Welsh_Saddler wrote:EvenFlow wrote:I've just returned to the UK after a spell living abroad, so have only caught the odd game here and there over the past several years when I've been back. My first game of the season today, and first since Rochdale on New Years Eve. I take it from reading the board we've improved since then!
Should be a good warm-up before the serious business of the Shrews next weekend.... I've no evidence to base this on, but I'll go for a solid 2-0 today.
A warm welcome to EvenFlow.........if we play with anything like the style that has been on show so far this season then you're in for a treat. :D
Thank you, sir. Wish I was responding under happier circumstances, however...
Well, it hasn't improved, has it? The standard of referees we get, of course. The officials gave Paterson & (especially) Grigg very little protection. I noticed the linesman sheepishly drop his flag as Carlisle celebrated the equaliser... and did Noble get booked for his celebration? I didn't see it, if he did.
For the first seventy minutes, the off the ball movement from the front four was like little I'd ever seen from a Walsall side, they were a great unit. Of course, when Baxendale went off, the cohesion between the forwards seemed to suffer, and from then on Carlisle looked the more likely winners. As others have said, Grigg was our best player: he worked the channels well, linked up with Baxendale superbly, and was our main outlet more often than not... although this included in the air, which failed to come off more often than it worked. His work deserved a goal, but the job his was doing meant he was seldom in a position to get one. I do think (not Grigg's fault) however, that he is simply not physically strong enough to do some of the things asked of him today.
Which brings me to Carlisle... they were decent, organised, and... well,
bigger than us, weren't they? I do think at times we were very Arsenal-esque- very tidy & creative, but wanted to walk the ball in, almost. There felt a massive reluctance to get crosses into the box, and when Carlisle sussed this after about an hour, they were happy to sit back & let us play across them, seldom threatening. If we had the option of a Rammell/Goodman/Mooney/Ibhere/Martin Butler/Clive Platt type player, we'd have been much less predictable as the game worn on, and likely have come away with something.... witness injury time, when we finally got a half-decent cross in for Brandy to fluff his lines. Any of the aforementioned would've buried that.
Still, not all doom & gloom. It was a far sight more enjoyable than just about any of the half-dozen or so performances I've gotten to over the past 2 years on my trips back, so in a perverse way, I'm actually encouraged with how down everyone (including Smith) seems to be on us today. Other observations were:
My one gripe with Butler has subsided. He now gives it simple to a full back or Featherstone instead of sticking his laces through the ball 3 times out of 5. However, this progress was undone by Darlow's woeful long-kicking.
First time I've seen Purkiss, and thought he supported the attacks very effectively. If he wasn't injured, I kind of understand the substitution as most of Carlisle's first half joy was coming from down his flank, but for me Taundry was about like-for-like defensively, and wasn't able to find space in the opposition half as effectively.
Featherstone was very decent, in a keep-things-ticking kind of way, generally seemed to have time on the ball, and put his foot in well all afternoon. When further upfield in the latter second half, he did seem a little hesitant to look for a final ball, and appeared to want to find someone else to take responsibility. For that reason, I'll be very interested to see him in a midfield 3, possibly at Shrewsbury, if Grigg is away with the N.Irish.
Paterson, in the first half, looked to have grown in leaps & bounds from the raw kid I saw a few times last year. Yet, as we struggled to find new ways to get through Carlisle, his confidence appeared to wane as a result & he reverted to occasionally-indecisive. My first-timers conclusion from this would be that when we're on song, he's on song.
Ah, onwards & upwards, and off to Shropshire next week. My first away day since Ashton Gate & a winner from Grant Smith. In many ways, it's good to be back in Blighty!
