Best team performance of 2019

Despite missing the first quarter of an hour due to a crash on the A19, and their goal being an utter shambles, I was quite happy with the majority of our play on Saturday, and I struggle to recall a better performance this calendar year. I thought Power and Leadbitter were for the most part excellent, and should be our first choice pairing going forward. Been impressed with McNulty's endeavour so far, was excellent for the goal, so was a shame to see him go off, but I was pleased to see Wyke have a good game as well when he came on (that daft run where he lost the ball in our half aside).

Most pleasing was Ross reverting to a back four. Silly mistakes aside we looked a much better unit, and I thought Ozturk and Willis complimented each other quite well. McLaughlin struggled at times but to be fair he was out of position, same goes for O'Nien. Hopefully we do get a proper left back in and we can have a proper look at McLaughlin on the right (would it be too much to ask for another option at right back - probably).

Would have been nice to get the third goal when we were applying pressure in the second half - we played some nice football in that 15 minutes or so. Being us I thought we might pay the price but never mind, we saw it through.

Rambling a bit, but all in all a good win, fully deserved, and credit where it's due Ross got it right on Saturday. What a difference a win makes, but I'm even looking forward to watching the match tomorrow night now, and gutted I'm missing Saturday's game - been a while since I felt like that.
 
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It was probably our best overall performance in a game under Ross.

We played some good football at times and McNulty seems to be exactly what we were missing last season. His work rate/movement is fantastic.

I'm not a fan of the long ball approach but when Wyke came on I thought we targetted him well and he coped well too.
 
I thought the first 20-25 minutes was poor. Surely we can think of a better performance than Saturday, if not, it just goes to show how poor our performances have been.

I didn't think much of Portsmouth. They looked better last season.
 
The best performance in 2019 was against Doncaster when we won 2-0. There were positives from Saturday though, mainly those listed by the OP. The key now is to somehow stick to a system and a team that works and build on it. Ross's biggest error has been to lose his nerve too easily and go from system to system and never have a settled team or shape.
 
It was a dreadful start up to our goal. Still think there’s huge room for improvement
Can't really comment - took our seats, and within about 5 minutes they scored. Like I say bit of a shambles, but I thought we responded well enough.

Room for improvement without a doubt, but I though Saturday was a big step in the right direction.
 
First 25 mins was tough but I thought we were better for the rest of the 1st half and the majority of the 2nd.

Not a perfect performance but it was accomplished - it’s what I expected us to be doing most games last year. Shift to a back four with a competent centre half pairing certainly helped.

Had thought Leadbitter was finished previously but never stopped, and Power was good foil equally covering every blade.

I think Willis, particularly in the 2nd half, showed his promise. Anticipation was excellent and never lost a physical battle - his goal was very much in this vain too.

Platform to push on from.
 
First 25 mins was tough but I thought we were better for the rest of the 1st half and the majority of the 2nd.

Not a perfect performance but it was accomplished - it’s what I expected us to be doing most games last year. Shift to a back four with a competent centre half pairing certainly helped.

Had thought Leadbitter was finished previously but never stopped, and Power was good foil equally covering every blade.

I think Willis, particularly in the 2nd half, showed his promise. Anticipation was excellent and never lost a physical battle - his goal was very much in this vain too.

Platform to push on from.
Looked full of running to me. At times I was a little shocked it was him.
 
Doncaster 2-0 and Accrington away 3-0 easily better performances. Pompey are not a good footballing team and we were not able to take the game to them in the second half to kill it off or keep decent possession. Our away performance at Pompey in the play offs was more dogged and comfortable. I'd suggest out 1-1 draw at home to them last season was a better performance in which their keeper saved the day. Lets not get too indoctrinated with league one standard football, or we will end up accepting mediocrity like Saturdays game.

I'm gonna predict that Jackett loses his job in the coming months and Oxford will be a team to watch. They absolutely battered Blackpool at the weekend with slick passing football, but somehow lost 2-1. Several people I know , said it was an unbelievable travesty. Oxford had 24 attempts to Pools 3 !! It happens ofcourse. As for our game, had Pompey taken a point, the view would be far more dim of SAFC.
 
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It was probably our best overall performance in a game under Ross.

We played some good football at times and McNulty seems to be exactly what we were missing last season. His work rate/movement is fantastic.

I'm not a fan of the long ball approach but when Wyke came on I thought we targetted him well and he coped well too.

Can’t agree with this assertion.

Accrington 3-0
Pompey 1-1
Pompey 0-0
Pompey 1-0
Barnsley 3-2
Scunthorpe 3-0
Gillingham 4-1 (is that the right team? I hope so)
Doncaster 2-0
Bristol Rovers 2-0 (checkatrade semi final)

All comfortably better. And most of those in 2019, to counter the OPs assertion. Just off the top of my head. I thought we were really poor on Saturday to be honest, couldn’t keep possession, didn’t create anything and didn’t ask Pompey too many questions. The second goal was gift wrapped for us (nice pass by McGeady aside) and we were sloppy going forward. Those first 25 minutes in particular were appalling. Thankfully, Pompey were inept up front and offered no threat. Thought the CBs played well, as did power and Grant, but we weren’t up to much attacking wise. And whilst Wyke himself played well, we changed from passing to hoofing when he came on and the standard of play declined
 
Can’t agree with this assertion.

Accrington 3-0
Pompey 1-1
Pompey 0-0
Pompey 1-0
Barnsley 3-2
Scunthorpe 3-0
Gillingham 4-1 (is that the right team? I hope so)
Doncaster 2-0
Bristol Rovers 2-0 (checkatrade semi final)

All comfortably better. And most of those in 2019, to counter the OPs assertion. Just off the top of my head. I thought we were really poor on Saturday to be honest, couldn’t keep possession, didn’t create anything and didn’t ask Pompey too many questions. The second goal was gift wrapped for us (nice pass by McGeady aside) and we were sloppy going forward. Those first 25 minutes in particular were appalling. Thankfully, Pompey were inept up front and offered no threat. Thought the CBs played well, as did power and Grant, but we weren’t up to much attacking wise. And whilst Wyke himself played well, we changed from passing to hoofing when he came on and the standard of play declined

How was the 2nd goal “gift-wrapped”?

Useful ball into the channel, good effort from McNulty and excellent first touch. McGeady gets a bit of luck but you make your own luck closing down etc. - good ball in with a well timed run and finish.
 
How was the 2nd goal “gift-wrapped”?

Useful ball into the channel, good effort from McNulty and excellent first touch. McGeady gets a bit of luck but you make your own luck closing down etc. - good ball in with a well timed run and finish.

Their fullback passing the ball direct to McGeady in the middle of their box achieves the gift wrapping to be honest.
 
Despite missing the first quarter of an hour due to a crash on the A19, and their goal being an utter shambles, I was quite happy with the majority of our play on Saturday, and I struggle to recall a better performance this calendar year. I thought Power and Leadbitter were for the most part excellent, and should be our first choice pairing going forward. Been impressed with McNulty's endeavour so far, was excellent for the goal, so was a shame to see him go off, but I was pleased to see Wyke have a good game as well when he came on (that daft run where he lost the ball in our half aside).

Most pleasing was Ross reverting to a back four. Silly mistakes aside we looked a much better unit, and I thought Ozturk and Willis complimented each other quite well. McLaughlin struggled at times but to be fair he was out of position, same goes for O'Nien. Hopefully we do get a proper left back in and we can have a proper look at McLaughlin on the right (would it be too much to ask for another option at right back - probably).

Would have been nice to get the third goal when we were applying pressure in the second half - we played some nice football in that 15 minutes or so. Being us I thought we might pay the price but never mind, we saw it through.

Rambling a bit, but all in all a good win, fully deserved, and credit where it's due Ross got it right on Saturday. What a difference a win makes, but I'm even looking forward to watching the match tomorrow night now, and gutted I'm missing Saturday's game - been a while since I felt like that.

Agree with all of this. However, I don't think, other than McNulty, our starting forward players played very well. Maguire took up some lovely positions but his passing was very poor and Gooch had ten minutes when he was effective but was otherwise anonymous. McGeady didn't play too well and didn't look that fit, but he has a moment of quality in him every game - as he showed again.

The midfield played well, but I thought Ross missed a trick not bringing Dobson on with twenty minutes to go because we needed fresher legs as they came onto us.

The full-backs are a major concern and we need a left-back urgently.

But the centre-halves were outstanding. People are obsessed with the other end of the pitch on here and blasting teams away. But if we'd have defended like that all last year, we'd now be in the Championship. That we didn't play that well up front and still won only shows that imo. There were no real jitters, nothing. And we weren't bullied, anywhere, by a very physical side. Excellent.
 
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Agree with all of this. However, I don't think, other than McNulty, our starting forward players played very well. Maguire took up some lovely positions but his passing was very poor and Gooch had ten minutes when he was effective but was otherwise anonymous. McGeady didn't play too well and didn't look that fit, but he has a moment of quality in him every game - as he showed again.

The midfield played well, but I thought Ross missed a trick not bringing Dobson on with twenty minutes to go because we needed fresher legs as they came onto us.

The full-backs are a major concern and we need a left-back urgently.

But the centre-halves were outstanding. People are obsessed with the other end of the pitch on here and blasting teams away. But if we'd have defended like that all last year, we'd now be in the Championship. That we didn't play that well up front and still won only shows that imo. There were no real jitters, nothing. And we weren't bullied, anywhere, by a very physical side. Excellent.
Aye, I nearly mentioned as much. At times we were a little outnumbered in midfield due to Maguire and McGeady sometimes going missing without the ball - gotta weigh that up with the goal though I suppose. I thought Gooch tracked back quite well and helped his full back out - I thought he put a decent shift in.
 
Aye, I nearly mentioned as much. At times we were a little outnumbered in midfield due to Maguire and McGeady sometimes going missing without the ball - gotta weigh that up with the goal though I suppose. I thought Gooch tracked back quite well and helped his full back out - I thought he put a decent shift in.

He worked hard, but we need more from our wide players in this system. I think we are improving though. I think Ross finally has the sort of player he wants to play up front - and thought he was buying in Grigg. Even when we had Maja, I don't think Ross was that happy because he was quite static. McNulty is exactly what he wants. Hope his injury isn't serious.
 

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