Solihull Match Thread 12:45 - Sep 14 with 24169 views | Delboy | Tough game today. Solihull no mugs based on last seasons efforts. Have seen them twice this season and they tend to sit tight and play on the break. Also skilled in the dark arts particularly killing time at every opportunity. Patience needed from the crowd and plenty of encouragement. No reason we cant win but not expecting us to roll over them. UPTD. | | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:39 - Sep 14 with 5172 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:24 - Sep 14 by 442Dale | Indeed. Credit to Solihull who came with a game plan and executed it brilliantly. No moans about time wasting when everyone does it including us, they set up to be solid and hit us on the break. Don’t think McNulty got his selection right. Ayinde may have potential but for a loan player he doesn’t offer significantly more than what we have and we improved with Burger in the second half. Our play was too slow with too many poor decisions and passing that wasn’t good enough, that played into their hands. Only late on did we start to shift it quicker, get shots and crosses in when they tired a bit. Quickening that pace was needed throughout and we have to accept it was an off day for too many today. 17 points from 9 games? Well ahead of where I thought we’d be. Some perspective amongst the understandable frustration. |
Move the ball quickly instead of killing any momentum by opting for the safe option..Sassy and Gordon constantly passing it between them during the first half . The pass was on numerous times to Rowlands in the first half or even forward into Gilmour but Gordon turned back and passed it to Sassy instead. The opposition loved it and it killed any atmosphere in the ground. The same negative tactics that we employed last season, it doesn't work. Both goals were shocking ones to give away, poor ball from the keeper and poor control from Gilmour for the first. The second was too easy, bad defending. Perhaps the players are starting to think they can just turn up and things will happen, they looked half a sleep for most of the game, the first shot on target was Mitchell's goal in the 86th moment. That says it all really. We moved the ball quickly in the last 15 minutes of the game and things started to happen. Bad day at the office, Solihull didn't have to do much to win. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:52 - Sep 14 with 5062 views | BigKindo |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:39 - Sep 14 by TalkingSutty | Move the ball quickly instead of killing any momentum by opting for the safe option..Sassy and Gordon constantly passing it between them during the first half . The pass was on numerous times to Rowlands in the first half or even forward into Gilmour but Gordon turned back and passed it to Sassy instead. The opposition loved it and it killed any atmosphere in the ground. The same negative tactics that we employed last season, it doesn't work. Both goals were shocking ones to give away, poor ball from the keeper and poor control from Gilmour for the first. The second was too easy, bad defending. Perhaps the players are starting to think they can just turn up and things will happen, they looked half a sleep for most of the game, the first shot on target was Mitchell's goal in the 86th moment. That says it all really. We moved the ball quickly in the last 15 minutes of the game and things started to happen. Bad day at the office, Solihull didn't have to do much to win. |
Asleep. Well it was noticeable that a number of their players decided to lie down and have a sleep. Time wasting at its worst. We pulled a goal back and lo and behold another one having a kip in his own box. Delayed the kick off and killed the impetus we had built up. Anybody care to comment on the Westley incident as we couldn't see what happened. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:53 - Sep 14 with 5042 views | 442Dale |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:39 - Sep 14 by TalkingSutty | Move the ball quickly instead of killing any momentum by opting for the safe option..Sassy and Gordon constantly passing it between them during the first half . The pass was on numerous times to Rowlands in the first half or even forward into Gilmour but Gordon turned back and passed it to Sassy instead. The opposition loved it and it killed any atmosphere in the ground. The same negative tactics that we employed last season, it doesn't work. Both goals were shocking ones to give away, poor ball from the keeper and poor control from Gilmour for the first. The second was too easy, bad defending. Perhaps the players are starting to think they can just turn up and things will happen, they looked half a sleep for most of the game, the first shot on target was Mitchell's goal in the 86th moment. That says it all really. We moved the ball quickly in the last 15 minutes of the game and things started to happen. Bad day at the office, Solihull didn't have to do much to win. |
One of the factors around the slowness of play was the lack of options with both Ayinde and Rodney not impacting the game enough to be available for a pass forwards. TonyRoch’s post about formation is worth reflecting on alongside the discussion around our midfield two. If we do start with Rodney, why can’t he be more central with Mitchell and another midfielder in behind? This could be East with Henry & Gilmour slightly deeper or Burger behind the front two. Then comes the debate about choosing the preferred midfield two and whether we should stick to it for more than a game at a time. Games like this and defeats have to be learnt from, that’s over to McNulty. My main concern, as it was during the midst of the four game winning run is that we may have an issue with too many options. If this was January after a tough half a season and we’d brought Ayinde and Westley in, I wouldn’t be too concerned. But it isn’t. For now consistency of results may come from consistency of selection. | |
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Solihull Match Thread on 17:56 - Sep 14 with 5024 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:52 - Sep 14 by BigKindo | Asleep. Well it was noticeable that a number of their players decided to lie down and have a sleep. Time wasting at its worst. We pulled a goal back and lo and behold another one having a kip in his own box. Delayed the kick off and killed the impetus we had built up. Anybody care to comment on the Westley incident as we couldn't see what happened. |
Yes, it was a clash of heads, no foul. Correct decision from the referee. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 18:03 - Sep 14 with 4969 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:53 - Sep 14 by 442Dale | One of the factors around the slowness of play was the lack of options with both Ayinde and Rodney not impacting the game enough to be available for a pass forwards. TonyRoch’s post about formation is worth reflecting on alongside the discussion around our midfield two. If we do start with Rodney, why can’t he be more central with Mitchell and another midfielder in behind? This could be East with Henry & Gilmour slightly deeper or Burger behind the front two. Then comes the debate about choosing the preferred midfield two and whether we should stick to it for more than a game at a time. Games like this and defeats have to be learnt from, that’s over to McNulty. My main concern, as it was during the midst of the four game winning run is that we may have an issue with too many options. If this was January after a tough half a season and we’d brought Ayinde and Westley in, I wouldn’t be too concerned. But it isn’t. For now consistency of results may come from consistency of selection. |
Yes, we arent getting Rodney into the game enough, certainly not in and around the penalty area. In fact neither Mitchell or Rodney had any impact at all in that first half. I was confused looking at how the team had set up and then disappointed with the tempo of our play. Anyway, I'm expecting a bounce back next week, they've shown that they are good enough to do that. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 18:04 - Sep 14 with 4959 views | BigKindo |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:53 - Sep 14 by 442Dale | One of the factors around the slowness of play was the lack of options with both Ayinde and Rodney not impacting the game enough to be available for a pass forwards. TonyRoch’s post about formation is worth reflecting on alongside the discussion around our midfield two. If we do start with Rodney, why can’t he be more central with Mitchell and another midfielder in behind? This could be East with Henry & Gilmour slightly deeper or Burger behind the front two. Then comes the debate about choosing the preferred midfield two and whether we should stick to it for more than a game at a time. Games like this and defeats have to be learnt from, that’s over to McNulty. My main concern, as it was during the midst of the four game winning run is that we may have an issue with too many options. If this was January after a tough half a season and we’d brought Ayinde and Westley in, I wouldn’t be too concerned. But it isn’t. For now consistency of results may come from consistency of selection. |
Playing Gilmour and East. Do they negate each other by causing an imbalance in the side. Two similar players perhaps. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 18:09 - Sep 14 with 4888 views | 442Dale |
Solihull Match Thread on 18:04 - Sep 14 by BigKindo | Playing Gilmour and East. Do they negate each other by causing an imbalance in the side. Two similar players perhaps. |
That’s something that could be argued and last season we never looked as effective when they were a two, rather than East further forward. That said, they’ve also played really well together at times - Aldershot last week for example. Both being so left footed does create some problems with the direction of play as well. So far, as a two, East and Henry look to be the best option. Especially at home. Can see why Gilmour’s ability to break up play would be welcome away. | |
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Solihull Match Thread on 19:36 - Sep 14 with 4362 views | DaleFan7 | Dagenham have just absolutely spanked Gateshead 7-1, scoring all 8 goals. So we've moved back up a place. Every cloud... | | | | Login to get fewer ads
Solihull Match Thread on 20:16 - Sep 14 with 4166 views | ThreeLions | It looked like Sassi has taken on the Ebanks Landell role of having the ball played through him all the time which just nulled any attacking progression which Solihull loved as they could bully us out of the game. The use of the flanks was zilch in the first half only with us waking up and using them late in the second half when panic set in. McNulty needs to stop this playing through a centre half and pissing about with the ball at the back so we can progress | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 20:25 - Sep 14 with 4131 views | kel |
Solihull Match Thread on 15:49 - Sep 14 by Barrowdale | Well that was awful |
Welcome back. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 21:03 - Sep 14 with 3945 views | jonahwhereru |
Solihull Match Thread on 20:16 - Sep 14 by ThreeLions | It looked like Sassi has taken on the Ebanks Landell role of having the ball played through him all the time which just nulled any attacking progression which Solihull loved as they could bully us out of the game. The use of the flanks was zilch in the first half only with us waking up and using them late in the second half when panic set in. McNulty needs to stop this playing through a centre half and pissing about with the ball at the back so we can progress |
Reduce “pissing about at the back”, agreed. Stop it No. there are some short memories. Sassi broke the Maidenhead midfield defence with one pass resulting in a goal less than 180 minutes play ago. Today we lost to a perennial top 10 side. I am not going to spend the rest of the weekend compiling my dossier to BJ on what he need to change. I have come to realise, to my disappointment, I am not a football coach and never will be. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 21:42 - Sep 14 with 3684 views | dingdangblue |
Solihull Match Thread on 17:39 - Sep 14 by TalkingSutty | Move the ball quickly instead of killing any momentum by opting for the safe option..Sassy and Gordon constantly passing it between them during the first half . The pass was on numerous times to Rowlands in the first half or even forward into Gilmour but Gordon turned back and passed it to Sassy instead. The opposition loved it and it killed any atmosphere in the ground. The same negative tactics that we employed last season, it doesn't work. Both goals were shocking ones to give away, poor ball from the keeper and poor control from Gilmour for the first. The second was too easy, bad defending. Perhaps the players are starting to think they can just turn up and things will happen, they looked half a sleep for most of the game, the first shot on target was Mitchell's goal in the 86th moment. That says it all really. We moved the ball quickly in the last 15 minutes of the game and things started to happen. Bad day at the office, Solihull didn't have to do much to win. |
Jim thought we controlled the game...again. 🤔 | |
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Solihull Match Thread on 21:56 - Sep 14 with 3616 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 21:42 - Sep 14 by dingdangblue | Jim thought we controlled the game...again. 🤔 |
He suggested that the head injury to Westly was a foul and a penalty, it was neither.. i rest my case 😁. Another thing, having just watched the highlights, both their goals were gifted to them. The first was Gilmours fault, poor control and then turning back into trouble. The second goal was chuckle brothers defending, terrible. The squad was crying out for a experienced dominant centre half over the summer and it still is unfortunately. [Post edited 14 Sep 22:23]
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Solihull Match Thread on 23:25 - Sep 14 with 3317 views | James1980 |
Solihull Match Thread on 21:42 - Sep 14 by dingdangblue | Jim thought we controlled the game...again. 🤔 |
We probably did have the majority of possession is that what he meant maybe | |
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Solihull Match Thread on 06:17 - Sep 15 with 2948 views | Rodingdale |
Solihull Match Thread on 21:03 - Sep 14 by jonahwhereru | Reduce “pissing about at the back”, agreed. Stop it No. there are some short memories. Sassi broke the Maidenhead midfield defence with one pass resulting in a goal less than 180 minutes play ago. Today we lost to a perennial top 10 side. I am not going to spend the rest of the weekend compiling my dossier to BJ on what he need to change. I have come to realise, to my disappointment, I am not a football coach and never will be. |
The Times report yesterdays Liverpool defeat, reminded me of the old Bob Paisley quote: “It’s not about a long ball a short ball” “But the right ball”. Guile and good decision making will become more important when we face organised sides who have done their homework. We just need the right balance in midfield and to me, we need to settle on a consistent selection in the core of the team. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 07:46 - Sep 15 with 2821 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 23:25 - Sep 14 by James1980 | We probably did have the majority of possession is that what he meant maybe |
As the Solihull manager rightly pointed out in his post match interview, we would have come out on top in the possession stats but we created nothing until the 86th minute when Mitchell scored..not one shot on target. It's all about what you do in both penalty areas and we were poor at both ends. Solihull had four of their first choice attacking players out injured, the four who started the first game of the season for them. Then they lost a fifth in the early minutes of the game with a hamstring injury. Yesterday was a bit of a defining game i thought, will the manager continue to have us playing like we did against Woking and send out a message to our rivals in this league, or will he have seen the pass from Sassi that led to Mitchell's goal and revert to walking up to the halfway line with the ball, stopping the momentum of the game and hoping Sassi will replicate the same pass? That's what he did, it's a safety first option and it's terrible to watch. He gave SM a open invitatiin to just sit, organise themselves and hit us on the break. The defence was pulled all over the place second half against Maidenhead and it was poor again yesterday. Sassi was expected to be the play maker and its laughable really, he struggles to stand up at times. We don't have a good experienced and reliable centre half in the club and we haven't had for a long time. Yet again it played into our opponents hands and gave SM plenty of time to set themselves defensively, frustrated our forward and wide players who were making runs and showing for the ball but instead the sideways ball to a fellow defender was preferred. You could see the frustration not only in the crowd but the body language of the players. We know whats been working so why has Jim got us going back to that stuff again, i thought we'd progressed. The architects of our own downfall and giving our opponents too much respect. We nullified our own strengths ourselves yesterday and that was down to the slow laborious tactics employed by the manager. The same thing we saw last season and it stops fans from coming to the games. We should have been straight at them yesterday and determined to go top of the league, we saw the opposite unfortunately and surrendered the game when we should have been taking it by the scruff of the neck. The chopping and changing of the team is also costing us, we have players recently signed on contracts who are not even in the matchday squad and I think recruiting numbers has taken preference over the quality of signings in some cases. The budget would have allowed for a decent experienced centre half to have been signed. I hope that the players have the minerals to voice their displeasure at the tactics on the training ground tomorrow because we are better than that and we want a manager and coaches who show no fear and set up to play exciting football. It was all so predictable yesterday you knew how we would play before the first whistle, frightened to death of losing. [Post edited 15 Sep 8:01]
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Solihull Match Thread on 07:50 - Sep 15 with 2800 views | NorthernDale | It is typical Rochdale, get a bigger gate and the chance to go top, and we bugger it up. We had a lot of possession and could have sneaked a second near the second, when Solihull sat so far back, they could have been in the Pearl Street End, but yesterday we seemed to have returned to last seasons play book to some extent in the passing it across the back four. Also I thought the change in formation was a factor, in that three upfront in Mitchell, Rodney and Ayinde, made our midfielder weaker, in that Henry, McBride and Burger provide the energy we seemed to lack yesterday and only seemed to get, when Henry and Burger came on. I hope that you lad Westley is okay, but will the two week rule automatically apply to the Westley due it being an head injury for safety reasons. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 08:08 - Sep 15 with 2755 views | D_Alien | We're set up to basically require a CB - currently a young, inexperienced one - to dictate play and the pace of the game One killer pass per game, against opponents who haven't come to defend, isn't a strategy for winning fans back - one of the main themes of Cameron Ogden's fine article If that pass doesn't happen, the entire midfield and forwards might as well sit down on the pitch and sunbathe, or freeze their bollocks off in winter trying to keep warm There's some over-sensitive souls who believe that any observations of the bleeding obvious are beyond the pale. That's not Dale. Those extra fans who turned up will.probably agree, but they likely don't post on here We've still started well, but yesterday's game was very predictable - a word that can be used in more than one context. JM hasn't cracked the home form yet, and of course we're never going to win every home game but we should be seen to die trying, which is what sport is about and is the ONLY way to get more fans into the ground and keep them there [Post edited 15 Sep 8:11]
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Solihull Match Thread on 08:12 - Sep 15 with 2738 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 07:50 - Sep 15 by NorthernDale | It is typical Rochdale, get a bigger gate and the chance to go top, and we bugger it up. We had a lot of possession and could have sneaked a second near the second, when Solihull sat so far back, they could have been in the Pearl Street End, but yesterday we seemed to have returned to last seasons play book to some extent in the passing it across the back four. Also I thought the change in formation was a factor, in that three upfront in Mitchell, Rodney and Ayinde, made our midfielder weaker, in that Henry, McBride and Burger provide the energy we seemed to lack yesterday and only seemed to get, when Henry and Burger came on. I hope that you lad Westley is okay, but will the two week rule automatically apply to the Westley due it being an head injury for safety reasons. |
Solihull could have scored at the end also. It was a bad day at the office, i think the manager and his side kick also need to look at their own performances. We should have been asking SM questions all afternoon yesterday but we did the opposite. Probably filled the players heads full of tactical mumbo jumbo and concentrated on the opponents strengths instead of our own. There was a lack of bravery in the tactics employed, waiting to see how the game panned out instead of attacking our opponents from the first whistle, not the 80th minte when the game has gone. | | | |
Solihull Match Thread on 08:44 - Sep 15 with 2525 views | 442Dale |
Solihull Match Thread on 07:50 - Sep 15 by NorthernDale | It is typical Rochdale, get a bigger gate and the chance to go top, and we bugger it up. We had a lot of possession and could have sneaked a second near the second, when Solihull sat so far back, they could have been in the Pearl Street End, but yesterday we seemed to have returned to last seasons play book to some extent in the passing it across the back four. Also I thought the change in formation was a factor, in that three upfront in Mitchell, Rodney and Ayinde, made our midfielder weaker, in that Henry, McBride and Burger provide the energy we seemed to lack yesterday and only seemed to get, when Henry and Burger came on. I hope that you lad Westley is okay, but will the two week rule automatically apply to the Westley due it being an head injury for safety reasons. |
We play with a back three. The posts about Sassi are some which the manager should already have identified as a valid concern. It’s not that he’s playing badly it’s that he has to have options to vary his play. One of them being actually stepping forward with the ball on occasion. Same for the other central defenders, although they usually do it better than they did yesterday. When there’s ten yards of pitch in front of you, move into it. If nothing else it means an opposition player has to move out of position towards the ball. It’s been said now that we need more consistent selection to ensure that we play with greater pace. Some clarity of thought is required on this over the coming week. | |
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Solihull Match Thread on 09:02 - Sep 15 with 2472 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 08:44 - Sep 15 by 442Dale | We play with a back three. The posts about Sassi are some which the manager should already have identified as a valid concern. It’s not that he’s playing badly it’s that he has to have options to vary his play. One of them being actually stepping forward with the ball on occasion. Same for the other central defenders, although they usually do it better than they did yesterday. When there’s ten yards of pitch in front of you, move into it. If nothing else it means an opposition player has to move out of position towards the ball. It’s been said now that we need more consistent selection to ensure that we play with greater pace. Some clarity of thought is required on this over the coming week. |
The tactics can't be right when we have Tobi standing out on the wing and being starved of the ball, he did that for nearly the duration of the first half. He and Gordon have linked up brilliantly down that side this season and it's caused our opponents all kinds of problems. Gordon's preference yesterday during the first half was to off load it to Sassy...who in turn puts his foot on the ball and everybody stops and waits. Those have to be tactical decisions and all they do is take away one of our major attacking options. The tactics don't work, we draw more games than we win and it's too easy for opponents to play against. I don't believe that players can enjoy those tactics neither, especially when we have exciting wide players who have been brought to the club to make a big impact on games. He's got the players that he wanted now and some of them have excelled at other clubs, game changers. They are the ones who should be influencing the games, it shouldn't be down to a inexperienced, on loan centre half, from Blackpool to orchestrate the play. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:10]
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Solihull Match Thread on 09:19 - Sep 15 with 2401 views | 442Dale |
Solihull Match Thread on 09:02 - Sep 15 by TalkingSutty | The tactics can't be right when we have Tobi standing out on the wing and being starved of the ball, he did that for nearly the duration of the first half. He and Gordon have linked up brilliantly down that side this season and it's caused our opponents all kinds of problems. Gordon's preference yesterday during the first half was to off load it to Sassy...who in turn puts his foot on the ball and everybody stops and waits. Those have to be tactical decisions and all they do is take away one of our major attacking options. The tactics don't work, we draw more games than we win and it's too easy for opponents to play against. I don't believe that players can enjoy those tactics neither, especially when we have exciting wide players who have been brought to the club to make a big impact on games. He's got the players that he wanted now and some of them have excelled at other clubs, game changers. They are the ones who should be influencing the games, it shouldn't be down to a inexperienced, on loan centre half, from Blackpool to orchestrate the play. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:10]
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Tactically what appeared different was that Ayinde and Rodney were narrower than McBride and Ayinde were the other night. Moving Ayinde to the right certainly didn’t work and as said, I’m not sure what he brings to the squad that’s significantly better than what we have. It condensed the middle of the pitch, the ball wasn’t moved quickly to wide players and, crucially, our passing, ball control and choices were less than great for most of the game. Would say that’s the main factor behind why it looked so different yesterday to Tuesday rather than any significant change in approach to use Sassi more. It’s obvious that that central player of the back three will always be utilised as part of our play, but it’s also on the others to make better choices rather than using him as the safe option. We’ve already seen that we can avoid falling into that trap. The key is the outside central defenders pushing on. Whether having Ferguson there would change this is a whole other debate. Edit: we don’t draw more than we win! We’ve only drawn twice and won five. Not disputing there are concerns about how we played yesterday but as most admit, we’re going to get off days. The whole tactical approach can’t be dismissed as not working if we’re fourth after nine games and fans have been positive about our start to the season. Now if those same problems continue to crop up game after game after game, then it gets worrying. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:25]
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Solihull Match Thread on 09:35 - Sep 15 with 2334 views | TalkingSutty |
Solihull Match Thread on 09:19 - Sep 15 by 442Dale | Tactically what appeared different was that Ayinde and Rodney were narrower than McBride and Ayinde were the other night. Moving Ayinde to the right certainly didn’t work and as said, I’m not sure what he brings to the squad that’s significantly better than what we have. It condensed the middle of the pitch, the ball wasn’t moved quickly to wide players and, crucially, our passing, ball control and choices were less than great for most of the game. Would say that’s the main factor behind why it looked so different yesterday to Tuesday rather than any significant change in approach to use Sassi more. It’s obvious that that central player of the back three will always be utilised as part of our play, but it’s also on the others to make better choices rather than using him as the safe option. We’ve already seen that we can avoid falling into that trap. The key is the outside central defenders pushing on. Whether having Ferguson there would change this is a whole other debate. Edit: we don’t draw more than we win! We’ve only drawn twice and won five. Not disputing there are concerns about how we played yesterday but as most admit, we’re going to get off days. The whole tactical approach can’t be dismissed as not working if we’re fourth after nine games and fans have been positive about our start to the season. Now if those same problems continue to crop up game after game after game, then it gets worrying. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:25]
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It might just be me but i've seen enough of Ferguson to think that he isn't the answer, one good game doesn't change that. McNulty prefers Sassy,which in itself speaks volumes. EEL is limited, his distribution is all over the place. If the central player of the back three is such a pivotal role in how McNulty wants to play then I'm surprised he hasn't utilised his budget better and prioritised a quality centre half who is comfortable on the ball with decent distribution. Unfortunately i don't think any of our three central defenders are of the required standard if we want a quick return to the EFL. It's the main weakness in our team from i've seen, which is a bit alarming when the manager is using that area of the pitch to dictate how we play. Obviously my opinions on the centre halves are purely my own observations. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:37]
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Solihull Match Thread on 10:03 - Sep 15 with 2216 views | leedsdale |
Solihull Match Thread on 09:35 - Sep 15 by TalkingSutty | It might just be me but i've seen enough of Ferguson to think that he isn't the answer, one good game doesn't change that. McNulty prefers Sassy,which in itself speaks volumes. EEL is limited, his distribution is all over the place. If the central player of the back three is such a pivotal role in how McNulty wants to play then I'm surprised he hasn't utilised his budget better and prioritised a quality centre half who is comfortable on the ball with decent distribution. Unfortunately i don't think any of our three central defenders are of the required standard if we want a quick return to the EFL. It's the main weakness in our team from i've seen, which is a bit alarming when the manager is using that area of the pitch to dictate how we play. Obviously my opinions on the centre halves are purely my own observations. [Post edited 15 Sep 9:37]
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When you say three central defenders do you mean the three that have played centrally so far this season (EEL, Ferguson and Sassi) or the three that played yesterday? If it’s the latter then I would disagree with you about Beckwith and Gordon as I think they could step up to League 2 pretty comfortably. If it’s the former then I would tend to agree and maybe the fact Sassi is only here on a relatively short term loan means Jim is still on the lookout for an upgrade? A fully fit EEL is a big asset but I would be surprised if he is out on the pitch much before the end of 2024. [Post edited 15 Sep 10:06]
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Solihull Match Thread on 10:38 - Sep 15 with 2104 views | NorthernDale | Hopefully McNulty will recognise what went right and wrong yesterday, and seek to address them before two difficult games away at Eastleigh and Hartlepool. In respect to Ayinde, he has a lot potential, but would it not be better for to be introduced as a sub to gain the experience needed, it can be a big step from youth to more senior football. Yesterday as shown how competitive this league is going to be season with Gateshead conceding 7 at Dagenham and if we can points over the next three games, we can still be challenging for the top spot this season. | | | |
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