After Monday Im looking forward to this. If the performance in and out of possession is as good we will have a good chance of picking up all the points. No complacency please. COYW.
-- Edited by Riverstown on Friday 1st of September 2023 08:09:53 PM
I remember about half way last season I was watching the body language of our team as they went onto the pitch, and they were so demoralised, looking already beaten, like "oh god, here we go again...".
In total contrast I loved the way we went out against Tonbridge, after getting our first win two days earlier I would have thought our players would be jumping up and down with excitement. But instead they went out very calmly and determinedly, and played like that. In a strange way maybe that Truro defeat was a lucky break, as it woke the guys up on what to avoid, and we have been excellent ever since, even though early on some of the breaks didn't go our way. Casual fans may only look at the table, and not watch us, as they don't yet realise what a strong exciting team Danny has quickly assembled against all the odds. I fancy us for the third win in a row!
Well, that was hard to watch. Having most of the possession throughout the match I thought we were going to succumb to a last minute sucker punch when our keeper pulled out a good save.
A lot of effort put in but how many pass backs to the keeper was there? Too many. However, another clean sheet and a point gained. It would be interesting to see us play with two recognised strikers.
Still a bit of a worry up front, but we'll take 7 points from our last 3 games. Worthing away Tuesday night - they took a bit of a hammering at Braintree today.
We were sound in goal, defence and midfield, but that ongoing thing about not having a ready made striker showed up again, as we created lots of chances, but didn't put them away. But some creative slick passing at times. Alex Macallister was frustrating in the second half, not holding position as a striker, dropping back to chase the ball in midfield so we had no one in attack so obviously had no one to score, and it made it easy for St Albans not to have to worry about anyone attacking from us. Just odd no one told him to stay up front to get on the end of clearances and try to score on the break. In his 9 minutes Adam Roscow looked fine, holding an attacking line really well, giving a cutting edge we lost when he went off. Fingers crossed he isn't seriously injured.
Teatowel said exactly what I said during the match, we were unnecessarily passing backwards and sideways too much, and not looking enough for forward passes, so then you are on the defensive backfoot. It was that options thing, we weren't running enough into forward positions to give an option of a forward pass.
But 4 games ago we were bottom of the table, we are now three unbeaten in a row, and now we are 5 places and 4 points above bottom, so improving. Tricky games against top 3 Bath and Worthing coming up, but we have some points in the bag, and recent results show we can match more experienced teams.
We were sound in goal, defence and midfield, but that ongoing thing about not having a ready made striker showed up again, as we created lots of chances, but didn't put them away. But some creative slick passing at times. Alex Macallister was frustrating in the second half, not holding position as a striker, dropping back to chase the ball in midfield so we had no one in attack so obviously had no one to score, and it made it easy for St Albans not to have to worry about anyone attacking from us. Just odd no one told him to stay up front to get on the end of clearances and try to score on the break. In his 9 minutes Adam Roscow looked fine, holding an attacking line really well, giving a cutting edge we lost when he went off. Fingers crossed he isn't seriously injured.
Teatowel said exactly what I said during the match, we were unnecessarily passing backwards and sideways too much, and not looking enough for forward passes, so then you are on the defensive backfoot. It was that options thing, we weren't running enough into forward positions to give an option of a forward pass.
But 4 games ago we were bottom of the table, we are now three unbeaten in a row, and now we are 5 places and 4 points above bottom, so improving. Tricky games against top 3 Bath and Worthing coming up, but we have some points in the bag, and recent results show we can match more experienced teams.
Struggle to see your opinion on the new striker, as he only touched the ball once, about 2 seconds before the tackle that injured him, which was a fair tackle by the way.
Went off in an ambulance during the second half, suspected broken ankle from what I heard, but fingers crossed that's not the case.
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Welling United FC. Banging on the walls of Woking dressing rooms since 1963..
We were sound in goal, defence and midfield, but that ongoing thing about not having a ready made striker showed up again, as we created lots of chances, but didn't put them away. But some creative slick passing at times. Alex Macallister was frustrating in the second half, not holding position as a striker, dropping back to chase the ball in midfield so we had no one in attack so obviously had no one to score, and it made it easy for St Albans not to have to worry about anyone attacking from us. Just odd no one told him to stay up front to get on the end of clearances and try to score on the break. In his 9 minutes Adam Roscow looked fine, holding an attacking line really well, giving a cutting edge we lost when he went off. Fingers crossed he isn't seriously injured.
Teatowel said exactly what I said during the match, we were unnecessarily passing backwards and sideways too much, and not looking enough for forward passes, so then you are on the defensive backfoot. It was that options thing, we weren't running enough into forward positions to give an option of a forward pass.
But 4 games ago we were bottom of the table, we are now three unbeaten in a row, and now we are 5 places and 4 points above bottom, so improving. Tricky games against top 3 Bath and Worthing coming up, but we have some points in the bag, and recent results show we can match more experienced teams.
Struggle to see your opinion on the new striker, as he only touched the ball once, about 2 seconds before the tackle that injured him, which was a fair tackle by the way.
Went off in an ambulance during the second half, suspected broken ankle from what I heard, but fingers crossed that's not the case.
My guess is that if it was broken, he wouldnt have walked off on it, even if assisted.
First time watching Bloor's Welling and thought they cautiously controlled the game but obviously lack a the proverbial fox in the box and it felt sometimes like we were playing 4-6-0. A lot of sideways and backwards at times but felt we controlled until the last 15 minutes (tiredness?) after which I was convinced St Albans were going to nick it. Was actually expecting a bigger crowd given the good weather and the recent two wins.
Good to be back - especially with the other end open again.
Last season Palace Francis was annoying to watch, as he was supposed to be a striker, yet played far too deep he was usually in our half, playing a midfield role, and would have to run half the pitch to get a shot. Alex is like that, also playing way too deep, so like Palace isn't a prolific scorer. Alex recently scored a really well taken goal, so probably is an accurate striker, his problem is he plays so far back he doesn't get in shooting positions, so his accurate shooting isn't shown. How often does he get in the penalty area for a shot for example? Strikers should play to their strengths, George Alexander never really impressed for us, as he was used by Warren like Alex, playing very deep - too deep for him. He left Welling as his play had been unimpressive, and then started scoring heavily for Slough, as they played him more of a goal hanging role playing very high up, so he scored lots of tap ins, as the team were now playing to his strengths. Some players work well up front on their own, others dont. Alex doesnt strike me as a player who makes a good target man, but I have never seen him played with another striker beside him, maybe that would bring out the best of him? But this is such a common situation in football, so many teams are really good, but just lack a consistent high scorer to push them onto the next level. Looking for positives, it is good that goals are spread around the team.
Olly made an interesting point in an interview, that our league goals have all been scored by different players. This early season is a time of unpredictable results, while managers are still juggling their teams to get their best 11, Tonbridge looked very toothless against us on Monday, yet scored 5 yesterday. We have been consistent though, only one bad half in our games so far this season. A shame the attendances seem static around the 530 mark, as people who haven't seen us yet won't know we have become a very competitive team, much better to watch than last season.
Polo, our injured striker was much more involved than just the injury incident, the highlights on the St Albans site show him earlier on making a game changing tackle that led to the opposition getting a throw in! But I was impressed with how he worked high up the pitch, and it is such a shame our young other strikers can't watch and learn from the attacking positioning of this very experienced striker.
I saw an interview with another manager in our division complaining his side weren't creating enough chances in games. In contrast already we create lots of chances everytime we play. Taylor Curran watched the match, which was odd as he is out on loan, but he is due back soon, so Wallop can soon vote for him as player of the month. Really great defensive performance, they say you have to build from the back, and Danny has certainly achieved that, with just 6 goals conceded in our last 6 games, and the individual and joint skill of our back 3 against St Albans was really enjoyable to watch, especially the fireworks between Lachlan and Shaun Jeffers.
Thanks for the suggestions Mark and Broken Wing, it makes more sense now. A while back a fan mentioned here how players are mercenaries, and I thought at the time that was cynical. Looking back rather idealistically I thought the players would be interested in the team and their team mates, but then one sees some players not bothering to watch our matches if they are not in the squad, or sitting there while the match is on too busy on their mobile to pay attention to the match, so that mercenary comment is more accurate than I realised at the time. That is why it was good to see Taylor Curran watching our match, even though he was not part of the squad. He is in a catch 22 situation, not getting enough games to get match fitness and sharpness, so not got the match fitness and sharpness to get more games. The highlights are up, and show once again we create tons of chances every match, whereas St Albans, and Tonbridge before them, hardly had any shots.
I have seen good improvement in the team in the last few matches. We play some good football and pass the ball really well. I agree with what everyone is saying we lack a cutting edge up front. I would like to see David Kamara get more of a run out as I think his speed could cause problems and he would score more goals than the strikers currently getting the nod ahead of him. I thought Roscrow caused St. Albans problems with his running off the ball and stretching their defence until his unfortunate injury. Hopefully, he will be back soon. Overall, I was pleased with the performance on Saturday and would have taken a point pre-match against a team I expect to be challenging for the play-offs come the end of the season.
Verdict: Happy with the improvement and I think heading in the right direction.
