Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge

[Tangled up in Blue]

I don't think two blokes standing on the centre circle will cut it up that much, and the Bluebelles only put in a fleeting appearance yesterday.

And there were only 4 of them!:winking:

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

And there were only 4 of them!:winking:

I'm led to believe the others heard you were over Barna :raspberry:

 

[ms brush]

Agree with ESB as well.

It wasnt a pretty game, by anyones standards, and we were quite lucky not to lose in the end. D&R got their tactics right and they were a bit unlucky to only score once - just pleased that their finishing is even more shocking than ours at the moment! Had to smile at the end - they got a point and they were celebrating like they had won the league!

I think that part of the reason for the hoofball, and that isnt to say that the manager doesnt have to take some of the responsibility for this, is that the midfield is not performing, with the exception of Timlin and Hall. The defence has little option other than to get the ball forward asap and bypass the middle men, otherwise they would be under the cosh even more that they were in the last 20 minutes yesterday. The other members of the midfield, notably Grant, Ferdinand and Leonard are just making up the numbers at the moment! Its weird, on paper we have a really strong squad and some very impressive individual players. What seems to have gone wrong is that we have 5 or 6 players who are regularly not getting the service they should have to get the best from them. From yesterday, the clear examples are Prosser, who is definately not a left back, Dickinson is not a target man, so using him as one isnt going to work, Hall and Timlin are carrying the whole midfield, Harris isnt getting the ball to his feet in the box and more defensive midfield players like Grant are never going to make decent wingers (especially if they arent playing well in the first place...)

Daniels - solid and couldnt do anything about the equaliser.
Clohessy - MOM. Best defender on the pitch by far yesterday, and he looks good going forward.
Prosser - Not a convincing performance, clearly out of position and it shows. Prosser is a good CB but he is woeful at left back. Would rather see a half fit Gilbert play tbh...
Phillips - Played well, he was struggling to carry Barker and cover Prosser - under the circumstances he did a good job. On this basis alone, I think he deserved the champagne!
Barker - Clearly still struggling with his injury, and probably shouldnt have played. If I was in charge (thankfully I'm not) I would have put Prosser in with Phillips and got Grant to cover LB in Gilberts absence.
Leonard - Looks out of sorts and didnt really contribute. Might as well have not been there...
Timlin - Pick of the midfield by a long stretch, fabulous goal, and was unlucky to be punished for the mistake that led to their equaliser, when most of the others were giving the ball away in dangerous positions for a lot of the game and only got away with it because of some very poor finishing by D&R!
Grant - Another distinctly below average performance and an awful miss! Too slow and far too complacant for my liking.
Hall - The only spark of creativity, but not really getting the support from the rest of the midfield.
Benyon - Looks like a very good prospect and made a good impression. Just hope he gets the service he needs to start getting some goals!
Dickinson - Cant work him out at all. He is clearly not being utilised to take advantage of his strengths, which isnt helping, but on yesterday's performance I would much rather have had Blair out there.


Subs
Ferdinand - waste of space yesterday. Lucky not to have been sent off. If West Ham still want him, I'd say take the money and run!!
Harris - As has happened on far too many occassions this season, he isnt getting the service and as he's not the best at going to get the ball and doing all the work himself, he is going to be ineffective!

 

[ol blue eyes]

Originally Posted by Southend Neil

Mohnsi - come back now. The only problem is that he is needed at the back as he is in my view our best centre back, needed out wide as he is better than the woeful Leonard and most certainly required up front!!! He has still scored more goals in open play than Dickinson. For the time being we need to pair him and Benyon in attack as I think this would be a very good combination. Benyon was the one great positive from yesterday, much more mobile than Harris, better touch, good awareness and he could really flourish alongside a decent striker.
The one problem is that only 5 of the current squad are actually talking to Mohsni and siding with Peter Gilbert after the Oldham fiasco. Well sorry team you have had your chance to prove you can play without him and have spectacularly failed to do so and have let us down far more than Mohnsi ever has, 2 games at home and hardly testing the visiting keeper says it all. Time to welcome him back and forgive.

Not sure I agree with the best centre back part as even his biggest fans have to admit he can be a liability, but the rest is spot on. Surely everyone in the team can see they are a better side with Bilel and they have a better chance of promotion with him at the club.

I would not worry about playing Mohsni at centre back. Paul Sturrock himself said that Bilel did not have so many problems when playing there.
However I would realy like to see him in the position that so many zoners have named as our weak-spot, left back.
We know he can defend and he certainly has the drive and energy to over-lap to coss the ball or even burst into the box.

What I do have a problem with is pro-footballers sulking about not playing at Anfield (assuming they would have won with 11 V 11) rather than looking at the big picture - promotion.

 

[southendkid]

I've said before that mohsni would be wasted at left back, his height suits him more for centre back, if we do give him another chance then he should be in midfield though. Too much of a liability at the back for me, hopefully we can find another left back in the transfer window or get Gilbert playing it on the ground

 

[OldBlueLady]

Asking Grant to play left back is a massive no-no for me. Tilson played him at both right and centre back at different times, but asking a right footed midfielder to slot in at left back would be putting completely unfair pressure on him and his team mates. Far better to ask Clohessy to swap and put Leonard in at right back, which is what he was actually signed as.

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

What's this manager saying to his players ?

How about "stop moaning about not getting the ball to feet, this isn't Sarfend Utd lads, think yourself lucky i'm not Paul Sturrock"

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

meanwhile in the other dressing room ....

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

meanwhile in the other dressing room ....

View attachment 1664

Is that other manager Ray Parlours dad ?

 

[Angell Delight]

Asking Grant to play left back is a massive no-no for me. Tilson played him at both right and centre back at different times, but asking a right footed midfielder to slot in at left back would be putting completely unfair pressure on him and his team mates. Far better to ask Clohessy to swap and put Leonard in at right back, which is what he was actually signed as.

Leonard was signed as a RB but it was stated he has also played LB in the past, therefore I'd prefer this than moving Clohessy as if we did that we're taking away one of our attacking threats down the right side with his crossing ability.

 

[southendkid]

Leonard is a kid, maybe he wouldn't hoof as much as Gilbert/Prosser, but he'd probably make a lot more defensive errors, don't see why we'd take that risk when we want to reignite a promotion push

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

What's this manager saying to his players ?

How about "stop moaning about not getting the ball to feet, this isn't Sarfend Utd lads, think yourself lucky i'm not Paul Sturrock"

Can't believe we couldn't beat this lot in the air.

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Can't believe we couldn't beat this lot in the air.

No chance, they cheat, 2nd one in from left hides the ball up his shirt and runs into the box with it, looks like he forgot to give it back to the ref at half time

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

No chance, they cheat, 2nd one in from left hides the ball up his shirt and runs into the box with it, looks like he forgot to give it back to the ref at half time

The 4th from the left got on my nerves. He kept running through Phillips legs. That's not fair.