Enfield Town v Worthing

[Barney]

Having slept on it, here's my take on the game:

I actually think we were a lot closer to Worthing than the scoreline suggests, another game of fine margins and frustratingly (I seem to use that word a lot), we didn't take our chances when were well on top towards the end of the first half - Worthing looked really vulnerable at this point. Half time came at a bad time for us, it was only a matter of time before we equalized, and how Chaney didn't get on the end of that ball across the goal, I don't know. That said, we absolutely must cut out the individual errors, their first goal was a bit of a lucky break leading up to it from memory, but they cut though us far too easily. They're clearly a dangerous side, with pace in wide areas and looked to pass the ball in every position, which was nice to see, but I do wonder how they'll go doing this on heavy winter pitches.

 

We started the second half asleep, and this was the most disappointing thing for me, we switched off badly leading up to the penalty, and Hatton was in a no win situation: 2-0 or 10 men. With hindsight he probably made the wrong choice, especially with so many of our full backs now injured, but it's a split second thing, and I don't blame him, especially when Wright saved the pen (how many times have we seen that now?). After this and when they scored their second, we were right up against it, a side moving the ball well, being patient with the ball, switching play and stretching us in all areas, and for me it was only a matter of time before we saw another goal. It was a pleasant surprise that it was us that scored it, and for 5 minutes or so, we actually looked like we had a sniff of getting something, especially from set pieces. Sadly the inevitable happened, Worthing worked the ball really well down the left, and scored a nice 3rd putting the game to bed... after this it was damage limitation, and Wright made a couple of smart saves towards the end to keep the score slightly more respectable (insofar as 1-4 can be respectable).

 

I know that some of Andy's substitutions have been a little formulaic at times, but I don't think he can be accused of that in this game. We had 2 genuine injuries, and his hand was forced. As for Rumens for Parcell, Mickey was playing right back / right wing back at this point, and we were still (just) in the game, so bringing on a forward wouldn't have been the right choice for me. I suspect the thinking was "try to contain them as much as possible, and then maybe nick something from a set piece" - I don't have a problem with that. Bringing on Hope rather than Adams I don't think matters particularly either, they both bring different things - once we were effectively down to 9 with Sutton injured we could have brought on Lionel Messi and still lost the game.

 

Some positives:

- The first half performance, especially the last part of the half, where we clearly rattled a good side, and probably should have been level if not ahead at the break on chances.

- Bricknell looks sharper than when I saw him last, won and dispatched a pen, and will be a real asset all season.

- Chaney looked good when he came on, and hopefully will have a big part to play.

- We didn't give up at any point, and judging by some of the tackles made in the second half, you could see that the players cared.

- Joe Wright (don't need to say anymore on that point)

 

Some negatives:

- We don't take nearly enough of the chances we make.

- We keep making silly mistakes / switching off, which is costing us so many points. Whether this is tactical, or individual errors, I'm not sure, but it's SO frustrating.

- We now have 3 full backs either injured or suspended.

 

Although disappointing, I'm not nearly as downbeat as I was after the Mertsham and especially Brightlingsea games - those were games that we could and should have won, this was a game against a side who I expect to be either top, or right up there at the end of the season - we weren't far off matching them, and were better than them in the first half (in my view). I'm not sure I buy into all the questioning of Andy's tactics either, he's clearly got a decent track record with a system that works, and whilst we're competing at the right end of the table he's justified in what he's doing. We also have a lot of good midfielders in the squad, and probably just one stand out forward in Bricknell, I think this is why we end up playing Youngs just off Bricknell, rather than two up front. If you look at our bench we had Chaney and Greene, plus 5 very capable starting midfielders, I don't see that strength in depth in forwards, so actually don't think it would improve us playing a second out and out striker. That said (and I know I always say this) football is all about opinions, and this is mine... I'm not begrudging anyone else their views if they're constructive.

 

What I do note at times from reading this forum is that there seems to be a disproportionately strong reaction to losing games compared to praise when things are going well. I get that people are down/annoyed/frustrated when we lose, but we aren't going to win every game. Yes we could be higher in the league had we turned a few draws into wins, but on the flip side, we're still right up there in the mix, aren't (in my view) playing badly and hopefully have plenty more to give, especially as we're only a third of the way through the season.

 

Glass half full, keep believing, keep supporting ?

Edited November 14, 2018 by Barney
Edited to remove typos.

[Father Jack]

Thanks Barney - got through two cups of coffee while reading your post!!

 

Thought I'd stumbled into an echo chamber last night, so here's my two penn'orth aimed at widening the discussion a bit.

 

Firstly, a few points:

• Worthing are a very good side, possibly the best I've seen all season
• Worthing play the same formation as us!  For Bricknell, Youngs, Parcell and Taaffe read Newton, Meekums, Ajiboye and Starkey.  Last night they played it better than us.
• We lost the game not because we played only one up front, but because a lot of bad things happened in quick succession - Youngs' injury, Hatton's red card, Parcell's injury, Sutton's injury.  That's a lot to cope with, especially when up against a side like Worthing

 

Here are a few points that have not yet been raised:

 

Do we have a problem with fitness?  This would explain the tailing off towards the end of games and the silly errors that happened on Saturday.

Regarding the defence - we have good defenders, but not a good defence, if that makes sense.  I think that we need a Darren Purse-type in the back line to organise things on the field.  Joe Wright seems to be far more exposed this season, and he can only do so much

Up front, Billy was getting adequate support last night until things got disrupted.  Parcell, Taaffe and Youngs were all joining the attack regularly.  Selecting a second striker would necessitate a change of system and sacrificing one of our midfield - and I for one would not want to say which one!

 

See - there is far more to it than simply picking an extra striker!

 

Although annoyed at getting knocked out of the cups, I am still not too disheartened by our current position; we are at the right end of the table, and at the moment no other team seems inclined to break away at the top.  Andy's most difficult task now will be to restore confidence after three straight losses.

 

Right - get stuck into that lot!

[Theodopolous]

Thanks for that well structured post Barney.... obviously some very valid observations... I agree with all your positives.... I suppose disappointments come through expectations and the bar was set high this year due to the restructuring and a very good squad assembled... where we have been lucky is that this is a very moderate league and 25 points in fifteen games would not normally have a team in 4th spot so in that respect things look better than they really are....

 

FJ ... absolutely spot on about the defence.... why have we good defenders and not a good defence ? Who's job is that to organise it... last year we had the same problem with Joe player of the year and that was with DP as coach ..... 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Theodopolous

[Barney]

11 minutes ago, Father Jack said:

Do we have a problem with fitness?  This would explain the tailing off towards the end of games and the silly errors that happened on Saturday.

Regarding the defence - we have good defenders, but not a good defence, if that makes sense.  I think that we need a Darren Purse-type in the back line to organise things on the field.  Joe Wright seems to be far more exposed this season, and he can only do so much

Agreed FJ - I actually wonder about fitness too, whilst we arguably have our best squad ever, we do have a habit of fading in games. Defensively we need to defend as a team, be disciplined and cut out the mistakes (although arguably the best way to defend is to retain possession better - no team can score without the ball). I would love to have an experienced centre back come into the squad, especially with MMK seemingly out long term, but I doubt they're that easy to come by

[Barney]

Just now, Theodopolous said:

Thanks for that well structured post Barney.... obviously some very valid observations... I agree with all your positives.... I suppose disappointments come through expectations and the bar was set high this year due to the restructuring and a very good squad assembled... where we have been lucky is that this is a very moderate league and 25 points in fifteen games would not normally have a team in 4th spot so in that respect things look better than they really are....

Cheers - and agreed completely on the points to games ratio, but the league is what it is this season... For us to kick on, we need to be turning those draws against lower/mid table side into wins - as someone else quite validly pointed out, far better to win 2 and lose 1 than to draw 3...

 

Long way to go, but I genuinely believe that if we keep supporting the management and this group of players, we have a lot to look forward to as a club ?

[Theodopolous]

Love the optimism Barney but what I do fear is that at the end of the season if players are not happy they will up and go and what I see is quite a few frustrated players playing in a system they are not comfortable with... also any young player who has shown promise will go because of the lack of playing time..... seeing Adams warm up every game then sitting down again I can only imagine for a youngster how pissed off he must be.....

[Father Jack]

26 minutes ago, Theodopolous said:

 

 last year we had the same problem with Joe player of the year and that was with DP as coach ..... 

Exactly.  How about Fergus Moore?  Nearer 50 than 40 but still doing it for Edgware.  (Note: this is not an entirely serious post!)

[4wembleyfinals]

On 06/06/2017 at 19:57, Ex Meadowender said:

He has an amazing little black book of non-league contacts. I'm concerned that he gets too emotional and it tends to cloud his tactical thinking. Would be an excellent coach alongside a level-headed manager but watch out for run ins with opposition managers and officials that cost games.

I agree that both Barney and FJ's have both posted very positive points of view. Especially fitness etc and the unforeseen events of last night regarding injuries.

But the basis of my argument is AL's rigid adherence to starting every game the same and that he appears to accept the need to change anything as the game unfolds.  That is other then when forced to, such as last night. 

 From the above quote nothing seems to have changed.

Edited November 14, 2018 by 4wembleyfinals

[4wembleyfinals]

On 06/06/2017 at 19:57, Ex Meadowender said:

He has an amazing little black book of non-league contacts. I'm concerned that he gets too emotional and it tends to cloud his tactical thinking. Would be an excellent coach alongside a level-headed manager but watch out for run ins with opposition managers and officials that cost games.

I agree that both Barney and FJ's have both posted very positive points of view. Especially fitness etc and the unforeseen events of last night regarding injuries.

But the basis of my continued argument is AL's continued adherence to starting every game the same way and then not seeing the necessary need to make changes when things go wrong.  His whole philosophy appears to set out not to lose rather than going for a win. That's why I said 3 wins out of 5 are better than a 1 win and 4 draws.

From my perspective the above quote seems to bear this out as well as Steph's brilliant  quote by Enstein.

Edited November 14, 2018 by 4wembleyfinals
In order to add words to clarify meaning.

[Wildlife rescue]

19 hours ago, djwilf said:

Billy can't do it on his own.   Again

He said 2nd half he s all alone

We couldn't score 1st half.   

Their fans are prize prats.....especially the one who got a reaction at the end.

Took too long for our stewards to intervene.

Thoroughly frustrating !!!

As a match day Steward I responded as quickly as I could after I realised there was an issue once again with there fans.

It happened last season with them and I was keeping an eye on them but this incident with Joe happened as we were escorting the ref to his changing room.

We try our best.

[djwilf]

Sorry wildlife.   Wasn't referring to you.  I know you have to protect referee as an ex official.  I also know many/most volunteer.   You do a grand job.  However thought we had a steward or 2 in high vis behind their goal....and wouldn't have envied their job with their fans getting personal.

 

Keep up the good work.

[Wildlife rescue]

Thanks djwilf.

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