Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-2 Torquay United

[JD]

The formation didn’t seem to be an issue for the last half hour when we scored one and it could have been 3. If plan B was to bring in Bridge that seemed to work well.

Kensdale was signed for his ability to bring the ball out of defence. It is why he’s in the side.

Torquay went 2-0 up and decided to sit back and see it out, it worked for them.

I still think a back 4 would of worked better today, I’d rather a midfielder has the ball in the middle of the park, and not a defender.

 

[Target man]

Hmmm, going to have to watch the highlights of this game again. My takeaway from being there was we created limited “chances” but we were blasting shots from all angles with no real threat. Perhaps I missed the chances because I was getting too annoyed!

Perhaps that's fair ....

 

[amsemp]

Impossible to say.

Would we have conceded the goals we have with them in the side?

You are fixated on the 3rd best defence line when they conceded 2 today and 2 against Eastleigh

Would we have conceded the goals we have with Arnold in goal?

Conceded 2 today and 2 against Eastleigh, but only 2 in 5 games prior to that. Not criticising Collin, but you’ve got to put things into perspective.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Time wasting was evident from VERY early on and is the scourge of lower league/non league football.
I just don’t get why refs can’t stop it early doors. A single warning to the team captain, followed by a yellow card will soon put paid to it.
Even better, include the warning in the pre match talk to the teams?
Do we do it? of course, but some teams really do take it to the extreme and it’s not good enough.

I’d prefer it if refs clamped down on it quickly, and if we end up losing some games because we can’t hold out then so be it - I’d rather take our chances.

It seems to be the norm in this league ..if we’d stuck 4 or 5 in then it wouldn’t have mattered. We’ve got to expect time wasting and crap refs and deal with it, they weren’t that good and we’ve come away with nothing.

 

[Target man]

Would we have conceded the goals we have with Arnold in goal?

Conceded 2 today and 2 against Eastleigh, but only 2 in 5 games prior to that. Not criticising Collin, but you’ve got to put things into perspective.

He's a young kid without experience been thrown in ..... not his fault, its lack of depth in the goalkeeping area that's costing us points.

 

[Target man]

Putting things into real perspective... it's Saturday night, we lost a game we should have won.

Let's just get the alcohol out and forget it!

Onto the next ..... cheers!!

 

[amsemp]

Putting things into real perspective... it's Saturday night, we lost a game we should have won.

Let's just get the alcohol out and forget it!

Onto the next ..... cheers!!

I’m on board

 

[JD]

It seems to be the norm in this league ..if we’d stuck 4 or 5 in then it wouldn’t have mattered. We’ve got to expect time wasting and crap refs and deal with it, they weren’t that good and we’ve come away with nothing.

Time wasting is 100% something that EVERY ref can control, and stop, even if they are ****e at everything else.

 

[Spenser]

Out of curiosity as I couldn't go to the Maidenhead game, did Collin kick it long in that match? Also, was he maybe playing it short every time today because of an injury?

 

[rayleigh dan]

The common denominator from the last 3 home games is we’re wasting far too many chances.

The first goal was slack defending, the guy who put the cross in was in acres of space, either Scott-Morriss or Hobson (or both) were at fault. Then we defended the initial cross poorly, no challenge from any defender and I thought maybe Collin should have attempted a punch, instead allowing a simple finish from the header across goal. **** show all round, and put us in a position of chasing the game straight away. Their second goal was a fluke and very annoying, but that’s football.

We dominated but failed to test the keeper enough, on another day we’d have got a draw or sneaked a win, but we have to be better in the final third.

Andeng-Ndi 6 - Did okay, maybe could have come off his line for their first? No chance with the second.
Scott-Morriss 6 - Couldn’t replicate his debut performance but tried to get forward.
Hobson/Kensdale/Lomas 7 - I thought all did fine and looked impressive at times bringing the ball forward. I did note that we failed consistently to win the first header from corners. Some deliveries were poor admittedly, but there were times I thought we could have been stronger, perhaps this is something Lopata will be better at?
Clifford 4 - Looks woefully short of confidence and didn’t get forward much at all.
Miley 6 - Another who did okay but couldn’t replicate previous impressive performances.
Fonguck 5 - Off the pace today, improved in the second half but capable of much better.
Mooney 7 - Some great skills and attacking intent, but finishing and final ball was a bit off today. He’s our star player right now though.
Cosgrave 5 - Pacey and made a couple of good runs in behind, but never looks like scoring and doesn’t take up good enough positions in the box.
Powell 6 - Some good runs but wasteful in the crucial moment.

Subs:
Wreh 7 - Infuriated early on with some needless offsides but looked far more of a threat than Cosgrave, with a header just wide, then a goal. Must start the next game for me.
Bridge 8 - Really impressive, caused Torquay constant problems and put some great crosses. I feel we need to find a place in the team for him, perhaps at LWB if Ralph’s still out.
Demetriou - Not enough time to rate, but I was annoyed that he over hit the cross badly for our last opportunity.

 

[geoffmundo]

Have to say I thought Torquay done their homework on us today.
The first half they closed us quick and didn't allow us any time on the ball.
Second half was much better and how we did not score quicker than when we did who knows but, we have got to learn to put chances away and put teams to bed.
Thought Kensdale had a good game today
Is it me or does Clifford seem vacant when playing. I don't know what it is but he never seems focused?
Thought the subs could have been sooner
Let's not get too pessimistic - and try to remain positive

This is, unfortunately becoming all too frequent. Other managerial teams are coming off better than our fabled ‘3 amigos’. We seem to be regularly out thought as well as being out fought. We have a stronger squad than this time last season, but key injuries stop us from firing in all cylinders.

However, all said and done, I’ve not seen anything from Maher to suggest promotion or play offs as a target, but instead simply ‘progress’. That is achieved by top half finish…

 

[Shrimper]

Time wasting was evident from VERY early on and is the scourge of lower league/non league football.
I just don’t get why refs can’t stop it early doors. A single warning to the team captain, followed by a yellow card will soon put paid to it.
Even better, include the warning in the pre match talk to the teams?
Do we do it? of course, but some teams really do take it to the extreme and it’s not good enough.

I’d prefer it if refs clamped down on it quickly, and if we end up losing some games because we can’t hold out then so be it - I’d rather take our chances.

What I'd give to see someone on a yellow sent off for time wasting

 

[shrimperjon]

A frustrating afternoon. However on reflection and yes winning is key to football we really didn’t play badly. We defended well all bar a couple of moments. We played some lovely controlled football and created enough chances to win three matches let alone one. Can’t knock the effort or commitment. If anything they are trying to hard. But continue to play like that we will be ok

This squad of players and the football being played is light years ahead of what we were watching this time last year. Get Hyde, Cardwell and Murphy fit and we will be ok. In the mean time we have to believe in those wearing the shirt and get behind them

Have tickets for Barnet next week and still looking forward to it and fingers crossed we can convert the chances we create

Let’s stay with Kev and Co. The good times will return again

 

[tommy tucker]

yes we lost in a game we had more shots than torquay .But torquay has 2 shots all game and scored from them both . Our next match is against Barnet now who would have thought Barnet would lose 31 against aldershot a team that had not won a match .So there is room to be a little optmistic next sat .

 

[Zeuss]

Also worth pointing out that Cosgrave doesn't seem any better than Wreh, much the opposite, so I have no idea why he starts.

I also wonder how many of Maher's cats Bridge has run over because how he is not starting is a mystery

Absolutely right there.
We clearly had 2 weak links in the starting line-up,with better alternatives on the bench.
The last thing we needed was to gift them an early goal.Every opposing team knows high balls to Clifford on the left side of our defence will cause problems while poor Cosgrave was contributing virtually nothing up front.
I’ve said it was obvious but it took 63 minutes for Maher to take them off and bring on Wreh and Bridge,which transformed our attacking immediately.
I can’t recall a team blocking as many shots in and around the 6-yard box.
The referee and both linesmen —offside relates to where someone has run from ,not to—were terrible but I didn’t think Torquay were as blatant as Bore Wood.

 

[Stuart W]

Nope. Just have perspective.

Would we score more goals with Murphy, Cardwell and Hyde fit?

Absobloodylutely. Maybe I am on my own here, but delighted as I was with the signing of Lopata this week, I would have been euphoric if the news instead had been that 2 of those 3 STRIKERS had been fit to return today.
I put the word “striker” in capitals for a reason. We simply did not have one out there today.
No-one with an instinctive feeling about how to put the ball in the net. The nearest we have at present is Mooney, and Wreh may (over time which we don’t really have) develop into one.
Meanwhile why has Benton gone off the radar? Is he injured too?

 

[Chrisb]

He was the same with Aldershot when he came here last season ..... an absolute top level tosser! All mouth, no ability.

Yes, I remember him from the Aldershot game - they had just scored but, rather than celebrate with his team mates, he came over to the East Stand and was making gestures. A couple of the players dragged him away but he came back again

 

[Holy Joe]

Out of curiosity as I couldn't go to the Maidenhead game, did Collin kick it long in that match? Also, was he maybe playing it short every time today because of an injury?

No went short most of the time. We have 3 ball playing centre half's and no target man up top. Tactics seem to be to retain possesion

 

[Spenser]

It was of course incredibly frustrating to lose that.
A bit of perspective for those who weren't there. Not the greatest defending for their early goal and so we are chasing the game after 3 minutes against a team of giants employing the usual sh1thousery to protect their lead and waste time at every opportunity. After an hour they score a second from a deflection which 99 /100 times doesn't go in.
No argument from me that we wasted way too many chances and good positions. They obviously stuck 10 behind the ball and at times most of those were in their own box.
On the plus side, we kept playing a decent passing game and kept creating chances. Jack Bridge had their defenders on toast when he came on and Wreh deserved his goal, pity it was a consolation.
Unfortunately, Torquay are a typical big strong NL side and the challenge for Maher and his sidekicks is how a technically superior team breaks them down.

 

[Spenser]

No went short most of the time. We have 3 ball playing centre half's and no target man up top. Tactics seem to be to retain possesion

OK thanks. So it turns out the tactics are OK when we win If there was a reason we lost today, it wasn't because we played out from the back imo.