Your
Report

Oldham Athletic v Salford City Your Report added at 02:23:37
What a shambles! Okay, Newcastle look like a team set for the Premiership and outclassed us in every department, but 0-6? It was just embarrassing. So what's the answer? Can you blame the players? Not really, if you're not good enough, you're not good enough. They tried, and no one wants to lose 0-6 at home. Can you blame the manager? Well, yes, I suppose you can. He picks the side and calls the style of play. I want to be constructive, so instead of slagging him off, let me suggest a couple of things. Try playing 2 up front (at least at home)...we've played a totally negative 1 up front all season and it patently isn't working. Polter does a reasonable job of making a nuisance of himself, but he doesn't score too many goals. In his absence we have Washington who is a decent enough player, but expecting him to outjump 6 foot plus defenders and hold the ball up is ridiculous, and watching him run about chasing lost causes all night was almost comical. Not until he was joined by Sylla did we look remotely like posing a threat up front. So far I haven't been very impressed by JFH's new signings. Bidwell looks no better than the much maligned Konchesky, Cousins looks slow and unable to pass the ball forward. As for the others we haven't seen enough of them to pass judgement yet, but no one has exactly set Loftus Road alight. Unlike most critics here, I don't have a major problem with the defence and goalkeeper. With a bit more positional nous, they'd be okay. My problem lies with the midfield. Henry and Cousins are both defensive, negative midfielders (though Henry very occasionally shows flashes of creativity), and both give the ball away way too cheaply. N'Gbakoto looks lost, while Chery is really the only player who looks capable of providing any danger. And here is where the problem lies..because the midfield is so negative and slow in the build up, it doesn't supply the lone striker effectively, and because the ball is given away so frequently, the defence is continually under pressure. We are basically inviting other teams to attack us. We desperately need a strategy which results in the ball being up the other end of the pitch more often to give the defence a bit of breathing space. We could try a less negative midfield, play 2 strikers, try to hit teams on the breakaway (none of which we seem able to do at the moment). Anything would be an improvement on last night. So, yes, Newcastle were by far the better team yesterday, but we made it easy for them. Shelvey ran the game, but he was allowed to. If the sad truth is that our players are just no good, then no amount of tactical shift will sort things out, but I'd like to think there's some talent there, and that the answer lies in a different, more positive approach, and that has to come from the manager.

Please log in to use all the site's facilities

lifer

Site Scores

Forum Votes:	2
Comment Votes:	-1
Prediction League:	0
TOTAL:	1