Bit of a delayed reaction match report, but best to get it in before the Southend match!
Only my 2nd match of the season, and have now seen us beat Carlisle 2-0 and Peterboro 3-1. I must make it along more often! A few observations rather than a full report. Grayson's philosophy and approach are coming through impressively swiftly. There feels like more than a touch of Wilko to his style. Defenders are there first and foremost to be big, strong and hard to get past. Midfielders must have work-rate. Keep it tight and then try to build up momentum and score in purple patches. Liked Naylor - he is exactly what Michelik should be (and is perfectly capable of being if he applied himself mentally). None shall pass. Keep it simple. If in doubt, launch it. Heath with quality. Clearly loved the experience. Would expect him to sign. Dickinson in some ways the most over-shadowed of the 3 new boys but similar to Naylor. Keep it simple (other than an occasional tendency to launch clearance high but not forwards). I like the balance of our midfield at last. I have long, long opined that a good balanced midfield has one man who wants to attack and join the front 2 as much as possible (Robinson, though he still put in some tasty tackles) and one who is more of a midfielder play out on the side of the central 2 (Johnson - not an overly complicated player, but industrious and his set piece delivery was very good I thought. Agaist a less commanding keeper he would have caused far more problems. I said last season I liked him and he has a bit of Speed to him and I mantain that). Think Beckham / Giggs - one a natural wide attacking man, and one a midfielder who plays out to the side. It gives the midfield a natural balance between attack and defence. Up front, Becchio looked a shadow of himself. Against Carlisle he won header after header and as he challenged for each header he looked as if he expected to win it, and was thinking about where he would direct it. On Saturday his challenges had a defeated air. He has certainly stopped looking like a goalscorer. He needs a break, but I wouldn't write him off like Rich W - I do believe the basics are there, he just needs time. It's easy to forget this is is his first ever season in English football and a new culture. Trundle could not have been more different. All body strength and manoevreing the defender. Gets away with a lot of borderline fouls. Clever player and a lot more hardworking than his reputation would have one believe. The second goal was an exciting portent for a partnership. Allied with his close friendship with Robinson I think we could snare him if Bates will cough up the cash. First half I thought Douglas was our outstanding player- it was his type of battle and he did his job exceptionally well breaking up play and keeping it simple. Second half he abandoned his duties too many times with forward dashes best left to others, and that allowed Boyd too much space in that gap between our back four and midfield. That gap and proiblems it caused were only finally plugged when we brought on Howson at 2-1 and went 5 in midifeld. Second half, Delph came into his own as the ball spent less time in the air and the game became more stretched. He really is such a different class from every other player on the pitch. Beckford was obviously the pivotal player, bringing pace, menace and a constant threat of a goal. The only way player at this level cna really cope with him when he is fresh is to foul him - and that was what got us our first goal, with a free kick in a central position. Overall, very promising. We still seem to lack a certain athleticism that Peterboro had (Robinson and Trundle are many things, but natural athletes is not amongst them), but the direction and spirit of the team feels right again. _______________________________________________ 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 Sorry Macca - it's the curse of Bates old lad
