Going to sound like a broken record but there's an unaccountable mass overrating of Cullen and likewise an underrating of Reeves on the player marks thread IMO. I know Cullen is the better player in a lot of ways and I know most of our play originates through him, but that's because we are set up with him as the pivot. It would be a shock if everything didn't go through him, at least at first. And while he was effective at recycling possession, I didn't think he played many particularly penetrating passes. Meanwhile, who else but Reeves could have pulled off that Cruyff turn + dinked cross in the first half? Or the turn and through ball that narrowly missed Taylor? Factor in the various reverse balls, good crosses and even a thundering tackle at one point and it's baffling why people still think he brings nothing. We look a better team when he's on the pitch almost every time.
A microcosm of the unfair standards we're holding Reeves to is that once again his set pieces got slagged off. But our best two, maybe three chances from set pieces came from his corners, not Cullen's. What more could he have done? But it's quite possible he'll average two less than Cullen in the player marks. It does my head in
I disagree that Cullen is overrated on the marks thread - he is quality.
I do agree that Reeves is underappreciated though. The bloke is class IMO - very good player.
Going to sound like a broken record but there's an unaccountable mass overrating of Cullen and likewise an underrating of Reeves on the player marks thread IMO. I know Cullen is the better player in a lot of ways and I know most of our play originates through him, but that's because we are set up with him as the pivot. It would be a shock if everything didn't go through him, at least at first. And while he was effective at recycling possession, I didn't think he played many particularly penetrating passes. Meanwhile, who else but Reeves could have pulled off that Cruyff turn + dinked cross in the first half? Or the turn and through ball that narrowly missed Taylor? Factor in the various reverse balls, good crosses and even a thundering tackle at one point and it's baffling why people still think he brings nothing. We look a better team when he's on the pitch almost every time.
A microcosm of the unfair standards we're holding Reeves to is that once again his set pieces got slagged off. But our best two, maybe three chances from set pieces came from his corners, not Cullen's. What more could he have done? But it's quite possible he'll average two less than Cullen in the player marks. It does my head in
Do you know how many games Reeves has started and also finished this season and last season ? Ok I'm guessing, but I'd say about 40% last season and maybe 60% this season. He's average when he plays a full game, but he can't manage that about half the time.
Good, bad and at times ugly But the reason he was caught out of position was he was under instructions to play as a wingback by the Manager. As he played like this for 90 minutes tells you that this was the case.
Some People at the ground and on CL can't grasp the point what players are asked to do during the match. I'm sure that Lee hoped he would deliver more than 2 good crosses out of 10 but he is fitter and stronger than Solly even if his touch is still erratic. Solly is still number 1, just.
Also despite playing games for U23 as a defensive midfielder, not sure why at First team level folk are wanting him to play there ? This would be discussed between Bowyer and Jason Euell and the answer at the moment is he isn't up to it.
Build up was way too slow and ponderous. Pass control.....pass control.....pass control, over and over again. We needed much more first time passes into the front men, by the time the ball was reaching them (or should I say anywhere near them), Bradford had set up their shape with 10 men behind the ball.....sometimes all 11.
Going to sound like a broken record but there's an unaccountable mass overrating of Cullen and likewise an underrating of Reeves on the player marks thread IMO. I know Cullen is the better player in a lot of ways and I know most of our play originates through him, but that's because we are set up with him as the pivot. It would be a shock if everything didn't go through him, at least at first. And while he was effective at recycling possession, I didn't think he played many particularly penetrating passes. Meanwhile, who else but Reeves could have pulled off that Cruyff turn + dinked cross in the first half? Or the turn and through ball that narrowly missed Taylor? Factor in the various reverse balls, good crosses and even a thundering tackle at one point and it's baffling why people still think he brings nothing. We look a better team when he's on the pitch almost every time.
A microcosm of the unfair standards we're holding Reeves to is that once again his set pieces got slagged off. But our best two, maybe three chances from set pieces came from his corners, not Cullen's. What more could he have done? But it's quite possible he'll average two less than Cullen in the player marks. It does my head in
@leuth I agree with your part of your point, but not all. This is where it is often very difficult to give marks objectively because of the opposing teams tactics. Cullen plays at the base of the team and his job is to recycle the ball and ensure we have some cover when our full backs go forward. He ticked these boxes well yesterday although Bradford sitting back did mean he had loads of space so his job was relatively easy. His job isn't to make the killer pass. The killer passes are meant to come from the other 3 in the diamond, particularly Williams and from the crosses of the full backs. Bradford sitting back made all of this very difficult and to be honest we didn't succeed in this area very well. I agree that I would have Reeves playing but he wasn't effective yesterday and so I couldn't see how I could mark him high.
That's fair. I do think Cullen is a couple of cuts above L1 and I'd have him as pretty much first name on the sheet FYI @Addickted2TheReds - and I think he's had a storming few weeks - but yesterday I think he wasn't quite at his best, although he did keep it calm and sensible in possession at least
Sunderland and Portsmouth playing a gut wrenching, full blooded additional game with extra time and we pick up three points after a stroll in the park. There could be a method to this madness yet
Fosu is way better hugging the touchline, and cutting in and taking players on. Yesterday he seemed to be playing centre forward with Lyle playing out wide. Nuts.
He's lost a yard of pace and looks no threat at all. He missed an easy headed chance when unmarked. At the moment he is showing nothing to suggest he'll ever be decent again. Perhaps, he'll pick up as he's only played half a dozen games.
He does seem to have dropped a bit of pace but he's still getting into the right positions and it might just take one goal to get him going. I don't think either of his headed chances were especially easy (I thought the 2nd one was a tiny bit behind him). His touch looks ok but yesterday was hard because he was on his own for a lot of it. But he dug in and worked hard to close down and win a couple of tackles. I'd stick with him (and it was telling that Parker didn't get on).
Agree with this. There were also encouraging signs as he got on the end of, or nearly on the end of, two or three balls into the six yard box. He didn’t score, but he was getting chances yesterday. It’s (very) small steps from him at the moment but, personally, I am seeing progress in the right direction from him. He is never going to be as dynamic as Karlan was, but I think he can still be decent fur us. I think we’re just going to have to be patient with him and keep our fingers crossed he finds his mojo by the play offs. I dont see he’s any less of a goal threat than Parker and he does have little bit more quality about him. He needs to play as much as possible for fitness and to build an understanding with Taylor and there were some small positive improvements there yesterday too with him lasting 90 minutes and Taylor setting up at least one of Igor’s chances.
Good, bad and at times ugly But the reason he was caught out of position was he was under instructions to play as a wingback by the Manager. As he played like this for 90 minutes tells you that this was the case.
Some People at the ground and on CL can't grasp the point what players are asked to do during the match. I'm sure that Lee hoped he would deliver more than 2 good crosses out of 10 but he is fitter and stronger than Solly even if his touch is still erratic. Solly is still number 1, just.
Also despite playing games for U23 as a defensive midfielder, not sure why at First team level folk are wanting him to play there ? This would be discussed between Bowyer and Jason Euell and the answer at the moment is he isn't up to it.
I'd agree with most of that
Solly ain't my No1 over him tbh, and Dijksteel has loads and loads to improve on. Love Sols but I fear attacks down his side and getting forward his play is far too negative now.
Enjoyed the win and thought it was a good free flowing game in the first half. Second half was like a preseason friendly. Better teams than Bradford would have punished us. Thought dijksteel was more promising coming forward but crossing was awful. Igor I’m afraid feels more and more like a busted flush every time i see him. Midfield pretty but no end product. A few looked leggy (and Aribo looked disinterested) which is a surprise given they have had a holiday. Super display from Phillips. Maxwell could finish his loan without making an appearance. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our snap resulted pacy and skillfull wingbacks and we haven’t got any (other than Page the invisible man). Play off place now pretty much in the bag but boy do we need to learn how to score goals.
That's fair. I do think Cullen is a couple of cuts above L1 and I'd have him as pretty much first name on the sheet FYI @Addickted2TheReds - and I think he's had a storming few weeks - but yesterday I think he wasn't quite at his best, although he did keep it calm and sensible in possession at least
I'd agree that he didn't look at his best. Don't think it was really the sort of game for him to break up play and ping quick balls out wide to the full backs/split strikers though. The game was played in second gear throughout - thought it was a very strange and quite frankly poor advert for the league.
None of the franticness you'd expect from a League One game. Think it was very odd.
He's lost a yard of pace and looks no threat at all. He missed an easy headed chance when unmarked. At the moment he is showing nothing to suggest he'll ever be decent again. Perhaps, he'll pick up as he's only played half a dozen games.
Possibly just Bowyer trying to give him confidence, but he disagrees.
Once properly fit I'm sure he'll be tearing it up for someone somewhere. He's a really sad story, could have been Roland's first success story.
We won many games like this one under Powell., Ugly wins that we scored first in.
Exactly. Carlisle away wasn’t very pretty, but Bradley popped up with a goal and that’s all we needed. Same as yesterday, leading goalscorer gets one goal and that was enough.
A tepid and uninspiring game but one that yielded 3 points which more or less seals our play-off place and keeps Pompey within striking distance. The sense of disappointment at the performance needs to be kept in perspective and it's now six long months since we lost at home. Be that as it may, although we will surely raise our game against more able opponents, our performances will need to go up several levels if we are to prevail in the play-offs.
A decent enough first half, with a lovely goal from Taylor and a gilt-edged chance missed shortly before half time. We moved the ball well (if a little ponderously) at times, with Cullen dictating the play, but looked vulnerable on the break and only some inexcusable dithering by Bradford and an excellent block from Bauer prevented an equaliser. Dijksteel received little support as they attacked down our left and found himself overloaded on more than one occasion.
The second half was pretty dire, with only one real effort on goal from us that I can recall, with Taylor volleying over. For their part, Bradford tried to play out from the back and played some decent passing football, all of which came to nought as a result of (1) their total lack of cutting edge and (2) our excellent central defenders. Save for one scare when they hit the post, they looked like a team who could play until midnight and still draw a blank.
Our midfield certainly missed Bielik and it left a very heavy defensive workload on Josh Cullen, given that Williams and Reeves offer little in that respect and Joe Aribo had an off day (save for his incisive pass for the goal). Up front, Taylor was excellent (his miss aside), although he seemed to spend a fair chunk of the second half in the left back/left wing position. The guy's work rate is absolutely prodigious.
In contrast, Igor offered very little - his lack of movement and support for Taylor contributed to a very stodgy performance and is a real concern as we enter the home straight. I can only assume that Josh Parker is not impressing at Sparrows Lane.
Good to see Pompey and Sunderland expending a lot of energy today. The latter have to fit in 8 games in April, although I can't see us catching a side who have only lost twice this season. I think that Pompey are catchable but we need to start scoring some goals and to reduce the huge reliance on Lyle Taylor.
Bowyer has to persist with Vetokele to try to play him into form, because there is no real alternative. He did get stuck in a few times yesterday and his acceleration seems to be coming back. Fosu has lost his confidence, there were a few times yesterday when he could have tried to turn his defender but went for the easy pass back instead. If he is to be an impact sub then Bowyer has to tell him to take it on, we have no other threat from the bench. They key for me is that we need to go into the playoffs with a midfield of Bielik, Cullen, Aribo and Williams/Reeves. Keep them fit and we stand a chance, especially as 4 of them will be trying to impress other clubs for next season.
Some players and managers click. To be fair to KR, Fosu played very well under him and seemed a brilliant signing. This year for whatever reason under Bowyer he's really regressed, I'm not sure the public criticism he got a few weeks ago has exactly helped his confidence either...
Phillips: solid Dijksteel: defensive weaknesses exposed Bauer: impressive Sarr: quietly impressive Purrington: decent Cullen; terrific Reeves: slow lightweight then hiding for an hour Aribo: couple of fine contributions but largely anonymous Williams: eager to please til his fitness ran out Taylor: diligent team player a good goal a hysterical miss heart as always on sleeve Vetokele: industrious but nothing fell for him in the box Fosu: words fail me
lousy performance against lousy opposition continued selection of a couple of skivers baffling we won’t get away with another game this bad in any of the remaining fixtures
I'm not totally against that. We need someone with pace. Marshall has been tried as well. Maybe he deserves another go. We just needed to sign one half-decent striker ffs
Comments
I do agree that Reeves is underappreciated though. The bloke is class IMO - very good player.
Another 3 pts , We March on ! Well done boyz
on to the next one #CAFC 
Another win for the team! Happy to get an assist
Good to be back at the Valley after the international break. Clean sheet & 3 points. Well done boys! #CAFC #COYR
Great support back at The Valley after what seems ages! Enjoy the rest of your weekend people!!!
#LT9
Ok I'm guessing, but I'd say about 40% last season and maybe 60% this season.
He's average when he plays a full game, but he can't manage that about half the time.
Good, bad and at times ugly But the reason he was caught out of position was he was under instructions to play as a wingback by the Manager. As he played like this for 90 minutes tells you that this was the case.
Some People at the ground and on CL can't grasp the point what players are asked to do during the match. I'm sure that Lee hoped he would deliver more than 2 good crosses out of 10 but he is fitter and stronger than Solly even if his touch is still erratic. Solly is still number 1, just.
Also despite playing games for U23 as a defensive midfielder, not sure why at First team level folk are wanting him to play there ? This would be discussed between Bowyer and Jason Euell and the answer at the moment is he isn't up to it.
Can't fault the positivity though.
Pass control.....pass control.....pass control, over and over again.
We needed much more first time passes into the front men, by the time the ball was reaching them (or should I say anywhere near them), Bradford had set up their shape with 10 men behind the ball.....sometimes all 11.
The killer passes are meant to come from the other 3 in the diamond, particularly Williams and from the crosses of the full backs. Bradford sitting back made all of this very difficult and to be honest we didn't succeed in this area very well.
I agree that I would have Reeves playing but he wasn't effective yesterday and so I couldn't see how I could mark him high.
I'd agree with most of that
Solly ain't my No1 over him tbh, and Dijksteel has loads and loads to improve on.
Love Sols but I fear attacks down his side and getting forward his play is far too negative now.
None of the franticness you'd expect from a League One game. Think it was very odd.
Once properly fit I'm sure he'll be tearing it up for someone somewhere. He's a really sad story, could have been Roland's first success story.
A decent enough first half, with a lovely goal from Taylor and a gilt-edged chance missed shortly before half time. We moved the ball well (if a little ponderously) at times, with Cullen dictating the play, but looked vulnerable on the break and only some inexcusable dithering by Bradford and an excellent block from Bauer prevented an equaliser. Dijksteel received little support as they attacked down our left and found himself overloaded on more than one occasion.
The second half was pretty dire, with only one real effort on goal from us that I can recall, with Taylor volleying over. For their part, Bradford tried to play out from the back and played some decent passing football, all of which came to nought as a result of (1) their total lack of cutting edge and (2) our excellent central defenders. Save for one scare when they hit the post, they looked like a team who could play until midnight and still draw a blank.
Our midfield certainly missed Bielik and it left a very heavy defensive workload on Josh Cullen, given that Williams and Reeves offer little in that respect and Joe Aribo had an off day (save for his incisive pass for the goal). Up front, Taylor was excellent (his miss aside), although he seemed to spend a fair chunk of the second half in the left back/left wing position. The guy's work rate is absolutely prodigious.
In contrast, Igor offered very little - his lack of movement and support for Taylor contributed to a very stodgy performance and is a real concern as we enter the home straight. I can only assume that Josh Parker is not impressing at Sparrows Lane.
Good to see Pompey and Sunderland expending a lot of energy today. The latter have to fit in 8 games in April, although I can't see us catching a side who have only lost twice this season. I think that Pompey are catchable but we need to start scoring some goals and to reduce the huge reliance on Lyle Taylor.
Dijksteel: defensive weaknesses exposed
Bauer: impressive
Sarr: quietly impressive
Purrington: decent
Cullen; terrific
Reeves: slow lightweight then hiding for an hour
Aribo: couple of fine contributions but largely anonymous
Williams: eager to please til his fitness ran out
Taylor: diligent team player a good goal a hysterical miss heart as always on sleeve
Vetokele: industrious but nothing fell for him in the box
Fosu: words fail me
lousy performance against lousy opposition continued selection of a couple of skivers baffling we won’t get away with another game this bad in any of the remaining fixtures
From the BBC website;
"Taylor almost added a second after 32 minutes when his curled effort from outside the area hit the post and rebounded out for a goal kick."
Did that happen? I genuinely can't remember it!