Rovers 0 Mk Dons 2

[SonkORLY?]

Plenty of opportunity to pass the ball out. However it does require the player to look up before passing. :roll:

Concentrate on this next game you watch - you'd be surprised. Welsh dropped deep to receive the ball from the back 4 a few times at the weekend and due to a combination of high pressing from Don's and nobody looking to receive the second pass, the ball went straight back.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Talk of replacing Les is unfair and unjustified at this stage. I still feel the players we have are good enough to perform at this level, although the age of the squad and the susceptibility to injury of a number of key players is certainly hurting us at the moment.

It seemed clear to me that, for better or worse, both centre halves had been instructed by the management to hit the ball long on Saturday. Les talked of a back to basics approach after Exeter, and I think this is what he meant by back to basics. In the first half the tactic did get their back four turned on a number of occasions, and was fairly successful. The problem was that as the game progressed we ended up simply gifting possession back to a skilful and highly confident team, enabling MK to dominate us in midfield. Les complained of us giving the ball away in midfield at Exeter when playing out from the back: on Saturday we continually gave the ball away by hoofing it over our midfielders' heads. The tactic did not work.

As has been alluded to earlier, I think the decision to play Robinson and Baxter together is a big unresolved problem, as is our vulnerability down the flanks. I think we have been sussed out by opposition mangers to a large extent: they know with our 5 in midfield it is difficult to play through us down the middle, so they get the ball wide early, exposing our full backs. The crucial opening goals in both of the last two games came from attacks down our left hand side where Buchanan was left exposed, and until Les can address this weakness, I think we will continue to concede goals.

 

[roverstillidie]

Unfortunately we have the worst set of strikers in the division which means that if we concede a goal its game over. Without Goodison we struggle to keep clean sheets so it seems to daft to continue to set up with such a defensive teams. Looking at the results in the past few weeks, teams seem to have worked out our style of play which means Les needs to do something different. At the moment we are too predictable and toothless upfront.

 

[Boz]

The problem with this game was rather than revert to the way we'd played at the start of this season, it was more like some of the dross we saw against Yeovil & Bristol Rovers last year.