You've gotta be kidding when you say Parker was MOTM - he was a f'cking liability. Never mind the occassional forward run , he's in the team to defend and he can't. His positional sense is nil. Just not good enough and I've said that from the start with this lad.
report to follow ... --- On Sat, 15/11/08, Paula & Nick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Paula & Nick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [LU] Huddersfield > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, 15 November, 2008, 9:52 PM > Absolute bloody garbage. Its beginning to really grate that > we were once again by miles the best team with the ball and > yet lose the chuffing game - why have quick punchy attacks > when you can spend an extra 20 passes going back and forth > and up and down the down the pitch? And if you are not going > to bury opponents as poor as Udds when you do have all the > possession then you had better have your defence sorted out > - at the moment our defending is amateurish - schoolboy - > fuckin embarrassing...its mid-November and no matter which > players actually make up the back four the result is nearly > always the same. So you have to ask; is it the system? is it > Staunton's fault? > > The only player in the their XI that would make our first > XI was their number 11 - who was everywhere in midfield. > > The starting XI was: Angkergren, Richardson, Parker, > Telfer, Michalik, Douglas, Delph, Kilkenny, Robinson, > Snodgrass, Becchio... This worried me for starters because > if Beckford is fit, and I don't believe in putting > players on the bench if they aren't fit, then there is > no way that either Becchio or Snodgrass should start ahead > of him. Secondly, Robinson - more of which later - but > basically it was the same as when he started against > Northampton - got 90 minutes - but he's a passenger for > half of that. His flamboyant cameos are great but his > influence is not sustained over 90 minutes. There are times > when his presence makes extra work for his team mates. > > We started well - Udds couldn't get a sniff of the ball > - this lasted more or less all the first half. A neat move > down the left involving Parker and Becchio resulted in a > deep cross which Snodgrass bundled in at the far post - > doing well despite the attentions of two defenders. 3 > minutes in looking good. During the first half Michalik > was commanding at the back; both full backs were making good > raids forward; Telfer looked a bit sleepy a couple of times > and nearly got caught. Caspar had almost nothing to do. > Douglas was breaking everything up and the creative midfield > 3 were pinging the ball around. Becchio was on his own up > front again - Snodgrass was out wide on the right - so > whenever Becchio won the ball there was no-one within 20 > yards of him. It was annoying but in truth it didn't > look like it would matter. The only thing Udds brough to the > game was persistance in closing down, marking tight and a > lot of "letting them know you're there" type > of > challenging - Delph and Kilkenny were on the receiving end > of a lot of this. Their forwards did a lot of good off the > ball running but their team mates were never up to the job > of finding them with their passes. > > Without Beckford we have a problem. There is no speed in > the team. Our midfield looks up and expects to be able to > play balls in behind the defence, and often still play them > even if no-one is there, but when they see that the ball > isn't on, then they stop, turn back and lay the ball off > backwards or square and the forward momentum is lost. This > lack of movement ahead of them is blunting the abilities of > our midfield playmakers because they have no-one to go to > and no spaces ahead of them, created by the runs of the > forwards. Snodgrass stands too far wide to be influential - > added to which his one and only trick is to check back onto > his left foot to cross or shoot, not that he had a bad game > today, in fact I would say he was one of our more effective > players - he wasn't in the game for long spells but when > he was, stuff nearly happened for us. > > The crowd settled into the same old "this lot are > useless, we'll bury them" kind of feeling, which > seemed to transmit to the players. There is always the good > old "the way we're playing at the minute we'll > give somebody a right spanking any day now." Neither of > these is true in this league unless you are willing and able > to work and make it happen. And we just don't seem to > have that ethic at the moment. I am as a big a fan of > keeping the ball, not hoofing it wildly, as anyone but there > does come a point when possession for possession's sake > is fruitless - the aim of the game is to score more goals > than the opposition. In lots of ways, how you get there is > irrelevant. > > The second half began with us coming the tunnel from under > the North Stand to hear the away end cheering madly and to > see their players charging down that end. Obviously one > all. This is when the competition changed and all our pretty > patterns counted for nothing. Huddersfield believed that > with enough endeavour they could get something out of the > game. We spent mostly of the half thinking that one all > would be a bad result (which would have been correct). We > had a good few opportunities - Beckford (on as a sub with > about 20 to go) had a shot from the edge of the box tipped > around the post; Becchio hit the bar with a header from a > Richardson cross; Snodgrass went close...all to nothing. > Into injury time and Telfer gives the ball to Cadamateri on > the half way line - trying to play a cute ball rather than a > long one. Cadamateri does him for pace down to the box, > knocks a cross in and one of theirs finishes it with seconds > left on the clock - > their boys go ape...why not? > > Who made Snodgrass our dead ball "expert" - he > took nearly all the corners, which either flew too long, or > more often did not get past the front man - to be fair one > or two of these were down to Robinson - and most of the free > kicks around the box. > > With 15 minutes to go Macca took off Delph and Douglas (to > go alongside the earlier replacement of Kilkenny) and > suddenly of our starting midfield only the fitfully involved > Robinson remained. This could well be where we lost that > last goal - both Douglas and Delph are mobile enough to > track back and challenge...this was also the point when we > started thumping long balls. > > We're getting a few hard lessons at the moment. But > such is the quality of this league that we are by no means > out of it - and anyone who starts bleating "that's > it, we've blown it" simply can't do Maths. > Right now I'll take a defeat in the cup replay if it > means that we concentrate on, and get out of, this league. > That has to be the priority nothing else comes close. > > (as a caveat I should point out that I wasn't back from > the bar when they scored their goal straight after half > time, so I've no idea what happened, except the blokes > around me said it was the same old story of piss poor > defending.) > > ANKERGREN - at least two saves that stopped certain goals - > some flapping at crosses > > RICHARDSON - one of his better games - a lot of talking; a > lot of driving people forward - I worry though that our main > route to goal is his cross for Becchio's head... > > PARKER - a composed game, good forward play, couple of runs > into the box that nearly brought goals - probably our MOTM > > TELFER - seemed really off the pace or complacent or has > someone sussed that if they harry him he's not half the > player we thought he was - a definite liability at times - > composed at others > > MICHALIK - a battling, involved performance - good tackling > and interceptions - getting better > > (the whole back four thing needs addressing and sharpish, > because they are costing us points - as the hero worship of > Gregan at Oldham shows, doing well in defence in this league > isn't that hard - do the simple things; do them properly > and concentrate for the full 90 minutes - at the moment we > have a big problem here and I think it starts on the > training ground) > > DOUGLAS - again an important contribution doing the things > he does - could not see the point in taking him off > > DELPH - more subdued - muscled out at times > > KILKENNY - was our main playmaker in the first half - lots > of the simple stuff went through him - he linked play - > seemed surprised to be taken off so early (again!) > > ROBINSON - for me, he doesn't do it for 90 minutes - > he's flash, he's got a great shot and cross on him > and good awareness in and around the box - but he is > hopelessly one paced, apparently not fit to track back all > game, and this leaves huge demands on the left back and/or > co-midfielders - I think Macca had it right a few weeks ago > - put him on the bench and bring him on with 25-30 minutes > left becauase he doesn't have the heart or the legs for > the whole game > > BECCHIO - battling, OK...what else? Control, ability on the > ground, shooting, potential to go by people...not really. > Looked desperate when crashing to the deck for the second or > third time in the second half... > > SNODGRASS - decent goal - decent game - but nowhere near > Becchio for most of the game and certainly nowhere near as > good as Beckford > > subs > > Beckford - given 20 minutes and not many touches - almost > scored > > Prutton - put some fight in there - but no class > > Howson - couple of decent touches but these were mainly > defensive > > ---------------- > crowd - 32, 000 and quiet > > ----------------- > > ref - pretty poor > > ------------ > > Macca - needs to start making tough decisions - the team > that was winning had Beckford on from the start (and > Hughes...?) not Robinson and Snodgrass... > > _______________________________________________ > the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list > administrators accept no liability for the personal views > and opinions of contributors. > Leedslist mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > is Michel Kitabdjian dead yet? _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist is Michel Kitabdjian dead yet?
