Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-3 Peterborough United

[Shrimper]

Why can't our strikers shoot straight?

In other news I note that Phil Brown has finally won at Morecambe. Pity he couldn't have achieved that with us.

He beat them in the FA Cup there with Southend in November 2013.

 

[secondalibi]

I personally think that Michael Turner is past it. And this isn't an early season kneejerk reaction. He's decent in the air, but his lack of pace and mobility is a huge problem. He's obviously not getting any younger and it's not like he's suddenly going to improve.

 

[Depor_Shrimper]

What do you think then?

Stockdale - 4
Elvis - 5
Turner - 4
White - 4
Coker - 5
Macca - 5
Dieng - 6
Mantom - 6
Bunn - 6
Cox - 5
Hopper - 7

Subs - n/a

 

[OldBlueLady]

6 - Wingers - both did ok actually. Bunn run a few dead ends but did alright and Knightly not as good but scored

K(n)ightly was suspended, McLaughlin was the other wide man who scored.

Can't help but agree with much of the criticism laid out on this thread already, however this is the biggest problem for me - we're missing a Timlin or Leonard character, someone to do the dirty work, put in the tough tackles. Without that, our defence is having to try and soak everything up and it's just not working. Neither Mantom nor Dieng were able to/were fit enough to do this today and the only one of the current midfield I've seen make any kind of attempt at this "spoiling" is Hyam.

Turner and White is an intelligent pairing but they don't work against the kind of forwards against us today - quick, agile, strong and physical. And Turner seems to be making costly mistakes every game too. White is also having to do an element of covering for Elvis at times defensively which then stretches us in the middle.

I don't want to see our forwards out on the wings too much, both Cox and Hopper today were out there a lot today meaning we didn't always have someone in the middle to aim at. Leave that to Coker, Bunn and McLaughlin - even Elvis was good at getting forward so there wasn't the need for it. We didn't use Bunn as much as we should have - on Tuesday we were spreading the ball about, today we just looked for the "usual" outlet of McLaughlin, wherever he was.

Stockdale - 5, nowhere near as big a keeper as I'd expected him to be. Tough coming in at this point - don't know if he could have done better, hard to tell, even from the highlights. three conceded though isn't good and poor Nathan Bishop will be thinking he could have done better.
Elvis - 6, some nice play from the youngster at times, but looked vulnerable a couple of times defensively.
White - 6, battled hard.
Turner - 5, looks a bit suspect at times, and I was informed his error led to the free kick which they scored the winner from.
Coker - 7, my MOTM today. Kept at it, with some great running and interplay with Cox and Dieng.
McLaughlin - 6, a 6 because of the goal otherwise it would have been lower. Terrible free kick in the 1st half, we're really struggling with dead ball situations both for and against.
Mantom - 6, nowhere near fit.
Dieng - 7, still like the look of him, but he also didn't look 100%.
Bunn - 7, grew into the game once they started getting the ball to him.
Cox - 6, very wasteful but never gives up - needs to stop berating officials.
Hopper - 7, didn't have the easiest of afternoons but got a poacher's goal and another notch on his tally.

Neither sub was on long enough to do anything, though Theo had been prepared to come on 3 times earlier than when he actually did. In fact, just before our 1st goal, both he and McCoulskey were ready to come on in a double substitution.

Peterborough were set up like a typical Steve Evans side and we should have known what to expect. They didn't disappoint and we didn't cope. Simple as that.

I thought the officials were largely good, the ref was pretty hot on some of their tactics though the amount of distance they gained every time they had a throw in was quite ridiculous. Felt a few more cards should have been shown though.

Chris Phillips said we've not scored in the North Bank goal yet this season, we've got to sort out this problem with scoring as we're simply not taking the chances when we have them. He's got some real problems in the week ahead because things just aren't working at present.

 

[JD]

Turners form over last 2 games has been poor, another big error today for their winner, and I would give him a break by bringing in Moore.
Elvis has been thrust in to the team and has done ok, had a couple of good moments going forward but I feel uneasy when he’s defending - not sure why though.
McLaughlin - not good at all, lack of competition means he will probably keep his place though. I am not sure what he is giving the team at the moment, he rarely runs at his man, he’s not the quickest and his left foot isn’t delivering. Expect him to be delivering decent dead balls, but even that evades him at present. Despite this he took his chance well, which should be applauded, but it’s masked his performance overall.
Cox - did nothing until our first goal, but to be fair he chased the long ball down, muscled out their defender and provided a cheeky pass to Bunn. After that he improved, as did the team but his lack of goals is really becoming a problem for me. I would drop him for McCoulsky against the Shrews.

Plus points - I thought Dieng looked good, and fit. Bunn showed glimpses of his quality, although he went missing for a period before coming back in to it.
MOM for me was Hopper, took his goal (just) and worked hard against a couple of big gents. Given reasonable service he could score 20 this season.

Powell - it’s difficult. He has been dealt some bad luck with injuries. Poor player discipline from Kightly and Oxley and the loss of JD to Cyprus.
To expect the team to gel when you have to make 3/4 changes most games is tough.

Draw a line, and move on to a better performance against Shrewsbury!

 

[damien]

I didn’t go today due to commitments that for the life of me I couldn’t shake.

We lost 3-2 to a team that are unbeaten thus far, seems like a fairly expected result with a good fight put up by the boys. Seems as if same old story, result didn’t match the performance on the pitch.

If this is the case, and forgive me if I am mistaken here, with cox being so integral to the football leading to the goals we should surely have him Behind the currently free scoring hopper and mccoulsky?

I am still optimistic about this season as the football is good (for the majority) and we seem to be not matching our performances results wise, results will come when CP finds the formula at the back. I feel Moore replacing turner at the back could be key if we are to mount a challenge this year.

On paper an expected result, like I said didn’t go today so can’t comment too far but as it stands we will be okay, keep the faith and when fully fit could be a contending side

 

[Oakley1]

just a thought...….with Oxley sent off for violent conduct last Saturday, why oh why leave it until Friday before bringing in another keeper, after Tuesdays game he should have had confidence in Bishop could he have done any worse....we will never know, if not then he should have brought a keeper in during the week to give him a chance of a couple of training sessions with the players

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

just a thought...….with Oxley sent off for violent conduct last Saturday, why oh why leave it until Friday before bringing in another keeper, after Tuesdays game he should have had confidence in Bishop could he have done any worse....we will never know, if not then he should have brought a keeper in during the week to give him a chance of a couple of training sessions with the players

CP did try, but it took a few days to tie up the emergency loan with Birmingham for Stockdale.

 

[Oakley1]

CP did try, but it took a few days to tie up the emergency loan with Birmingham for Stockdale.

Fair enough, would have been a good opportunity to see how Bishop would have got on with a first team game

 

[rayleigh dan]

I don't understand the logic behind CP's team today. Turner/White look shaky at the back, pick them again! Cox/Hopper look toothless up front, play them again! WTF has McCoulsky got to do to get a start. 4 goals in 2 games and yet not only doesn't he start, but he only gets a measly 2 mins when it's too late.

Conceding 8 in 4 games at home is poor, as is losing 3 out of 4. More so when you consider one game was against a dismal Bradford side and we've dominated possesion in every game bar Charlton.

I think I'm right in saying we only lost four games at home all season last year, three defeats by early September is worrying. CP definitely needs to sort the defending out and make us harder to beat at home.

Imo CP has been too reluctant to make changes to his starting line up even though others have impressed in cup games. He's also been far too reluctant to make changes from the bench when things go wrong.

I love CP as a legendary Southend player and all round nice guy, but some of his recent managerial decisions are starting to concern me sadly.

 

[Bromley Blue]

4 - GK - Would Bishop have conceded more than 3?
7 - LB - Coker actually had a decent game I think
5’s - CB - neither looked good enough today
6 - RB - slightly better going forward but still think he is a liability currently. Got caught out of position a few times and lost the ball too far up the pitch. Welcome back JD there soon
6 - Wingers - both did ok actually. Bunn run a few dead ends but did alright and Knightly not as good but scored
7 - CM - Tidy but nothing great. Controlled much of the game I guess
7.5 - Cox - despite the constant stick he gets on here (everyone new favourite scape goal) the only player we have with the quality to make the ball stick. Played a big part in both goals.
7 - Hopper - scored and some tidy play

Ultimately, another lose despite a better performance. Down to 15th. CP needs to get it together and quick if we want to do anything towards to right end of the table. If not, we better start getting a few points to avoid looking down this season.

Not only has someone called Knightly not played for us in at least the last 15 years but his near namesake Kightly was suspended so didn’t play today.

 

[rayleigh dan]

I personally think that Michael Turner is past it. And this isn't an early season kneejerk reaction. He's decent in the air, but his lack of pace and mobility is a huge problem. He's obviously not getting any younger and it's not like he's suddenly going to improve.

I agree that his forms dipped but It's too early to write him off IMO. If he had someone with some pace alongside him I'd be happier. The White/Turner partnership lacks mobility, I think only one of the two should start alongside either Moore or Lennon.

 

[mfurok]

Why can't our strikers shoot straight?

In other news I note that Phil Brown has finally won at Morecambe. Pity he couldn't have achieved that with us.

F A Cup

 

[bazzashrimper]

Stocky 5

Elvis attacking 7 defending 5. Wrong side of man for the third goal letting him have a tap in.

White 5

Turner 5

Coker 7

Macca 6

Dieng 6

Mantom 7

Bunn 7.5

Cox 3 for the first hour 7 for the 20 mins after

Hopper 6

Let in 3 poor goals. CP was about to make his subs before we scored, and rightly held off as we were on top.

At 2-2 we took our foot off the pedal and were happy with a point. Had we carried on as we were, we would have won the game. Steve Evans puts this down to his substitution to push Coker back, maybe that’s right and I’m showing myself as a supporter rather than a pundit. But it felt like when macca demanded the ball and looked like he was going to run it back for the centre, but instead used it for the goal celebration, it almost sent a signal to the rest of the team. Again, perhaps I’m being harsh here.

Oh. And I thought the red did well today.

 

[Dubai]

Not only has someone called Knightly not played for us in at least the last 15 years but his near namesake Kightly was suspended so didn’t play today.

Insightful feedback on the game there mate, well done.

*macca

 

[Grapevine]

Well today was my first view of the first team in action....

I’ll make a bold prediction and say I am confident that come April they will be in and around the shake up.....

I wasn’t impressed with Peterborough at all. I understand that big horrible and ugly will win games at this level but from what I saw today they will get found out over a 46 game season.

On the other hand given a clear run of selection issues, some serious competition for places all over the pitch (which we will have when injuries and suspensions subside) some patience and the rub of the green when it matters, improved confidence will see us win enough games.

We have, in my eyes, some real quality about our play. I know at the moment it’s a little hot and cold but that’s typical of early season and inconsistency is also usual when a squad is decimated like ours has been.

Some of our build up play was very classy. We moved the ball well into wide areas and made an organised team look very stretched quite often and could easily have scored more.

I was impressed with both full backs. Yes CM looked rusty but that’s to be expected given the injury problems.

Bunn and (to a lesser degree) McLaughen look a threat and Cox links play intelligently.

Ok.....how to improve? Neither Hopper or Cox are likely to stretch a team which means we have to play into them and it becomes easy to defend knowing theirs no threat of pace behind you.

Personally (on one viewing!!!) id play a diamond midfield with Dieng sitting in front of the CB and McCoulsky up front with Hooper or Cox.....with Bunn at the top of the diamond.

I’d allow him to drift around to cause most damage and I’d ask my full backs (who both look great going forwards) to give me the width going forwards....

I await pelters.....of course I did say before Tuesday that the 23s had some great talent that wouldn’t be that far away this season.....

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Insightful feedback on the game there mate, well done.

*macca

We both watched the game on iFollow I presume.Though even I knew Kightly wasn't playing with Bunn in for him and Mclaughlin scored.I know the BBC Essex commentary cut out a few times-most annoyingly for their third goal but it was OK most of the time.

FWIW,I thought we deserved and nearly got a point.

 

[Fitz]

3 comments:

1. Turner over the hill, has gone the same way as Ferdinand last season and Barrett the year before. It’s amazing how players can fall away so quickly.
2. Powell is too reactionary, should have made substitutions early and McCoulsky should have got far more game time. Needs to grab th bull by the horns!
3. 3 home defeats, 8 goals conceded at home in 4 matches, worrying start to the season, fear it could be a long one.

 

[OldBlueLady]

2. Powell is too reactionary, should have made substitutions early and McCoulsky should have got far more game time. Needs to grab th bull by the horns!

Surely if he were "too reactionary" he'd have made those substitutions earlier?

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Fair point. However if we have what are supposedly our first XI CMs both on the pitch and yet we still need one of our strikers to help out there and not be further forward then that’s another issue that needs sorting

The CMs were fine for 70+ minutes but faded at the end, which isn’t that much of a surprise when both were doubts coming into the game as they’ve been injured.

I’ll tell you what I really like about Dieng though: the number of first time passes he played. He rarely needs a second touch. It makes our play that much more fluid.

I wish we’d stop getting into these holes but I can’t help but be impressed by the way we’ve fought back every game except probably Luton.

I said this last week a well but we’re not that far from being a good side. It probably won’t happen whilst we have all these injuries but this is a team with better times ahead.