I've been saying for weeks that 424 formation is wrong as it exposes the 2 midfielders and the defence - need to stop trying to put all your attacking players in to the starting 11 and get a balanced team formation that can play out of possession - close down and win and then keep the ball in midfield and protect our extremely weak defence.
Back to basics 442 or 433 but even then, despite the bigger squad options this season we still lack decent experienced players in key positions like full back and central defence.
Just got back to the hotel. Apart from first 15 minutes we was poor.
They was more organised, quicker, fitter and stronger than us across the pitch and we could not compete. First game since his been in charge that Appletons subs or did not improve us.
Seemed like they did their homework and doubled and tripled up on CBT and he could not create anything and no one else stepped up to do it, miles apart from the confident attacking team seen at home.
Defensively tonight was a reminder that it needs improvement still. Still look suspect with the ball over the top or ball down the sides.
Work to be done and a long way to go. Still confident we are heading in the right direction and Appleton will improve us as the season goes on.
Ref was good - and only his first season in the EFL if I understand correctly. Allowed the game to flow, kept his cards in his pocket and got the decisions mostly right.
Agreed. Such a refreshing change to see a ref have a word with the players after a miss timed tackle instead of getting his cards out. Best I've seen in a while
Just got back to the hotel. Apart from first 15 minutes we was poor.
They was more organised, quicker, fitter and stronger than us across the pitch and we could not compete. First game since his been in charge that Appletons subs or did not improve us.
Seemed like they did their homework and doubled and tripled up on CBT and he could not create anything and no one else stepped up to do it, miles apart from the confident attacking team seen at home.
Defensively tonight was a reminder that it needs improvement still. Still look suspect with the ball over the top or ball down the sides.
Work to be done and a long way to go. Still confident we are heading in the right direction and Appleton will improve us as the season goes on.
the night is young! hope you're going back out again
Some very poor performances. Hector and Thomas want to walk in defence and play neat dreamy passes.
Our poor away run continues. So much for it being 'different' now under Appleton. That was a real reality check. We are a work in progress but still need to get rid of deadwood.
I just cannot believe what I saw with their 2nd and 3rd goals. 1) Hector just stood there ,had no idea where his man was until the goal was scored. 2)After Asimwe lost the ball and just stood there,what for christ sake was Hector trying to do when the ball came to him.
Really dont want to blame one man for a shit show like tonight,but Hector has to be replaced,I would be interested to see how many opposition goals he has had a hand in. Lincoln worked us out,they knew that Thomas had no pace,and played on it,Dobbo needs a rest,and Ness must come in on saturday.
Just got back to the hotel. Apart from first 15 minutes we was poor.
They was more organised, quicker, fitter and stronger than us across the pitch and we could not compete. First game since his been in charge that Appletons subs or did not improve us.
Seemed like they did their homework and doubled and tripled up on CBT and he could not create anything and no one else stepped up to do it, miles apart from the confident attacking team seen at home.
Defensively tonight was a reminder that it needs improvement still. Still look suspect with the ball over the top or ball down the sides.
Work to be done and a long way to go. Still confident we are heading in the right direction and Appleton will improve us as the season goes on.
I've been saying for weeks that 424 formation is wrong as it exposes the 2 midfielders and the defence - need to stop trying to put all your attacking players in to the starting 11 and get a balanced team formation that can play out of possession - close down and win and then keep the ball in midfield and protect our extremely weak defence.
Back to basics 442 or 433 but even then, despite the bigger squad options this season we still lack decent experienced players in key positions like full back and central defence.
But we're not playing 4 2 4. It's a 4 2 3 1 formation the team is lining up in.
Played the XI that most of the fanbase wanted and it didn’t work out… having Leaburn and Campbell coming off the bench has completely changed games for us.
Wasn’t the same bringing on Chem and Tedic.
A bit of credit to Lincoln who looked very hungry and outfought us from 15-20 minutes onwards. Their fans seem impressed by the caretaker after two wins in two.
But we started well & went ahead. A good team would have then gone on to win. But we then went backwards & let in 3.
How many times have we done the reverse ? Conceded first & then won 3-1. Not many !
And for the couple of posters who had a dig at me on the match thread right at the end about me being negative. We have 2 tough games coming up. It's not inconceivable that we lose them both. And if we do we will be no more than 4 points of the bottom 4.
Defeats are obviously inevitable whoever you follow but performances away from home like tonight have been the norm for so long and, call me snobby, but I’m not sure I’ll ever accept that the likes of Lincoln and Oxford have suddenly become such tough places to come where we always seem to be shit! And I always seem to be there to witness it!
One constructive note about the game is that we should get the youngsters (Leaburn, Assimwe and Campbell) back on the bench on Saturday to run at tired defenders for 25 minutes rather than start. Also, although I thought Fraser did okay, Louis Watson is one of the first names on the team sheet for me and also has to be back in….
We don't have enough physicality within the side. We take Chuks out and that's 50% of our physical side gone. We have young players who have to learn to stick their foot in and some of our players don't have it in them, we certainly need that in our centre forward, centre midfield and centre of defence.
As Appleton said, if you don't bite as a puppy you won't as a dog.
We were too lightweight tonight. Beaten by a more drilled direct team. We’ve got the skill but that doesn’t count for much in this league. Now Chuks is out I can see the good run coming to an end. We just don’t have the physicality in the team..
Dobbo & Fraser doesn’t work as a pairing. Dobbo gets knackered doing Fraser’s running and becomes ineffective. Watson a better partner, Fraser in the 10 might work but he wouldn’t get much time to pick a pass
If I watch that tonight in isolation without knowing anything else about the players, I'm picking Fraser and Watson as the midfield on Saturday. Or Camara and Watson.
We’ve been really good at home under MA , Bolton on Saturday are a really good team, how does MA pick the players up for Saturday, maybe they need a few home truths, which could make it worse, we’re to inconsistent, easy to beat and let in soft goals, it was like when we went 1-0 up we dropped our levels and Lincoln upped there’s, I don’t think they were that good, we just made it really easy for them.
I've been saying for weeks that 424 formation is wrong as it exposes the 2 midfielders and the defence - need to stop trying to put all your attacking players in to the starting 11 and get a balanced team formation that can play out of possession - close down and win and then keep the ball in midfield and protect our extremely weak defence.
Back to basics 442 or 433 but even then, despite the bigger squad options this season we still lack decent experienced players in key positions like full back and central defence.
But we're not playing 4 2 4. It's a 4 2 3 1 formation the team is lining up in.
The 3 and the 1 play too far up the pitch often in a line so basically a 4 at times especially when Tedic is on the right. Alfie May might run around a lot but he's not a no.10 and the wider players offer nothing defensively when they drop deep which puts our 2 midfielders and full backs under more pressure.
Apart from goal and about 10 mins afterwards we were a bit shit. Team needed to work out another way to break down Lincoln. Instead they invited pressure. Hope they learn from this. Short changed for 24 quid .
Disappointing but it has been coming. I thought we were fortunate Saturday that Reading didn’t take their chances. Tonight we came up against a team that took 3 of theirs.
Im not digging Thomas out because he’s done a job, but we need a natural left back. Balances the back four out massively.
We saw exactly this in Bowyer's promotion year, after Lewis Page got injured again ..... and we played nearly half a season with all sorts of stop-gaps trying to plug LB. Then Ben Purrington was signed and the defence suddenly looked balanced again.
Comments
Back to basics 442 or 433 but even then, despite the bigger squad options this season we still lack decent experienced players in key positions like full back and central defence.
Seemed like they did their homework and doubled and tripled up on CBT and he could not create anything and no one else stepped up to do it, miles apart from the confident attacking team seen at home.
the night is young! hope you're going back out again
We were appalling, pathetic, hopeless - call it what you want.
Not just beaten but played off the park by a team that had all its forwards injured and no manager.
Our poor away run continues. So much for it being 'different' now under Appleton. That was a real reality check. We are a work in progress but still need to get rid of deadwood.
1) Hector just stood there ,had no idea where his man was until the goal was scored.
2)After Asimwe lost the ball and just stood there,what for christ sake was Hector trying to do when the ball came to him.
Really dont want to blame one man for a shit show like tonight,but Hector has to be replaced,I would be interested to see how many opposition goals he has had a hand in.
Lincoln worked us out,they knew that Thomas had no pace,and played on it,Dobbo needs a rest,and Ness must come in on saturday.
Hope the meeting went well today mate.
Defeats are obviously inevitable whoever you follow but performances away from home like tonight have been the norm for so long and, call me snobby, but I’m not sure I’ll ever accept that the likes of Lincoln and Oxford have suddenly become such tough places to come where we always seem to be shit! And I always seem to be there to witness it!
One constructive note about the game is that we should get the youngsters (Leaburn, Assimwe and Campbell) back on the bench on Saturday to run at tired defenders for 25 minutes rather than start. Also, although I thought Fraser did okay, Louis Watson is one of the first names on the team sheet for me and also has to be back in….
As a previous poster said, Lincoln did their homework.
https://x.com/cafcofficial/status/1716930738749128973?s=46&t=KElhViY98tIVdE0S_W30og
sorry not sure how to embed it
Click the little icon at the top of the text box before posting in the link and it should embed for you