OK the familiar refrain from the last two seasons was aimed at the Walsall bench rather than at Jackett and his players but many more performances like that and we’ll be rolling it out properly.
Why drop Griffiths? Why tamper with a winning formation? Why oh why oh why?!?!?!?!?!?
Ikeme 6 Didn’t have much of a chance with the goal and wasn’t called into action as often as on Saturday. Some poor distribution.
Doherty 5 Solid in defence but had his attacking runs stifled by the system.
Batth 7 (MOTM) Best of our defenders apart from the foul that led to the goal
Ricketts 6 Looked better @ CB than he did on Saturday.
Goldbourne 5 Better going forward on the night than Doherty but didn’t know what to do once he got there.
Sig 5 Anonymous for large chunks of the game
Davis 6 Improved from Saturday after a shaky start. Put in some important tackles and this time not only when it was him that had given the ball away.
Evans 6 Like Davis improved on his last performance but some of his tackling was worrying.
McDonald 5 If his job was to support Doyle he was far too deep. No point dropping back to pick the ball up if that leaves Doyle isolated.
Sako 6 Looked most likely to score for us but it would have been from nothing. As usual had very quiet spells.
Doyle 5 Worked his socks off but starved of any decent service.
Griffiths 4 Worst I’ve seen him play. Coming off on Saturday and starting this game on the bench may have made him feel unloved and I think he’s a player who needs to feel the love. Make him feel loved Kenny.
Foley 5 Didn’t really have an impact.
We all know that one of the issues with a young squad is how they pick themselves up when things aren’t going well. Saturday will be a bigger test than it should have been after that performance, let’s see 4-4-2 and players in positions where they feel confident. That should get us back on track.
You don’t know what you’re doing!
posted on 18/9/13
I think McDonald’s problem last night (like so many) was that he was out of position. He was asked to play just behind Doyle which didn’t suit him so he kept dropping deep to pick the ball up which left him with no options in front of him. This meant Doyle dropped deeper to try to link up.
If we’d played 4-4-2 with Griffiths the most advanced then Doyle would have been able to make space for McDonald and the rest of the midfield to pick a pass or press forward.
posted on 18/9/13
I do think the problem last night, and Saturday, was more the formation than the players. Time and again the midfield players had no space to work in and when they looked up for a pass they had nobody available to knock it to. Doyle had two men against him all night and Sako and Sigurdarson were marked closely by the full backs. The only player to have any space for us going forward was Golbourne who didn't have a clue how to make use of the space and regularly ran forward until he met a defender then stopped and passed the ball backwards. The biggest victim of the poor formation was McDonald who never had any space all night and looked a much worse player than he is
posted on 18/9/13
Strange that he moved Doyle from what he does best to isolate him upfront.
Heres hoping we just keep it simple on Saturday.
You may be right wulfrun, I just don't really want to see Foley in the middle when we have other good midfielders around.
posted on 18/9/13
The only question mark in my mind for Saturday would be the CM pairing.
Ikeme
Doherty Stearman Batth Ricketts
Zele ? ? Sako
Doyle Griffiths
......should all start. CBs @ CB, wingers on the wing & two strikers but do we revert to Davis&Evans? McDonald&Davis/Evans? Draft in Foley? Let Edwards have his homecoming?
I’m not sure.
posted on 18/9/13
I'd play Wolfgang in goal because he would fill it....
Edwards for his homecoming
posted on 18/9/13
Is Edwards match fit? I quite like him at this level, the only down side is that it makes the choosing even more difficult. Sometimes if you have say 5 in form midfielders and rotate them it works. Trying to keep about 8 decent players happy must be a bit of a nightmare.
For example, let's suppose Siggy, McDonald, Davis and Sako play on Saturday and do well. Then Kenny keeps picking them and they continue to do well, what effect would this have on the likes Zele, Evans, Edwards, Foley, Price and others?
But then how many of us would care if we won 5 out of 7 for the rest of the season.
Who'd be a manager?
posted on 18/9/13
He is indeed Wulfrun.
http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2013/09/16/kenny-jackett-boosted-by-dave-edwards-wolves-return/
Keeping a large and talented (by Div3 standards) squad happy will be a challenge for KJ but I bet it’s a problem most managers wish they had!
posted on 18/9/13
By the way has it already been pointed out that nearly half the Burnley side that thrashed the Blues last night were ex-Wolves players?
Shackell, Jones, Kightly and Vokes all started. Have we become a nursery club for that mighty Championship side?
posted on 18/9/13
Vokes sounded like he bossed them.
Has it been pointed out where half of last nights Walsall team came from
posted on 18/9/13
I would have Davis and McDonald as the central midfield pair. I am surprised that Davis has got a lot of stick today on some forums. I thought he was one of our best players last night as did the people I went to the game with. And I think McDonald is a good player who has suffered more than anyone from the formation we have used in the last couple of games.
Siggy and Zele have been inconsistent in recent games and its a toss up who to choose between the two and I would be tempted to go with Zele. Wouldn't surprise me if Jackett chose Foley or Edwards instead of them though which is ok as long as they play right side and don't clutter up the centre.