Nobby":3b32n2rj said:Some excellent performances today, particularly from the midfield trio. Fornah seemed to have an extra second on the ball than everyone else, very composed for a young player on his football league debut. I still find it frustrating that we lump it into the channel's so often, all of our best stuff came when we played through the thirds and got Mayor & Co. on the ball. Overall a good result, a shame it couldn't be slightly more emphatic.
On the other hand, I thought Burton were very poor and i'd be concerned if i was a Burton fan. They lacked any real quality going forward, lost the midfield battle comprehensively and defensively were shaky.
Ratings:
Cooper - 7 - Not really tested, but a clean sheet will help his confidence.
Moore - 7 - Probably his best performance so far this season, but needs to improve his delivery. Found a yellow shirt too often.
Aimson - 5 - He is poor at judging the flight of the ball. I am concerned by his performances thus far. Not the player I expected, or had hoped for.
Canavan - 7 - Know what you're getting with Canavan however. We are much better for his composed presence.
Watts - 7 - Probably his best performance as well. Looked a lot better and is clearly comfortable on the ball.
G. Cooper - 7 - Was involved in a lot of our nice interplay. Again, delivery is inconsistent.
Fornah - 9 - MOTM: As a football league debut, I don't think you can ask for any more.
Mayor - 8 - As others have debated, end product is sometimes lacking, but cannot be doubted he makes us a better team. Carries the ball quickly and effectively and is forming a really nice partnership with Conor Grant.
C. Grant - 7 - Faded a little in the second half, but was excellent again in the first. Really becoming much more involved in games.
Nouble - 6 - Works and battles hard, but i'm not convinced. Doesn't seem a natural centre forward and felt he was on a different wavelength to those around. I'd be very surprised if he got to 10 goals this season.
Jephcott - 7 - Goal was fortunate, but has a knack of finding space which is why he's often amongst the goals. Him and Nouble often covering similar areas in the box and this led to our crosses landing to nobody.
Reeves - 7 - Looks like he has real quality and its unlucky for him that our current midfield options are playing so well. Great for us though.
Edwards - 6 - Not really on long enough to make an impact.
Telford - 6 - Same as above.
I would settle for a mid table finish if it was offered now.There are so many uncertainties that to remain in this division at the end of the season would be an achievement.WoodsyGreen":22h9m46p said:An underwhelming win against a side who looked worse than many we played in League Two last season. Burton were awful and look dead certs for relegation based on today's evidence.
Still, a win's a win and was much needed seeing as we'd gone five games without one. You could see how much we wanted it due to the amount of time wasting we engaged in - we were keeping the ball on the touchlines from throw-ins with more than ten minutes to go! RL even gestured for Jephcott to slow down when he was running off after being subbed. I got the distinct impression they'd done some work on game management after the capitulations at Orient and Cheltenham.
We had loads of possession and dozens of crosses but once again our final ball was lacking. I lost count of the number of crosses that either went straight to a yellow shirt or into no man's land. That needs to be sorted.
The much-maligned defence kept a rare clean sheet but weren't particularly threatened. They've got the spots now and it'll be up to them to keep hold of them. Opoku is waiting in the wings to take someone's shirt.
Moore was much more involved and grabbed a deserved goal. GC was also very good on the other flank, though was taken off because Burton were having too much joy down his side and we needed to tighten up (another indication of how cautious RL was today once we went 2-0 up).
Reeves must start as soon as he's up to full fitness. He was everywhere: pass-and-move, pass-and-move. His introduction pushed Burton back and pretty much ended their attacking threat. We have a real player there.
At the other end of the scale was Frank Nouble. Someone commented on the match thread that he looked like he was playing in flip-flops and that about sums him up for me. I get that we're playing longer and need an outlet, but surely we could have done better than him?
We looked like what we probably are today and that's a mid-table side, and that'll do fine for me.
Balham_Green":si8yhphi said:We have a lot of good Midfielders. Difficult to see how to keep them all happy. They also seem to be of a similar ilk. I don't see any Steve Castle or Frio type players who will get in the box and score.
Dreamgreen":j8wwt4je said:Balham_Green":j8wwt4je said:We have a lot of good Midfielders. Difficult to see how to keep them all happy. They also seem to be of a similar ilk. I don't see any Steve Castle or Frio type players who will get in the box and score.
Crikey, I think this is the second time in the history of PASOTI that I agree with you BG :greensmile: :greensmile:
I said the same thing yesterday during the match. We often only have just the two players in the box to aim at when a cross is made (free kicks and corner kicks apart). Whilst our midfield looks much tighter with Fornah, Camera, Reeves etc, none of those players seem to be the box to box midfielder that gives us extra options in the oppositions penalty area.
saxman":3uvoan97 said:Nobby":3uvoan97 said:Some excellent performances today, particularly from the midfield trio. Fornah seemed to have an extra second on the ball than everyone else, very composed for a young player on his football league debut. I still find it frustrating that we lump it into the channel's so often, all of our best stuff came when we played through the thirds and got Mayor & Co. on the ball. Overall a good result, a shame it couldn't be slightly more emphatic.
On the other hand, I thought Burton were very poor and i'd be concerned if i was a Burton fan. They lacked any real quality going forward, lost the midfield battle comprehensively and defensively were shaky.
Ratings:
Cooper - 7 - Not really tested, but a clean sheet will help his confidence.
Moore - 7 - Probably his best performance so far this season, but needs to improve his delivery. Found a yellow shirt too often.
Aimson - 5 - He is poor at judging the flight of the ball. I am concerned by his performances thus far. Not the player I expected, or had hoped for.
Canavan - 7 - Know what you're getting with Canavan however. We are much better for his composed presence.
Watts - 7 - Probably his best performance as well. Looked a lot better and is clearly comfortable on the ball.
G. Cooper - 7 - Was involved in a lot of our nice interplay. Again, delivery is inconsistent.
Fornah - 9 - MOTM: As a football league debut, I don't think you can ask for any more.
Mayor - 8 - As others have debated, end product is sometimes lacking, but cannot be doubted he makes us a better team. Carries the ball quickly and effectively and is forming a really nice partnership with Conor Grant.
C. Grant - 7 - Faded a little in the second half, but was excellent again in the first. Really becoming much more involved in games.
Nouble - 6 - Works and battles hard, but i'm not convinced. Doesn't seem a natural centre forward and felt he was on a different wavelength to those around. I'd be very surprised if he got to 10 goals this season.
Jephcott - 7 - Goal was fortunate, but has a knack of finding space which is why he's often amongst the goals. Him and Nouble often covering similar areas in the box and this led to our crosses landing to nobody.
Reeves - 7 - Looks like he has real quality and its unlucky for him that our current midfield options are playing so well. Great for us though.
Edwards - 6 - Not really on long enough to make an impact.
Telford - 6 - Same as above.
Cooper had to pull out a tremendous save from the free kick in the s/h and also closed matey down very quickly in the 1 on 1, so I think he was tested and came out of the game with a lot of credit.
Nobby":296037xd said:The save from the free kick was pretty routine, wasn't exactly in the corner.
Tugboat":1ordr0oe said:Dreamgreen":1ordr0oe said:Balham_Green":1ordr0oe said:We have a lot of good Midfielders. Difficult to see how to keep them all happy. They also seem to be of a similar ilk. I don't see any Steve Castle or Frio type players who will get in the box and score.
Crikey, I think this is the second time in the history of PASOTI that I agree with you BG :greensmile: :greensmile:
I said the same thing yesterday during the match. We often only have just the two players in the box to aim at when a cross is made (free kicks and corner kicks apart). Whilst our midfield looks much tighter with Fornah, Camera, Reeves etc, none of those players seem to be the box to box midfielder that gives us extra options in the oppositions penalty area.
I think Reeves will muck in with some assists and goals.
I’m just struggling to see who gets dropped out of Grant, Camara, Reeves and Macleod because Mayor and Fornau are starters. That leaves one available space.
None have done anything wrong so difficult to pick for and against.