Silkmen v Rovers

[Rockford's Love Child]

It wasn't simply down to the defence. For me the key area where we lost the battle was midfield and MM left things too late before making changes.

Spot on.

I am still shell shocked really, after an abject second half display which was particularly disappointing as Rovers had started the game so promisingly. In the first half some of our football was a joy to watch and our lead was deserved. The warning signs were there however. Whenever Macc attacked they were able to get at our back four far too easily, with the midfield offering no defensive protection. I actually said at the break that if we continued with the same personnel we risked losing the game, despite playing some great football, and so it proved.

Tactically, I think Micky got it badly wrong today. The starting line up was very adventurous, with no defensive midfielder and a flat four in the middle with two wide players. As a result, the first half was great to watch, with some good football and numerous chances created by both teams. However, we were far too open defensively. To start the game without a defensive midfielder was fairly risky, but to do so with a semi-fit Wallace in centre midfield was reckless really. This was epitomised by Macc's first goal, where Davies made a poor clearance down the middle of the pitch and Macclesfield were able to virtually walk the ball in from the halfway line without a challenge being made.

It would not have been so bad if our problems had been recognised at half time, and Maynard brought on to replace Kirby and tighten things up a bit when we were leading 2-1. However, after Macclesfield equalised Micky responded by replacing Kirby with Mekki, which meant we were even more overrun in the middle of the pitch and could not get a foothold in the game. I think it is fine to play ultra-attacking football against the cannon fodder at the bottom of the division, but Macclesfield are a bit too good to adopt those tactics against, and Wroe and James were able to run at our back four at will in the second period. Frustrating, as the best football of the match was actually played by Rovers in the first half.

Individually, I thought Tollitt was almost unplayable in the first half and Mangan was very good. I was delighted that Ritchie Sutton scored, as he has been a real unsung hero for us in recent weeks. However, nobody comes out with credit from the second half display, although I don't think our tactics gave the players much chance after half time.

Although the defensive problems related chiefly to the midfield, the goals we gave away were incredibly poor individually, particularly the second and fourth: a free header from a set play in the eighteen yard box, and a needless penalty given away by Vaughan, who had a poor game.

Let us just hope that Micky learns the right lessons from this defeat and it is a one-off, never to be repeated. We have to hope the confidence of the players has not been dented too badly, particularly as we don't have a game for a couple of weeks.

I will give man of the match to the awesome Rovers turnout of almost 1,700. Just a pity the players and manager did not show up in the second half.

 

[Stickman]

One of the few away games I've been to in recent years and the comments on the match so far pretty much reflect my own thoughts on the match. Extremely poor second half. Macclesfield seemed to show more desire and deserved the victory. Our passing was atrocious.

In addition to bashing the midfield and defence I also think that our forwards are not exactly pulling up any trees at the moment. How many goals have Mangan and Norwood scored recently? Tollit needs shooting practice. If Stockton is fit I'd actually give him a run out next match to give the others a kick up the backside. We are missing Cook badly.

Having said all that, there is a long way to go and no need to panic. Certainly no need to dish out the sort of abuse to the players that a few of our 'fans' did at the final whistle.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I thought the decision to take off Mangan, when Norwood had another poor game, was also strange.

 

[Sparky]

I wasn't there today but the last couple of home games albeit narrow victories have given me concerns over style of play and personnel.

This playing out from the back is a risk. We don't have Barcelona type players who can do it and even our most technically gifted defender in McNulty has made several errors this season, some fortunately have not been punished but it seems Micky is encouraging them more and more to play it on the deck. I prefer a mixture of styles and there is always a need sometimes to get rid. Ugly but necessary.

Kirby again has been subbed and I'm assuming again contributed very little. Where is Dawson? Mekki isn't good enough and never has been. We won't go up playing him or Jake. We need a striker in to give competition to mangan and Norwood as I'm not sure Cole is the answer in the long term. That said, are the forwards having chances created?

I never liked the diamond at home as I felt it didn't give us enough width and didn't create enough. Apart from tollit the midfield selection recently has a real lack of creativity. Even Connor J came on on boxing day and played on the right it seemed. Maynard in my view whilst not perfect was great at the start of the season being an enforcer in front of the back 4 and gives a threat from set pieces. I think Hughes altho a great passer should be played further forward instead of the base of a diamond. Sounds like we went with 4-4-2 today but does Micky prefer the diamond?

Lots of questions and not many answers. Not least what happens with Wallace. No reason to panic by any means but as I say, the signs have been there for me recently but I haven't grumbled as we've been winning. On Boxing Day we created little and should have been behind when Rowe missed a sitter.

Plenty for Micky to ponder.

 

[Ian]

Well MM sounded equally as disappointed with the second half.

Quite a sour second 45 as Lincoln fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 whilst FGR also fought back in a thrilling 5-5 encounter with Torquay.

Shows how quickly things can change in 45 minutes. Still only 2 points behind Lincoln so plenty of work still to do.

 

[Cowshed Kid]

Horrible second half - we were overrun, defensively poor (as a team), misplacing passes and barely troubled their keeper. Strangely, I don't think Scottie has had a save to make but has conceded four.
It was only a fortuitous gust of wind unsettling their keeper and a dreadful miss by Rowe that gave us the points on Boxing Day. Maccs turned us over today and, as Sparky suggests, time for Mickey to earn his corn.
Mekki on bench was a surprise, Kirby starting wasn't (to my usual displeasure). Wallace failed to impose himself on the game and he and Kirby were the right ones to go off. Perhaps Maynard coming on sooner might have reduced the space Maccs had to play in.
The 'football from the back' issue is a tricky one. A downside with it is that the front two often drop deeper looking for the ball. There again, without Cookie, lumping it forward isn't going to prove fruitful either.
Terrific turnout as usual from the SWA and the "we want five" chants from the Maccs fans were particularly hard to stomach.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Although it was a dreadful second half today, I don't think we should rewrite history by saying we 'only' won the previous game and earlier matches 1-0, or implying they were lucky victories. We are second in the league because we have such a sound defence and are generally so well organised, and that has not changed overnight. I also agree with ck about the benefits of playing out from the back.

 

[frenchrover]

Another game of 2 halves, first half dominant and deserving of our lead, the second half possibly one of the worst displays by a Rovers side for many a year. Totally disjointed, very little fight after conceding the second equaliser so early after the interval, with the midfield in particular unable to provide the impetus to the forwards or the necessary cover for the defence. Our passing in the second period was atrocious finding opposition players more often than not and I'm afraid for me Wallace should return to Sheffield as soon as possible a massive talent prior to his injuries but a shadow of his former self and a luxury we cannot afford, he looked well off the pace, maybe fitness or a reoccurrence of his injury I don't know, but whenever we were under pressure he failed to tackle back and looked a totally beaten man by the time he was replaced. I agree with earlier comments that bringing Mekki on was a very strange decision and his addition added absolutely nothing to our forward play whilst leaving the midfield even more exposed. It's difficult to understand why after conceding the 2nd equaliser Conor Jennings was left on the bench whilst Mekki appeared for the first time in months. Without any doubt we are badly missing Cook upfront, not only for his goal scoring ability but also for with his ability to hold the ball up and to play others in, maybe Stockton, when recovered from injury, might provide cover until Cook himself returns.
Serious questions were asked today and Micky now has 3 weeks to find some answers before our next league outing and anything less than a convincing display against a struggling Woking side would suggest the answers have not been found.

 

[Ian]

Fair point about Wallace who looked a little overweight in the last game. Whilst I am not doubting his skill, he does look a couple of games off match fitness. However he's also more of an attacking midfielder and I don't think tracking back and providing cover for the defence is something that is in his repertoire. There is a worry that the defence have been more exposed without that defensive midfielder in place but that is MM call and has to answer the critics on days such as this.

I still think we are missing Cook up front as there is no outlet. The boxing day game became pretty stale as Rovers had very limited options. They couldn't boot it up front as there was no-one to latch onto it and they couldn't pass it through the opposition back line so eventually ran out of options. I don't mind ball retention and playing the ball on the floor, from the back, but sometimes it's just unnecessary and overplayed and apart from SM who is fairly confident with the ball at his feet I certainly don't have the same confidence in the remaining back line.

Days like today are very frustrating for supporters because just when you think we are on the ascendency... Top of the league, taking the lead twice, everything going well, and then it all goes pear shaped. Still plenty of points to play for but games like this could come back to haunt us.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think it is too early to judge Wallace. Played in a midfield three, or against weak opposition, he will be ok, but as Ian says it will probably take him some weeks to regain match fitness and he was thrown in at the deep end today in a midfield two, away from home. We have to bear in mind he has barely played for two years, although I agree that we can't afford to nurse him back at the expense of performances.

I also agree with Ian that just when you think Rovers have cracked it and you are set for a period of sustained success, they pull the rug from under you with a performance like today's.

 

[drwhoman]

Very disappointing but maybe a wake up call. As several have said here, Macc are not a bad side and maybe MM did not show them enough respect in his team selection. I noticed he sidestepped a question about Wallace in his post match interview. On a related but unrelated point I see that Mackreth has signed for Bury. Having another go at a higher division career.

 

[Mal]

Tranmere still on target for roughly 90 points. That assumes a draw and a loss every 5 games. Have to be realistic. More games will be lost. Just need to ensure current ratio of wins to draws and losses is maintained. Detritus happens. I am sure Micky will have learned from the experience. I wonder if another player or two will be brought in.

 

[Ian]

Supporters want more players brought in but is this just a knee jerk reaction? Do we really need any more players?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Supporters want more players brought in but is this just a knee jerk reaction? Do we really need any more players?

No, not in my view. The only area where we are light at the moment is up front, but Norwood and Mangan will start scoring again at some point soon, and we have Cook and Stockton to return.

Some people are claiming we need a whole new back four, but how many clean sheets had we kept prior to yesterday ?

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

The worst thing Micky could do is panic. The squad is already almost unmanageably large. Fortunately all our rivals also dropped points and in fact only Lincoln have done better over the Christmas period. We have three weeks to put things right before the next league game. Meanwhile, as well as South Park, we have a Liverpool Senior Cup tie against Bootle. These games should be used to experiment as necessary with tactics and players.

 

[Mal]

I wasn't saying I wanted more players (if your supporters comment referred to my earlier comment) but just wondered if that may be option based on comments from MM that they are always looking. Mind you, I think the defence has ridden its luck in a number of games.

 

[Ian]

I wasn't saying I wanted more players (if your supporters comment referred to my earlier comment)

No Mal, it was a general comment from what I heard yesterday. It was disappointing but I think the reactions are OTT. Claiming we need a new back four is ludicrous.

 

[Sparky]

Claims of a new back 4 are ridiculous but there are some question marks.

McNulty has been a risk in recent games with his over playing and we've got away with it. He did it before MM came and I think is being encouraged to do it more. But sooner or later I thought he'd be punished. Ridehalgh has done well since MM came in and has set up a few goals but has no competition of course apart from Jeff Hughes or young Gumbs. Vaughan has done ok up to now altho against Macc on Boxing Day and someone else at home (escapes me) gifted them a chance and was punished in the latter.

RLC is right in that our clean sheet record is great and one bad half doesn't mean personnel should change and MM won't panic. But Mal does have a point in that we have been riding our luck of late a bit and taking risks and creating little for goal shy strikers will eventually catch up with you.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I think McNulty is still doing the defensive basics like reading the play and winning headers very well. However, as he is the most skillful of the defenders, I think he feels obliged to play out from the back on every occasion with the style of play we have adopted under Micky. I think the manager needs to assure the defenders that it is ok to go long when they are under extreme pressure: in the second half yesterday we were knocking the ball across our own eighteen yard box in the periods where Macclesfield were all over us.

I think Sutton and Ridehalgh have blossomed under MM and were two of our better players yesterday. However, I think we may need to strengthen at right back. I am a big fan of Vaughan for his attacking play but his errors have become more frequent in recent games and he was dreadful yesterday. We might need the option of a more defensive-minded right back to give him some competition.

 

[Ian]

in the second half yesterday we were knocking the ball across our own eighteen yard box in the periods where Macclesfield were all over us.

I think that's crazy really and backs up what I was saying about us overplaying at the back. I think we have to remember this is national league not premier league. Generally the players do not have the skill to be pinging it around comfortably at the back.

I'd much rather see a direct pass to the midfield players who can then drive it forward.

I agree with RLC particularly about Sutton who I've given some stick to in the past. He's certainly improved and scoring a few goals too. It makes me wonder if Stockton will follow suit.