Port Vale (H)

[Tonge moor green jacket]

Williams was very good first half yesterday. They nullified him a bit second half, but the damage was done.

No need to change that. Mbete didn't have his easiest game yesterday though.

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, freds dad said:

 

It shows their shot that goes well over but not the decent effort first half that looked like a great save from Trafford high to his left, sometimes it looks better at the time than on the TV but would have liked to have seen it again.  Trafford had an great game thankfully.

[Johnnyrotten]

20 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Williams was very good first half yesterday. They nullified him a bit second half, but the damage was done.

No need to change that. Mbete didn't have his easiest game yesterday though.

That's a bit kind IMO.  I don't think he worked hard enough (fitness issue?), anyone can be beaten by the better player on the day but he wasn't tracking back enough for me.  Sloppy in possession, which isn't really down to the opposition.  

But I agree he did some decent things first half and was instrumental in both our goals so fair play for that, I've nothing against him but thought he was generally poor apart from a 15 minute spell around the goals. 

[Leyther_Matt]

Watched the game in The Embankment in Benidorm on a bit of a stuttery iFollow stream so hard to judge a little bit but credit to Vale for having a go and playing football. Quite refreshing after some of the teams we’ve played recently. Always a good sign to still be winning even if not necessarily dominating the game. Automatic promotion felt like a distant dream after the Wycombe game but all of a sudden it looks a possibility once again. 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

28 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

That's a bit kind IMO.  I don't think he worked hard enough (fitness issue?), anyone can be beaten by the better player on the day but he wasn't tracking back enough for me.  Sloppy in possession, which isn't really down to the opposition.  

But I agree he did some decent things first half and was instrumental in both our goals so fair play for that, I've nothing against him but thought he was generally poor apart from a 15 minute spell around the goals. 

He was let down quite frequently by a degree of poor passing by team mates. Look at their goal, and openings prior to it. He and Bradley are quite obviously told to play high and they were happy to utilise the space in behind whenever possible. That isn't the fault of the wingbacks whatsoever, they can't be in two places at once 

There were two attacking midfielders who struggled to make much of an impact, which handed a lot of possession to the opposition; nevertheless they still provided an out ball for the defence regulary.

I'm sure both of them were knackered at the end- that's the nature of being a wing back.

I do feel at times that they don't put the ball into the box as quickly as they could at times. No doubt it's how they're instructed, but yesterday big Vic was tremendous after his goal and some crosses to attack may have yielded another goal or two.

[ianofcleveleys]

It's the modern way with wing backs rather than full backs in a 4 I suppose, but there seems to be less and less emphasis on the defensive attributes, more and more on the offensive. None of our three LWBs are up to much defensively, Williams looking the weakest, while Bradley is a great prospect going forward but, as with Trent AA at Liverpool, has improvement to make without the ball. 

Not for me to tell IE and Markham their jobs but I'd have thought at least one of the three LWBs being a bit more 'defender first' might give a bit more flexibility when we come up against opponents with a strong, physical right winger. Right side's a bit less of an issue with Bradley or Jones, plus Toal's better at covering in behind the RWB. 

Our weakness yesterday for me, not the first time, was a lack of ability / desire to do enough to stop crosses coming in, an issue for a side like us that isn't great at dealing with a barrage of them. They had umpteen uncontested crossing opportunities across both halves, plus a few cheap free kicks out wide when all we could do to cut the cross out was give a soft foul away. Something to tighten up on in coming weeks.

[embankment]

Tough game. Evatt had is eye on Portsmouth. 

Grafting performance. 

Vale ran their backsides off. ( very Impressive).

No 20 , proper in ya face .

1 nil down ( our own fault). 2 excellent goals in reply.

Managed to hold out for the win 

That will do me !

 

[Steejay]

21 minutes ago, ianofcleveleys said:

It's the modern way with wing backs rather than full backs in a 4 I suppose, but there seems to be less and less emphasis on the defensive attributes, more and more on the offensive. None of our three LWBs are up to much defensively, Williams looking the weakest, while Bradley is a great prospect going forward but, as with Trent AA at Liverpool, has improvement to make without the ball. 

Not for me to tell IE and Markham their jobs but I'd have thought at least one of the three LWBs being a bit more 'defender first' might give a bit more flexibility when we come up against opponents with a strong, physical right winger. Right side's a bit less of an issue with Bradley or Jones, plus Toal's better at covering in behind the RWB. 

Our weakness yesterday for me, not the first time, was a lack of ability / desire to do enough to stop crosses coming in, an issue for a side like us that isn't great at dealing with a barrage of them. They had umpteen uncontested crossing opportunities across both halves, plus a few cheap free kicks out wide when all we could do to cut the cross out was give a soft foul away. Something to tighten up on in coming weeks.

Iredale would be the defensive LWB option but he’s out for the season.

[Cheese]

 

[Traf]

2 hours ago, Cheese said:

 

I'd have liked to see Bench Cam when we went 1 down

[Cheese]

2 minutes ago, Traf said:

I'd have liked to see Bench Cam when we went 1 down

Probably would have been as exciting as this. Fucking pointless really.

[DomRepWanderer]