What could go right for us did, though we took full advantage of what came our way, which is critical if you're threatened with being embroiled in a relegation dogfight. Peterborough showed that for all their possession and passing stats that they were susceptible to the high press. We didn't press them constantly, but when we did in their final third it was in an organised and very effective manner.
A huge win for us, but most of all I'm pleased for Matt. The performance was unrecognisable from the trying times earlier in the season, we played like a team where each player knew their role and was capable of executing their duties.
Lastly, their goalkeeper played like he was the reincarnation of Brian Parkin. Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll sign him now after having gifted us a goal or two...
Reasons to be optimistic about pulling away from the bottom four:
we are 17 points above Carlisle
12 points above Fleetwood
11 points above Cheltenham
we also have a vastly superior GD over those teams, so it would take an extraordinary run of results for any of them to overtake us.
The gap between us and Port Vale is, however, only 6 points but we still have to play them and, like us, they face games against most of the teams chasing promotion.
If we can produce more performances like today we will be ok.
Big result in the context of the season and Matt's tenure.
I think that's the best I've seen us play since he took over.
The press was fantastic. I only wish we'd deployed it more often.
Lots of good performances but Taylor and Low really stood out. Great to see Low put in such a aggressive performance against two powerful attackers.
Also really impressed with Sadlier's defensive work. He's clearly good going forward but has been poor defensively until now. Today he did a great job tracking the underlapping fullback (same goes for Gmac). If he can combine that kind of work rate with the volume of goals and assists he's been getting we've got a very good player.
As a left footer Butcher offers nice balance in midfield.
At our level playing out from the back makes no sense unless you have at least 5 players capable of doing it. Aspiring to do it has shown us up and Posh the same today. They might have 4 defenders who are happy on the ball but their keeper was not and neither was his kicking.
We executed a clever press today. Let them keep it and play tippy tappy and then press when they crossed the halfway line. Skews the possession stats but as someone once said ‘possession can do one’.
I also think we’ve had an excellent January window. Butch coming in means we’re less reliant on Scowen, and Kone and Bez look like the perfect pair of signings up front. Before Jan we had a lot of good players but very little flexibility in how they could be deployed, all of a sudden we’ve got a squad with a ton of options on who plays where and in what formation.
So great to see that massive grin on Blooms’ face at the end of the game.
Here’s an interesting stat I saw yesterday (I haven’t checked its accuracy but comes from a reliable source):
Since season 2018-19, 65% of goals in the PL have resulted from moves involving 3 passes or fewer whilst only 9% of goals came from moves involving 10 passes or more.
Well yeah, think about... Sequences of three passes or fewer account for a far higher % of total passing moves than sequences of 10 passes or more - so obviously they will account for more goals.
That doesn't mean they're more effective - you've got to look at the % of goals scored from x number of passes vs the % of moves that consist of x number of passes.
Also, goals from moves of three passes or fewer tend to stem from high turnovers - not long goal-kicks.
There is a place for long goal-kicks - you even see City play them occasionally - but, done right, playing out from the back is the most effective type of build-up play.
I think that’s a nonsense comment. “Done right” any style is effective. The best style for the players you have at your disposal will vary enormously. But playing out from the back seems to me very rarely to be done right at our level and is therefore usually ineffective.
Bez has the enthusiasm of Phillips, but with much more control about his overall game. Definitely an upgrade. Kone is an upgrade on L Taylor (not difficult) and D Taylor (2nd half of the season) is an upgrade on D Taylor (first half if the season). G-Mac and Sads are so instrumental in our attacking approach, they pose defences problems from both wings which is very exciting to see. KVY has the X factor, and with a fit J-Mac not even able to make the bench, that’s a serious overall squad upgrade.
Well done to everyone involved in the decision to change up the squad in Jan and keep ‘Mr Wycombe’ at the helm. What would be the point in giving a young manager the opportunity to learn their trade, then subsequently preventing them from demonstrating what they’ve learnt? I do hope the team will earn Matt the right to lead them out at Wembley, following in the footsteps of Martin and Gareth.
I don't think you can put our second and fifth goals down to 'playing out from the back' - it was just ineptitude from a goalkeeper having an absolute shocker (what a hit from Wheels btw).
Not sure why you’re being so defensive, all I said is that it’s an interesting stat and this, remember, is from the PL. In my opinion playing out from the back at our level is a very dangerous game especially when you have a goalkeeper as ill equipped to deliver accurate short passes as the Peterborough guy was today.
Comments
Agreed!
We beat Burnley 5-0 and there were a couple of other 5-1 and 5-2s I think someone said.
And we must have had a few 4-0s.
But have we beaten a team by 3 goals who have been 13-14 places higher than us many times? Most likely not.
Alan Swann was sat in the Origin stand today....
Agree it was a fabulous finish from Sadlier and an all round excellent performance from him. He’s becoming a very good signing.
5 goals from 16 starts now, which is a pretty good return. Always handy to have a wide man who can stick a few away too.
What could go right for us did, though we took full advantage of what came our way, which is critical if you're threatened with being embroiled in a relegation dogfight. Peterborough showed that for all their possession and passing stats that they were susceptible to the high press. We didn't press them constantly, but when we did in their final third it was in an organised and very effective manner.
A huge win for us, but most of all I'm pleased for Matt. The performance was unrecognisable from the trying times earlier in the season, we played like a team where each player knew their role and was capable of executing their duties.
Lastly, their goalkeeper played like he was the reincarnation of Brian Parkin. Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll sign him now after having gifted us a goal or two...
Reasons to be optimistic about pulling away from the bottom four:
we are 17 points above Carlisle
12 points above Fleetwood
11 points above Cheltenham
we also have a vastly superior GD over those teams, so it would take an extraordinary run of results for any of them to overtake us.
The gap between us and Port Vale is, however, only 6 points but we still have to play them and, like us, they face games against most of the teams chasing promotion.
If we can produce more performances like today we will be ok.
4 wins and 2 draws from 16 may do it (51 points with a good GD).
I think we will get 54+
Totally agree 👍👍
Big result in the context of the season and Matt's tenure.
I think that's the best I've seen us play since he took over.
The press was fantastic. I only wish we'd deployed it more often.
Lots of good performances but Taylor and Low really stood out. Great to see Low put in such a aggressive performance against two powerful attackers.
Also really impressed with Sadlier's defensive work. He's clearly good going forward but has been poor defensively until now. Today he did a great job tracking the underlapping fullback (same goes for Gmac). If he can combine that kind of work rate with the volume of goals and assists he's been getting we've got a very good player.
As a left footer Butcher offers nice balance in midfield.
Very good all round.
If we win our game in hand over the three teams above us we'll go 12th and 12th is halfway up the stairs and the best place to be.
At our level playing out from the back makes no sense unless you have at least 5 players capable of doing it. Aspiring to do it has shown us up and Posh the same today. They might have 4 defenders who are happy on the ball but their keeper was not and neither was his kicking.
We executed a clever press today. Let them keep it and play tippy tappy and then press when they crossed the halfway line. Skews the possession stats but as someone once said ‘possession can do one’.
I also think we’ve had an excellent January window. Butch coming in means we’re less reliant on Scowen, and Kone and Bez look like the perfect pair of signings up front. Before Jan we had a lot of good players but very little flexibility in how they could be deployed, all of a sudden we’ve got a squad with a ton of options on who plays where and in what formation.
So great to see that massive grin on Blooms’ face at the end of the game.
Here’s an interesting stat I saw yesterday (I haven’t checked its accuracy but comes from a reliable source):
Since season 2018-19, 65% of goals in the PL have resulted from moves involving 3 passes or fewer whilst only 9% of goals came from moves involving 10 passes or more.
I’d like to think we could get 65+ with some momentum and keeping key players fit
That would be some going! 65 is 9 wins and 1 draw from 16, or 8 wins and 4 draws.
I'd take it, of course!
In 19/20 we averaged 1.74ppg.
Let’s go one better and average 1.75 for the last 16 games.
Well yeah, think about... Sequences of three passes or fewer account for a far higher % of total passing moves than sequences of 10 passes or more - so obviously they will account for more goals.
That doesn't mean they're more effective - you've got to look at the % of goals scored from x number of passes vs the % of moves that consist of x number of passes.
I expect Jonathan Wilson's deconstruction of Charles Reep still holds true today.
Also, goals from moves of three passes or fewer tend to stem from high turnovers - not long goal-kicks.
There is a place for long goal-kicks - you even see City play them occasionally - but, done right, playing out from the back is the most effective type of build-up play.
I think that’s a nonsense comment. “Done right” any style is effective. The best style for the players you have at your disposal will vary enormously. But playing out from the back seems to me very rarely to be done right at our level and is therefore usually ineffective.
Bez has the enthusiasm of Phillips, but with much more control about his overall game. Definitely an upgrade. Kone is an upgrade on L Taylor (not difficult) and D Taylor (2nd half of the season) is an upgrade on D Taylor (first half if the season). G-Mac and Sads are so instrumental in our attacking approach, they pose defences problems from both wings which is very exciting to see. KVY has the X factor, and with a fit J-Mac not even able to make the bench, that’s a serious overall squad upgrade.
Well done to everyone involved in the decision to change up the squad in Jan and keep ‘Mr Wycombe’ at the helm. What would be the point in giving a young manager the opportunity to learn their trade, then subsequently preventing them from demonstrating what they’ve learnt? I do hope the team will earn Matt the right to lead them out at Wembley, following in the footsteps of Martin and Gareth.
Couldn’t be happier tonight!
Excellent in many areas today and their keeper was comedy gold. Dale Taylor 2.0 is great isn’t he 😀
I don't think you can put our second and fifth goals down to 'playing out from the back' - it was just ineptitude from a goalkeeper having an absolute shocker (what a hit from Wheels btw).
It was inept playing out from the back. So yes you can put it down to playing out from the back. Done ineptly
Easy to forget that Joe Low is only 21 years old (born in 2002?!) What a superb player he is.
Not sure why you’re being so defensive, all I said is that it’s an interesting stat and this, remember, is from the PL. In my opinion playing out from the back at our level is a very dangerous game especially when you have a goalkeeper as ill equipped to deliver accurate short passes as the Peterborough guy was today.
Incidentally, hasn’t been mentioned yet but I thought today’s referee Ollie Yates was one of the better officials we’ve had this season.
Echo that, but also add in the performance of the linesmen.
All were excellent today
Out of curiosity, how do you know? I seem to remember you say you were never ever ever going to watch us again whilst MB was still our manager…
Didn’t age well
If they knew what to expect the being smashed for 5 is a bit embarrassing really!