Quote:
Originally Posted by cmonstanley
i dont agree we were beaten by a better team
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Better team on the day, I said, not necessarily better full stop. I agree with you that Craney struggled yesterday, but then again so did everyone.
Was this down to apathy, as you suggest? Unless you are privvy to some inside information then that remains just speculation. What we can say for sure is that the defence do not have much confidence in Bavs, and this must have been exacerbated by the early first goal. They had an allotment of a pitch to play on, and then, after playing well enough to suggest that an equaliser was possible, conceded a second at the most frustrating time, with Bavs again at fault. It would be nice to think that Coley can then wave a magic wand and have them come out breathing fire and ready to blitz the oppo, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Stockport pulled everyone behind the ball, worked hard and just smothered us.
As for getting back to basics, I'd say that our problems often stem from being too predictable. We need to do the unexpected sometimes to unlock stubborn defences. I agree that Mullin and Roscoe too often end up in wide positions, but isn't this preferable to lumping the ball up to Mullin and seeing his flick-on invariably tidied up by their defence? Our best move yesterday stemmed from King running at them and finding Mullin at the back post. When we attack, we need to do so as a team, with everyone, regardless of their position on paper, being ready to support the man on the ball if necessary. This comes with confidence, but we were on the back foot from the opening minutes.
I'm not saying the performance was acceptable. Afterwards, for the first time this season, I asked my companions whether they could see us in another relegation battle. The game just didn't go our way, simple as, and we didn't play well enough on the day to turn it round. No need to slag everyone and everything, but yes, we do need to see an improvement.