[andyd]

Originally Posted by Exile on Spencer St

I was one of the 88 and what stood out like a flashing red light throughout the first half was that Southend targeted almost all of their attacks down their left wing. They’d clearly targeted Johnson as the easier option of the back four. Johnson has many qualities but he’s not the strongest defensively. Any support a defensive midfielder, or indeed Clark who was wide on the right, could have provided would have been negated because they simply lobbed the ball, into the wind, over the heads of any midfield. Certainly the third goal exposed how easy it was for Southend’s MotM to race through the middle and score, but the other two (and more critical) goals both came down the left side.
The other issue I noticed was Stanley’s determination to play out from the back. This is laudable and i’m NOT suggesting the should revert to lumping long balls every time. But, with Southend’s forwards pressing the Stanley defenders, it meant that progress was often slow and, by the time the ball got near their goalmouth, there were two rows of four defenders crowding their box.
Again, I’m not convinced that having a more defensive midfielder would have had helped avoid two of the three goals.
The chances are being created but, as Southend showed, they need to be taken.

Have to agree Johnson isn't a brilliant defender his qualities are going forward maybe it's a position along with left back if Anderton goes to fill in January.