An absolute shambles defensively. Conceded two but could have conceded six or seven. Very fortunate to score two. One goalkeeping howler. One fortunate rebound. A decent week though. A point on the board and a great result against Swansea. Need to tighten up at the back. Don’t think the midfield helped much today. Morley was quite passive. I’m surprised we didn’t take him off.
Agree with others, always take a point away from home, but the defence does look a bit nervy, a bit of panic set in near the end with kicks to anywhere.
Blackpool seem to have the approach that the best defence is a good offence. They forgot the part about having at least some defence though so it means they're going to have a lot of high scoring games.
@frequentstander I suspect the management & players all recognise the need to eliminate the silly mistakes at the back (Hartridge said as much on his post Swansea interview).
I like that there is the tactical fexibility to change systems part way through a match, but we need to make sure that the players are crystal clear about their roles in each formation, that alone might eliminate some of the hesitancy we keep seeing.
On another note, we have scored two in every league game so far. Not bad going! Now if we just focus the sun's rays on tidying it up at the back, we will be living in the land of 2-0s and 2-1s.
Not certain the Morley-Humphries axis that everyone was crowing about last week was much better today than Bakinson-Leahy at the start of the season. I can't quite work out what the issue is but whatever combination we play they can't quite work out what the roles are in the midfield.
Anyway, brightest elements of today were Udoh - who looks like he might be a very strong 9 - and Harvie, who I really rated today. He seems quite bad tempered - against Wrexham I worried it might suggest either surliness or petulance, neither of which are ideal in a player... today it seemed much more natural aggression, doggedness and competitiveness - which are ideal. I can see him becoming a favourite player quite quickly.
I think I may have been the first member of the Rav fan club (mostly because he wasn't Max) - though I'm not sure I loved his performance today. The distribution wasn't particularly impressive and I thought his positioning poor for both of the goals. He appears very languid on the pitch - which is fine when the shots are fired at him but not so much when he needs to move across the goalmouth to get there.
Four points from those four games is about par, and we've done it without coming near our potential.
It's very frustrating that the Mansfield game has been postposed, but hopefully it'll give Blooms the time to work out what to do with our midfielders. Again it comes down to whether the players don't understand what they're being asked to do or if they're not very good at what they're being asked to do. Given the quality of the players we've got i'm inclined to believe it's the former. Blooms was flexible enough to abandon 3-5-2 last season, i hope he's willing to make similar adjustments this time around.
Blooms is impacting most games well with his substitutions and tactical changes, which is encouraging. We just to string a few wins together and take some pressure off.
Let’s be positive, a point away from home at Blackpool is good. We probably didn’t deserve a point taking into account the chances they had but that’s football and at least we stuck at the task and scored two goals away from home. Udoh had a good day and scored a real good goal.
We now have a rest until the 14th Sept and a chance to bed the new lads in and maybe get one or two of our injured players back.
Taylor looks a very good signing and will give us that much needed extra height at the back alongside Joe Low (both giants).
Frustrating at the end. Defensively we need to be way better from set pieces. Everyone knew what was coming when they equalised in terms of delivery but 2 players still managed to get there ahead of our defenders. Whether Rav was flat footed after he had just received attention I don’t know but regardless it was obvious they were going to attack him.
Subs were decent and hit the ground running. But we are performing at 6/10 in a lot of areas still. When we start to consistently hit 7 across the team we will be firing.
I think Ryan Tafazolli has been a big miss since his latest (unspecified) Injury. He is superb in the air and at 6’5” that is not surprising. I haven’t clocked yet how good in the air Declan Skura is but, if the major statistical sources are to be believed, both he and Caleb Taylor are a “mere” 6’2”. Can’t speak for Taylor of course but Skura seems very much a ball playing/tackling kind of central defender. More in the Forino mould.
The injury (?) incurred by Ravizolli was very strange as there was no one near him when he dropped to the deck on his backside while the ball was still in play. And the vigorous manipulation of his knee into several different positions by both the physio and Ravizolli himself looked more likely to be kill rather than cure. Blackpool’s second goal a couple of minutes later may well have been unstoppable but, even if the header had been more central, it looked to me as if Ravizolli - he of the lightning reflexes - was more or less rooted to the spot.
Dan Udoh was impressive today and I look forward to the day when Kone spearheads the attack, flanked on the left by Udoh and on the right by the exciting Kodua.
I am surprised (but also not) by the reaction of some to that game. I guess some will try and find crumbs of comfort wherever they can.
That was our worst performance of the season so far. The excuses ain't cutting it for me. That was a really poor performance and we were very fortunate to escape with a point. It's not really good enough. I see some claiming we have a strong team / squad but I'm struggling to see the signs. We have some good individuals but that today was a mess.
I share the cognitive dissonance that many are feeling about Franco Ravizolli. We would have lost that game without him. He made a series of smart saves and also showed some bravely. So why do so many feel uneasy? As already mentioned, it felt like everything was straight at him, but is that a benefit of good positioning? The defence is so shaky in front of him, is that because of the goalkeeper, or is it the defence that's creating the sense of unease. It needs solving that's for sure.
Jack Grimmer - we know he's better than that performance today.
Joe Low - I've not seen someone fall over so easily so often since Andy Baird. At least the latter did it with a little subtlety. Not good enough. Should be dropped.
Alex Hartridge - not good enough. Should be dropped.
Daniel Harvie - a mixed bag. We'll have to persevere for now. Hopefully he'll improve with time.
Aaron Morley - I thought he got better as the game went on. Needs time to build a relationship with his midfield partners.
Cameron Humphreys - I thought he stuck to his task but looked frustrated with the lack of structure around him.
Josh Scowen - nowhere near his best, not helped by being played as an 8. We all know his best position is as a 6. I am not sure why Matt Bloomfield continues to experiment with him. It wasn't broken but now it needs fixing.
Gareth McCleary - an improved showing for me. Made an impact, most notably with the goal. Dovetailed well with Daniel Udoh. Showed how his experience can help the team.
Daniel Udoh - man of the match. Dynamic, direct, determined and decisive. That's what we need from him.
Kieran Sadlier - such an enigma. His influence diminished as the clocked ticked by. Looked leggy and hooked early again.
This next fortnight needs to act as a re-set sow we can then go to Northampton Town and put in a much-improved showing. I'd like to see the following XI:
(4-2-3-1)
Shamal George
Jack Grimmer - Caleb Taylor - Declan Skura - Daniel Harvie
I can’t copy down your post @glasshalfempty but is @Midlander’s nickname Whistle? I only ask because when my brother was doing his National Service in 1946 he evidently wore smart suits when in mufti. The rhyming slang was “whistle and flute”. Hence he acquired the nickname (an eke - also/additional - name) of Whistle.
Not at our best today by miles. Some who I expected to be great were not.... and some that I wasn't expecting a busting amount from suprised me.
Defence still needs tinkering with as it's not resilient or structured or.... I dunno.... it just isn't working. We are scoring goals... which is great.... but we are shipping far far too many in return and today especially it could have been way more than the 2 conceded.
Hopefully Taff's is back soon and hopefully the new lad is also going to do an exceptional job for us. Skura should have been given a chance today imo.
But hey ho.... we got a point away frim home and that's never to be sniffed at.
Only saw the highlights (and predicted a draw) so cannot join the discussion about how poor we were.
Still early days for me with regards to defence and the midfield organisation...but its a long usually injury ridden season so a few options is no bad thing and I reckon Blooms has made some good decisions so far. Nice to see Udoh get a goal...he shades it over Kone for me...but two good players up top is exciting at least and we have Vokes (eventually) to mix it up.
Cup progress will tell us more as the season pans out.
As for Ravazolli...I suppose one man's only stopping the balls shot at him is another man's goalie getting in the right position. Oh, for days we had a perfect custodian...
I wonder how much of our fragility at the back stems from the confusion in the middle. Obviously that doesn't excuse how weak we are from set pieces but that's the reason other teams are getting so much space and time in front of the back four.
It seems to me on what I was able to watch & hear of the match, given IMG's seriously crap infrastructure & network provision to the EFL, that there were the following glaring problems despite the number of games played since the start of pre-season
Blooms seems unsure of his best XI
Bishop was brought in as a number 1 - his injury unsettled things & Rav is ok but he is not as good, lets hope the George forces Rav to improve
The defence needs to improve their focus & organisation to the levels achieved against Swansea every match. if we play a back 4 the first choice ought to be Grimmer, Low, Taylor, Harvie. if we play a back 5 then its Pattenden, Low/Taylor/Hartridge, Harvie. in all cases Skura on the bench with Taff if he hasn't tripped over the posing mirror...
.The midfield is all oveer the place with players unsure as to their role/position. My view is the best set up is to play Scowen at 6 with Humphreys at 10 & Morley/Backinson at 8 - if we need to go more defensive then Butcher or Morley play alongside Scowen
On another note, Vokes has 30 goals for us and GMac now has 28. With them both getting on (with Vokes younger but GMac playing more) it is going to be interesting to see who ends up with the most goals.
Currently joint 17th and joint 19th in our league era history. Getting to 35 goals would be good for 12th.
Comments
Always take a point away from home, but very frustrating to give it away so late. Lots of work to do at the back.
An absolute shambles defensively. Conceded two but could have conceded six or seven. Very fortunate to score two. One goalkeeping howler. One fortunate rebound. A decent week though. A point on the board and a great result against Swansea. Need to tighten up at the back. Don’t think the midfield helped much today. Morley was quite passive. I’m surprised we didn’t take him off.
Two away games in a week , one less day resting compared to Blackpool so give them some slack . Think the late subs should have been earlier though.
Agree with others, always take a point away from home, but the defence does look a bit nervy, a bit of panic set in near the end with kicks to anywhere.
We appear to be a cup team. If such a thing exists.
Blackpool seem to have the approach that the best defence is a good offence. They forgot the part about having at least some defence though so it means they're going to have a lot of high scoring games.
Draws away from home aren't bad but leading late on and conceding always has to take the edge off it.
Low looks to have gone down a bit easily on their winner, not surprised it wasn't given as a foul.
@frequentstander I suspect the management & players all recognise the need to eliminate the silly mistakes at the back (Hartridge said as much on his post Swansea interview).
I like that there is the tactical fexibility to change systems part way through a match, but we need to make sure that the players are crystal clear about their roles in each formation, that alone might eliminate some of the hesitancy we keep seeing.
Hopefully Shamal George will settle the defence down.
On another note, we have scored two in every league game so far. Not bad going! Now if we just focus the sun's rays on tidying it up at the back, we will be living in the land of 2-0s and 2-1s.
Very, very happy with the attack. We have looked a threat in every game and could have scored many more.
The defence absolutely needs sorting. Hopefully George in goal settles things down but the make-up of the back four needs looking at.
Not certain the Morley-Humphries axis that everyone was crowing about last week was much better today than Bakinson-Leahy at the start of the season. I can't quite work out what the issue is but whatever combination we play they can't quite work out what the roles are in the midfield.
Anyway, brightest elements of today were Udoh - who looks like he might be a very strong 9 - and Harvie, who I really rated today. He seems quite bad tempered - against Wrexham I worried it might suggest either surliness or petulance, neither of which are ideal in a player... today it seemed much more natural aggression, doggedness and competitiveness - which are ideal. I can see him becoming a favourite player quite quickly.
I think I may have been the first member of the Rav fan club (mostly because he wasn't Max) - though I'm not sure I loved his performance today. The distribution wasn't particularly impressive and I thought his positioning poor for both of the goals. He appears very languid on the pitch - which is fine when the shots are fired at him but not so much when he needs to move across the goalmouth to get there.
Four points from those four games is about par, and we've done it without coming near our potential.
It's very frustrating that the Mansfield game has been postposed, but hopefully it'll give Blooms the time to work out what to do with our midfielders. Again it comes down to whether the players don't understand what they're being asked to do or if they're not very good at what they're being asked to do. Given the quality of the players we've got i'm inclined to believe it's the former. Blooms was flexible enough to abandon 3-5-2 last season, i hope he's willing to make similar adjustments this time around.
I'm glad we signed a keeper yesterday. TACRITE.
Blooms is impacting most games well with his substitutions and tactical changes, which is encouraging. We just to string a few wins together and take some pressure off.
In a seafront bar and one of the staff just shouted 'keep your kids away from the pidgeon'
Blackpool away. Can't beat it
Nor have I. Too obscure for me, Jude.
Let’s be positive, a point away from home at Blackpool is good. We probably didn’t deserve a point taking into account the chances they had but that’s football and at least we stuck at the task and scored two goals away from home. Udoh had a good day and scored a real good goal.
We now have a rest until the 14th Sept and a chance to bed the new lads in and maybe get one or two of our injured players back.
Taylor looks a very good signing and will give us that much needed extra height at the back alongside Joe Low (both giants).
Frustrating at the end. Defensively we need to be way better from set pieces. Everyone knew what was coming when they equalised in terms of delivery but 2 players still managed to get there ahead of our defenders. Whether Rav was flat footed after he had just received attention I don’t know but regardless it was obvious they were going to attack him.
Subs were decent and hit the ground running. But we are performing at 6/10 in a lot of areas still. When we start to consistently hit 7 across the team we will be firing.
I think Ryan Tafazolli has been a big miss since his latest (unspecified) Injury. He is superb in the air and at 6’5” that is not surprising. I haven’t clocked yet how good in the air Declan Skura is but, if the major statistical sources are to be believed, both he and Caleb Taylor are a “mere” 6’2”. Can’t speak for Taylor of course but Skura seems very much a ball playing/tackling kind of central defender. More in the Forino mould.
The injury (?) incurred by Ravizolli was very strange as there was no one near him when he dropped to the deck on his backside while the ball was still in play. And the vigorous manipulation of his knee into several different positions by both the physio and Ravizolli himself looked more likely to be kill rather than cure. Blackpool’s second goal a couple of minutes later may well have been unstoppable but, even if the header had been more central, it looked to me as if Ravizolli - he of the lightning reflexes - was more or less rooted to the spot.
Dan Udoh was impressive today and I look forward to the day when Kone spearheads the attack, flanked on the left by Udoh and on the right by the exciting Kodua.
I am surprised (but also not) by the reaction of some to that game. I guess some will try and find crumbs of comfort wherever they can.
That was our worst performance of the season so far. The excuses ain't cutting it for me. That was a really poor performance and we were very fortunate to escape with a point. It's not really good enough. I see some claiming we have a strong team / squad but I'm struggling to see the signs. We have some good individuals but that today was a mess.
I share the cognitive dissonance that many are feeling about Franco Ravizolli. We would have lost that game without him. He made a series of smart saves and also showed some bravely. So why do so many feel uneasy? As already mentioned, it felt like everything was straight at him, but is that a benefit of good positioning? The defence is so shaky in front of him, is that because of the goalkeeper, or is it the defence that's creating the sense of unease. It needs solving that's for sure.
Jack Grimmer - we know he's better than that performance today.
Joe Low - I've not seen someone fall over so easily so often since Andy Baird. At least the latter did it with a little subtlety. Not good enough. Should be dropped.
Alex Hartridge - not good enough. Should be dropped.
Daniel Harvie - a mixed bag. We'll have to persevere for now. Hopefully he'll improve with time.
Aaron Morley - I thought he got better as the game went on. Needs time to build a relationship with his midfield partners.
Cameron Humphreys - I thought he stuck to his task but looked frustrated with the lack of structure around him.
Josh Scowen - nowhere near his best, not helped by being played as an 8. We all know his best position is as a 6. I am not sure why Matt Bloomfield continues to experiment with him. It wasn't broken but now it needs fixing.
Gareth McCleary - an improved showing for me. Made an impact, most notably with the goal. Dovetailed well with Daniel Udoh. Showed how his experience can help the team.
Daniel Udoh - man of the match. Dynamic, direct, determined and decisive. That's what we need from him.
Kieran Sadlier - such an enigma. His influence diminished as the clocked ticked by. Looked leggy and hooked early again.
This next fortnight needs to act as a re-set sow we can then go to Northampton Town and put in a much-improved showing. I'd like to see the following XI:
(4-2-3-1)
Shamal George
Jack Grimmer - Caleb Taylor - Declan Skura - Daniel Harvie
Aaron Morley - Josh Scowen
Gareth McCleary - Cameron Humphreys - Kieran Sadlier
Daniel Udoh
I'm not sure why we would be playing Aldershot midfielder Cameron Hargreaves in the next game?
I'd love for us to get Richard Kone and Dan Udoh into the same team.
I dunno what you mean! *whistles
I very much share the sentiment in your second sentence.
They partnered each other at the Northampton league Cup game. Kone provided the assist for Udoh’s 9th minute opener.
I can’t copy down your post @glasshalfempty but is @Midlander’s nickname Whistle? I only ask because when my brother was doing his National Service in 1946 he evidently wore smart suits when in mufti. The rhyming slang was “whistle and flute”. Hence he acquired the nickname (an eke - also/additional - name) of Whistle.
Further to your point about Taffs:
League goals conceded with Taffs in the team: 1 every 57 minutes
League goals conceded with Taffs out of the team: 1 every 43 minutes
Obviously a very small sample size, but those 57 minutes were against Birmingham, no less.
We are still fragile at CB.
Not at our best today by miles. Some who I expected to be great were not.... and some that I wasn't expecting a busting amount from suprised me.
Defence still needs tinkering with as it's not resilient or structured or.... I dunno.... it just isn't working. We are scoring goals... which is great.... but we are shipping far far too many in return and today especially it could have been way more than the 2 conceded.
Hopefully Taff's is back soon and hopefully the new lad is also going to do an exceptional job for us. Skura should have been given a chance today imo.
But hey ho.... we got a point away frim home and that's never to be sniffed at.
Only saw the highlights (and predicted a draw) so cannot join the discussion about how poor we were.
Still early days for me with regards to defence and the midfield organisation...but its a long usually injury ridden season so a few options is no bad thing and I reckon Blooms has made some good decisions so far. Nice to see Udoh get a goal...he shades it over Kone for me...but two good players up top is exciting at least and we have Vokes (eventually) to mix it up.
Cup progress will tell us more as the season pans out.
As for Ravazolli...I suppose one man's only stopping the balls shot at him is another man's goalie getting in the right position. Oh, for days we had a perfect custodian...
On we go.
I wonder how much of our fragility at the back stems from the confusion in the middle. Obviously that doesn't excuse how weak we are from set pieces but that's the reason other teams are getting so much space and time in front of the back four.
It seems to me on what I was able to watch & hear of the match, given IMG's seriously crap infrastructure & network provision to the EFL, that there were the following glaring problems despite the number of games played since the start of pre-season
On another note, Vokes has 30 goals for us and GMac now has 28. With them both getting on (with Vokes younger but GMac playing more) it is going to be interesting to see who ends up with the most goals.
Currently joint 17th and joint 19th in our league era history. Getting to 35 goals would be good for 12th.