02-11-2024, 09:20
(02-11-2024, 01:41)Slick_Footwork Wrote: Missed the Cardiff game on Saturday so hence my lack of comments. Did catch the "highlights" but that was only about 2 minutes.
Anyway... judging by result and number of changes for tonight's game, I presume we were not very good.
I'm not sure if it's because we're on a bad run or just because it's Luton which is a compact pitch, but it didn't feel at all like a "typical" Corberan performance at all. It almost felt like a throwback to when Valerian Ismael was in charge. Lots of commitment but very little quality. Instead of our usual passing around at the back, we seemed happy to just clear our lines and scrap.
First time seeing Styles play from the start and what the hell have we bought there? When I read he could play multiple midfield positions as well as at the back, I thought he would be a "footballer". Today, every time he had the ball he just punted it anywhere. Most times it ended up out of play. Not that he was the only culprit.
More changes in midfield with Wallace starting and Johnston and Fellows benched. Were they really that bad on Saturday then?
I thought we had moved on from the Wallace era but it seems non of our midfielders seem to want to play well enough to start week in and week out. I'm sure the changes will continue as Wallace was non existent and Grady had zero impact either.
Overall, the game wasn't easy on the eye and the goal was a rare moment of quality from Maja who showed nice touches throughout.
At times it felt a bit like a couple of pub teams playing on a Sunday morning. It was only towards the end when Johnston was introduced that we attempted to play any football. I appreciate he was poor against Millwall and maybe last week too, but i don't understand why we bought him if we're not going to give him a few consecutive games to see if he can get his form back.
All that being said, there was something a bit refreshing about seeing us scrap and I don't think a point on the road at Luton is a bad result. Heggem in particular has to be praised, he's been good at left back but has slotted in comfortably at centre half. Won everything in the air. Solid. What an acquisition.
Great analysis, Slick, and I particularly warm to your last paragraph re 'scrapping', and Heggem, who, as it seems with all the CB injuries, is going to be a very important player in the coming months