insisting on lumping it, 352 as Southend just played around us at will. They were very direct pumping it up and the midfielders were quick to join in and overrun us. Definitely targeted JJ as the weak link, another reason to help him out with 442. It may just be my perception, but I thought we looked as if we had no fire in our guts today. Ran around a lot but no crunch/bite in the tackle which is the very least I expect from a GA side. The referee was dire when it came to "buying" every fall from a Southend forward, which added to my personal misery, I would have shown a yellow card for simulation for some of that play acting!
Really time now for GA to "fix" the issues by playing a different way if needed during a game and not after the horse has bolted, as we need to start getting a few three pointers on the board to keep us mid table, we can't start to be "kicking ass" because we are three behind every game.
By the way, I did play back the third goal, and it looks like he may have just timed it perfectly, which always makes it look outrageously offside.
Couldn’t agree more re the 442 jj is often scape goat for people but when he’s left exposed 1 on 1 and sometimes 2 on 1 he’s gonna struggle. We get away with it a bit more on the right as McCarthy is bigger and quicker so can recover but for me it’s crying out for 442 to give more cover, we’re gonna concede more than we score if we go with the same gunho attitude and formation we had last season. Was the worst I’ve seen sido at CB, I don’t think he won a header all game against an average sized striker, if Stewart’s not fit surely McCarthy to cb and Harriman to come in. Agree about cms as well for me bayo can offer so much coming on for the last 20 against tired defenders. Overall we didn’t deserve anything, also thought their 3rd was offside but will have to see what the replay shows, the ref was ok for half an hour letting most things go and then changed his tune 2nd half and blew up for everything which was frustrating. My first game of the season so shame to be so negative but 2 positive notes to finish on great strike from cms and was also impressed with Williams long throws
Left at half time... enough said.
At 1-0 down? You're joking.
Can someone please explain how Southend’s third goal was not offside . That aside we were poor until CMS scored. Southend’s second looked so soft. I pretty much share the other opinions posted
0-1 down after 45mins of if your honest complete shit! We looked rubbish our defence looks so bad jj spent 45mins backing off never looking like he was gonna go in for a tackle, McCarthy looked like he had a bomb at his feet every time the ball came near him and our cb looked like they were playing down the rye.... hoof hoof hoof..... i cant comment on the second half but the first was terrible viewing.
McCarthy does launch it a lot. I said it the other day, that I hadn't seen anyone mention it yet. Yet with Pierre, people were always on about it.
@Morris_Ital - someone did just that above - put simply - timed right!
Onwards and upwards..... any take away recommendations?
Thanks for your support @bigred87 . Just on the off chance you are not on a wind up I hope you never come back. The club is a better place without idiots like you.
Supporters support and the team needed support today.
Ah I remember the name now. One of Richie's shower...
It's shocking how the same XI from Pompey can be so flat today.
When you're chucking balls up to Bayo against 2 huge centre-halves, your midfield need to attempt to get knock-downs, and apart from Bloomers, there was real stark quality there.
That defence was mind-bogglingly shocking. McCarthy constantly too high up the pitch, Sido like a fawn learning to walk, and JJ has been consistently poor all season. That said, Charles has looked quite a smart, strong player in the couple of games he's started.
There was too much criticism of Fred around me today too. When you think Kashket offered absolutely nothing, and Fred at least vaguely looked like running, it's sad to single we've already singled him out as the scapegoat.
Its just a game @Right_in_the_Middle, its not life or death, i personally couldn't watch another 45mins of that today i found it extremely frustrating and for my own good decided to leave. @Malone your better than that, don't troll and that's incredibly insulting to be compared to dickie london....
If you're leaving when we're 1-0 down, I hate to see how many times you'll be leaving this season then.
I do watch a few cars leaving from the Frank Adams. I just presumed they were staff members.
Looking forward to Fleetwood on Tuesday evening. There’s got to be a reaction to that dross today. I said at 2.55 it was the wrong team. You can’t play 4-3-3 with both Scott Kashket & Fred Onyedinma in the side. It was just long balls up to Bayo ad infinitum.
I would personally have gone 4-4-2 but the question is: diamond in midfield or straight four across the width. Personally I would have gone with a diamond with Gape protecting Charles & Jombati in the middle.
Never been to Fleetwood before so looking forward to fish & chips followed by a massively-improved performance.
That same line up played very well last week in fairness Andy
Anyway, absolutely dire today but those sorts of performances are few and far between from this team and manager.
I don’t want to troll and it’s nothing personal but i kinda agree with @Right_in_the_Middle
Fleetwood have some very good players. We will need to be as good on Tuesday as we were st Fratton Park if we want something.
The big worry is that we're not playing well in games where there is some expectation for us to get points.
Oxford and now this, and we never really looked like getting the wins.
@Malone yes I take @Shevs word for it which case it underlines how poor we were
There seems to be a stark contrast between our home form and our away form. We appear to mix up our play and be much more competitive away from Adams Park. Something for Ainsworth to address, as our picking up wins at home will be vital if we're to stay up.
Surprised anyone left at half time, I thought we were quite bright going forwards in the 1st half and played some decent stuff in patches. 2nd half we were appalling, no question about it. I did contemplate leaving myself with 15mins or so remaining and I never leave early. Glad I did stay, as that strike from CMS was special.
@prufrock_91 , it's the classic human nature that you go into the Portsmouth and Charlton away type fixtures with a higher effort level then the bread and butter other games.
For me, today was the first time this season we looked like genuine relegation material.
The odd hint of shambles around our defensive performance was a throwback to previous seasons in which we’ve tried and failed at this level.
It was only one match though.
Like others on here I have serious concerns about GA’s unwavering faith in the 4-3-3 formation (more like 4-1-2-3 in reality).
I’m not sure it’s suited to the higher division. We can’t afford to have 3 players on the halfway line when defending and our full backs look horribly exposed, JJ for pace and McCarthy because he’s often too high up the pitch and his defending isn’t that great.
Without wanting to sound too much like Mike Bassett - “four four f**king two” - I’d like to see PCH or Michael Harriman in front of McCarthy and Freeman inform of JJ on Tuesday night in a standard 4-4-2 (not a diamond).
Looking forward to a better performance at Fleetwood. Surely Paris must get a start.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/league-one/11512979/wycombe-2-3-southend
Surely the long throw merchant should be worth another start too
The highlights don’t do Darius Charles too many favours on the first two goals.
Could and should have cut out the danger on both goals.
I actually thought going direct to Bayo worked quite well. Southend strugglesd to cope with him in the air and the referee let the normal tussling go. In fact they looked vulnerable whenever the ball went in the box, which makes it even more disappointing that our crossing isn’t better and Williams with that huge throw didn’t start.
Williams should be an automatic starter whilst we have him. His pace frightens a lot of defenders.