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danburyshrimper

Manager
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
2,301
I popped along to Braintree v Lincoln last night in the Conference ( crazy to think they are only 1 league below us )
It was a really entertaining match , both team playing excellent football + was a breath of fresh air after Saturdays painfully frustrating game at Roots Hall.

The biggest difference between Blues' sluggish performance + the non leaguers efforts was in the pace of the attacks.

Lincoln played 2 up front and they both really caught the eye in the simple style of play. I just wish Phil Brown was there to see it and learn. Ben Tomlinson & Jake Sheridan showed excellent pace, power + touch but in 90 minutes not once did Lincoln pump a high ball down the middle. Braintree's centre backs didnt head the ball all evening , unlike the meat + drink we fed Burys defenders. Last night the ball was always played to feet or down the channels + looked likely to score almost every attack. When those strikers ran the channels they created so much space + with the intelligent off the ball running opened up the opposition time after time.
Compare that to Blues' style .... get the ball , look up , no options , so play it backwards then lump it up neck high to whoever our ridiculously isolated lone forward is . Pitiful.

We so desperately need to get our own pacey potential match winner Lenny further into the danger areas - We've got one of the quickest players in the league , who has a demon shot , who we know can finish well , and his strong running at oppositions defences would cause chaos. . . . but what does Brown do ? Sit him deep , squeezed in an over cramped midfield with no space with no runners off the ball. Its rubbish !!!!

If we dont change our style back to the pacey free flowing attacking team we saw at the back end of 2013 then i'm afraid i 'll be forced to watch many more Conference games ...... at Roots Hall !!!!
 
Is Leonard that quick ?

Thing about pace is you need it in parts of the pitch where it can do damage, ie wide or up front.

Leonard's strength and where he has excelled is in the middle of the park so not sure that if he is that quick that he is the person we should be looking at.

I would like to see him getting forward and think with Laird in the side he can do that more, but if we were to change system with 2 upfront that increases his defensive duties in midfield.
 
I think Leonard is by far our quickest player, on and off the ball (only Straker comes close on the ball, and that's because he likes to kick and run (rather than close dribble at speed)).
 
If we dont change our style back to the pacey free flowing attacking team we saw at the back end of 2013 then i'm afraid i 'll be forced to watch many more Conference games ...... at Roots Hall !!!!

Is this a metaphor for the way Southend are currently playing, or are you saying we will be relegated and watching Conference football at roots hall?
 
Ive never really noticed how quick he is, but then probably wouldnt whilst he is in the middle.
 
[video=youtube;1UUOi-Pq6L8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUOi-Pq6L8[/video]
 
This post raises some interesting points. Is the quality of football in the Conference better than League div 2 or just better than Southend are serving up at the moment? Pre January I would have said that there was nothing in the Conference that would have bothered the Blues. Now?...........that's for individuals on here to decide. Neither Braintree nor Lincoln are in the autos or play-offs so it doesn't bode well that the teams that get promoted will struggle next season. I just hope and pray we are not in Div 2 then to test ourselves against them!
 
[video=youtube;1UUOi-Pq6L8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUOi-Pq6L8[/video]

Exactly...... seeing Lenny rampaging forward at top speed ..... Fantastic!!!!!

.....his goal celebrations do need working on though!!!
 
I popped along to Braintree v Lincoln last night in the Conference ( crazy to think they are only 1 league below us )
It was a really entertaining match , both team playing excellent football + was a breath of fresh air after Saturdays painfully frustrating game at Roots Hall.

Was the foul that bad ? Devonshire wouldn't talk about the match on the radio other than being incandescent with rage about a Lincoln foul.
 
Braintree have got a decent striker called Dan Holman that I've seen on a couple of occasions. Good movement, decent enough turn of pace and think he's got around a goal every 2 games record for them. Don't understand why we never use the local non-league market for strikers since the days of Eastwood and Hooper. Teams like Peterborough and the Daggers have shown how successful this can be in recent years.
 
Whenever we do all the fitness tests, Leonard is always top of the class in terms of pace.
 
I think Leonard is by far our quickest player, on and off the ball (only Straker comes close on the ball, and that's because he likes to kick and run (rather than close dribble at speed)).

Seem to remember reading this last year how he's faster than straker!
 
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