Evening form (4 Viewers)

Ashdown said:

Cross after cross into the box is not going to work, it’s a nonsense when we have so few players who can win a header against a packed defence. We have to play it into feet and turn their slower defenders. We need to shoot from around the 18/20 yard area ( and I don’t mean Sheaf ) and try and get deflections and ricochets.

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We've literally top of the table from scoring from crosses into the box this season...by some way.

I think we've scored 23 or 24 goals this season from crosses, next closest is 17.

Mucca Mad Boys said:

That assumes that was the plan. From the Sunderland perspective, they will be concerned that they couldn’t really get dangerous counter attacks on the go.

Waiting for the opposition to make a catastrophic mistakes isn’t a plan.

They know that they nicked the win and it really is as simple as that.

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It was a plan that worked better than they expected. Mistakes are mistakes regardless of scale, they were waiting for them 100%, they’d have dealt with us all night.

They’d have bought a draw before KO but we were dumb enough to go one better.

Hobo said:

It isn't. We had 73 per cent of the possession and managed three shots on target which was the same amount as them. That tells you we were very unproductive with our possession and they coped with it.

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I said it weeks ago but there's a blue print developing for how to play against us.
It's mainly been deployed against us on our travels but Sunderland used it the other night and Portsmouth nearly earned a point with it until we went a bit more direct and Rudoni and Patterson conjured up a bit of magic.

In between Albion and Boro were more open and it suited us down to the ground.

Hopefully adding more quality to the squad in the summer will help us break stubborn teams down but I think k we need to do a bit more on a plan B.

clint van damme said:

I said it weeks ago but there's a blue print developing for how to play against us.
It's mainly been deployed against us on our travels but Sunderland used it the other night and Portsmouth nearly earned a point with it until we went a bit more direct and Rudoni and Patterson conjured up a bit of magic.

In between Albion and Boro were more open and it suited us down to the ground.

Hopefully adding more quality to the squad in the summer will help us break stubborn teams down but I think k we need to do a bit more on a plan B.

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WBA and Boro did try and play a low block against us, we just scored early in the match. Both teams needed a goal and that’s when the game opened up and we get the 2nd goal.

This conversation wouldn’t be happening like this if MVE doesn’t make a v basic error. It was the same v Plymouth to go 2-0 down.

If you give the ball away with 10 men in the opposition half or under hit a back pass, you’ll get caught out playing any formation or style play. This is basic stuff that will lead to goals conceded at this level.

Mucca Mad Boys said:

WBA and Boro did try and play a low block against us, we just scored early in the match. Both teams needed a goal and that’s when the game opened up and we get the 2nd goal.

This conversation wouldn’t be happening like this if MVE doesn’t make a v basic error. It was the same v Plymouth to go 2-0 down.

If you give the ball away with 10 men in the opposition half or under hit a back pass, you’ll get caught out playing any formation or style play. This is basic stuff that will lead to goals conceded at this level.

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We didn't score until the 44th minute v Boro, hardly an early goal.
Against both Boro and West brom the possesion stats were much more easily matched.

We've heavily dominated possesion in several games over the last couple of months and all we've got from it was a win against Portsmouth and a draw at Hull.

And if MVE doesn't make that mistake, I am confident Sunderland would still consider that their game plan worked.

Ashdown said:

Cross after cross into the box is not going to work, it’s a nonsense when we have so few players who can win a header against a packed defence. We have to play it into feet and turn their slower defenders. We need to shoot from around the 18/20 yard area ( and I don’t mean Sheaf ) and try and get deflections and ricochets.

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Sky put some stats up during the first leg showing we have scored far and away more goals from crosses and more headed goals than any other team in the Championship which obviously goes against your point. I think sometimes our problem is partly that we often delay the first crossing opportunity by turning back to retain possession, which can be disheartening for the likes of Wright and Simms if they make a decent run. Wright and Simms don't often help matters though by being too passive and not making the most of their physical strength, as I'm sure the impressive stats provided by Sky are more down to Rudoni and Thomas.