Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
I think we're forgetting a lot of underwhelming games Clarke had, most of those were after he was moved out to the right to cover Solly, to be fair to him. Both he and Reeves have struggled in that right sided attacking position. But after the first few games I don't think Clarke was nearly as effective as he was at the start. Good player, important player, and a big miss no doubt. But not flawless.
4th new ground for me this season and I'm fully recovered from my hangover from Doncaster. Time to show weather we are serious about making the playoffs. 2.1 Charlton with a nervous last ten minutes.
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
I think we're forgetting a lot of underwhelming games Clarke had, most of those were after he was moved out to the right to cover Solly, to be fair to him. Both he and Reeves have struggled in that right sided attacking position. But after the first few games I don't think Clarke was nearly as effective as he was at the start. Good player, important player, and a big miss no doubt. But not flawless.
Completely agree that Clarke did become less effective around October time, yet didn't that coincide with a back injury that he picked up yet was forced to continue playing (rather than being rested) because Reeves wasn't ready and Aribo wasn't even being considered
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
I think we're forgetting a lot of underwhelming games Clarke had, most of those were after he was moved out to the right to cover Solly, to be fair to him. Both he and Reeves have struggled in that right sided attacking position. But after the first few games I don't think Clarke was nearly as effective as he was at the start. Good player, important player, and a big miss no doubt. But not flawless.
Completely agree that Clarke did become less effective around October time, yet didn't that coincide with a back injury that he picked up yet was forced to continue playing (rather than being rested) because Reeves wasn't ready and Aribo wasn't even being considered
Yes a good shout forgot to mention that. It was rumored that he was at least playing with a knock around then, you're absolutely right. And then he was out for a while and then when he came back his first start he was utterly anonymous, and then I think it was the next game he did his knee.
Sorry, this is not to make him out to be a bad player. He is a very good player with a fantastic footballing brain. It's just to say I think he had some subpar performances in with the good ones.
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
I think we're forgetting a lot of underwhelming games Clarke had, most of those were after he was moved out to the right to cover Solly, to be fair to him. Both he and Reeves have struggled in that right sided attacking position. But after the first few games I don't think Clarke was nearly as effective as he was at the start. Good player, important player, and a big miss no doubt. But not flawless.
Completely agree that Clarke did become less effective around October time, yet didn't that coincide with a back injury that he picked up yet was forced to continue playing (rather than being rested) because Reeves wasn't ready and Aribo wasn't even being considered
Yes a good shout forgot to mention that. It was rumored that he was at least playing with a knock around then, you're absolutely right. And then he was out for a while and then when he came back his first start he was utterly anonymous, and then I think it was the next game he did his knee.
Sorry, this is not to make him out to be a bad player. He is a very good player with a fantastic footballing brain. It's just to say I think he had some subpar performances in with the good ones.
Yeah that's right as he came back against Portsmouth, was largely invisible and then did the knee @ Blackburn
There is another issue that I believe at least in part underpins some of the poor performances from Reeves, Marshall, and Clarke: the need to have a "defensive winger," someone who is always tracking back and is very positionally disciplined, on the right. And that is due to a need to cover for Solly. A couple of performances aside (thought he was very good away at Rotherham), I think he's been anywhere from average to poor.
Now, to be fair, some of that is because Jay gets really high up the pitch and our left sided midfielder, be it Holmes or Fosu usually looks to cut inside, and that forces Solly to stay back and move more centrally so the center backs can shift across to cover. So you see this with Marshall dropping very deep, Solly tucking in with Konsa and Bauer shuttling across to the left, which, to his credit despite having no pace he has largely done very well. You also see Kashi dropping into that left back area.
But large caveat aside, it's clear something is off with Solly, and it's felt that way most of the season. When teams get doubled up on him they play it around him so easily. I think it was against Walsall recently where he got turned inside out on two or three occasions, something which you never see happen to him. I think he was half a yard slow to get across his man for the goal on Tuesday. All defenders make mistakes, but these are all things that just never used to happen to Solly and they seem to be coming in waves now. And I don't think it's just him being captain, he's been the stand in for three or four years now and that time has encompassed a lot of really good performances.
Hopefully goes without saying a fantastic club man and on his day far too good for this league.
The annoying thing is that we struggle to score more than once, and yet KR blames everyone but sticks to the sme formation. He says he changes tactics, but only at the end when we are desperate. According to him, our midfield will score lots of goals, when? If he sticks to his stubborn attitude that his formation is right, I would think it will be bye bye under new owners. Some put Pearce in their team for this weekend, but he will be playing for under 23 team on Monday, hopefully for 90 minutes, so unlikely to be in Saturday's squad. Forever hopeful I will go for 0-1 win to us.
Our last 3 games have all been against sides struggling for form and we have picked up just 2 points from them.
MK are currently the worse form team in the division nothing less than a win will do, no more excuses, no blaming the players manager, injuries or refs - just get the job done!
Then all we need to do is to work out how we handle the sides in this division who are half decent which is where our manager needs to earn his corn.
Alternative version above. At the end of the day the players have to take some of the responsibility for their own performance don't they, even though a formation might not be to our liking? I'd like Karl to try 442 or 352, and I'd like to see more of Aribo. I'd like them to stop changing things when we go one up. I'd like to see a bit more physical resilience. But at the end of the day, get out there and show what you can do on the pitch. It was good to see Ajose having a stab at that on Tuesday -he looked more lively than any time I've seen him before. Really important to win tomorrow.
Is this the game to start Reeves? Up against former club etc
I was quite impressed by Ajose's cameo on Tuesday, indeed I'd be tempted to play him alongside Josh (not that it will happen)
I dont see why we dont try 3-5-2 feels like we have the personnel now. Ajose up front with Big Josh should work. Solly/JDS both would be good wingbacks, obviously a couple might end up missing out but worth a shot and we would be pretty solid with a back 3 of Bauer, Pearce, Konsa
I think DaSilva would make a very good wingback, but I just don't think Solly has the legs at the moment. He looks to be struggling just as a normal fullback.
Also, starting 3 at the back against a team who plays one up front isn't usually the best tactical approach. It can often leave two spare central defenders, which is one too many.
I thought Kaikai showed flashes of some real quality, but he looked raw and rusty, to be expected to some extent. I think bringing Reeves back in against his former club is the play here.
Mark Marshall has badly drifted out of games in recent weeks (though he did have the assist Saturday). But I think Reeves is far less effective on the right for us, and Kaikai and Fosu could both play there, but both prefer either playing through the middle or on the left.
Also, I agree that Ajose provided something different and looked to make really aggressive runs in behind on Tuesday in his short cameo, and that despite not being a huge fan of his I was impressed. But I don't know that he's a 60-70 minutes solution right now. He's not played much football this year, and we know he struggles to impact the game at the best of time. I think his place is still impact sub.
That team looks formulaic and rigid- as has been the problem all season
I agree that is a problem with that team, as was the case against Doncaster. But I don't think that Aribo adds a tremendous amount of dynamism when he's played as a 10. I think that kind of nullifies his ability to have driving runs from deep, because if he picks the ball up deep there isn't the 10 ahead of him to drag players out of position, and there will be more players behind the ball. And I can't really see him bombing on past Josh to stretch defenses. He can certainly get in the box, but making that run into the box from thr 10 role is easier to defend than from the 8 position.
I think the player who adds more dynamism is Kaikai. The problem is he didn't make many runs behind Josh on Tuesday, and when playing on the left he didn't make those out to in runs that we desperately need. Now that may still be to come, it's his first start for us and he clearly has some ability. But what he did on Tuesday was all in front of the defense.
Against Donny Reeves did actually get beyond Josh at times, and played as a false 9 for a bit, but that's not his strong suit.
In short, we desperately miss Stephy.
I actually think we miss Clarke more than anyone at the moment
Clarke was my player of the season up to the point he got injured. In fact given what's happened since he'll still probably get my vote!
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Completely agree re: Clarke, with him gone... Jay Dasilva is the only player getting my vote
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
Completely agree re: early season Clarke and Jay Dasilva. But I'd add Fosu.
But large caveat aside, it's clear something is off with Solly, and it's felt that way most of the season. When teams get doubled up on him they play it around him so easily. I think it was against Walsall recently where he got turned inside out on two or three occasions, something which you never see happen to him. I think he was half a yard slow to get across his man for the goal on Tuesday.
He's really struggling to prevent wingers crossing - he backs off too much. I think he did the same when letting an Oxford player shoot and score in the 2-3. He's solid in their half of the pitch though.
We have been playing well and not winning so now I think we will play badly and lose. 1-0 to MK Dons.
I'm not sure I would say playing well - playing ok might be more accurate. On paper it is a game we ought to win but we always make it hard for ourselves no matter who we are playing so it is impossible to predict. I'm expecting a narrow win or a draw.
Comments
Amos
Djiksteel Bauer Konsa Da Silva
Kashi JFC
Marshall Aribo Fosu
Magennis
More likely Reeves and Solly in place of Aribo and Djiksteel. Disappointing if we don't win this. 3-1.
Bad omens for this game,
KR going back to his old side. tick
MK lost last 4 games so due a win. tick
Bradford not playing so a win means top 6. tick
2-1 to the real Wimbledon.
Clarke was the man who made Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation work: a good link between defence, midfield and attack and able to hit a bloody good pass (not necessarily the obvious pass either). Without him it's been a predictable give-the-ball-to-Holmes/Fossy/Stephy-and-let-them-run-into five-defenders-with-no-help type of approach to matches.
Would anyone really be surprised if MK win tomorrow?
More grief for Robbo - 2-1 defeat
Quite laughable that we thought Reeves could have challenged Clarke for that No.10 spot
Time to show weather we are serious about making the playoffs.
2.1 Charlton with a nervous last ten minutes.
Sorry, this is not to make him out to be a bad player. He is a very good player with a fantastic footballing brain. It's just to say I think he had some subpar performances in with the good ones.
Now, to be fair, some of that is because Jay gets really high up the pitch and our left sided midfielder, be it Holmes or Fosu usually looks to cut inside, and that forces Solly to stay back and move more centrally so the center backs can shift across to cover. So you see this with Marshall dropping very deep, Solly tucking in with Konsa and Bauer shuttling across to the left, which, to his credit despite having no pace he has largely done very well. You also see Kashi dropping into that left back area.
But large caveat aside, it's clear something is off with Solly, and it's felt that way most of the season. When teams get doubled up on him they play it around him so easily. I think it was against Walsall recently where he got turned inside out on two or three occasions, something which you never see happen to him. I think he was half a yard slow to get across his man for the goal on Tuesday. All defenders make mistakes, but these are all things that just never used to happen to Solly and they seem to be coming in waves now. And I don't think it's just him being captain, he's been the stand in for three or four years now and that time has encompassed a lot of really good performances.
Hopefully goes without saying a fantastic club man and on his day far too good for this league.
Konsa Bauer Pearce Da Silva
Kashi JFC
Marshall Aribo Fosu
Magennis
2-0 Charlton
At the end of the day the players have to take some of the responsibility for their own performance don't they, even though a formation might not be to our liking? I'd like Karl to try 442 or 352, and I'd like to see more of Aribo. I'd like them to stop changing things when we go one up. I'd like to see a bit more physical resilience. But at the end of the day, get out there and show what you can do on the pitch. It was good to see Ajose having a stab at that on Tuesday -he looked more lively than any time I've seen him before.
Really important to win tomorrow.
They have two chances. We have eight and 65% possession
But... I’d still bet 2-0 or 3-1