Back to square one then !
Same team as usual and we started well, with decent possession although we did
little in the way of creating chances.
Then with Walsall's first attack the striker gets in front of Rui to glance a
header into the far corner past a static Casper. Still no problem we thought,
most of the game left, half the ground are Leeds fans and we're a team in form.
Added to that Walsall looked shocking, about five times in the first half they
simply sliced the ball out of play or straight up in the air when under no
pressure. This meant we had lots of possession but in the first half at least
we did very little with it.
A goal disallowed for offside and a high ball that Beckford failed to control
were our only real chances and frankly the front 4 were dreadful. Beckford and
Trundle both tried to do a fancy flick with anything that came towards them,
when Beckford did it Trundle simply stood and watched, when Trundle did it
Beckford was usually on the other side of the pitch. Johnson was anonymous and
Robinson was trying but nothing was happening.
The only thing that Walsall had going for them was a keeper who came for
everything and caught everything and a centre-forward who was able to hold off
defenders and find his own team-mates. Something we didnt have.
Second-half didnt start great, with Beckford who been clattered towards the end
of the first half, getting more and more petulant. He may have been injured but
that was no real excuse. First he argued with Douglas, after he'd aimlessly
flicked on another ball and Douglas piling forward from midfield failed to get
a pass for about the 5th time. Then he failed to chase a loose pass from
Johnson and gestured back to the Leeds fans who barracked him. When the subs
came - he was walking off before his number went up.
Subs perked us up a bit - Becchio at least looking to hold the ball up and give
it to a midfielder and Snodgrass looking like he wanted the ball a damn sight
more than Johnson had. This meant we had better possession and Delph often
found an option wide. But from a lot of possession our delivery was poor and we
didnt create many good chances - Douglas hit one straight at the keeper from
Becchio's knock-down and Snodgrass curled one agonisingly close but that was
more or less it. The final igonominy was when we got a free-kick right on the
edge in the last minute of injury time, Robbo curled it round the wall and
Becchio headed it wide to save the keeper the bother of collecting it.
In all a bit like a Macca era game - lots of possession but not really a lot to
show for it - deserved better on possession but the result was fairly
inevitable.
Scores
Casper 6 - Didnt have a lot to do.
Hughes 6 - Looked to overlap 2nd half - no real mistakes
Dickinson 6 - Now he actually did ok but seeing him closely from the stand at
the side this guy is a complete nutcase. The fans may love his whole-hearted
'clean everything out' type tackles but they were rarely under control and a
red card seems inevitable. He completely lost the plot near the end, after
Howson was clobbered, trying to pick a fight with the tackler and then shouting
abuse for about another 30 seconds while the ref was booking him, lucky not to
get sent off himself.
Naylor 7 - Dealt with Ibere well.
Marques 6 - Solid enough, goal apart.
Robinson 6 - 5 for first half when he could do little right, 7 for second when
he was involved in most of our better play.
Douglas 7 - Tried to drive us forward but rarely got given the ball.
Delph 7 - Got a bit of treatment from Walsall who obviously remember what he
did to them at ER, spread play nicely in 2nd half.
Johnson 4 - Had a complete mare.
Trundle 5 - Useless first half, improved a bit second.
Beckford 5 - Injury doesn't excuse poor attitude.
Subs
Becchio 6 - At least realised he had team-mates.
Snodgrass 6 - Should be in starting line-up.
Matt
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Sorry Macca - it's the curse of Bates old lad
