AFC Bournemouth (H) -22nd November- LDV Vans 2nd Round

[PerStener]

and skora missed out on the man of the match award again...
I wonder how many excellent matches he has to do before he gets the MOTM award..

[Exile]

Maybe it's because he's on a short-term loan, and the sponsors want to support the playing staff of WFC, not another club.

[Pelsall_Saddler]

I'm going, and I've gotta catch the bus! On my own! Hardcore fan or what 8)

Scrap that, I didn't go :cry: . Anyway, did Constable play any part, how was he? When is the draw for the third round, I'm presuming it will be on Soccer Am on Saturday morning?

[Stu]

He came on as sub for the last 12 minutes, even scored a goal but it was disallowed for offside.

[Magic Man Fan]

I enjoyed that!

A good game all round. I thought we played some good stuff tonight and should have won by more than the one goal although Bournemouth had a couple of chances.

Another odd selection of players but it worked well tonight. I thought Fox and Skora were good in midfield and we were strong at the back.

Jorge played well tonight and Fryatt was working really hard. Once again, especially early on I thought he tried to do too much, twisting and turning on the edge of the box trying to create a chance instead of playing the simple ball but he passed a but more later on and deserved his goal.

Ishmel was a but quiet by his standards but I thought Taylor looked very lively when he came on.

Beano didn't have a lot of time to show us what he can do but had one hard shot at the keeper and one headed goal very well taken but the flag for offside was up before he'd even headed it. There was a great chance for him to be put through but Fryatt had one of his selfish moment and instead of playing the easy pass decided to hold onto it so he could try and take a couple of players on.

If they played like that and worked as hard as that every week you wouldn't hear me moaning half as much. That's all I ask.

Well done Walsall.

[tinned]

I enjoyed that!

A good game all round. I thought we played some good stuff tonight and should have won by more than the one goal although Bournemouth had a couple of chances.

Another odd selection of players but it worked well tonight. I thought Fox and Skora were good in midfield and we were strong at the back.

Jorge played well tonight and Fryatt was working really hard. Once again, especially early on I thought he tried to do too much, twisting and turning on the edge of the box trying to create a chance instead of playing the simple ball but he passed a but more later on and deserved his goal.

Ishmel was a but quiet by his standards but I thought Taylor looked very lively when he came on.

Beano didn't have a lot of time to show us what he can do but had one hard shot at the keeper and one headed goal very well taken but the flag for offside was up before he'd even headed it. There was a great chance for him to be put through but Fryatt had one of his selfish moment and instead of playing the easy pass decided to hold onto it so he could try and take a couple of players on.




If they played like that and worked as hard as that every week you wouldn't hear me moaning half as much. That's all I ask.

Well done Walsall.

Now, now come on MMF. You know, as a fully paid up member of MOSOC, you're not supposed to be positive about things (according to the gospels of Zippy, Staffs & robertjohn).

You should be moaning about the slim winning margin, or the timing of the substitutions, or anything.

You'll be ruining a perfectly good myth if you carry on like this. Please have some consideration for Zippy & Co.

[Magic Man Fan]

Was wuz shyte

[Stu]

Different impression than Wilford/Kearns gave... They gave the impression that Bournemouth would regret a couple of very good chances at 0-0, espeically Rodgriuez's. Then said that we'd had a bit of a slow start and didn't really get into the flow until after we'd scored. Picked that up from the bits and bobs that I listened to when I could be bothered.

[Magic Man Fan]

Different impression than Wilford/Kearns gave... They gave the impression that Bournemouth would regret a couple of very good chances at 0-0, espeically Rodgriuez's. Then said that we'd had a bit of a slow start and didn't really get into the flow until after we'd scored. Picked that up from the bits and bobs that I listened to when I could be bothered.

I know, just heard that on the way back. I don't understand that. We had a few chances in the first half. Typical WM for you.

[Magic Man Fan]

One important thing I forgot to mention is what the hell goes through some fans minds?

Contrary to popular belief I don't criticise players at the games but there's too many people go to games just to slag players off.

Larossa was ineffective but to stand up and cheer when he goes off is stupid. Just as it is to cheer when Westwood goes off and boo when Staunton replaces him.

I was going to say I wish we could go back to the pre-Cardiff days when we had 3,000 fans who got behind the team but there was only 2,000 there tonight. :roll:

[Ace]

Constable has the potential to bring out the best in Fryatt, and vice versa. Aside from scoring, Constable seemed to have a positive effect on our attack when he came on.

[WarsawPact]

Quite an open game despite the score - presumably both sides were trying to avoid extra time.

Matty could have had a hat-trick, several players played in more than one position during the course of the game, but seemed to take it in their stride (other than at the start of the second half).

I thought PD had a good game in midfield in the first half.

Interesting 'Chris Marsh' moment for Beano at the end. Promising stuff from the boy.

[andy__vh]

and skora missed out on the man of the match award again...
I wonder how many excellent matches he has to do before he gets the MOTM award..

Fryatt truely deserved this today, he was superb. Looked very dangerous. I usually sit floors to go lower but sat upper tonight as a one-off. The girl and bloke behind me slagged Fryatt off all game, what game were you watching and what does he have to do to get some credit!!!? I thought they would stop going on about him when he scored but no!!

Well done Matty - another game like this on Saturday please!! :lol:

[PerStener]

and skora missed out on the man of the match award again...
I wonder how many excellent matches he has to do before he gets the MOTM award..

Fryatt truely deserved this today, he was superb. Looked very dangerous. I usually sit floors to go lower but sat upper tonight as a one-off. The girl and bloke behind me slagged Fryatt off all game, what game were you watching and what does he have to do to get some credit!!!? I thought they would stop going on about him when he scored but no!!

Well done Matty - another game like this on Saturday please!! :lol:

well I listened on the SaddlersWorld.. the roof on my house here in sweden isn't high enough to se the pitch...Mick Kearns thought Skora was MOTM but If you say Fryatt had a very good match he's the MOTM.
I didn't see the match :D

[YGA Saddler]

I enjoyed that, not only did I sit in the upper tier and sample the stadium suite for the first time I decided to go into the Saddlers club for the first time and meet Evo.

The performance wasnt too bad. We are into the next round, surely that was the objective tonight?

Murphy didnt have much to do, Westwood did OK at right back, Bennett was caught out a couple of times, Roper was his usual self. Fox was MOTM for me, played well first half but seemed to play better once he moved into midfield. Pead didnt do too bad in a more Osborn-esque role, Ishmel took the full back on a few times and even got into a tussle with James O'connor. Jorge gave 100% as usual. Fryatt, can always turn a defender but needs to carry on running rather than trying to do it again! Plus he needs to PASS the ball. Larossa wasnt great tonight but didnt deserve the cheers when he was replaced. Skora gave another good performance. Hasnt pu a foot wrong since hes been here.

As for Beano. He didnt have much time to impress but he seemed to chase after every ball (a bit like Jorge) and for his disallowed goal reminded me a little of Rambo with his movement, accuracy and power.

All in all a good night, well apart from the fact I nearly lost my car keys and season ticket book! :shock: And I didnt win the 50/50 draw AC?!! :wink:

[tinned]

Skora didn't score ?

Send him back, the useless French git.

[Bristol Fan]

I gave in in the end and went. (Another effective protest from myself.) Really entertaining game! We played well. Bournemouth reminded me a bit of us, last season - passed the ball around pretty well but no end product. They had a couple of chances but Murphy was equal to them. We seemed to have the lion's share of the chances, if not posession, and could easily have won by more.

Defensively we were solid in both halves (though Bennett played someone onside in the second which should have resulted in a goal for them if their striker hadn't fluffed it). Westwood impresses me at full back more than he does at centre back. Staunton was excellent when he came on; his passing and vision is outstanding for someone in this league. Played very well alongside Roper, too. Sadly he's just not quick enough to do it week in week out, but he is a nice (if expensive) option to have in the squad.

Midfield was a problem, for the second game in a row. Pead did OK in the first half and Fox did OK in the second, but why wasn't Kris Taylor playing? Surely he's a better option. Skora did well again but Demontagnac was fairly anonymous (again) and obviously needs a rest from the first team. Leitao is excellent on the wing!

Up front, Fryatt was excellent, but Larossa had a stinker. I don't know what anyone sees in him - I can't remember the last time I saw a less effective striker playing for us. Constable looked really sharp when he came on and, while he wasn't on for very long, I saw enough to think he's going to be a very good player. I know most people will take this as a negative comment, but I mean it as a positive - he reminded me a little bit of Gary Birch. Nobody liked Birch but he held the ball up and he was the perfect foil for Fryatt, and we never replaced him when he left. If we could find a player who was like Birch only scored a few more goals, that would be great.

For all the good play, though, here's a nit-picking couple of things which is why people like me are so critical of Merson.

First: for the whole first half, the only way we got the ball to Fryatt was by whacking long balls up. What's the point? He's no good in the air, he needs the ball to his feet. When Merson plays, Fryatt makes runs because he knows Merson is going to find him with the pass, but when he doesn't play we just seem to hit and hope towards him. Finally when Staunton came on we started playing more sensible balls which actually went through midfield instead of bypassing it. But we should be able to do it without him being on the pitch! (Nobody has yet mentioned that Staunton made a great run all the way from the back during the move from which we scored, which caused a lot of confusion in their defence and was a direct contributor to the goal.)

Second: when Daryl Taylor came on for Larossa, he went up front and Jorge stayed on the right wing. Yes, we had a striker playing on the right wing and a right winger playing up front. Everyone in the ground just assumed it would be the other way round. Finally, after about five minutes Merson seemed to realise and then spent ages trying to shout to them to swap over. Might he not have mentioned it when Taylor went onto the pitch?

Like I said, only nitpicks, but it's reasons like that that mean we're in 14th place instead of 4th.

All in all a successful night - let's hope for another home tie in the next round!

[Cheesebag]

Constable has the potential to bring out the best in Fryatt, and vice versa. Aside from scoring, Constable seemed to have a positive effect on our attack when he came on.

Not even on the bench for Saturday then...... :roll:

[Who moved the goalposts?]

It's just me who thought we were pretty abject, had no shape and played too many players (yet again) out of position?!

Let's face it. Bournemouth were woeful yet had three really good chances to open the scoring and a couple of half chances to equalise. Murphy didn't have any saves to make but that was down to their poor finishing more than our defence denying them any chances.

Why doesn't Merson persist with a simple formation (whether that be 4-4-2 or 5-3-2 (if Staunton is going to play?)) and stick to it. Playing players in their proper positions would also help - ok Fox did alright in midfield but we have no other options at left-back (Bennett's distribution and ideas when in the oppponents half are awful). Jorge played in four positions, we tried another two in the holding role (that's Pead, Osborn, Kinsella, Taylor, Broad, Gerrard and Fox who have had a go now) and only Murphy, Fryatt and Roper finished the game where they started it. Keep things simple Merson and stick to it!

On the positive, I thought Jorge gave 100% yet again, Fryatt had a better game than usual. Skora was excellent and Roper was good. Larossa is very poor but Constable, albeit for 9 minutes, had good movement and finished his header well - also had a decent long range shot. I'd just stick him in from the start on Saturday and see what happens.

What we are going to without Skora I'll never know. Creativity will be nil.

As it stands (with injuries and hopefully Osborn fit on Sat) I think we should go 4-4-2 and stick with it. Murphy, Pead, Roper, Bennett, Fox, Leitao, Osborn, Skora, Ishmel, Fryatt, Constable.

[Bristol Fan]

What formation did we play last night then? Started 4-4-2 and stuck with it, didn't we?

Began with

Murphy
Westwood Roper Bennett Fox
Leitao Pead Skora Demontagnac
Larossa Fryatt

Ended with

Murphy
Pead Roper Staunton Bennett
Taylor Skora Fox Leitao
Constable Fryatt

No argument about players being out of position.

[Geordiesaddler]

4-4-2 is a successful "home" formation, despite Merson saying we couldn't play it earlier in the season. We have a conventional and competetant back 4 with an enviable choice of centre-halves. With even a half-fit squad we have a decent left winger in Ishy, 3 right wingers (2 injured right now)and a centre-forward who has done reasonably well as a right wing fill-in, plus a promising reserve.

Centre-midfield, Ozzy was player of the season before his injury, Kinsella has done well, Taylor did well before his fall out, Skora has done the biz, should there ordinarily be a problem??

Up front we now have a choice of 2 from 4 all or whom are different type players.

Stand to be corrected, but away from home I don't think we have ever won playing 4-4-2 under Merson (in the league). 4-3-1-2 v Stockport, 4-4--1-1 at Scunny?? every other of our other 5 away wins under Merse have all been 4-5-1.

I'm not a fan of having home and away formations, but it would appear from our results that 4-4-2 at home and 4-5-1 away produces results required to challenge for the play-offs.

[WarsawPact]

Second: when Daryl Taylor came on for Larossa, he went up front and Jorge stayed on the right wing. Yes, we had a striker playing on the right wing and a right winger playing up front. Everyone in the ground just assumed it would be the other way round. Finally, after about five minutes Merson seemed to realise and then spent ages trying to shout to them to swap over. Might he not have mentioned it when Taylor went onto the pitch?

I also expected Taylor to go straight onto the wing, but I guess it's a reasonable tactic to try a fresh, pacy player against tiring centrebacks for 5 minutes or so.

[WFC_Rob]

Constable looked far better in the 10 minutes he played, than Larossa did for all the time he was on the pitch. Larossa never closes people down & puts pressure on the opposition defence. I'd start with Constable & Fryatt up front on Saturday.

[bournemouthsaddler]

I listened on Dorset radio. Their commentators raved about Fryatt, saying they could see why he was England international. We need to stop playing him as a lone striker, as even Rud VanN complains about the role. Well done saddlers, work is good today , thanks

[Jorge14]

We don't half have some idiots as fans who wouldn't know a quality player if he walked up to them and hit them in the face. Fryatt had a terrific game and stood out head and shoulders above everyone else on the park - he was making intelligent runs, held the ball up very well, competed better than normal in the air, and all in all had a very effective game. So why was most of the F2G lower abusing him after he missed a chance early in the second half? Why did loads of people shout "Should 'av passed it, Fryatt" at him? He looks to use every ball, he was booed by some for not passing the ball when there was no one free.
It just bewilders me that the best prospect we have had in years is genuinely hated by so many. They soon shut up after he scored though.

Constable seemed to have plenty of potential - he knew what runs to make, looked effective in the air and held the ball up well. Better than Larossa who made absolutely zero contribution to the game. Larossa is crap, he looked crap in pre-season and wouldn't have been signed without his goal against Coventry.

A good result on Tuesday - I'm going for a win on Saturday.

[Ace]

why was most of the F2G lower abusing him after he missed a chance early in the second half?

Because a blind man on a galloping horse would've scored it 8)

[Pedant]

Larossa is crap, he looked crap in pre-season and wouldn't have been signed without his goal against Coventry.

He was signed before that goal.

[THE_BURNING_RED]

in entering the fryatt debate he blows hot and cold

[needle2195]

Well thats your opinion and well its your opinion.

[Geordiesaddler]

This isn't another sad attempt to get the post count up for a game we won is it, if so count me out.