Just think, if (ifs and buts, I know) we had won today the gap between that horrible lot that won’t be named would be 7 points to 4th and 9 to us at the top. That would have been a real gap between the top 4 forming with the others’ games in hand.
I think the reaction to todays game is perfectly justified. Nobody shouting from the rooftops that we have some God given right to beat Morecambe or Sunderland style thoughts of guaranteed automatic promotion. Simply a reflection of a very poor performance that’s come off the back of some very strong ones against unquestionably better opposition that saw us earn the right to sit at the top of the table.
@Malone said:
I think we all know top 2 was always a stretch, but play offs are still looking exceptionally rosy.
Decent run of games coming up the other side of MK too.
Not sure it’s all when I am reading on here that our defensive play will ‘cost’ us automatic promotion. Sounds like they had expected it.
These results always bring out the moans and the moaners. There are a lot of different expectations for this team on here.
I challenge you to find one single poster or single serious quote that expected automatic promotion.
I did. I had a bet on it
Me too as it happens. Not a big one but 25/1. Wasn’t hugely confident but all is not yet lost.
@ChasHarps said:
I must confess, I'm really concerned with our central defence. Tafazoli looks absolutely ponderous these days.
You’re it allowed to say that, I’ve been on the naughty step for over a month for suggesting he is flat footed, one paced and slow on the turn (oh and he is fragile). In contrast seemingly loving living in Knotty Green, having great teeth and producing fascinating YouTube continent makes him first on many fans team sheets.
I think you got a bit of blowback for the way you come across as not liking him due to jealousy about his appearance and activities rather than for any footballing comment to be honest
@ReturnToSenda said:
We are going to finish the season with a lot of one-goal wins - we'll outscore most teams - but that's going to cost us autos. We've taken our brand from 19/20 and flipped it right on its head.
@Malone said:
I think we all know top 2 was always a stretch, but play offs are still looking exceptionally rosy.
Decent run of games coming up the other side of MK too.
Not sure it’s all when I am reading on here that our defensive play will ‘cost’ us automatic promotion. Sounds like they had expected it.
These results always bring out the moans and the moaners. There are a lot of different expectations for this team on here.
I challenge you to find one single poster or single serious quote that expected automatic promotion.
I did. I had a bet on it
Me too as it happens. Not a big one but 25/1. Wasn’t hugely confident but all is not yet lost.
Yes, having a cheeky bet is one thing, but quite different from the expectation of top 2.
@ReturnToSenda said:
We are going to finish the season with a lot of one-goal wins - we'll outscore most teams - but that's going to cost us autos. We've taken our brand from 19/20 and flipped it right on its head.
@ReturnToSenda said:
We are going to finish the season with a lot of one-goal wins - we'll outscore most teams - but that's going to cost us autos. We've taken our brand from 19/20 and flipped it right on its head.
He's not expecting the autos there unless I've mis-read it.
Maybe. I think if something is going to cost you there has to be a pretty big amount of confidence it would happen without the issue. No big deal though.
@ReturnToSenda said:
We are going to finish the season with a lot of one-goal wins - we'll outscore most teams - but that's going to cost us autos. We've taken our brand from 19/20 and flipped it right on its head.
He's not expecting the autos there unless I've mis-read it.
Maybe. I think if something is going to cost you there has to be a pretty big amount of confidence it would happen without the issue. No big deal though.
I’d be delighted with play offs
Play offs would be a good result for sure.
Would certainly be disappointed if we fell out of them, but plenty of games to go, and the next one is really important now to get back on track and knock them out the mix a bit.
@BlueBoy said:
What an awful performance. No sign of the slick passing and thoughtful buildup that was present in our last two games. A return to aimless long balls and struggling to keep hold of the ball when we actually did have it.
We should have stuck with the same front three as last week. Hanlan couldn’t get in the game as it was coming to him at head height and Bayo was too well marshalled to make an impact (obviously with the exception of the early goal).
It really is becoming obvious that Mehmeti doesn’t work in a CM role. This isn’t just down to him but the way we play when trying to accommodate a big striker and the rest of our best attacking players. I think someone else has already pointed out how often Wheels comes on for Mehmeti because of this.
Credit to Morecambe though. Do they just up their game against us every time we play? They really don’t look like one of the four worst teams in this league.
It’s easy to say not to get too downhearted or carried away but that’s a really bad day at the office all round. Most of the other teams winning loses us the ‘points on the board’ viewpoint.
We couldn't keep the same front 3 because of Scowen's absence. Mehmeti performed perfectly well against Sunderland and Charlton where we didn't lose.
@prufrock_91 said:
We couldn't keep the same front 3 because of Scowen's absence. Mehmeti performed perfectly well against Sunderland and Charlton where we didn't lose.
Of course we could. Wheeler in for Scowen would have enabled that and given us more ‘bite’ in the midfield. Against Sunderland we could have conceded 5 or 6 so not sure that’s a great example but I take your point that it’s worked on a couple of occasions.
I’m not saying that’s why we lost, just how I would have set up after it worked so well last week.
Yes we could do with an extra ball winning midfielder to support Thomo & Scowen and an experienced CB to push Stewart & Taffs, but we have, probably, the best squad we have ever had so there is loads to be optimistic about.
I think Forino is pushing Taff already, so not sure CB is priority over midfield.
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
Maybe a draw as Taf and Tools both had uncharacteristically mistake-littered games individually, but no doubt Scowen was a massive miss (as he always is when we're without him).
@ReturnToSenda said:
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
He was fantastic against Charlton, dropping back and pushing forward brilliantly, 'as an 8'.
@ReturnToSenda said:
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
Agree with this. Really Wheeler is better there, but we have so many great players going forward I think GA just wants to squeeze them all in!
@ReturnToSenda said:
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
He was fantastic against Charlton, dropping back and pushing forward brilliantly, 'as an 8'.
Not sure about that - we looked quite exposed until Wheeler came on in that game. The thing with Anis is, he's (understandably) naturally drawn towards the ball in all situations - and sometimes that's going to get you into trouble in a role you're not used to.
@ReturnToSenda said:
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
He was fantastic against Charlton, dropping back and pushing forward brilliantly, 'as an 8'.
Not sure about that - we looked quite exposed until Wheeler came on in that game. The thing with Anis is, he's (understandably) naturally drawn towards the ball in all situations - and sometimes that's going to get you into trouble in a role you're not used to.
Anis was also the only bright spot in the Ipswich game, and did well against Charlton in that position, and I thought played a bit deeper against Oxford. I actually think that GA is trying to make the most of his talent by turning him into a much more all-round midfielder. Teams at higher levels than us can't really afford to carry a player who's just a creative number 10 - they have to be able to do so much more than that. I've been really impressed with his defensive work-rate in the middle, though as you say, he does sometimes find himself on the wrong side of the ball.
As it happens I think he was completely negated by the pitch today. If Scowen had made any difference it would have been less in the defensive srapping, and more in his ability to link up the midfield and pass forwards.
Third goal looks even worse than I thought at the time. Stewart needs to be the deepest player when in the middle of the 3 - he's ten yards ahead of Taff. It leaves a huge hole in the middle of defence for them to drop the cross into.
Comments
Just think, if (ifs and buts, I know) we had won today the gap between that horrible lot that won’t be named would be 7 points to 4th and 9 to us at the top. That would have been a real gap between the top 4 forming with the others’ games in hand.
I think the reaction to todays game is perfectly justified. Nobody shouting from the rooftops that we have some God given right to beat Morecambe or Sunderland style thoughts of guaranteed automatic promotion. Simply a reflection of a very poor performance that’s come off the back of some very strong ones against unquestionably better opposition that saw us earn the right to sit at the top of the table.
Me too as it happens. Not a big one but 25/1. Wasn’t hugely confident but all is not yet lost.
I think you got a bit of blowback for the way you come across as not liking him due to jealousy about his appearance and activities rather than for any footballing comment to be honest
The last line being a classic example.
Plenty of games to go. Terrible pitch today which didn’t suit our passing game, and isn’t that a measure of how far our football has come?
@Malone
Yes, having a cheeky bet is one thing, but quite different from the expectation of top 2.
He's not expecting the autos there unless I've mis-read it.
Great goal to start the game but after that we were second best all over the pitch. Just didn’t seem to click today especially in the final third.
To take the lead twice and come away with no points is disappointing, not seen it again but Stocko has got to do better with their 2nd goal.
Fair play to Morecambe they were up for it today as was the crowd.
One other point I know he was only on for 15/20 mins but just don’t see what Horgan offers us.
Maybe. I think if something is going to cost you there has to be a pretty big amount of confidence it would happen without the issue. No big deal though.
I’d be delighted with play offs
Play offs would be a good result for sure.
Would certainly be disappointed if we fell out of them, but plenty of games to go, and the next one is really important now to get back on track and knock them out the mix a bit.
We couldn't keep the same front 3 because of Scowen's absence. Mehmeti performed perfectly well against Sunderland and Charlton where we didn't lose.
Let's not let 1 bad performance get out of hand.
Of course we could. Wheeler in for Scowen would have enabled that and given us more ‘bite’ in the midfield. Against Sunderland we could have conceded 5 or 6 so not sure that’s a great example but I take your point that it’s worked on a couple of occasions.
I’m not saying that’s why we lost, just how I would have set up after it worked so well last week.
I think Forino is pushing Taff already, so not sure CB is priority over midfield.
Not a good performance today all round after the exceptional opening goal.
Really need to be winning those sorts of games if we have a chance of going up in the auto spots
Highlights. Bobbly old pitch by the looks of it and their second not our best work all round.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12523067/morecambe-3-2-wycombe-efl-league-one-highlights
That’s a phrase not been associated to us for a long while (by opposition fans at least)
Mehmeti has never "performed perfectly well" as an 8. Not his fault - that's not his skill set - but we are evidently much more solid with that Thompson-Scowen axis.
Get Vokes and Scowen back in there and we'll be much more solid.
I think we’d have won today if Scowen was available.
Maybe a draw as Taf and Tools both had uncharacteristically mistake-littered games individually, but no doubt Scowen was a massive miss (as he always is when we're without him).
He was fantastic against Charlton, dropping back and pushing forward brilliantly, 'as an 8'.
Agree with this. Really Wheeler is better there, but we have so many great players going forward I think GA just wants to squeeze them all in!
Wonder if we'll ever try the Keegan-esque
Keeper, Back 4, Thompson/Scowen
And then this front 5.
McCleary, Horgan, Mehmeti
Vokes, Hanlan
Not sure about that - we looked quite exposed until Wheeler came on in that game. The thing with Anis is, he's (understandably) naturally drawn towards the ball in all situations - and sometimes that's going to get you into trouble in a role you're not used to.
Down to 4th. With a big important game next week? I'll take that.
Anis was also the only bright spot in the Ipswich game, and did well against Charlton in that position, and I thought played a bit deeper against Oxford. I actually think that GA is trying to make the most of his talent by turning him into a much more all-round midfielder. Teams at higher levels than us can't really afford to carry a player who's just a creative number 10 - they have to be able to do so much more than that. I've been really impressed with his defensive work-rate in the middle, though as you say, he does sometimes find himself on the wrong side of the ball.
As it happens I think he was completely negated by the pitch today. If Scowen had made any difference it would have been less in the defensive srapping, and more in his ability to link up the midfield and pass forwards.
We certainly can't complain about value for money.
How many seasons in the last decade have we had where nothing is up for grabs until the last game or 2?
Maybe that season with the Hayes/Thommo combination when long ball clearly wasn't working and were mid table?
Played 28. Lost 6. I'll take that as well.
Third goal looks even worse than I thought at the time. Stewart needs to be the deepest player when in the middle of the 3 - he's ten yards ahead of Taff. It leaves a huge hole in the middle of defence for them to drop the cross into.
It feels so weird being seen as a big scalp these days