I thought we lacked a real striker too last night, we may have had umpteen shots but there was no composure and no clinical finisher amongst them. The amount of crosses that skidded across the box while our forwards were too slow too react or didn't gamble. Oh for a Mick Quinn or a Dion Dublin !!! McGoldrick is sadly missed as with him we would still be playing the 4-5-1 and it would have been a lot closer and we may have found the back of the net.
Thoughts.............
Could have played all night would not have scored. No lack of effort or desire but needed more composure.
Was surprised that the heads all dropped so quickly when Crewe scored.......... the immediate reaction to the first goal was that everyones heads went down and it did not bode well. Yes they picked up a bit but it was more a forcing of the game rather than a controlling of the game
It wasnt the formation that cost us it was the lacking of finishing, some of the balls in to the box were not great and some decision making was awful
Generally through the team we lacked pace.
First half I thought at times the midfield played a little deep. Second half they lost their shape a bit.
Crewe were allowed to run through our midfield at times and for two of the goals at least ran with the ball far too far. Needed someone to break it up far earlier before it even got to our back four
Crewe were there to be beaten..... but they stuck to their game plan and were incisive when it mattered. There are things to learn from their performance
Best player on the pitch was their keeper..... pulled off some good saves, rode his luck, and controlled the pace of the game
Our central midfield did not get a grip of that area in the second half. The central defenders were lacking in speed and Crewe have a pacey attack (but not exceptionally quick)
Think it was a bit unfair to single out Dunn as some seem to have done..... Crewe finished their chances well and Dunn is not the shot stopper that Murphy is. He pulled off one good save and his distribution wasnt bad. The goals were not just down to him.
Defenders did not have same confidence in Dunn as Murphy .... is that really unexpected?
Our wide players still stand still too much to receive the ball
Some of the passes to the overlapping players were far too slow and deliberate.
Not sure what Ball offered to the team last night it was a strange substitution imo.
Think having to substitute Murphy really affected the team and options. I would have brought Bailley on earlier but also had Thomas on because he runs beyond the striker, breaks lines, has a solid passing game and gets his foot in.
We lacked a strong leader on the pitch. I dont mean captain. When we went 1 nil down we needed an experienced strong willed character to take things in hand, raise the team and control our play. The players were desperate to please the fans and forced the game too much leaving themselves vulnerable to counter attack.
I do not think we can pull this back..... Crewe score one (and they are very capable of that) and we need to score 5.
Think some underestimated Crewe ......... they were never going to roll over and give in, they have decent young players..... we needed an early goal to settle our lads
This result could seriously damage the rest of the season....... this is where we may find out more about MR's management skills and the backbone/mental strength that the squad has
The team in reality didnt play badly ..... it was just that we were all so desperate for success
just a few thoughts
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