Brief Synopsis!!! (Portsmouth)

[Sam Barker]

Who were the pundits/ commentators on sky? What did they make of us?

In the five mins before kick off, Guy Branson was the pundit. Got introduced and then went straight to the two mins silence! He then said he thoroughly expected Argyle to win comfortably as Pompey defence was poor.

At the end they went straight to the rugby without any analysis or review of the match.

True but the commentary team of Gary Weaver and David Prutton were generally very complimentary. I liked " the tide is turning for this proud football club and proud city". Love it

'Champagne football from Plymouth Argyle' :scarf:

 

[GreenSam]

Agree with the starting line up scores, all above 8. However, Morgan, Harvey and Smalley shouldn't get more than 3. Do us a favour Sheridan and get some reserves who can actually play football!

Very harsh indeed. The latter two (one of whom is still comfortably in his teenage years) were only on the pitch for five or so minutes, got some decent touches and didn't have the time to do anything wrong. I guess some will always have to have something to moan about. I'm no fan of Smalley in the slightest but he did very well to force his way through the defence to get those two clear chances of goal that he did have. Put it this way, it's one of the first times I've ever seen him do something that Reuben would have done. That said, in spite of that he didn't at all do much apart from that and he probably should have scored the two chances once he had got into the position to do so. Hardly his worst game though. Now to the starters...

After what was in my view the worst performance of the season last week against Fylde, now onto the best performance of the season in a game that we won 3-0 but that really did flatter Pompey more than us. Woodwork twice and also a one on one saved. Lewi and Morgan both very close to being through on goal amongst other half chances. That really was a near complete performance in which Luke had very little to do and the defenders didn't even have a huge amount thanks to our complete and utter domination of the midfield. The middle was undoubtedly where we won that game- no question about it. In the first half where we walked all over Pompey, they were at the heart of all our creativity and drove us forward very well. Second half they neutralised Pompey who had evidently had a kick up the backside at half-time and got us some quick, sharp counter-attacks going on which saw us come very close to extending our lead further a couple of times.

Anthony O'Connor today produced what I think is the best individual performance from an Argyle player all season. He won just about every single tackle he committed to and started so much of our possession play off. He just bossed the game in every way possible- won the ball from people's feet and then crisply got our attacks going from the start to the end. It was the textbook performance for a 'sitting' defensive midfielder. Absolutely textbook. Equally fantastic was Lee Cox. For all that O'Connor does tackling-wise, Cox does an equal amount with his interceptions which is far more in the way of the invisible, unnoticed stuff than the more obvious tackles that O'Connor produces. I don't necessarily agree that Cox lingers too long unnecessarily with the ball either. I think he waits for someone to get into the right amount of space and then plays a great pass rather than a simple but immediate one. Both of them have one thing in common though and that's that they read the game in front of them sublimely. Blizzard did very well too- probably the weakest of the three but far from a passengers in my view. Played the link man between the midfield and the attack very well.

A special note for the wing-backs too. I've been a bit critical of one of them recently but make no mistake about it: Andy Kellett absolutely arrived today. After being a bit iffy defensively of late he showed a really good attitude and dedication/commitment to learn. He got up and down the line a lot better (rather than just down it). He barely made a defensive mistake all day and was as ever an absolute livewire going forward. That was the game more than any that he really made his mark and well played to him. Mellor was even better. Involved with two of the goals and he also rarely put a defensive foot wrong as ever. Full-back and playmaker rolled into one.

The back three and the goalkeeper didn't have a lot to do in the first half. A bit more pressure in the second half but they stood firm well and soaked up that little spell of Portsmouth player until they eventually gave up. The stand out player was without a doubt Curtis Nelson who didn't just defend but also used space very well to move forward with the ball and, like O'Connor, help get attacks started.

Reuben after a quiet few games was right back towards his best form. Again, it's not just his two goals it's the other stuff. The bursting forward with the ball, the winning the nod downs, the pace, the power. He's just got far more about him than almost every other League Two striker. It shines through even when he's off form but on it he's unplayable. Alessandra bought the penalty but don't be fooled, he too had a good game aside from that. We're so much stronger a side whenever A) He's up front B) Coxy plays and C) Carl is at centre-back.

It's all looking frighteningly good isn't it? 10 clean sheets out of 17. 7 wins in a row. Not conceded a goal in a home game in over two months (league). We signed the good players and now we've after months found perfect tactics and the perfect style/formula to go alongside it. We haven't lost in the league since September 27th. Mansfield haven't won in the league since September 20th. Let's keep the same 11 but bring the attacking side out of Cox/Blizzard a bit more (like they showed at Luton) and go for the jugular from early. May the good times roll on. My gut insitnct now is that automatic promotion is what we'll be chasing in April more so than a play-off slot. Bring it on:

McCormick-7

Nelson-9
McHugh-8
Hartley-7

Mellor-9
O'Connor-9
Cox-9
Blizzard-8
Kellett-8

Reid-9
Alessandra-8

Smalley-6
Harvey-6
Morgan-6

 

[IJN]

Yeah but in a nutshell Sam.........

 

[Mazza26]

A very good almost flawless first half performance which was partly down to the early goal followed by a comfortable yet slightly uninspiring second half.... although we still hit the post twice which says a lot. I don't want to put a dampener on things but Portsmouth were absolutely awful and weren't at the races (the first time i've seen this from an opposition from a long time), in particular ex England international Nicky Shorey who put in the second worst performance from a full back this weekend only in front of Nikos Karabelas of Greece. I tell you what that first half was all about movement, first touch and positivity and like others have mentioned Reid and Mellor were absolutely outstanding! Well done to the team and management!

McCormick -7

Nelson - 8
McHugh - 8
Hartley - 8

Mellor - 9
O'Connor - 8
Cox - 8
Blizzard - 8
Kellett - 8

Reid - 9
Alessandra - 8

Smalley - 7
Harvey - 5
Morgan - 6

 

[GreenSam]

Yeah but in a nutshell Sam.........

We're pretty bloody good.

 

[Dan Ellard]

Luke 7

Nelson 9
McHugh 7
Hartley 8

Mellor 9
Cox 8
O'Connor 9 MOTM
Blizzard 7
Kellett 8

Reuben 8
Alessandra 8

All in all, quite simply fantastic. Days like this after sitting through some of the utter dross from the past 5 years make it feel even better.

 

[LiskeardLooney]

Great team performance and I thought the Cheltenham game was the best I'd seen this season but this tops that!!! Went for Portsmouth from the off and they just couldn't handle us

LM - 8 - Did very well when called upon, one slight error of judgement at the end but still made the 2nd attempt
KM - 10 (MOTM) - Up and down was everywhere and a real threat going forward hand a hand in all 3 goals
PH - 8 - Solid gave their strikers nothing
CN - 9 - Worked well covering Mellor's burst forward and lead by example
CMc - 8 - Again solid, showing why he's a CB and NOT a LB!!!
AK - 9 - Looks a very decent young lad, people worried about Bobby Reid going back - I'd be worried if we lost him!
SC - 8 - broke up the play brilliantly and unlucky to hit the bar from distance
DB - 8 - Again like Cox broke up the play well and coming very much in to his own most improved player since last season
AoC - 8 - Brilliant supporting the 3 CBs and making sure the opposition had no time on the ball
LA - 9 - Ran around like a crazy person, soft pen given against him, good play for his goal
RR - 9 - 2 Goals and held the ball up well bringing KM, LA & AK into play. Tired towards the end after a hard shift

Subs
DS - 7 - hit the post and a good chance from a 1 on 1 good impact
TH & MM not rated as didn't really have much time to make an impact

 

[argylefaninwales]

Sorry looked everywhere, there was 10,300 at Home Park.
how many from the away team?
With Sky etc not bad turn out.

 

[Andy S]

Bit late but hey ho! Can't stop work from getting in the way!

I can now see what you mean by Argyle being unable to put a whole 90 minutes together. I thought the first half we were a "whole" team, the movement on and off the ball was just like watching Brazil...well, not quite but you get my drift!

Messrs Kellett, Mellor, Reid and Allesandra were superb. I never realised how much running into space that Reuben actually does. Allesandra is a right handful for defenders...he's got very quick feet and to actually see real wingers doing real wingers jobs, running the lines was just a delight.

I thought Cox was the boss in midfield and Hartley and McHugh let very little get through...even when it did, Luke was there to do the mopping up.

Second half we went off the boil a bit and let them come at us. I'm a bit surprised with that, I reckoned on us coming out with the same "grind the buggers down" attitude that we had in the first half, but we didn't! The Pompey heads were well down at half time and we should have cleaned up completely.

I don't get the downer on Smalley? Is it his turn in the barrel this week? He's come on 20 minutes into the 2nd half and slotted straight in, he's made space, ran at defenders, hit the woodwork and put in a full 25 minutes. As for Harvey, only heard him mentioned once and that was for a foul!!

For entertainment, I couldn't fault it.

McCormick -7 Didn't have too much to do. One brilliant save with his feet, otherwise just same old solid Luke.

Nelson - 7
McHugh - 8
Hartley - 8

Mellor - 9
O'Connor - 8
Cox - 9
Blizzard - 7
Kellett - 9

Reid - 9
Alessandra - 9

Smalley - 8
Harvey - 5
Morgan - 6

Entertainment - 8 first half, 7 second.

And the Green Army? Sounded bleddy brilliant and it kept going for the full 90 minutes. Pompey supporters were in good voice as well.

Bit disappointed with 10300 though! Thought we might have got to 12/13, 000 for this bearing in mind our recent home form.

Onwards and upwards...promotion spot next Saturday.

:scarf:

 

[Liam Vercoe]

Shez said he told them at half time he just wanted a clean sheet from them, second half. That might've been why we didn't seem as threatening/as "good" in the second 45 minutes.

 

[Dan Ellard]

We played very well in the 2nd half.

Portsmouth were always going to come at us, they had nothing to lose and we had to counter that. So we just had to sit in, soak up a bit of pressure, and hit them on the counter. And we did this extremely well - Portsmouth were reduced to half chances and shots from distance. Playing pacy counter attacking football after 3 games in a week is very tough physically but we were excellent in doing this as well considering we had a midweek game and Portsmouth didn't. The desire to keep clean sheets is great to see too.

Tactically spot on from Sheridan - not often we've said that but full credit where credit is due.

 

[PL2 3DQ]

We played very well in the 2nd half.

Portsmouth were always going to come at us, they had nothing to lose and we had to counter that. So we just had to sit in, soak up a bit of pressure, and hit them on the counter. And we did this extremely well - Portsmouth were reduced to half chances and shots from distance. Playing pacy counter attacking football after 3 games in a week is very tough physically but we were excellent in doing this as well considering we had a midweek game and Portsmouth didn't. The desire to keep clean sheets is great to see too.

Tactically spot on from Sheridan - not often we've said that but full credit where credit is due.

That's a good point, we did have a midweek away game (a Wednesday as well) on a heavy pitch while Portsmouth had no game and yet they never looked fitter than us. Credit to John Harbin as well for the recovery system after games.

 

[Tynan One Nil]

I thought O'Connor was the stand out closely followed by Kellett and Mellor. He showed how key again he is to our defensive record, incredible energy to get around the pitch. On the other hand we have Smalley looking "lethargic" I personally thought he looked more like someone who was ring rusty and just not quite up to speed with the pace of the game and the understanding of his team mates;typical of someone in and out of the team. Very enjoyable day, coyg!

 

[Green Flash]

Bit late but hey ho! Can't stop work from getting in the way!

I can now see what you mean by Argyle being unable to put a whole 90 minutes together. I thought the first half we were a "whole" team, the movement on and off the ball was just like watching Brazil...well, not quite but you get my drift

:scarf:

Actually I thought watching Portsmouth was like watching Brazil, we were more like Germany!

 

[Cobi Budge.]

Baffled at the abuse for the 3 subs. 2 of them didn't have a chance to really get involved although worked hard.

Especially don't get the Smalley stick, and I get the impression it comes from pre conceived opinions. And no I don't think if Banton put in that cameo he'd be slated because it was a good one. I agree with GreenSam, we actually saw Smalley do some of the things Reid does, use his pace & strength to create himself chances. Probably should have done a bit better with the one on one but he was desperately unlucky to be denied a great solo effort by the woodwork.