We didn't bother to do a match day thread for last nights Swindon game.....most fans aren't interested in this Cup competition....especially playing bigger clubs U21's.....but I personally was surprised how easily Swindon won this one 3-0.....we had just come off our best result of the season 1-0 against Wimbledon.....notice I didn't say best performance of the season. We did swap things about a bit....rested Carey, Ladapo, Macey, Songo'o etc....but so did Swindon, bringing in seven players who didn't play in their 1-1 draw against Northampton. Two of our returning players were Ness and Sarcevic....bit of match time and certainly not seen as weakening our starting line up....Fletcher up front playing as a lone striker probably was weakening our attacking ability....he hasn't got the physical presence and is still too young to cope with stronger defenders. Letheren in goal not sure how he played....would Macey have done any better ? Derek Adams repeated his summer clear out like the season before.....but has it improved the squad from the previous season....most of us would say no.....Ok we lost Sonny Bradley (sounds as if we could have kept him) Oscar Threlkeld wanted to move on and Zak Vyner returned to his parent club.....those three are sorely missed....of the replacements ironically the best defender seems to be Falkirk's Peter Grant who has only got in the team because of everyone in the pecking order in front of him getting injured.....why did it only happen when it was forced on Adams through injuries ?.....the back four certainly missed the protection of Songo'o in front of them last night. Last night Adams started Lameiras...but took him off at halt-time when we were 2-0 down ? had he intended to give him only 45 minutes....surely Adams hadn't accepted at half-time that we were going to lose and took him off with Saturday in mind....so we played the second half without either of our play-makers. If Adams resting of key players doesn't bring the desired effect on Saturday against Oxford and we lose....then I can see a season of struggle against relegation going down to the wire.....will our new top director (Hallett) who takes over at the end of the month.....produce some real dosh in January to save Adams face from a drop into Div 2.....time and results will tell. PS.....Div2.....Swindon...P12...W4...D5...L3...17goals for...16 against...17pts...13th.....not exactly flying....giving goals away....but not at Home Park.
At this moment in time....and not having regular match viewing to have a more solid point of view {only seen one match this season)....I would put four players automatically on my team sheet first. 1...Macey.....Big presence and seems to be a good stopper....needs to work on his kicking delivery. although his kicking at Charlton was reasonable. 2.....Peter Grant.....seems to be solid, dependable and secure....he came on for the first time because of injury at Charlton...I saw that match, and he fitted in straight away. 3.....Carey.....playing well or not, he is capable of one moment of magic....and the opposition know that so he will always be well marked and maybe give others more space. 4.....Songo'o.....patrols in front of the back four and protects them from extra work....can have a mad moment now and again...but not so often as he used to. I notice that Canavan got some game time last night....I hope he doesn't get the nod against Oxford at Peter Grant's expense....Adams can do that sought of thing unfortunately.
Songo'o is playing well this season and if I say that, he must be as he hasn't been my favourite in the past. Was it right to rest him and others who've had a lot of game time? Well, yes really. Apparently Swindon had some cunning tactical plan and with so many senior players not even on the bench, there wasn't a lot to counter it. What's worrying is that he did start something close to the 1st choice back 4 and we still shipped 3 goals. Haven't heard any direct criticism of Letheren but then, there were precious few there and given it's a pariah competition for many, there was a self imposed embargo even on talking about it on social media. Sent from my mobile phone - E&OE
Back four missing the protection of Songo'o. Letheren....reminds me of the colour Grey for some reason.
I think some of the players have played quite well but sadly only some of the time. There has been no consistent good play from many of them and Songo is so far player of the season for me. The one thing you can say about him is he is consistent and you know what you are going to get. A 100% player who cares. Carey is off at the minute for me and there is something missing from his game. He deserves as much criticism as any other player if he is not performing. Can make a difference is not enough. We had this problem last year of too many players out for one reason or another. Some injured and some disciplinary last time. This time we have regularly lost the use of players through injury. However, last season we turned it around ironicallly if I remember rightly against Wimbledon. This term I don't think it will be the same. You only have to listen to the crowd this season to know the full backing is not there. You only have to look at the numbers who haven't turned up to see people are getting fed up with things. How much does a couple of thousand off the gate cost the club in a season? Adams doesn't seem to acknowledge any blame for anything. But, these are HIS players now given they have all been signed by him apart from the youth. He never plays them anyway so the people on the park were his choice and nobody else's. Can't put my finger on it but something is not right this time.
I'm not endorsing anything in these articles but they are an interesting read. The author, Nick Saunders Smith, is as far as I know an amateur like us except he trawls through the footage of PAFC games and is able to quote the percentage accuracy for Macey's goal kicks and a lot of other stuff besides! http://argyle.life/turing-the-ship-around-part-1/ http://argyle.life/turning-the-ship-around-part-2/ http://argyle.life/turning-the-ship-around-part-3/ http://argyle.life/turning-the-ship-around-part-4/ I must quote this though from Part 4: Here’s the thing: no matter what your instinct tells you, few (if any) central-defenders are designed to be dribbled at by an opponent. Instead, centre-backs are designed to win headers and be dominant in close-quarters in order to deal with long-balls and crosses while blocking, tackling or challenging for the ball with individuals in a crowded penalty area, because they have to deal with these scenarios far – far – more often than they are challenged to a foot-race. In fact, should a centre-back find himself repeatedly in a situation like this, then it is a warning sign that there is a wider problem with the team. Overall, though Argyle’s centre-backs are taking the brunt of the criticism, a majorly significant reason for the increase in chances, big chances and goals has been the inadequate midfield protection, either through poor ball retention, poor defensive awareness or poor positioning.
Fifth and I think final part of this interesting and thoght provoking (although not necessarily totally correct) analysis. http://argyle.life/turning-the-ship-around-part-5/
