Lessons To Be Learnt From Yesterday

[Loderingo]

Now I'm not a doom and gloom merchant and one bad result against a top team is not the end of the world, but what does concern me is that this is not the first result like this. If you look at our results against the top eight teams in this division so far then we have:

P7 W0 D3 L4

For the middle 7 teams it is:

P4 W1 D3 L0

And for the bottom 8 teams it is:

P4 W4 D0 L0

This shows that against the middle and bottom teams we've done quite well but against the top teams who have quality players we've really struggled. Now this is not the end of the world as so far we have played more top teams. If you were to extrapolate the results for each group out we would end up with

3/7*16=6.9 points

6/4*14=21 points

12/4*16=48 points

=75.9 points which would there or thereabouts for the playoffs. The problem of course is that even if we did make the playoffs would we have any chance of beating whoever we would face? On current form against the big teams, no. Now our next 4 games are against bottom 8 teams and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we bounce back and get say 8 points at least from those games and then all is looking more rosy again. However, for me that would be papering over the cracks somewhat and we still need to address the following issues from today's game:

Left sided cover

Now I like Brian Wilson and he gives his all for the team but I do wonder about the wisdom of asking a player who's best position is probably RW to cover LB. All 4 Reading goals came from the area of the field that Wilson should have been covering. We need some proper left sided cover in January

Lack of composure

Both Reading and Brum closed down quickly and we tended to panic especially in both games. We need to learn a bit more composure in these circumstances

Passing triangles

When we play short passes like we did for 5 mins in the 2nd half yesterday we looked really good but we don't seem to have the confidence to carry this on for longer. We seem to run out of ideas and resort to hoofing. We used to be a good passing side but now you have to say that we really are a long ball team and I don't think we necessarily have the right players to play long ball successfully like say a Stoke.

Width

We don't have any. Our wingers seem to play narrower and narrower (presumably to cover central midfield). When we do get the ball on the wing, they almost always cut inside. In the 90s, we had a lot of success by getting in crosses from the byline to Cole/Goater/Akinbiyi. Why don't we do this any more? That said there was 1 goal we scored this season where Wilson crossed it in from the byline and Adebola put it away in front of the Atyeo. Can't remember which game. But we should do that more.

Set pieces

These used to be a strength but have been awful of late. Against Sheff U we had about 5 free kicks in good positions but they were all squandered (generally over the bar). If you can't score from a freekick then at least make the goally tip away for a corner or for a freekick that's further away at least put in a ball the strikers can aim for. Corners haven't been much better. We need to make this a strength again.

Lee Johnson

I've been a defender of LJ in the past but unfortunately yesterday he had all of the bad aspects of his game and none of the good. It was interesting to note that he was featured in the programme and said about how important sleep patterns were to footballers. With a 5 month old baby this might be a cause of his recent poor form. LJ needs to be rested for the next 2 games at least and given the chance to find his form again in the reserves. I would play Williams/Noble instead depending on fitness.

Nicky Maynard

Has sadly been a big disappointment so far. I had a tenner on him being top goal scorer :-(

That said we mustn't write him off completely as he's still very young. The problem is that defenders close down much better in this division (compare Brum's defence against Donny's) and Maynard is too flimsy and gets bullied off the ball. He needs to be rested and spend the time working out in the gym or be loaned out to regain his confidence. In the meantime I would start with Adebola and John with Akinde on the bench.

To sum up, yesterday's defeat was not the end of the world and we can still have a successful season if we learn the right lessons. The biggest plus for me yesterday was the fans. To outsing Reading at times at 4-0 down was magnificent and I'm sure the team appreciated it. Let's came the faith

[milo1111]

alot of what you say above is true. in a nutshell for me anyway the problem this season can roughly be attributed to our MIDFIELD.

the work rate and tackling isnt there in the engine room nor is the creativity and neat passing aligned with running off the ball to free up space and give the opposition the slip. marvin hasnt had a pre-season and it shows. I'm not even going to go down the LJ route apart from to say in my opinion he does not have enough of an all round game for the championship, certainly not to be a starter week in week out. mcindoe doesnt appear to me to want to play for us anymore. skuse is a league one player for all his effort and the likes of noble and gavin williams worry me fitness wise despite their ability. sproule is only an impact player. we are lightweight in the middle and that was cruelly exposed yesterday and at wolves to name but two games.

although our defence was dire yesterday, looking at the seaoson so far as a whole they have performed well more often than not and i sometimes feel sorry for our strikers in as much as the service they get is so poor at times that torres would struggle to look good.

this season will be up and down whilst GJ figures out how to transform this department of our team i feel.