MadAmster
Vital Squad Member
Playing the usual lightweight front 5 against the DYS who are a strong, fast and physical side was IMO a bad ploy to start with. The tactics, or lack of good ones first half, were abysmal. When we had the ball there was insufficient movement and that gave the man in possession no outlet, no options. Passes that reached their intended target saw that recipient immediately put under pressure by 1, 2 and even 3 white shirts. Their passes were easy as they always had 3 men in space to choose from. We marked space. They marked players. They showed much more energy than we did and we can be thankful it was only 2-0. Lawrence and Holmes were easily bounced off the ball. Passes were the wrong weight to the wrong place and hard to control. No great shakes and we could have played all night and still not scored. I said after the 4-1 defeat at Pride Park that the DYS looked like the team to beat this season. They showed it again, helped by our lack of grit, steel and physical presence.
I can live with that defeat because we got what we deserved. Nothing.
If we keep on marking zones rather than players and playing lightweight front 5's against physical teams we will get more of this type of result.
Fortunately, we only have one more game against a top 6 side to come and that is WBA on the last day of the season. Between now and then we need to average over 2 points a game. We can do it but we need to be smarter and not give the oppo all the time and space in the world to turn us over. It really is down to us plus we won't meet the pace and power DYS displayed today whicj is a blessing.
I can live with that defeat because we got what we deserved. Nothing.
If we keep on marking zones rather than players and playing lightweight front 5's against physical teams we will get more of this type of result.
Fortunately, we only have one more game against a top 6 side to come and that is WBA on the last day of the season. Between now and then we need to average over 2 points a game. We can do it but we need to be smarter and not give the oppo all the time and space in the world to turn us over. It really is down to us plus we won't meet the pace and power DYS displayed today whicj is a blessing.