Bad feeling about this, manager of the month and after international break the omens aren't good. 2-1 Doncaster
This seems to be the most likeliest match that we will lose in September, on paper. We haven’t played a match for a couple of weeks, so that might affect us. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw that we deserved to edge.
Unbeaten, in form team, playing it around, troubling Town early - need an early goal to settle us. 1-1 I predict. Toughest oppo to date.
Frustrating first half. Doncaster are playing better than us with more control of the ball and more substance and direction to their play. We are continually hitting long balls forward but not really getting the ball in the wide areas and stretching the defence. Subs I would make during the second half - Dobra for Edwards. Gwion hasn't caused as many problems as Rowe has done on the right in previous games. Dobra is very direct and tricky and will put the defence under pressure. Georgiou for Judge. Still not impressed by Judge, especially playing on the left. He goes walkabout too often to be used wide. Keane for Jackson.
Disappointing and daft to postpone Rochdale who were walloped by six today. Let’s hope that stupid decision hasn’t burst our bubble.
Aaaahh! Frustrating, disappointing game. Our play today was very rushed. Passes had a little too much on them, too many punts forward and no threat in the wide areas except KVY. Doncaster had better passages of play and were more organised with the ball. Holy - couple of great saves but needs to sort his distribution out. Too many first time clearances ended up going out for a throw or ended up in an area where we had no player. I wish he had thrown the ball out quickly on a few occasions to start quick counter attacks. KVY - strong contender for MOTM. Our only real threat out wide he carried the ball well. Woolf - decent performance but he had chances to drive forward with the ball into space but didn't take them often. Chambers - solid at the back today. Made some great blocks when needed. Kenlock - did ok. Mick Mills said in commentary that Myles has had a few bad games. Reason for that is having Judge in front of him, well that's where Alan is supposed to be but he rarely is. Garbutt will be playing there soon. Edwards - Not as threatening as Rowe out wide today. I feel Danny provides a decent, chalk line hugging outlet on the right, Edwards wanders a bit more. Downes - didn't do much wrong but didn't really influence the game either Skuse - tidied up in the middle but played some poor, simple passes that could've started attacks Judge - sorry, but we are worse with him in the side. He's never where he should be, he leaves Kenlock exposed and doesn't deliver a good ball often enough Jackson - did nothing of note today but the service was terrible Norwood - Starved of decent service but should've done better with his final chance. Overall we didn't play that well today. It was a game of aimless punts forward, hurried goal kicks not finding a team mate and Judge wandering about messing the shape of the team up.
As San Diego points out, the main issue with the team is the complete lack of a coherent attacking plan. We have an over-reliance on hitting aimless long balls forwards. This has been the case since the first game of the season. I had hoped that following two weeks off and putting the hours in on the training ground, we would be looking a lot more dangerous going forwards. We seem to be gaining points mostly by the simple fact that we have one of the best squads in this division. It’s good to see us still unbeaten and near the top of the table, but good teams are going to wise up to how we play and results will likely get worse. I know the one striker up top system completely failed against Wimbledon, but we need more creativity in midfield. Even if it’s a case of replacing one of Skuse or Downes (who have both been good so far this season) with somebody with more potency going forwards. Hopefully we see this in mid week.
Good summary SD, thanks. Astonishingly, we remain 2nd and a game in hand as others around lost or drew. Agree 100% wiith Hampy, we should have played Rochdale off the park last week.
If we persist with 4-4-2, then judge needs to be on the bench. He is not a wide midfielder and we need someone in front of Kenlock who is going to help out. Come the end of the season, I think that this will be a point gained rather than 2 dropped. In another note, disappointed not to see either Rowe or Huws on the bench today- anyone know if they’re injured?