Rockford's Love Child
Member
- Joined
- 15 Mar 2010
- Messages
- 13,910
- Player
- Jason Koumas / John Morrissey
- Manager
- John King
We were excellent last night, controlling the game from first whistle to last. We played some of our best football for months, and it was our best performance away from home since probably Charlton in October.
The changes to the side had the desired effect with all the players that came in doing well. We were far more solid at the back with the pairing of Taylor and Goodison (don't know why Ash was ever dropped in the first place to be honest) and Brunt did very well up front. I have had some sympathy for Muzzy playing that lone role this season, but I must admit that Ryan played it far better and looked much more of a natural target man / link player. He always seemed to hold the ball long enough for midfielders to join in and his flicks and lay-offs invariably found a white shirt. His movement across the back four was also much better than Tiryaki's, always giving the player on the ball a better angle unlike Mustafa's somewhat statuesque performances. It was noticeable that our movement off the ball was much better throughout the team, and enabled us to play the kind of passing game we saw in the early weeks of the season.
The midfield trio were very good, particularly Wallace, but man of the match by far was Devaney. His pace and sharpness now seem to have returned and playing in his natural role on the right, he tormented their back four all game with some superb runs.
The only down side was our finishing, once again. We created a string of chances, yet only hit the target once with a Brunt shot that was cleared off the line after two minutes. A number of absolute sitters were missed, with Brunt and Weir particularly guilty in the second half. It was a game we dominated and deserved to win, but our composure in front of goal must improve if we are to pull away from the bottom of the table. The fact that Carlisle's first genuine opportunity came from a free kick in the 90th minute, brilliantly saved by Fonners, indicates just how one-sided the game was.
In all, I think Les got the tactics, team selections and approach spot on and deserves some credit. We actually played the 4-5-1 intelligently as we did in the early weeks of the season, and the ball stayed on the floor. Goalscoring remains a major problem for us, however.
A couple of asides. It was interesting to see Mike Dean three rows in front of me last night getting his fix of 'real' football. It was also interesting to overhear Ryan Brunt's family talking in the queue at half time, commenting that 'it's a thankless task for him playing up front on his own like that'. If they thought Ryan was isolated last night they should have seen some of our other performances this season !
Finally, there was a terrific atmosphere and rapport with the players from the 100 Rovers fans last night, the kind of atmosphere that a few of the whingebags at Prenton Park would be wise to take note of.
The changes to the side had the desired effect with all the players that came in doing well. We were far more solid at the back with the pairing of Taylor and Goodison (don't know why Ash was ever dropped in the first place to be honest) and Brunt did very well up front. I have had some sympathy for Muzzy playing that lone role this season, but I must admit that Ryan played it far better and looked much more of a natural target man / link player. He always seemed to hold the ball long enough for midfielders to join in and his flicks and lay-offs invariably found a white shirt. His movement across the back four was also much better than Tiryaki's, always giving the player on the ball a better angle unlike Mustafa's somewhat statuesque performances. It was noticeable that our movement off the ball was much better throughout the team, and enabled us to play the kind of passing game we saw in the early weeks of the season.
The midfield trio were very good, particularly Wallace, but man of the match by far was Devaney. His pace and sharpness now seem to have returned and playing in his natural role on the right, he tormented their back four all game with some superb runs.
The only down side was our finishing, once again. We created a string of chances, yet only hit the target once with a Brunt shot that was cleared off the line after two minutes. A number of absolute sitters were missed, with Brunt and Weir particularly guilty in the second half. It was a game we dominated and deserved to win, but our composure in front of goal must improve if we are to pull away from the bottom of the table. The fact that Carlisle's first genuine opportunity came from a free kick in the 90th minute, brilliantly saved by Fonners, indicates just how one-sided the game was.
In all, I think Les got the tactics, team selections and approach spot on and deserves some credit. We actually played the 4-5-1 intelligently as we did in the early weeks of the season, and the ball stayed on the floor. Goalscoring remains a major problem for us, however.
A couple of asides. It was interesting to see Mike Dean three rows in front of me last night getting his fix of 'real' football. It was also interesting to overhear Ryan Brunt's family talking in the queue at half time, commenting that 'it's a thankless task for him playing up front on his own like that'. If they thought Ryan was isolated last night they should have seen some of our other performances this season !
Finally, there was a terrific atmosphere and rapport with the players from the 100 Rovers fans last night, the kind of atmosphere that a few of the whingebags at Prenton Park would be wise to take note of.
