Match Thread: Port Vale v Oxford United

[DazFred]

1 hour ago, Warren said:

I think our current formation will become too much for Worrall as he ages further. It is stunningly demanding to be a wing back. Full back is not quite as hard and could extend his career. 

It's worth doing everything we can to prolong Worrall's career. He has the skill and is very well coached. He has the right routines / approaches for every situation. To me that is the main problem with Robinson - he doesn't yet. 

It would help Wozza if he had help in front of him. Cass used to link up well. A bit different when bone idle,non existent,neversweat Massey is in front of him...

[philpvfc]

Worrall is better played as a right winger. His greatest strength is getting balls in to the box. I think he would work well along side Cass as the pair would cover each over. If we don’t play a back 4, I don’t think there is room in the club for Cass as he is no good playing in a back 3 and I don’t think he is better than Worrall or Robinson as a Right wing back.

[Warren]

4 hours ago, philpvfc said:

Worrall is better played as a right winger. His greatest strength is getting balls in to the box. I think he would work well along side Cass as the pair would cover each over. If we don’t play a back 4, I don’t think there is room in the club for Cass as he is no good playing in a back 3 and I don’t think he is better than Worrall or Robinson as a Right wing back.

You are coming to the crux of the problem. We can't play with two central defenders because we haven't got a dominant good quality centre half in the air. 

[philpvfc]

4 minutes ago, Warren said:

You are coming to the crux of the problem. We can't play with two central defenders because we haven't got a dominant good quality centre half in the air. 

I think Smith and Forrester are pretty good in the air and are adequate for this division. We aren’t playing division 2 thug football anymore hence why we have so many teams play us, thinking we are physical and going down like flies.

[Warren]

10 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

I think Smith and Forrester are pretty good in the air and are adequate for this division. We aren’t playing division 2 thug football anymore hence why we have so many teams play us, thinking we are physical and going down like flies.

Mind to be fair there is an argument for an overall decline in heading skills because it isn't practiced as much. This is due to the brain injury concerns. 

For Smith to be accepted by me as able to cope in a two at this level, he's got to transition from a ratting type centre half to one with a timed leap. 

[wotsyobeef]

Mind to be fair there is an argument for an overall decline in heading skills because it isn't practiced as much. This is due to the brain injury concerns. 
For Smith to be accepted by me as able to cope in a two at this level, he's got to transition from a ratting type centre half to one with a timed leap. 

Before last season I would say the best season Smith had had was as a two with Remi Streete in league 1. Granted we went down but in my opinion it wasn't due to the defence.

[toyahw]

30 minutes ago, Warren said:

 

For Smith to be accepted by me as able to cope in a two at this level, he's got to transition from a ratting type centre half to one with a timed leap. 

Smith doesn't have a timed leap? Beg to differ, he frequently betters players six inches taller than him in the air. And gets more distance on his headers than any recent defenders we've had apart from Legge. Don't do that without being able to time a leap.

[Playa Amodores]

8 hours ago, Warren said:

Last night I watched Man City v Bayern Munich. On reflection that was technically the best game of footie I've seen in my life. Absolutely stunning from both teams. 

But most of all, for our defence, it was an absolute master class by Man City in defending to learn from with Bayern posing a real test.  

In addition Guadiola has designed a radical new formation that could transform football if copied. Back 3 that split, the 2 defensive midfield players advanced central defenders but also excellent on the ball. 

Another thing to learn from this is improving players. Ake has been made world class. Stones playing in midfield. Grealish now the man up front etc. 

I know Man City have been practicing this set up for a few weeks. But last night it got the ultimate test against a very strong Bayern side who had more possession first half.

This is the new formation that Pep says Kyle Walker isn’t intelligent enough to play in.

[Emile]

8 hours ago, Vale 1971 said:

Thar tells us all about our attacking prowess .
Deary me been a tough watch this season .
Be glad when over in a nutshell it's been abysmal in the main .
Still very rarely wins the first contact in oppositions penalty all his goals have been second phrase goals how many has he scored 2 Ipswich and Barnsley defeats .
Cannot think of any more .
Well done to him bet that will folk rush out renew there season tickets .

He wouldn't score goals from 2nd phase if he wasnt going up for the throws/corners in the first place

[Warren]

47 minutes ago, Playa Amodores said:

This is the new formation that Pep says Kyle Walker isn’t intelligent enough to play in.

Walker is obsolete as a traditional right back in that system. But I think he could be reprocessed in there somehow sometime. 

The thing I noticed is that the front 5 are freed up as well. That's partly why Walker isn't needed because out of the front 5, 2 can always go wide on both sides with 3 in the centre and / or nearer goal.  

It's clever stuff this and could challenge how players are developed in future. 

[Warren]

1 hour ago, toyahw said:

Smith doesn't have a timed leap? Beg to differ, he frequently betters players six inches taller than him in the air. And gets more distance on his headers than any recent defenders we've had apart from Legge. Don't do that without being able to time a leap.

Yes, I've reflected and agree. 

[NorthwoodValiant]

1 hour ago, toyahw said:

Smith doesn't have a timed leap? Beg to differ, he frequently betters players six inches taller than him in the air. And gets more distance on his headers than any recent defenders we've had apart from Legge. Don't do that without being able to time a leap.

Disagree with you on the headers comment, Dan Jones can head the ball better than anyone else at the club at the moment

[Warren]

11 hours ago, NorthwoodValiant said:

Disagree with you on the headers comment, Dan Jones can head the ball better than anyone else at the club at the moment

I agree re Dan Jones. But he is injured for the season and out of contract. 

[LancyTony]

On 11/04/2023 at 09:41, MBE said:

...but we are not picking up points, crucially to teams below us and are fortunate there are other teams like Oxford who are on runs even worse than us.

I will feel very thankful if we finish 20th.

Before the Cambridge/Accy games we played 4 or 5 games where we were 9 points above the bottom 4...even though we didn't do much in that period, we managed to get an extra point ahead! And even now I think we're still 7 or 8 points above them - the point is, they're not picking up enough points, either.

And it wouldn't have needed much to vastly improve our results - like a ref giving a goal instead of disallowing it in favour of giving a penalty - one of the worst decisions I've ever seen from a match official!

Having been top 8 - 10 for a good while, I think we've been desperately unlucky to hit such a bleak patch due to different factors and the lack of confidence such runs bring. Should have been comfortably mid-table!  

[darren1810]

3 hours ago, LancyTony said:

Before the Cambridge/Accy games we played 4 or 5 games where we were 9 points above the bottom 4...even though we didn't do much in that period, we managed to get an extra point ahead! And even now I think we're still 7 or 8 points above them - the point is, they're not picking up enough points, either.

And it wouldn't have needed much to vastly improve our results - like a ref giving a goal instead of disallowing it in favour of giving a penalty - one of the worst decisions I've ever seen from a match official!

Having been top 8 - 10 for a good while, I think we've been desperately unlucky to hit such a bleak patch due to different factors and the lack of confidence such runs bring. Should have been comfortably mid-table!  

Cambridge have a 2nd wind. Picked up 7 in 3  compared to our 1 .

We can't rest on our laurels yet, i'd rather we look after our own business instead of looking at others. Can't say that fills me with confidence though.