the only thing missing.....
the only thing missing.....
From our squad, which will ultimately stop us getting a play-off place IMO is a goalscorer. O'Connor is a runner, Faz is a worker, Akurang and Louis target men who are extremely varied in their ability to hold the ball up, and Smith is clearly not rated by the management. I don't buy into the whole '4 players getting 12 goals each is the best way to do it' school of thought. All successful teams tend to have a focus point in attack, a danger man who other teams worry about facing. And let's face it, unless Tommo is on fire (every 3rd game??) we don't have anyone to really scare the opposition. A 25+ goal a season striker is so hard to come by, but a necessity if we want to get out of this league IMO.
JUMP! Oooooh De Banke Army!
Re: the only thing missing.....
I feel it is so easy to have gone from we can win the league after the Stevenage game, to we are not going to make the play off view after yesterday. That is not a critisims Downsie, as I would suggest that i am almost leaning the same way at the minute.
The way i see it, is that we seem to struggle to create chances at times, and not matter how many times we say it, if Tommo has an off game, we are not as strong as when he is on song, which would be the case for any team in the league imo. It does also seem to not be a coincidence that when we score we tend to score in numbers, (Barrow, Grays, H&Y etc), which will always be a small concern, in that when it is harder, we struggle to create. Our strikers also seem to go through periods when they are not scoring. This is perfectly reasonable, as everyone is allowed an off day (just ;) ) but the problem for us is that they tend to come all at once.
I do not however agree with the notion that if each striker gets 12 goals each, it is worth less than if two strikers get 24 each, say. The problem comes with consistency. If those strikers all get one goal in the same 12 games, then we have a problem. If they all score 1 each between them, then we are in a much more positive position.
My concern, which i think is what you were getting at, is that there is no-one in the side, who you could almost put your mortgage on to score in nearly every game. Unfortunately if this striker was available, we would be well out of our budget! What we do have is a quality keeper, and one of the strongest defences in the league. Its a bit of a cliche, but if the opposition dont score, they cant win. This will give us a good base on which to start our play off push. It is going to be tough, and there are going to be a number of twists and turns until the conclusion. Imo there is no reason why we can't get to the play offs, but whether we will or not is a completely different point. We have gone through the 4 tough games, with 4 points being won (and of course Mansfield being moved) we have a little break before our next big month. Maximum points are required in the next few game imo, and then we will have a much better idea of our squad strenght.
The way i see it, is that we seem to struggle to create chances at times, and not matter how many times we say it, if Tommo has an off game, we are not as strong as when he is on song, which would be the case for any team in the league imo. It does also seem to not be a coincidence that when we score we tend to score in numbers, (Barrow, Grays, H&Y etc), which will always be a small concern, in that when it is harder, we struggle to create. Our strikers also seem to go through periods when they are not scoring. This is perfectly reasonable, as everyone is allowed an off day (just ;) ) but the problem for us is that they tend to come all at once.
I do not however agree with the notion that if each striker gets 12 goals each, it is worth less than if two strikers get 24 each, say. The problem comes with consistency. If those strikers all get one goal in the same 12 games, then we have a problem. If they all score 1 each between them, then we are in a much more positive position.
My concern, which i think is what you were getting at, is that there is no-one in the side, who you could almost put your mortgage on to score in nearly every game. Unfortunately if this striker was available, we would be well out of our budget! What we do have is a quality keeper, and one of the strongest defences in the league. Its a bit of a cliche, but if the opposition dont score, they cant win. This will give us a good base on which to start our play off push. It is going to be tough, and there are going to be a number of twists and turns until the conclusion. Imo there is no reason why we can't get to the play offs, but whether we will or not is a completely different point. We have gone through the 4 tough games, with 4 points being won (and of course Mansfield being moved) we have a little break before our next big month. Maximum points are required in the next few game imo, and then we will have a much better idea of our squad strenght.
-
straydiamond
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:23 pm
Re: the only thing missing.....
I would also add in a tall centre back. I thought both Downer and Stuart were excellent yesterday, but we really do suffer at times with high balls onto the edge of our box. Because neither of our centre backs are tall enough to dominate (winning a header against a centre forward is not the same as dominating) this can lead us to defend to deep. Dale has clearly been told to come out and punch as often as possible, and is doing well, but that is still trying to compensate for a weakness.
I do agree with the comment about a striker. I often think that good strikers are those who score when its 0-0, or 0-1 (how many of these results have we had?). When we are ahead our quality midfield players are given more space, and can dominate teams leading us to score 4 or 6 goals.
With a centre back and a striker I think we would have been challenging for the title, that's how good we are elsewhere. But many teams in the top 10 would believe they are only two players away from a top side!
I do agree with the comment about a striker. I often think that good strikers are those who score when its 0-0, or 0-1 (how many of these results have we had?). When we are ahead our quality midfield players are given more space, and can dominate teams leading us to score 4 or 6 goals.
With a centre back and a striker I think we would have been challenging for the title, that's how good we are elsewhere. But many teams in the top 10 would believe they are only two players away from a top side!
Re: the only thing missing.....
we had a great striker on the pitch yesterday - only trouble was he then went to watch from the de Banke!!! Seriously though I agree with most of the above -Louis, Akurang, Farrell and even Super Sam are not really up to it but I don't know where we'll find someone at an affordable price.!
-
TheIncognitoKid
- Posts: 3201
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:21 pm
- Location: Higham Ferrers
- Has Liked: 63 times
- Been Liked: 36 times