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

[Zeuss]

Wrong taking Cox off for Theo; Cox had a hand on both goals and Theo did nothing

He did get the ball once,passing to the opposition,as per usual.

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

Before kickoff I was thinking to myself 'Image if Woodyard was 18 again, coming through the academy now' [which has improved year on year] and although they're different players I wondered who would win out between Woodyard and Dru. Dru won, but I do like a hypothetical.

Penny for my thoughts...

Cox frustrated me. He was selfish on one or two occasions when he shouldn't have been - one being that freekick which suited a left footer by far - McLaughlin had every right to be annoyed! He also had no anticipation for a couple of Hopper's knock downs one in particular on the edge of their area...

Pleased for McLaughlin, well taken goal. Have said he needs to be dropped week after week but hopefully that can be a personal turning point.

I understand why the subs wasn't made until late so I'm not going to slate CP for that. It's simply because the players on the bench would've have improved upon the players on the pitch. Frankly it's a flip of a coin as to whether Theo will make a difference.

For everyone that might say they didn't look that good, remember that this is an away performance, at home it might have been a walkover.

Dieng or Bunn MoTM in a game which really had none.

 

[Ricey]

For those there how did Woodyard get on? I was never a fan of his and didn’t rate him in the slightest. He’s obviously done well to do the drop into non league and work his way upto captain of Posh.

 

[Mick]

He did get the ball once,passing to the opposition,as per usual.

Wasn't sure whether that was a pass or an attempt to trap the ball.

 

[OldBlueLady]

For those there how did Woodyard get on? I was never a fan of his and didn’t rate him in the slightest. He’s obviously done well to do the drop into non league and work his way upto captain of Posh.

He said hello to Kev Maher as they came off after pre match warm up, which was nice. I said to Kev, "what was he, about 12 last time you saw him?" and he laughed and agreed.

I always liked him and thought he had something about him so was pleased that he's done ok for himself. Compare that to Kane Ferdinand who seems to have gone the other way.

He seemed to be detailed to spoil Cox's moves dropping deep and they had a few tussles. Carried out his role well in my opinion.

 

[Mick]

Clearly I've a trick or two during the drive down...but wasn't Mr Evans was on a touchline ban today ??

His red card last week was for two yellows. That doesn't mean a ban (yet) but they do count towards a four yellows ban.

His equally odious assistant got a straight red last week too and served his one match ban in the Checkatrade .......... nothing like consistency !!!!!

 

[Floval Flyer]

Oh and more bad news I have heard we probably won't be ever seeing Sam Barrett in a Southend shirt...….Could be a career ending injury

Really hope this isn’t true, if so our defeat yesterday pales into insignificance.

Poor guy!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Just watched the match highlights.Think it's worth pointing out that Cox made the first goal and was involved in the build up for the second.That's why he's in the team.

 

[Eddy Melito]

regarding cox, some seem to see it as black and white. No, hes not scoring at the moment, but he was involved in both goals and his general quality on the ball, his creativity and tenacity and the way he dealt with their big lumps better than anyone else made up for it in my opinion. with a straight 4-4-2 there is a lot of work for the 2 midfield, especially when they are both coming back from injuries, so someone needed to provide some creativity. thats what cox did.

 

[RomfordB92]

Cox looks to me like he see's things others don't. Think as quite rightly pointed out elsewhere in the thread, heavily involved in both of the goals. Probably why CP puts up with the downsides such as (On yesterdays evidence) the lack of finishing currently and lapse in anticipation. Think he's an important player and might not necessarily be an improvement having him out the side

 

[OldBlueLady]

All this about Cox, it's why I say he'd work really well as a central attacking midfielder - it's his vision and his reading of the game which is why he's vital. Many people had his performance Tuesday as being the difference between the two sides.

 

[Eddy Melito]

many people seem to have a fixation with the bog standard 4-4-2, and an attacking midfielder doesnt really fit into that too well.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

Watched the game on IFollow.
I did say (last week I think?) in an earlier post that with a Turner and White central defensive pairing we will not be challenging for promotion. I saw nothing yesterday to make me revise that view. Eight goals in three home games is the problem and perhaps those complaining about strikers are missing the point as five goals in three games should yield us more points than the three losses have given us. Dieng and Mantom are clearly very important in midfield for us, and, while both played well yesterday we were not dominant. The opposition have to be given some credit for that but yesterday we did not seem to be picking as many second balls as we have done in previous games. Whether that was because neither of the main midfield duo is 100% fit, or because of the rub of the green or because Peterborough are a smart side I cannot say. Perhaps a combination of all three.
No doubt our opponents were a tough team to play against. Perhaps I am in the minority here but I think it is way too much to expect McCoulsky to reproduce the form he displayed against a weaker than full strength Cambridge side against the likes of Posh. Personally, I really doubt he would got much change against the Peterborough back four but that is just an opinion. However, if you play him instead of Cox you are not replacing like with like and our whole game and shape would have been different. I am not sure he is great at holding up the ball so that might lead to us losing possession more than we have been doing.
I thought Stockdale's reputation was by some margin greater than the effect he had on the match.
I do believe once we have most of our players available we will be ok and could even soon enjoy a long unbeaten string of games but it is vital we soon start to win some home games and confidence does not drain away.
I think once all are available we have the players to play a diamond formation with Dieng filling the defensive role and Cox the furthest forward and Yearwood and Mantom in the middle.
The result depressed me too much to give ratings but perhaps Coker was the best and the ever willing Hopper next best.

 

[southendkid]

many people seem to have a fixation with the bog standard 4-4-2, and an attacking midfielder doesnt really fit into that too well.

A traditional 4-4-2 in truth is a poor formation, which is why very few top teams bother with it anymore, it only really worked in the past because everyone else used it as well. As soon as clubs started adopting other formations it became very apparent that 4-4-2 is weak. It is vital to control the midfield in a football match and if you've only got 2 players in the middle whilst the other team has 3 then you're going to get outnumbered, at which point the extra striker you have on the pitch isn't going to count for much because he'll rarely get the ball.

When Cox is on the pitch it's more of a 4-4-1-1 from what I can tell, which is why he doesn't run into the box a lot. I think it's why we pass it around so nicely when he's playing, and then end up resorting to hoofball when he isn't.

 

[Gridelet's contact lens]

Views from today...

We will continue to concede too many goals with that defence, far too easy for teams to pass their way through to score. Teams will target the lack of mobility.

Hopper did really well winning headers today but needs someone to be gambling on the flick ons which is where McCoulsky should be.

How many times do we dominate the first 20 minutes but don’t convert chances. We have a goal scoring player in McCoulsky who will convert more chances then anyone else and needs to be on the pitch at the start to do so. He looks to be a player that could get 20 goals with a run in the team.

Bunn, mantom, dieng, hopper and Coker did well today.





Got to change the personnel

 

[Eddy Melito]

i keep seeing people saying the lack of mobility in defence yesterday means teams can pass their way through too easily. Didn't all 3 of the posh goals come from set pieces? and didn't they score with virtually all the chances they created? I'm struggling to think of all the times that they carved apart the defence to be honest.

 

[Gridelet's contact lens]

16 goals conceeded in 9 first team games. Only two cleans sheets. On the other side, 14 goals scored in 9 and only failed to score in one game. I am not worried about the forward line, the back five is too weak, I know you defend as a team, but the Posh goals all came down the middle, either by dead ball or rmoving attack. I am sorry, Turner needs to take a rest while we blood Taylor Moore.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

16 goals conceeded in 9 first team games. Only two cleans sheets. On the other side, 14 goals scored in 9 and only failed to score in one game. I am not worried about the forward line, the back five is too weak, I know you defend as a team, but the Posh goals all came down the middle, either by dead ball or rmoving attack. I am sorry, Turner needs to take a rest while we blood Taylor Moore.

It is tough with Turner as he has many very good parts to his game; I am not convinced he is 100% fit or injury free. And he maybe needs to adapt to getting a little slower etc in that small margins of weakness/slowing down etc have left him a fraction physically behind the play but mentally on top of it still. For example; Last season he would not have been pushed off the ball (for Charlton's goal) and could/ought he now to be thinking more on the Pat Scully defending with wallop to row X if there is a big chance of being caught out?

 

[Fairport]

Although we seem to have defensive problems sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition. Their third goal was by way of an excellent piece of play by Joe Ward who laid the ball off and then made a great diagonal run into a space in our penalty area received the ball and slid it across the goal for their guy to knock it in. Ward used to play for Chelmsford City, but IMO was never that impressive, shame he came good yesterday!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Incidentally, Adam Barrett was there watching yesterday, not sure if for pleasure or business - I suspect he won't have been terribly impressed with the defending.