Crewe Alexandra (A) League 1 Saturday 8/12/07.

[Kiansmom]

Just got back, We should have won.Had most of the possesion and Ricketts missed a sitter my Mom could have scored! still another point in the bag and an excellent Saddlers following :lol:

[Burnside]

Another great defensive performance and when i say that, it's numbers 1-11. All of them work to a pattern of play when they have the ball.

Bit worried though that we stroked the ball around really well, but didn't play enough football behind their defence, or rather, play enough football trying to get them running. All to often Mooney, Ricketts, Sweeney, Sonko even Fox, Weston and Wracky would cut back in rather than turn the man they had.

I can understand Mooney and Ricketts sometimes checking when they were 20 yards from goal but we were in good positions and not being sharp, brave or lethal.

We moved the ball around as good as i've seen us do at any stage under Richard Mooney, everyone of those players is comfortable on the ball and it's possibly the best unit i've seen in my years watching the club.

Ince, didn't have to do much
Weston and Fox, Solid and Dependable
Gerrard and Dann, Walk in the park

Sonko, an improvement on recent weeks, bad 1st touch at time
Sweeney, looked better attacking players today than other games, getting better
Wracky, some good, some bad but i like his bursts forward
Bradley, pick of the midfield, a box to box player

Mooney - busy first half, tired in the second (take note)
Ricketts - some good touches, created well, but never where he should have been (penalty box) fluffed a free header as well.

Ishy - one or two good breaks.

Overall a 10/10 defensive performance
A 9/10 team performance
A 8/10 attacking performance

[OldPenkSaddler]

That was the worst Crewe side I have seen in 25 years. They look relegation fodder to me.

We should have taken them to the cleaners but were woeful up front. Ricketts had one of his couldn't care less days.

Thought Wrack and Bradley played well but DD left it too late for Ishy and Deeney to make any impression.

Still, useful point gained and the momentum continues. Well done lads.

[Burnside]

That was the worst Crewe side I have seen in 25 years. They look relegation fodder to me.

We should have taken them to the cleaners but were woeful up front. Ricketts had one of his couldn't care less days.

Thought Wrack and Bradley played well but DD left it too late for Ishy and Deeney to make any impression.

Still, useful point gained and the momentum continues. Well done lads.

Agree it was toothless for a Crewe side - i sat there thinking thank god they haven't got a Ward up front today !

I remember sitting in fear as they had players Ward, Ashton, Adebola, Hulse or god knows who else who would be lashing goals in all season long.

Midfielders such as murphy, lennon, hignett and lunt who can run the game and pick your defence to bits with passes

[Pedagogue]

I agree with all the above. Before the game, I would have been happy with a point but, having watched it, I have to say that it was two points chucked away, we were that much in control, from start to finish. It was, indeed, the worst Crewe team that I have seen for years - but an excellent referee, for the second game in succession! :)

[coxy_saddler]

Should of won..Rickkets should of scored..Great following..How bad was crewe's support? Jesus.

Bring on the lids!

[Sadders]

Awesome soldily, they hit the post out of a freak shot and maynard volleyed comfortable wide late on that was it. We passed the ball incredible well today but lacked the cutting edge inside the penalty box. We started brightly mooney did well to hook one shot just wide, the keepr made a fantastic save diving leftwards to stop sweeney and then another very good save to stop a 35 yard fox thunderbolt. The game other then that was a nothing game really. We had loads of corners in the second half, in which ricketss missed a sitter. I thought the back 4 were impeckable, especially gerrard and weston, wrack was hard working but prduced nothing. Bradley was everywhere but just lacks a little bit of creativity, sonko was awful first but seemed to be uplifeted playing on the side where the saddlers fans were, mooney worked hard but especially in the second half prooved to me that we need a back up, ricketss was good,but sometimes couldn't be arsed.

DD didnt really give ishy enough time to make a real impact. Swweney looks good and positive,but on the left wing sometimes hangs back to often , whereas ishy would be thundering down the wing and crossing at every occasion. Still hink we need a creative midfielder, if we get him play offs look a slight light in the distance.

Big shout to the 1,500 who turned out today, noisy and boysrous as usual..

What an awful crowd crewe get. :shock:

[Gaz the Train]

You win some you lose some you draw some, a point is a point keeps us unbeaten and I'm sure we will play worse in games and win, thats football, at least we didnt dominate and lose, happy enough with a draw today

[WFC_Rob]

DD didnt really give ishy enough time to make a real impact. Swweney looks good and positive,but on the left wing sometimes hangs back to often , whereas ishy would be thundering down the wing and crossing at every occasion.

I think that's one of the main reasons why Money brought Sweeney in and doesn't like playing Ishmel from the start. He can't defend.

[Ashley_Walsall]

Quality today.

Had some great chances, But unluckily we couldn't get it in the goal. A point was decent enough, as we dominated all game really.
Away support was great yet again, Better than the poor support from Crewe. Great voices from us.

Overall great day for me, Still unbeaten. :D

[Exile]

Happy with a point - it's looking very comfortable at the moment.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Disappointed we day get a win, our dominance of a very tame (and thats being nice) Crewe side shouldve produced the solitary goal that wouldve beat them

[tinned]

The first ten minutes I thought we were going to take them to the cleaners, we were that dominant. Unfortunately it became more and more apparent that we just didn't have that cutting edge, that final ball to turn possession into clear cut chances. I'd say we had easily 60% of the first half possesion. Second half was a lot more balanced than the first but we should still have came out on top, how did Ricketts miss that chance?

I thought Sonko was very poor again, his first touch is suspect and a lot of his passing is very dodgy. I'm not starting to get on his back but I think a short period on the bench will be good for all parties.

I know the tactic of defending first is one that works to some extent but I just wish we could occasionally build up a head of steam and take the game to the opposition occasionally. Just ten or fifteen minutes of sustained pressure today would've seen off Crewe and delivered us 3 valuable points. I'm not moaning about the point at all but any real thoughts of play off's require us to find that extra bit of flair to see off poor teams like Crewe.

[Cannock]

Absolute top call tinned. Spot on.

We played really well as a unit but lacked that final instinct in the final third. Probably due to Crewe putting eleven men behind the ball - at home.

Great performance, two points dropped, but the future looks bright based on todays effort

[Registered Saddler]

I don't think that's a new thing for Walsall, we always seem to be like that. If we're solid at the back and take our chances then we are going to grind out result after result - like we are doing at the moment. We'll also beat some good teams like Forest. But I think, maybe, we need to believe in ourselves a bit more against teams that are as weak as everyone seems to be saying Crewe were. We're good enough defensively to stay solid and still be able to push on just a shade more.

[Asps]

It was just like watching Brazil

[Cannock]

Excellent Asps :lol:

[WFC_Rob]

I don't think that's a new thing for Walsall, we always seem to be like that. If we're solid at the back and take our chances then we are going to grind out result after result - like we are doing at the moment. We'll also beat some good teams like Forest. But I think, maybe, we need to believe in ourselves a bit more against teams that are as weak as everyone seems to be saying Crewe were. We're good enough defensively to stay solid and still be able to push on just a shade more.

I think we just have to accept that that's football. For example, Ricketts apparenty missed a sitter today which would have seen us take all three points but we can't forget his strike against Forest which I don't think anyone else in the squad would have been capable of. It happens to the best of teams - Tevez missed a sitter for Man Utd when they lost to Bolton, but was in the right place at the right time today against Derby. Maybe sometimes you just have to put it down to having 'one of those days'.

Additionally, we've got a hectic schedule at the moment which is bound to have an effect on our performances.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

I don't think that's a new thing for Walsall, we always seem to be like that. If we're solid at the back and take our chances then we are going to grind out result after result - like we are doing at the moment. We'll also beat some good teams like Forest. But I think, maybe, we need to believe in ourselves a bit more against teams that are as weak as everyone seems to be saying Crewe were. We're good enough defensively to stay solid and still be able to push on just a shade more.

I think we just have to accept that that's football. For example, Ricketts apparenty missed a sitter today which would have seen us take all three points but we can't forget his strike against Forest which I don't think anyone else in the squad would have been capable of. It happens to the best of teams - Tevez missed a sitter for Man Utd when they lost to Bolton, but was in the right place at the right time today against Derby. Maybe sometimes you just have to put it down to having 'one of those days'.

Additionally, we've got a hectic schedule at the moment which is bound to have an effect on our performances.

Id agree with that, was saying on 60 minutes that this was a nailed on 0-0

[Neuromantic]

We controlled the game and looked like a top 8 side today, we really moved and looked confident. I think we need that extra option coming off the bench up front to guve us that edge. Because Troy Deeney is not the answer, far from it, good youth prospect, but theres no real back up at all to the front two.

[belgiansaddler]

we played well, shoud have won, they were awful, support was superb their support was even more abysmal than their team. Was talking to one of the Crewe old bill at the station and he was laughing at our Yoof numpties, saying what a waste of police resources looking after a few naughty school kids :lol:

[tape66]

It was just like watching Brazil

It sure was. There were a few hairy moments.

[Manchester Saddler]

To be honest I'm disappointed with just a point. Crewe were absolutely abysmal and we should have put the game to bed by half time. We totally dominated the game and it was frustrating that we didn't score.

That said, I'm feeling very positive at the moment. We were solid at the back and I fancy our chances against dirty Leeds.

[YGA Saddler]

Good performance from the boys but like people have above it was the end product that was missing.

A very long day for me, woke up at 4am for work and didnt get my head down until 7am this morning!! :shock:

It was good to see so many UTS'ers again yesterday although I saw a bit too much of Asps! :wink:

[Kiansmom]

Good performance from the boys but like people have above it was the end product that was missing.

A very long day for me, woke up at 4am for work and didnt get my head down until 7am this morning!! :shock:

It was good to see so many UTS'ers again yesterday although I saw a bit too much of Asps! :wink:

Hasn't everyone? :roll:

[Magic Man Fan]

Just to confirm what the others have said. A good performance and a game we completely dominated but just lacked something up front on the day. Similar to the Tranmere game. Nothing Mark Wright couldn't have fixed if he'd still been with us. :D

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Worst Crewe team I have ever seen. We huffed and puffed, but never really looked like scoring. Odd substitutions in my opinion. Can't argue with another away point, and clean sheet.

Crewe offered nothing apart from one chance right at the end, and one shot that produced a wonder save from Clayton, which stopped the corner flag getting knocked over