AC Mack
Striker
Overall a good win, a bang average performance against a poor side.
McLaughlin - solid as usual, no mistakes and calm with the ball at his feet and coming out to claim. 6.5
O'Nien - got caught out positionally time and again, him being out of position is clearly evident. Gives his all of course and put in some good challenges. 6.
Willis - excellent and can't think of too much he did wrong really. He showed good turns of pace a couple of times and showed a cool head at the back throughout whilst others were losing theirs. There's a chance he was more culpable in a couple of the hairy moments we had in the second half, but it was hard to tell from the other end. 7.5.
Ozturk - had a shocker of a first half. Like O'Nien, the ball kept coming through his channel and he couldn't deal with it. He never did anything horrendous but he also never really settled. 6.
Hume - I felt a bit sorry for him defensively because they were doubling up on him and he wasn't get much support from McGeady. That said he's just not quite up to it yet defensively and I think decent opposition will punish us down his flank. He's better going forward and links up better with McGeady, especially when McGeady cuts inside and Hume can overlap. He put in some dangerous crosses and we got some joy from them. 6.5.
Leadbitter - looked a bit off the pace at times to me, with his decision making and passing. Still his proving to be a reliable, experienced figure in an important part of the pitch. 6.
Dobson - the best player on the pitch after the first ten minutes, where he played a poor pass leading to their goal (just like against Oxford), conceded a sloppy free kick in a dangerous area and generally looked nervy. After that he was all over the pitch all game, often driving us forward with positive passes. A bit like Power when he's playing well. Excellent through ball for the third goal. Sideways passers take note. A slight concern was that they carved us open more than I'd like and the central midfielders should probably take some responsibility. 7.5.
Gooch - wonderfully taken goal, and was involved in a few of our attacks but I didn't think he overly stood out. There are signs our attacking line are developing an understanding, but Gooch is often a little bit on the periphery. If he doesn't score that first it may be a different game. 7.
Maguire - really good composure for the third and unlucky with an effort after cutting inside in the second half. I like his tenacity but he didn't stand out too much more to me. 6.5.
McGeady - great quality to score the winning goal after being left in loads of space, and as usual he showed occasional glimpses of quality mixed with plenty of nothingness. A couple of times he had their full back one on one but failed to capitalise. Put it on a plate for Grigg late on. 6.5.
McNulty - he epitomised what I want to see from a forward with his constant movement, off the ball work and general work rate. He's a pest for defenders and seems to link up well with his teammates at times. Good to see him on the scoresheet. 7.
Subs - not enough contribution to give individual comments, but a note for Grigg's contribution. He was lazy at times but also showed a couple of glimpses. We put together an excellent move to play him in near the end but his finish was the most clear 'no confidence striker' effort you'll see.
I feel like a couple of those attacking marks are half a mark off but I can't decide which ones to change.
Pre-match - I enjoyed a couple of lime and sodas inside The Crown once again, and got talking to an elderly-ish bloke who comes to watch us every week from Southport. Usually on his own too, I think. A thoroughly nice chap, and today was more like home game for both of us. Good atmosphere with the Liverpool game on the TV.
Crowd - decent enough atmosphere but too much focus on Accrington being 'tin pot' than pro Sunderland songs today. Surprisingly few mag songs. I don't think we quite sold out but to take the full side stand and the terrace must have been pretty full was good to see. A quick point on a couple of isolated moments. There was a lad in front of me shaking his head all the way through the first half, presumably disagreeing with things I (and perhaps others) were commenting on. He was very much a 'pass, pass, pass' type person. Which is fine, everyone has their opinions. But it's abundantly clear to me that we are more threatening when we get the ball forward quickly and put pressure on the crap defences we're coming up against. That doesn't mean hoofing it long, that means being more positive and dynamic on the ball. These defences must love it when they see Ozturk, Willis, Hume and O'Nien (for example) just tapping the ball about between them; not only giving respite to the opposition, but allowing them to regroup and prepare for an attack if it does eventually arrive. All that ever happens is we knock it around for a while, then just lose it. Every single time. We don't score goals from pratting about in defence, we score goals from swift attacks. As was evidenced again today. Another bloke near me was trotting out the 'recycle' line. Funnily enough he then shouted for us to put it into the box in the 92nd minute when the obvious thing to do was to keep the ball, without a hint of irony.
Ross - it's good that he's keeping a simple system that's generally working, and he was sensible enough with his substitutions today. He brought Dobson in who was excellent and played a left back in his natural position, although there are question marks over his defensive performances. As for style of football, see above. We shut up shop at 3-1 and that was disappointing. A good team would have put five or six past them, easy. We're still relying on individual moments of quality rather than polished team goals and performances.
Referee - fine. He gave a few questionable free kicks as to be expected, but generally didn't have much influence on the game. Rightly booked Leadbitter and one of their players.
Opposition - Accrington were better than the cup game going forward, but just as bad at the back. They're a fine example of another team that try to play it out from the back and are nowhere near good enough. Going forward they play with lots of width and often had two out wide attacking our lone full back, which caused problems both halves, but a lack of quality means they didn't create loads of chances. The lad too his goal well but overall they're lucky we have Bolton and had Bury in the league this season.
McLaughlin - solid as usual, no mistakes and calm with the ball at his feet and coming out to claim. 6.5
O'Nien - got caught out positionally time and again, him being out of position is clearly evident. Gives his all of course and put in some good challenges. 6.
Willis - excellent and can't think of too much he did wrong really. He showed good turns of pace a couple of times and showed a cool head at the back throughout whilst others were losing theirs. There's a chance he was more culpable in a couple of the hairy moments we had in the second half, but it was hard to tell from the other end. 7.5.
Ozturk - had a shocker of a first half. Like O'Nien, the ball kept coming through his channel and he couldn't deal with it. He never did anything horrendous but he also never really settled. 6.
Hume - I felt a bit sorry for him defensively because they were doubling up on him and he wasn't get much support from McGeady. That said he's just not quite up to it yet defensively and I think decent opposition will punish us down his flank. He's better going forward and links up better with McGeady, especially when McGeady cuts inside and Hume can overlap. He put in some dangerous crosses and we got some joy from them. 6.5.
Leadbitter - looked a bit off the pace at times to me, with his decision making and passing. Still his proving to be a reliable, experienced figure in an important part of the pitch. 6.
Dobson - the best player on the pitch after the first ten minutes, where he played a poor pass leading to their goal (just like against Oxford), conceded a sloppy free kick in a dangerous area and generally looked nervy. After that he was all over the pitch all game, often driving us forward with positive passes. A bit like Power when he's playing well. Excellent through ball for the third goal. Sideways passers take note. A slight concern was that they carved us open more than I'd like and the central midfielders should probably take some responsibility. 7.5.
Gooch - wonderfully taken goal, and was involved in a few of our attacks but I didn't think he overly stood out. There are signs our attacking line are developing an understanding, but Gooch is often a little bit on the periphery. If he doesn't score that first it may be a different game. 7.
Maguire - really good composure for the third and unlucky with an effort after cutting inside in the second half. I like his tenacity but he didn't stand out too much more to me. 6.5.
McGeady - great quality to score the winning goal after being left in loads of space, and as usual he showed occasional glimpses of quality mixed with plenty of nothingness. A couple of times he had their full back one on one but failed to capitalise. Put it on a plate for Grigg late on. 6.5.
McNulty - he epitomised what I want to see from a forward with his constant movement, off the ball work and general work rate. He's a pest for defenders and seems to link up well with his teammates at times. Good to see him on the scoresheet. 7.
Subs - not enough contribution to give individual comments, but a note for Grigg's contribution. He was lazy at times but also showed a couple of glimpses. We put together an excellent move to play him in near the end but his finish was the most clear 'no confidence striker' effort you'll see.
I feel like a couple of those attacking marks are half a mark off but I can't decide which ones to change.
Pre-match - I enjoyed a couple of lime and sodas inside The Crown once again, and got talking to an elderly-ish bloke who comes to watch us every week from Southport. Usually on his own too, I think. A thoroughly nice chap, and today was more like home game for both of us. Good atmosphere with the Liverpool game on the TV.
Crowd - decent enough atmosphere but too much focus on Accrington being 'tin pot' than pro Sunderland songs today. Surprisingly few mag songs. I don't think we quite sold out but to take the full side stand and the terrace must have been pretty full was good to see. A quick point on a couple of isolated moments. There was a lad in front of me shaking his head all the way through the first half, presumably disagreeing with things I (and perhaps others) were commenting on. He was very much a 'pass, pass, pass' type person. Which is fine, everyone has their opinions. But it's abundantly clear to me that we are more threatening when we get the ball forward quickly and put pressure on the crap defences we're coming up against. That doesn't mean hoofing it long, that means being more positive and dynamic on the ball. These defences must love it when they see Ozturk, Willis, Hume and O'Nien (for example) just tapping the ball about between them; not only giving respite to the opposition, but allowing them to regroup and prepare for an attack if it does eventually arrive. All that ever happens is we knock it around for a while, then just lose it. Every single time. We don't score goals from pratting about in defence, we score goals from swift attacks. As was evidenced again today. Another bloke near me was trotting out the 'recycle' line. Funnily enough he then shouted for us to put it into the box in the 92nd minute when the obvious thing to do was to keep the ball, without a hint of irony.
Ross - it's good that he's keeping a simple system that's generally working, and he was sensible enough with his substitutions today. He brought Dobson in who was excellent and played a left back in his natural position, although there are question marks over his defensive performances. As for style of football, see above. We shut up shop at 3-1 and that was disappointing. A good team would have put five or six past them, easy. We're still relying on individual moments of quality rather than polished team goals and performances.
Referee - fine. He gave a few questionable free kicks as to be expected, but generally didn't have much influence on the game. Rightly booked Leadbitter and one of their players.
Opposition - Accrington were better than the cup game going forward, but just as bad at the back. They're a fine example of another team that try to play it out from the back and are nowhere near good enough. Going forward they play with lots of width and often had two out wide attacking our lone full back, which caused problems both halves, but a lack of quality means they didn't create loads of chances. The lad too his goal well but overall they're lucky we have Bolton and had Bury in the league this season.
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early doors I know.
