Really hard to quantify this game in any sensible way - it is a truly awful result, against a truly dreadful opposition. There were times when we looked like a bunch of blokes who’d never seen a football before and never met each other…and yet we had something stupid like 15 attempts on goal, god knows how many corners. The first half was lacklustre in all respects but we came out at the start of the second with so much purpose that it took Wigan 20 minutes to get any meaningful possession.
Still, the real point is half way through the season and we’re 4 or 5 points off the relegation places and not looking like a team with the confidence to win anytime soon. It is time for the manager/coaches to earn their corn and the players to step up. The one big thing we have that is lacking that would make an immediate difference is a leader on the pitch - it doesn’t have to be a Tony Adams or Roy Keane big bear type that frightens to shit out of the others it could just as easily be a Gordon Strachan type who leads by example…but we need that someone who will take charge. I don’t see anyone in the current squad who has that. They are decent enough set of players that we shouldn’t be in this position, but without leadership they have no cohesion and no belief in the team as an entity. I don’t buy it when these radio phone-in/text-in punters keep saying they are not trying, of course they are trying, but the efforts are not harnessed or focussed well and it gets lost, it means that as a team we are brittle. The other thing that was painfully evident yesterday is that the centre of our defence is a cluster fuck - any combination of Silvestri with Pearce, Cooper or Bellucci just isn’t working - it has to be down to communication (and I’m not falling back on a language barrier thing, that’s lazy) footballers at a decent level, know their jobs, know where they should and what they should be covering and between them these guys do not appear to have enough of a clue. Listening to Redfern after the match he said that they did it in training but seemed to lose it in front of 30,000 people…well Neil you and your coaches need to address that or pick players who can do the essentials in front of a crowd, it is what they get paid for. The keeper is a solid keeper but it looks like he needs to be more vocal in organising and controlling his back line…but also they have to listen to him. Their confidence is shot - what the hell was going on with Cooper’s own goal is any body’s guess, from memory I don’t recall a Wigan player in the box when the cross came in but who told Cooper that..? - it was poor positional play by Bellucci that allowed the cross in the first place - With a call Cooper wouldn’t have had to play the ball…or did he get a call and ignore it? Either way from nothing we gave them the lead. Cooper was then shot to pieces for the rest of that half…mistake after mistake. I don’t think we have a better left back than Warnock at the club and for my money he’s playing pretty consistently well at the moment. Byram - yes there is the conversation about whether he’s a midfielder or a full-back and I would be happy to see him given a go in midfield because the energy he brings going forward is a major asset, added to which he can be dodgy under pressure, defensively. All that said, he had a good game yesterday, loads of forward movement, caused them all kinds of problems and really really should have scored an equaliser after about 70 minutes when he managed to scoop over from 3 or 4 yards out. So, if we move him forward does that mean that the Swiss guy Berardi comes back in? He had promise but was a loose cannon. The midfield is a curate’s egg…Bianchi has had a run of dreadful games…so isn’t worth his place at the moment. But unlike some I wouldn’t rule him out for the longer term - he brings a control and poise to the midfield passing, however he is not as mobile as many of his team mates. Tonge was as good as anybody yesterday; good work rate and reasonable distribution…but we have seen enough of him to know that he doesn’t sustain this week in week out. Cook, was dreadful in the first half and probably our best player in the second - Redfern was talking about changing his role at half time from being the front of a diamond to a deeper position, well that just makes me thing that he got it wrong in the first half - fair enough, seeing that and making the change is fine, but why ask Cook to play that role in the first place when he has been better all season in the deeper lying role he had in the second half? Mowatt - I thought was unlucky to be subbed having been as involved and effective as anyone in the first 45. Him and Cook are undoubtedly the future of our midfield, possibly with Byram, but they need a consistent run without a chopping and changing of instructions and I think they need an experienced older head in there - in our squad this is either Tonge or Austin - Austin is a difficult one…his style doesn’t fit with what we appear to be trying to do and he has had several chances as the focal point of the team without ever being convincing for sustained periods…and yet, we miss the physicality when he’s not there, and when he comes on as sub he adds positively to the team. An enigma. Other midfielders…Murphy is out the picture, as is Norris…Adryan was apparently tired yesterday in the manager’s opinion - I think that was a bad call given that we needed to be opening Wigan up. Sloth? The guy from Milan? Neither of these convince. Neither does Dawson. Up front - well Antenucci is a must in the starting 11 - he has good movement, good vision and decent pace - with good service he will score goals. The service bit is the important bit - yesterday neither him nor Sharp got the right service. they need it on the floor, in behind the defence but what they got yesterday was deep crosses which the big guys in Wigan’s defence just dealt with all afternoon. Sharp - as far as I can remember his one touch in the first half was the header against the bar…other than that zip. His tantrum on being subbed was poor…if you’ve got a beef with that decision you see the manager after the game…and you don’t flounce down the tunnel, you sit on the bench and support your team mates. I haven’t seen enough from him to convince that he has much to offer except perhaps as a sub for the last 20 minutes when chasing a game. Morrison is no one’s idea of an answer to anything. Big immobile lump. Doukara, is frustrating…he has skill and strength but he is not involved enough and doesn’t bully defenders as a guy his size should do. On balance if we’re having two up front then I’d put Doukara alongside Antenucci, but I think there might be more mileage in having just Antenucci alone with Adryan just back off him and a fluid midfield of Cook, Mowatt, Byram and Austin…but I don’t think we have the self belief to try and play this way, nor do we have that many points’ cushion to mess around with. Nor, do we have a crowd who are happy to see “fancy” football when our backs are against the wall - but I think it is the only way forward that makes sense. What the answer for the defence is is more difficult because these guys are the best players we have at the club in those positions, they are going to have to sort out the calling and each of them step up individually. For all our pressure yesterday, I don’t recall more than one or two clear sights of goal. The corners were in main woeful…either not getting past the front man or being floated too high and handsome to cause the defence problems…they need to be driven across the face of goal to make defending them a nightmare and to give us something to attack. This is all training ground stuff. Their second came from us pushing for an equaliser - always a risk - but also something we had ridden our luck on a few times already in the game with their guys getting through too easily and either missing the target or bringing a good stop from Silvestri. It had been coming. It sounded like they played a simple one-two around Bellucci and were in on goal. A shit result, against a shit team and we need to get a grip pretty soon or we will be deep in it. Depressed of West Yorkshire. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] John 'Grampa' Sykes Rest In Peace old lad 28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
