Not a game for the purists or those expecting us, as table-toppers, to steamroll teams but a pretty enthralling game of football – particularly in the second half. I would’ve taken a point if offered before kick-off and I think, on balance, a point was probably the deserved result.
That said, it could’ve been oh so different.
I personally wouldn’t have changed a thing from the starting line-up that has served us so well as of late. I know Hall has done fantastically well coming off the bench in the last few games, but the personal highlight for me recently has been the balance in midfield. With Kalala and Ferdinand in the middle we had a solid base to build from, Timlin a creative force and Leonard the exact kind of grafter you want at this level. Implementing Hall disrupted that balance and, for me at least, it was clear to see with little cohesion in our midfield… I don’t have any stats to hand, but I reckon our first half pass completion was significantly lower in comparison to previous weeks due to Halls movement reducing the number of options when we had the ball. Including the four more resilient midfielders also made us very difficult to break down, and we definitely looked a little more fragile – particularly on the break – with Hall in the side.
This became pretty apparent with Morecambe’s persistent alternating of the flanks as they searched for a way in. We dealt with it fairly well in the first half, Leonard dropped into the right-back slot on a few occasions as Clohessy darted forward, and I think we just about shaved the first half after some good pressure towards the end. Morecambe did, however, look dangerous (if intermittent) on the ball and the warning signs were definitely there.
We didn’t heed them and found ourselves 1-0 down after our stereotypical slow start to the second half. I lay an awful lot of this blame on the fact that we never settled after changing things around during the interval. We were sloppy and wasteful in midfield, with some players not really knowing where they ought to be, and it cost us. After that, though, we looked considerably better on and off the ball and the substitutes made were probably the right ones… Grant needed to come on in place of Kalala as we needed a little more forward momentum from midfield and the ability to mount pressure rather than looking to break onto them.
Once Sturrock changed it around, we looked much the better side. Having Grant and Timlin, who know eachother off the field, alongside eachother and are quite similar players helped us grow our dominance in the middle of the park (later helped by Morecambe having to change things due to the red card), and Mohsni provided Morecambe with a reason to defend a lot deeper. This created the kind of space we needed in midfield to operate and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that, when Mohsni was on the field, Timlin flourished.
This isn’t to say that Mohsni was the catalyst to us playing better football, because he wasn’t, it was merely his presence that forced Morecambe back. In the past few weeks, Harris has forced teams to abort any intent of a high defensive line by threatening to move in behind them. This created the space for Dickinson to work in and trigger our attacks. Today, however, Harris looked extremely leggy and I’d have to question whether or not he was fit for today’s game. He definitely improved when tasked with playing a deeper, more secondary role, but he was plainly not fit enough to lead our forward line today. That said, it was far from the worst showing from a forward I’ve seen in the last few years, so quite where some of these ratings are coming from I’ve no idea.
That said, his lack of movement certainly impacted upon Dickinson, as it significantly reduced the amount of space he had to operate in. Morecambe could afford to throw a little caution to the wind and close him down, and it wasn’t until Dickinson started to operate on the flanks that he had any kind of joy at all.
Once again, we were quite sound defensively. Barker seems to have completely shaken the knock he had in the opening weeks of the season and looks a much more resilient defender for it. He was also comfortable enough to surge forward on some Barrett-esque runs out of defence today, which were far more productive than some Gilbert’s deliveries. The Morecambe wasn’t the result of a defensive mishap, rather the effect of an unbalanced midfield unsure of how/who to pick up the runner. Clohessy was a constant thorn in Morecambe’s side as they didn’t quite know how to pick him up, what with Leonard acting almost as a decoy-winger and Hall swapping positions with him occasionally. This ultimately led to our equaliser as he cut inside out of the blue and arrowed a cross-cum-shot towards goal, catching the defender flat-footed and causing the deflection. A good showing.
Man of the match for me was, without doubt, the outstanding Timlin. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that our winning spell commenced as soon as he came into the side and he basically completes a midfield that, before him, lacked a competent ball-playing midfielder. His arrival has a few similarities to the way we played when Josh Simpson came in last season and done very well, but Timlin looks to be a much better all-rounder than Simpson.
As soon as Morecambe were forced back and he had the space to operate, he ran the show today in a manner I haven’t seen from a Southend player since perhaps Luke Guttridge. I exclude Bailey in this because he was a very different kind of midfielder, but I could wax lyrical about Timlin’s second-half performance today. His passing was precise and intuitive, he consistently found space on Morecambe’s 18-yard box and he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck just when we needed him to. He really is a must-buy if we’re to harbour any hope of promotion this year.
In essence, whereas we weren’t at our best today and the midfield looked very unbalanced at times, I thought Sturrock responded well and the subs he made certainly changed the game in our favour. If I were to criticise him, it wouldn’t necessarily be for his decision to force Hall into a firing midfield, but the manner in which it was done. I certainly don’t begrudge his inclusion, but it seemed to be to the detriment of our balance in midfield and it needed amending midway through the match and we just might’ve offered Morecambe a sterner test to break down had we made better use of the ball.