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Post by Andy K on Nov 25, 2018 22:11:30 GMT
I may be a little controversial here but how many of us are actually surprised we lost today? How many times can we say we do great against the big teams in this division and then have a side near the bottom come here and do a job on us. It's happened almost every season in the last 10 years. And I would expect Braintree will do the same on Tues. But I think we've got more chance getting points at Fylde. The management and this team are great at rising to the bigger challenges but less effective at the more regular, on paper easiest opponents. . Oh so it's OK then. We always lose to the crap teams so why should be expect any better? Yes - I don't understand either why we sign 2 new strikers and STILL push Clough up front. It's not ok and never has been. But maidenhead did the double over us last season and were not a great team. Braintree did the same 2 years ago and got relegated. The loss at Ferriby the same season. Bottom placed Torquay last season came here midweek and did us. Truro a few years back came here midweek late and could only name 1 sub and beat us. There's a pattern. Never said it was ok. But the flip side is doing Wrexham, Leyton Orient and Salford this season too. That's football and the expectation of performing week in week out with a small squad of players some of who have other jobs isn't realistic. And actually I have more sympathy this time after a gruelling 120 mins and associated disappointment gives a bit of context into our defeat. And they're not crap teams just weaker ones with small budgets. And it's not an expectation because each game is a new challenge. One we can't win every time. If you want to expect to win every game go and support Man City. But in the meantime appreciate what we have going here which is miles better than 10 years ago and miles better than 4 years ago when we were struggling week in week out to the likes of Basingstoke. |
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Post by davethegrave on Nov 25, 2018 23:09:57 GMT
I know there's a pattern. The question though is why?
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Post by medwaysider on Nov 26, 2018 8:51:00 GMT
Probably a combination of fatigue having played 120mins then having to soak up the disappointment of a penalty shootout failure, then going back to the day job the following morning.........and then I'd guess maybe a little bit of complacency given the abysmal form Maidenhead are/were suffering.
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Post by backhome2016 on Nov 26, 2018 8:58:01 GMT
It isn’t the fact that we lost - it is the manner in which we did so and the style of football that has been dished up (for more games than not) which is short on idea and long on ball. This isn’t being disloyal, or an understanding of football based on playing computer games, but the right of a paying supporter with an emotional investment in the club. And I agree with previous posters who point out that ‘regular’ loses to struggling teams should not be shrugged off as ‘just what Sutton do’. I doubt if Dos and the gang shrug off such results and neither should we.
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Post by Andy K on Nov 26, 2018 9:19:08 GMT
It isn’t the fact that we lost - it is the manner in which we did so and the style of football that has been dished up (for more games than not) which is short on idea and long on ball. This isn’t being disloyal, or an understanding of football based on playing computer games, but the right of a paying supporter with an emotional investment in the club. And I agree with previous posters who point out that ‘regular’ loses to struggling teams should not be shrugged off as ‘just what Sutton do’. I doubt if Dos and the gang shrug off such results and neither should we. You may have missed the point of what I'm saying. Firstly it's very easy for someone to come on here and post when things go wrong saying they could do so much better. Fine, but I suggested they go and speak to the very open management we have if they are clear on what could have been done right. Secondly, no one is shrugging off defeats to perceived weaker sides. I pointed out that this has been a regular occurrence and is counter balanced by going a great job against sides which are perceived as stronger than us. If there was an easy answer to this then we would have fixed the issue by now. I know when we were in the Ryman league we were seen as being the team to beat, but that's not the case now. It's certainly easier to get fired up and more motivated to get wins at places like Tranmere or Orient that it is playing Maidenhead or hosting a side that bring little to GGL - it can't be a coincidence that 3 of our worst home performances at home this season have been against sides that brought very few supporters to the ground (Dover, BW and Maidenhead) and are much more familiar to us. My point is that there's a pattern based on a number of previous seasons. It's not an excuse. As for the pumping of the long ball - is that really what's happening or is it what we are remembering as the ineffective part? I remember at Slough last week we have a movement (which did end up with us not getting too much really) which contained over 20 passes along the ground. And I'm sure there were moments on Saturday in a similar vein. Our brains can be a little selective (all of us) and sometimes we forget other things, so totally understandable if we only remember certain things in games. I know I struggle! |
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Post by Amber Aleman on Nov 26, 2018 10:11:18 GMT
As Bairdy pointed out in his post-match interview, Maidenhead came with a defensive formation (hardly a surprise after their recent results) and it worked. Our players will have been suffering a certain amount of fatigue after Tuesday while the visiting squad were relatively fresh. We also had new or returning players in a previously untried forward combination. Put all that together and you have an explanation for both performance and result. The game could easily have finished 0-0, but Maidenhead managed to snatch a goal from a set piece.
Time to move on. Our next game comes around quickly, which could be either a blessing or a curse. Let's try to make it the former.
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Post by pinewalker on Nov 26, 2018 18:11:19 GMT
Mark F. makes the point, was it a foul that got the free-kick from which they scored? The easy case is where a player not moving towards the ball steps into the path of a player running with the ball or after it. Obstruction: indirect free kick.
But the current interpretation is so long as a player is moving towards the ball, however slowly, and moves into the path of an opponent running much faster towards the ball it is not obstruction. Indeed if the faster man runs into the back of the slower man and knocks him over it is a free kick the other way. That is what happened Aswad running into the back of Clifton who played for exactly that. It is becoming more prevalent as Timbo observed. It will take some courage [and direction from officials at the top of the game] to see that in the opposite way as a case of obstruction - which is what it was.
In my first post I said Clifton was unmarked at the free-kick. He was but I had not noticed what the replay shows. Aswad got his head to the ball first, and no marker would have prevented Clifton heading the ball without barging Aswad off it. So not a defensive error.
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Post by pinewalker on Nov 26, 2018 18:34:37 GMT
I know there's a pattern. The question though is why? I will have a go at the answer. Football is unique in that it is so difficult to score, so it is possible to concede the majority of territory and possession and nick a 1-0 win, unlike many other team field-sports where the scoring correlates with possession of the ball. Weaker teams will view a point at Sutton as a good result, as opposed to stronger teams who fancy they can attack and win. So the weaker teams set up with 2 banks of 4 or even a 4+5 and a lone striker. They will not budge from that formation unless there is a dead-ball situation where they can get a ball into our penalty box, then they will push men forward but quickly get back if the attack breaks down. Toward the end of the game if the scores are level Sutton - geed up by the crowd and sometimes the managers - will try to change things to win it. We have been quite successful with our substitutions causing the opponents defence new problems. What so far seems to be a costly tactic is taking men out of our back four and pushing them into attack Those players do not nick us a goal as often as the gap they leave causes us to concede one. |
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tonyd
1st team Player
Posts: 1,496 
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Post by tonyd on Nov 27, 2018 9:40:12 GMT
It could have been worse - Dave Tarpey has just gone back to Maidenhead on loan.
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Post by Andy K on Nov 27, 2018 14:37:18 GMT
Another bit of perspective. This season, we lost for the 4th time in league on November 24th (match no.20).
Last season, when was our 4th loss of the season? Match 11 - September 16th (at eventually to be relegated Woking). This was the season we finished 3rd in by the way.
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