Peterborough United 2 - 0 v Derby County

From what I've read I thought he had a good game Vs Peterborough?

comment by Desicafu (U8481)
posted 26 minutes ago
From what I've read I thought he had a good game Vs Peterborough?
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I dont think he had a particularly bad game. For me the problem lies more in midfield. Its the problem we've had for years in that the opposition sweep through our midfield unopposed. That, and the fact that we ran out of steam / were unable to maintain the press. Equally for all our dominance of possession we never really troubled their defence. Our dead ball stuff atm is equally poor as we never look likely to score from a corner or a direct/indirect kick. We are where we are : work in progress....

Until we find a midfield destroyer that'll be an issue all season. Knight, Bird and Hourihane for all their attributes don't offer the tenacious quality needed, especially at this level.

A young Seth lad ( Crewe version)would have been ideal to help ( there's plenty of young and seasoned pros to pick from Derby's squad of yesteryear. )

For all the great work done in recruitment and excitement generated with the names, balance was never questioned until we watched this team play several times.

Maybe to resolve short term we revert Knight back to RB , Smith and Bird as your double DM screen giving Hourihane a licence to roam and McGoldrick or Collins as the CF.

As much as I dislike FL , the corners/free kicks was an area he improved or benefited from with Wilson's arrival.

He did highlight this was an area he wanted to concentrate on and it was exactly the type of attacking focus we needed for away games. The opposition has repeatedly hurt us at home using this tactic.

( Busy work day , posting my football thoughts helps me stay away from work reality!)

I have been wondering recently how many players do we get to retain, such as McGoldrick, Collins, Hourihane, N M-L , Barks? Secondly how many ( especially in McGoldrick's case) will be able to repeat their form at this level next season should we remain a L1 side?

I don't think N M-L will stay unless there's guarantees we play the same formation as I doubt he'd want to be in a 5-3-2 next season. Same may apply to o Barks.

McGoldrick is in his twilight and may fancy one decent paycheck ( can't fault that) before retiring. Does he look to go elsewhere?

Smith was MoM on RamsTV

While we are short in other areas I agree with Desi and Terry that midfield is where the real issues lie. We need someone like Bielik, Eustace, Powell, Van der Laan or Carlin to rat around, tackle and upset the oppo's midfield.

But given we are what we are then maybe it is time to ask Knight to play RB again and move Smith into midfield. I just don't know. We have been sussed by the better managers good and proper and some sort of a fresh approach may be justified. I doubt, however that PW is the sort of manager who will experiment and at this stage of the season experiment may not be helpful. As I said, I just do not know.

Come on Chicago we're all pretend managers, some of us have lost many hours on the simulation game Champ Manager over the years.

We just need to tune into our managerial / coach instincts and pluck out the answer.

This forum used to be a hotbed of formations and line ups. Some interesting debates such as "formations don't win you games!"

Pick your formation and XI and believe in it.

I just give my opinion and it’s not worth much. I have no axe to grind against Smith, I think he is a decent pro but I think he would be better in midfield than right back. If he was MOM on Rams TV I am surprised but if that’s what what their expert thought then fair enough. I would have said Roberts by a distance and then White.

Peterborough United in the play offs again. Can Darren Ferguson work his magic again? Hopefully.