Matthew - perhaps I didn't stress the positives enough. And you're right that we had some good passages of possession. But what worried me is that we seemed incapable of putting together the passes and movement to trouble a team content to soak up pressure. For parts of the first half, I felt it as almost as if Ipswich were content to let us have it, knowing would didn't have the options and then could be hit on the break. So yes, you could call it a "solid" performance and we should be grateful for small mercies. But there are some obvious things we're still doing wrong and that really needs to change.
Robert - think you hit the nail on the head. It seems bizarre, but the injury/suspension crisis is actually a cause for optimism. With Kasper, Kisnorbo, Parker and Bruce in the defence, I think we'll handle teams in this division without too many problems.(I think Connelly has the potential to be good long-term, too, just to fill out the places.) That should take the pressure off the midfield and allow a better shape to develop. It's probably a stupid question, but no Gradel yesterday. he warmed up at HT, and I thought he would have been the ideal sub, with pace to put them on the back foot again and take the pressure off our full backs... Best, Richard -------------------- Richard Young Freelance writer and editor 079 4108 1739 http://web.mac.com/richardjgyoung/ Find me at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/businesswriter http://twitter.com/richardyoung http://www.facebook.com/RichardJGYoung On 3 October 2010 14:23, MATTHEW GAYNOR <[email protected]>wrote: > I didnt think it was that bad. > > Both teams were just playing one upfront so it was never going to be a > classic and we had a bit of a dogs breakfast of a team, with Howson playing > right-wing, Bruce right-back and Somma upfront on his own. > > First half we were pretty solid, Ipswich scored with their only real attack > and though we didnt create much ourselves we didnt deserve to be behind. > > Somma is undoubtedly a better player than Becchio, but i'm not sure he's > that effective on his own upfront, he's a big lad but doesnt really use his > side to hold the ball up that well or win much in the air - definitely > prefers the ball into his feet. He was isolated though - Snoddy was playing > in the 'hole' for most of the game but didnt get that close. A couple of > times we worked good positions wide but had no-one to cross to. > > Second half Ipswich created a couple more chances but never really put us > under any sustained pressure. The subs made us more attacking and after we > scored i thought we looked the more likely winners. > > Unfortunately the sending off made a difference, Howson had to goto > right-back but it was disappointing how quickly they scored (we're never > that much better against 10 men) and that was a defensive mistake - free > header. As you say they could have got another towards the end, messed up > more than one men over breakaway. > > Faye looks a bit overweight and cant pass the ball forward but may be a > necessary evil in the short-term, while we try and get the defence organised > again. Higgs' injury was surreal - he seemed to get injured picking the ball > up. Could do with Kasper back soon. > > Matt > > > --- On *Sun, 3/10/10, Richard Young <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: Richard Young <[email protected]> > Subject: [LU] Ipswich from the stands > To: [email protected] > Date: Sunday, 3 October, 2010, 12:45 > > > This was pretty poor stuff and although Grayson did try to ring some > changes > after the Preston debacle, we now have several reasons to be concerned > about > progress this season. > > I'm going to pause there for a moment to indulge in a reality check. > Mid-table is where most of us expected to be this season and mid-table is > where we are. Players that were fine if inconsistent in Div3 are slightly > less effective and just as inconsistent in Div2. I've been as guilty as the > next fan of taking the bright points and magnifying them into unrealistic > hope, and that must stop. We're going to lose pkenty more this season, and > against much worse sides than Ipswich - so keep a level head. > > However. It's concerning that we got so much of the basics wrong yesterday. > The back four continues to be a shambles. Collins and Naylor, as we know, > is > a bad pairing, and pushing Bruce out to right-back now appears to have been > a mistake. Time and again the CBs were out of position, and they haven't > got > the pace to cope with that when the opposition attacks. Bruce was at fault > for the goal, too, although I'm guessing he wasn't happy at full-back. > McCartney acquitted himself quite well - but I think Grayson is hamstrung > until we get Kisnorbo and Parker back. > > Sitting in front of the defence (in theory) was our supposedly defensive > midfield Faye. He looks past it. He tried quite hard and did, to be fair, > make some decent tackles, especially early on. But he's clueless about > distribution and (as someone I chatted to in the crowd at half time pointed > out), we need a Batty - someone who can win possession them play the easy, > reliable ball to a flair player. Faye looks every inch the stop-gap. Worse, > however, was that he seemed poorly briefed. Surely we all know we need > cover > for the CBs - but Faye kept getting sucked into what's an increasingly > congested and aimless central midfield unit. Manager has to think about > shape and discipline whenever we don't have the ball. > > We also know our midfield is hot-and-cold, and yesterday was a cold one. > Howson was in and out of the game and lost possession a lot. Snoddy ran > hard, but looks off his fitness. Championship Manager would have him at 85% > fitness - playable, but you know he needs more time to come back. Kilkenny > worries me. He's a gabby so-and-so - which is good if he's motivating and > organising, but I think he spends too much time chiding and arguing. I saw > his in conversation with Snoddy in the warm-up and Snoddy didn't look too > engaged... Then at the re-start after Ipswich's 1st, he was wittering away > like a fish-wife. Johnson looked quite lively, but he needs service. I > watched the highlights DVD from last season this week, and he scored loads > for us - all from close range. These days it's all long-range shots and > limited options. > > Somma was good up front initially. He works hard, and (RW will like this) > he's being a more like Becchio with skills - in that he's industrious. But > then he had to be, with Snoddy quite deep off him and labouring without an > out-and-out strike partner. > > Here's the thing: it looked like Grayson wanted us not to embarrass > ourselves after Preston - and that was the wrong call. Keane ("One Alfie > Haarland, there's only one...") sets out his side to frustrate the > opposition, even at home, and they did that brilliantly. We had loads of > possession in the first half and kept running into blind alleys. Part of > the > reason was lack of support from midfield. And I think the players may be a > bit gun-shy after ER midweek. At corners and free kicks, we lacked numbers > and movement - so we failed to capitalise and still managed to get hit on > the break. > > So: a few glimmers of hope. But we need to find a better way of holing it > all together until our injury crisis - now most evident between the sticks > after Higgs limped off (great save by Brown, mind!) - is over. Perhaps we > should just close our eyes until January. > > Best, > > Richard > > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
