Wyrley_saddler wrote:Weston - 7 - Solid, but did struggle at times with us not having a right winger.
Palmer - 7 -Good again from him!!!
Bradley - 6 - Non existant
Hughes - 7 - Got in their faces but was caught for pace and out of position on a couple of occasions.
Ricketts - 4 - Woeful. He can't play in this role.
Jabo - 9 - MOTM. Big and strong upfront and deserved his 2 goals, constants threat.
Deeney - 7 - Struggled with a lack of service to him.
EDIT: As for the tactics, why the hell do we have a left winger but not a right winger???
I'm just going to pick up on a few things from there to make a wider point.
Weston - 7? Did well coming forward in the first half, linking well with Bradley, Hughes and Ricketts. He did this by playing short, simple passes along the floor. It isn't as if he can't do it, but he seems to panic when the game is going against us. As soon as we conceded, he resorted to type and started launching hoof-balls up-field which took Bradley, Ricketts and Hughes out of the game totally, and meant that Deeney and Jabo couldn't continue with the same verve they had in the first half. Also, he was caught out often by balls over the top, and this seems to be an increasingly common occurence. He didn't struggle not having a right winger, because when he was playing it short he had Ricketts, Bradley, Jabo and Deeney all pulling shifts on the right flank. But by knocking it long he exposed this space. 8 for the first half, 4 in the second.
Palmer - 7? See Weston. But I'll let him off, he's not a full-back.
Bradley - 6 and Hughes - 7? Bradley wasn't non-existant. He worked very hard on the right getting forward in support of the strikers and in defence in the first half, but again, he was exposed by the change in tactics. Hughes look good when the defence bring him into the game. The onus is on them to see him in the space he creates for himself. Again, I thought he was excellent in the first half and was by-passed in the second half by the shift in tactics.
Ricketts can play in this role. He isn't lazy. He is made to look lazy when we play long balls to a front three when they have shown their strengths in other positions in the first half. He came deep often, and took a centre half with him every time which opened the space for Jabo and Deeney to expose the other centre back and the full backs. He was a threat arriving late in the box, and this caused a few half chances to be created and confusion to be caused. You can't play long balls towards him - when will we learn? He brought so many players into the action in the first half, and I'd love to see the statistical difference between first half and second. In the first half, Ricketts' free role gave Bradley and Zaboob in particular the opportunity to drift inside and outside. I'm afraid I think the majority opinion of Ricketts yesterday is totally wrong.
Jabo showed something I haven't seen him do since Yeovil on the opening day - he played right on the shoulders of the opposition and gave the centre backs and left back a torrid time. It is the first time since August I have seen a defence scared of him, and he needs to do this more often. Again, the shift in tactics in the second half took this from his armoury, and it is no coincidence that he did nothing in the second half.
Deeney worked hard and harried well. He took a leaf from Ricketts book and dropped deep, taking a defender with him opening up more space in the middle of the pitch.
Please Hutch - persist with the tactics in the first half, and get rid of the full backs in they can't play a simple pass on the grass not in the air. As Cloughie said, if God had wanted us to play football in the air, he'd have put grass there.