F G R -match thread.

[is4]

On Saturday we intertain F G R.
On the previous thread regarding Salford it was noted that hoof ball and head tennis was mentioned. And possibly mentioned in earlier posts.
Will we see more of the same?
It seems teams now know the way we play and play accordingly.
How does the forum feel about the tactics we play and should they be changed?
Or do we continue the same.

[Del]

As a team we have a certain way of playing which has given us a lot of success. It is not always intentional that the ball is played in the air and no the tactics have served us well so let's leave it to the management team and not make it a problem when no problem exists.

[terrier]

Hopefully the club is doing what they can to get the sprinklers working again, in order to make the pitch slicker and more conducive to playing on the ground. It’s evident that the pitch is too lively even for Sutton at present and it was no doubt a contributory factor to the poor game last night.

I think the team has missed Ali Smith quite badly, so hopefully he’ll be back on Saturday. I’d also like to see Will Randall back on the left wing. Personally I’ve been a bit disappointed with Enzio Boldewijn, particularly as I saw him quite a few times for Crawley three or four seasons ago where I thought he was one of their better players; he’s yet to score a goal for Sutton and rarely even looks like scoring, whereas Randall chips in with the odd goal.

[halftimet]

I agree Enzio has not got that killer instinct in front of goal. Found by a diagonal ball yesterday with one defender to beat but never looked like scoring. The finish late on at Carlisle another example. Players have different attributes and what Enzio does bring to the team is pace and the ability to go outside the full back and cross that Will does not.
Matt did say earlier in the season that they had been working with David on his finishing. They need to do that with Enzio if they haven’t done so already. They also need to work on making Will more comfortable using his left foot to cross.

I would go with Enzio personally. The fact I have his shirt may be another factor!

[backhome2016]

Teams are starting to suss us out, and that is to be expected. Last night Bouzanis’s distribution was hampered by a Salford player who was on him whenever he had the ball in his hand. This did reduce his effectiveness. They know how our defenders are going to distribute the ball, depending on which defender has possession, and be happy to hoover up all long balls (and knock downs) if we are playing a smaller man up front with Omar or Bennett. They will double (or triple) up on David A. They will be happy for us to play along the flanks as long as it is not David A in possession, primarily because we do not seem to, with any fluidity, bring in overlapping runners. In these situations we lose momentum and surprise.

Will R and, yesterday, Ben W have shown recently that they can bring a bit more to the table. And as we have a partially hollowed out midfield at the moment, opposition teams are most probably comfortable in letting us try and play through that area.

At this level teams need to mix up their styles of play. We are capable of doing so, but have reaped success with our big defenders pinging it out from the back after a spell of knocking the ball sideways - to create space - to launch a forward pass (and I know that this refined ‘route one’ style is not all that we do). But what it does do is allow the oppo to organise, pick up our players and starve them of space.

Still, our position of fourth in the table will suggest that all I have written above as redundant twaddle.

[terrier]

Boldewijn was a fairly regular scorer at both Crawley and Notts County. Given what I saw of him at Crawley I almost contacted my first team (Huddersfield Town) to tell them they should be having a look at this guy, so I don’t buy it that he can’t finish. I don’t think he’s fully justified what I’d have expected of him at Sutton for whatever reason - so far.

[pinewalker]

I have not read anywhere that our sprinkler system has broken down, though it could be frozen. Nevertheless there is an option to counter a high bounce by taking some of the pressure out of the balls so long as they register within the approved sector on the referee's gauge. As far as I know the ref cannot demand a higher pressure if the balls are inflated to a pressure inside the range.

Were U's testing a secret weapon v Salford before Forest Green Vegans arrive? The kitchen window next to the stand no longer serves burgers and a new outlet does that job. The smoke from burning fat drifted across the pitch in the second half. That might make the Vegans queasy. "Heavy Fuel" by Dire Straits on the PA please.

[tonyd]

The Carlisle forum was full of how we just boot the ball forward, but if you look at our first goal and the one that Enzio should have scored, and we cut them apart thru midfield.

In a cup semi-final and a league play off position, this is no time to be changing tactics because we’ve drawn two home games (and are unbeaten in 11!).

[shaneaib]

I think Matt in his post match interview and I paraphrase said it wasn't a spectacle but he 'doesn't care' as over the course of the season some games aren't. I am not a Dutch football tactician but we have a way of playing, it serves us well, the table does not lie, so no problem for me. Sure teams will no what we are about but our players especially the defence are well drilled. Football is first and foremost a sport not an entertainment product. I am looking forward to the FGR game, it might surprise us with goals, for Sutton of course but if we come away with a dull draw I'll still be happy.

[garethl]

We need to be careful not to be drawn into outside noise on all this style of play nonsense. Just look where we are. The job is to win games of football and we’re pretty damn good at it. Let’s support the team and not worry about all these bigger clubs looking down their noses at us.

There will be times when we are able to move the ball more on the floor, sometimes it’s an uglier game. Tuesday was one of the uglier ones, we still could easily have walked away with 3 points. Take the point and move on. What a defence we have, let’s appreciate that. A lot of supporters see a team make a few decent passing moves and they are put to the top of the list in terms of quality, but defensive qualities, mental qualities and organisation are not ones that the casual (or one off) observer will always appreciate the same way. All these factors make up how good a team is, not putting a few nice moves together. Bristol Rovers classic example, more of the ball, moved it around ok, chances wise we had more than double the clear cut ones I’d say.

Hopefully a big performance Sat.

[Andy K]

Feb 10, 2022 8:40:01 GMT garethl said:

We need to be careful not to be drawn into outside noise on all this style of play nonsense. Just look where we are. The job is to win games of football and we’re pretty damn good at it. Let’s support the team and not worry about all these bigger clubs looking down their noses at us.

There will be times when we are able to move the ball more on the floor, sometimes it’s an uglier game. Tuesday was one of the uglier ones, we still could easily have walked away with 3 points. Take the point and move on. What a defence we have, let’s appreciate that. A lot of supporters see a team make a few decent passing moves and they are put to the top of the list in terms of quality, but defensive qualities, mental qualities and organisation are not ones that the casual (or one off) observer will always appreciate the same way. All these factors make up how good a team is, not putting a few nice moves together. Bristol Rovers classic example, more of the ball, moved it around ok, chances wise we had more than double the clear cut ones I’d say.

Hopefully a big performance Sat.

I agree.

As someone who has missed 2 games this season, and have watched all the other 27 league games, the Carabao cup game, the 2 FA Cup games and 6 Papa Johns Trophy games, we've played virtually the same way in every single game, so much so that we're almost in a position to predict the substitutions that will take place and when they will take place.

And with that we're 90 minutes away from Wembley, sitting in a play off position in a league where at the start of the season we were the bookies favourites to finish bottom, beaten 5 out of the current 8 top league sides (only failed to beat 2 of them), the 3rd highest scorers in the league and one of 5 league sides out of 92 who are yet to lose a game in any competition in 2022.

Without wanting to stifle debate, it's utter nonsense to suggest that we are going to change the way we play, and the evidence why that is the case is clear.

[kpinwp]

While it's very likely that other teams will have worked us out by now, and that our tactical swaps are fairly clear ones, those other teams still have to go out there and actually deal with what we do. Which, as we are proving, is no easy task for them. Long may that continue.

[is4]

This has created a good debate.
I think everyone is of the same opinion to continue as before.
On to Saturday.
Hope Easty is OK after Tuesday.if he is out will Alistair be able to play?
Hope Kenny is OK after his knock in the ribs. ( As per Matt's interview)
Yes it's going to be a tough one but hopefully we'll get at least a point.

[brisfitboy]

Feb 10, 2022 13:27:06 GMT is4 said:

This has created a good debate.
I think everyone is of the same opinion to continue as before.
On to Saturday.
Hope Easty is OK after Tuesday.if he is out will Alistair be able to play?
Hope Kenny is OK after his knock in the ribs. ( As per Matt's interview)
Yes it's going to be a tough one but hopefully we'll get at least a point.

+2

[is4]

Of course 3 would be great.