Mackday Meldrew - Plymouth Argyle FC



AC Mack said:
Better late than never I hope!

Firstly, lots of credit should go to the players and coaching staff for coming behind in the last two games to gain four points. There's the obvious argument about going behind in the first place being poor, but I've long felt that when we do concede first, we're out of the game as we struggle for ideas to break down a resistant side, however that could be changing if recent games are anything to go by.

I know everyone was pleased when they saw the line up, and I too was happy to see Roberts and Rusyn make starts. My one concern was Ba moving centrally, firstly because he seems a lot more effective out wide to me, and secondly because it meant we were probably returning to more of a 4-2-3-1 with Ba further forward than Ekwah and Neil. That concerned me as I think we've looked much more comfortable with two 8s in the past couple of games.

I also feel this affected us first half. Neil was playing well, but Ba was killing attacks at times and Ekwah didn't look quite as free as in recent weeks. In fairness to Plymouth, they were very organised and had terrific movement up front which causes us problems behind the defensive line. It wasn't a pretty first half.

Second half and for once something clicked straight away. Our tempo and mentality increased, we looked hungry, lively and urgent, and it seemed a matter of time before we blew Plymouth away. The first goal opened the floodgates and I genuinely feel if we'd have kept our foot on the accelerator, we could have had about five. It was such a turnaround, and it backed up the much more progressive home game last time out against Stoke. Plymouth suddenly looked jaded and like they couldn't cope, and it was a genuinely highly enjoyable half of football.

The Beale doubters might still be there, but they've been quietened in recent weeks due to some good performances and decision making. The subs were sensible and at a good time, and as we've seen in a few games now under Beale, once in front we never looked like losing, or ever really conceding. The players seem to be buying into the new coach's ways, and hopefully the fans are too.

Aplogies for this lacking in much depth, but I've been a bit wiped out in the past few weeks, hence the delayed report.

Patterson - little to do really. I thought initially he did quite well for the goal, but maybe didn't really recover his position afterwards. It was a cracking finish, mind. If he'd been beaten by the half way line shot or the disallowed goal then more questions might have been asked. Also went a bit more direct with his kicking and mixing it up seemed to work quite well. 6

Hume - very hit and miss. Positionally awful for the goal, seemed to get done a couple of times when defending, but so often he sets the tone with his robust tackling and general high tempo approach. 6

Ballard - steady for the most part although there's been a slight trend of strikers playing on the shoulder getting in behind a bit too much. Hopefully that's nipped in the bud soon. 7

O'Nien. Very good. Won most of his battles and used the ball very well for the most part. 8

Hjelde - grew into the game. Started a little sloppy but for a lad making his home debut, seems to have settled in nicely. I like how reliably he appears to be defensively. 7

Neil - outstanding. A joy to watch all afternoon, particularly his range of passing. 9

Ekwah - looked confident on the ball and still managed to get forward, if not quite as much as the past couple of games. Took his goal really well. 7

Roberts - mostly it was just good to see him back. He wasn't quite at it, yet won the free kick and laid the ball off intelligently to create an angle for the opener. 6

Ba - just not as effective in that central position for me. I want to see us continue the 4-3-3 shape from the previous two games and that only really leaves Ba fighting with Roberts for the wide right spot. They can easily rotate, and for games or situations when Beale wants someone a little narrower than the natural winger in Roberts, then Ba's your man. 6

Clarke - mostly had the beating of Mumba, particularly as the game went on. Started causing havoc in the second half and his goal was a beauty. It seemed to me that Plymouth thought he was going to lay it off so they gave him an extra yard, which was all he needed. I also thought for the Bellingham goal, Plymouth were more concerned about Clarke which gave Bellingham more space to drive into. 8

Rusyn - worked his socks off and led the line okay, but nothing really stood out that I can remember. 6

Subs - Bellingham looks transformed that little bit deeper and again showed his class with a bit of a worldie, and it was great to see Rigg get a good half hour.

Plymouth - I was impressed first half, as they were organised defensively and Hardie's movement was excellent up front. We kept Whittaker fairly quiet but he dropped into space quite a lot and showed a good range of passing. Second half they couldn't cope and crumbled.

Quick mention for the ref - the first poor one we've had for a while. He was whistle happy and seemed to fall for it every time a player went down. The linesman also needs a mention as it was a superb decision to allow their goal - had that been Rusyn scoring for us there'd be loads of praise coming his way.
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It was Dan Neil's excellent movement up the line along with a hint of a dummy back heel to him by Clarke that threw the Plymouth defenders for Clarke's goal. Lovely unselfish play.
 

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