Post by northwesthoop on Feb 24, 2021 21:38:36 GMT
A very fair result; utter mid-table dirge
The second half would have put a neutral in a coma.
A good result really, away from home, clean sheet. BUT on the back of 4 wins, and given we could have moved to within 7 points of the top 6, it is perhaps annoying we didn't offer more in the last 10-15 minutes.
It felt like both teams accepted/wanted a draw from about 70 minutes.
Yes Kalamity was back to his old habits sadly. In all fairness though he was not alone in that: Dickie & Wallace could not help themselves in fouling in non-threatening situations, and it was right to sub Johansen as he was looking tired. Have to give credit to Barbet for completing all games so far this season and not fading, plus the Back 3 did their best. We all know our wing backs are not defenders really, just shadow players, but today neither was prepared to take on players and move forward. That resulted in Dykes, Chair, Austin, et all having to come over and help them out. If that is not a recipe for minimal impact in their penalty area I do not know what is! This game needed Albert! Anyway, we stay 13th on 40 points....
Post by northwesthoop on Feb 24, 2021 21:48:38 GMT
Warburton will probably moan about fixture pile-ups and 'lethargic performance' in his interview but he only made 3 subs - 2 with only 12 minutes left
I don't understand that at all.
My MOTM was Ball. You all know I'm not his biggest fan but I thought he covered every blade of grass, was pressing, covering. He was actually on the pace of the game and was getting his foot in and did well tonight.
Warburton will probably moan about fixture pile-ups and 'lethargic performance' in his interview but he only made 3 subs - 2 with only 12 minutes left
I don't understand that at all.
My MOTM was Ball. You all know I'm not his biggest fan but I thought he covered every blade of grass, was pressing, covering. He was actually on the pace of the game and was getting his foot in and did well tonight.
It was certainly Ball's type of game - scrappy and poor weather conditions. He probably did deserve that accolade!
As regard to the subs, we often praise Warburton for his substitutions but not tonight. I already said Adomah should have come on, but I would have gone bold and replaced Kane for him. With Willock on the left and Adomah on the right we would have had a chance to stretch them. One point worth mentioning: Dickie spent a lot of time pushing forward and looked confident there too!
Post by northwesthoop on Feb 24, 2021 22:46:54 GMT
Post Preston Stats
Our first draw of 2021 keeps us in 13th place
After 30 games our record is as mid-table as mid-table can possibly be... won 10, drawn 10, lost 10.
It was our 9th clean sheet of the season - and impressively our 4th in 8 league games in 2021
We are a point closer to the top 6 than we were before this round of fixtures (now 9 points behind with 2 games in hand)
We are also a point further away from the bottom 3 (now 11 points clear of Rotherham)
We have only 2 defeats in the last 12 league games
We are unbeaten in 7 away games, last losing on the road against Huddersfield on 5th December.
The negative is that we have now only scored 30 goals in 30 games this season. We have failed to score in 10 of those games (33.3% of games). 2 of those games without a goal came against Preston who we didn't managed to score against in either match this season.
Johansen and Field are both still unbeaten since they joined and it is 1 defeat in 8 with Charlie Austin on the pitch.
Dieng 7 (again commanding the area and a clean sheet to boot never looked like he was gonna let one in today) Kane 7 (yes your all gonna moan about some of his crossing but for me again he played really well) Barbet 7 (did he put a foot wrong? i didnt see one and that timimg of that tackle in the box when a preston player called for a penalty pefect) Cameron 6 (my man crush played ok his hair wasnt as beautiful as it was in previous games but didnt really see him make a mistake today) Dickie 6 (almost poor today? gave the ball away more than usual not as dominant in air bad game? not really but not his best) Wallace 7 (i think hes getting better each game and almost as much a threat as kane is on the right looked a bit tired by end of it) Ball 6 (moments of real class but moments of oh no dont do thats think he needs replacing next term at best hes a squad player for me) Johansen 7 (quietly got on with things shocked he was booked not a dirty player maybe thats why he was subbed instead of Ball???) Chair 7 (almost an 8 but not quite in my opinion our best player tonight without the end product of assisting a winner had he assisted or even scored a winner wudda got that 8 good game from the 15 year old looking covid cut) Austin 6 (looked tired at times actually thought he shud have gone off before Dykes tonight played some great passes and created a chance from nothing which i thought he scored not long before being subbed) Dykes 6 (thought he done well tonight for once actually noticed him on the pitch and saw some good things thought he should have scored early on and im all fingers crossed he scores from open play in next few games just so his confidence doesnt vanish totally all in all i was almost impressed with him tonight)
subs
Bonne 5 (didnt get enough time to mark him) Willock 6 (looks dangerous and hungry think bth he and Adomah need to start a game wide possibly resting either dykes and Wallace or even Johansen?) Field 5 (didnt notice him tonight really wanna see what he can do from the start of a game i would have played him tonight 0-0 tonight was due to a 4th straight unchanged team Preston were there for the taking tonight but 0-0 was a fair result)
That’ll go down on record as 90 minutes of my life that I’m never getting back.
We’ll see how Saturday how tonight was. Victory at the weekend will make this a very good point tonight. However Dykes needs anything to get his confidence going, even a penalty to help him find the net. I haven’t got an issue with him missing that lob as it wasn’t an easy chance at all, but there is no excuse for missing that first chance very early on.
It also felt very strange watching us play at Deepdale tonight, knowing that was my last game in a full packed stadium before everything changed. Roll on getting back to it all one day!
Dieng 7 (again commanding the area and a clean sheet to boot never looked like he was gonna let one in today) Kane 7 (yes your all gonna moan about some of his crossing but for me again he played really well) Barbet 7 (did he put a foot wrong? i didnt see one and that timimg of that tackle in the box when a preston player called for a penalty pefect) Cameron 6 (my man crush played ok his hair wasnt as beautiful as it was in previous games but didnt really see him make a mistake today) Dickie 6 (almost poor today? gave the ball away more than usual not as dominant in air bad game? not really but not his best) Wallace 7 (i think hes getting better each game and almost as much a threat as kane is on the right looked a bit tired by end of it) Ball 6 (moments of real class but moments of oh no dont do thats think he needs replacing next term at best hes a squad player for me) Johansen 7 (quietly got on with things shocked he was booked not a dirty player maybe thats why he was subbed instead of Ball???) Chair 7 (almost an 8 but not quite in my opinion our best player tonight without the end product of assisting a winner had he assisted or even scored a winner wudda got that 8 good game from the 15 year old looking covid cut) Austin 6 (looked tired at times actually thought he shud have gone off before Dykes tonight played some great passes and created a chance from nothing which i thought he scored not long before being subbed) Dykes 6 (thought he done well tonight for once actually noticed him on the pitch and saw some good things thought he should have scored early on and im all fingers crossed he scores from open play in next few games just so his confidence doesnt vanish totally all in all i was almost impressed with him tonight)
subs
Bonne 5 (didnt get enough time to mark him) Willock 6 (looks dangerous and hungry think bth he and Adomah need to start a game wide possibly resting either dykes and Wallace or even Johansen?) Field 5 (didnt notice him tonight really wanna see what he can do from the start of a game i would have played him tonight 0-0 tonight was due to a 4th straight unchanged team Preston were there for the taking tonight but 0-0 was a fair result)
Good ratings and comments @tomcat75 - apart from the one you must expect to get a kickback on: Kane! If he and Wallace are not full backs then both need to be up and down their respective wings, taking on players, with a good cross as the end product. Last night he was poor, the exact opposite of Saturday (when I would have awarded him a 7 or even an 8). So a 5 from me! As I said, good comments otherwise, especially in regard to Austin looking jaded and Dykes playing OK. Yes Dykes should have taken that opportunity but the other one (the lob) was tricky, but I just wish too he would score and get that monkey off his back! Onwards now to Birmingham and Warburton must surely have to make some hard decisions - he has jaded players and others fighting to start (Thomas, Field, Adomah, Willock, Kakay, De Wijs & Hamalainen).
some of Kanes balls in the box today were top notch
some not so good
as for Jaamalainen and Kakay pushing for starts? i think they are out of the situation now Kane wont get dropped Wallace maybe needing rest but i wouldnt replace him with the finn youngster (i cant be botherered trying to spell his name again) on that note alone i would sell him his name is too hard to spell Haaaaaaaammmmmmeeeeeelllllllaiiiiinen (release that beast and feed him to the pigs errol)
De Wijs (has he died?) if he could come in at some point but when? Field Adomah and Willcok must come in as for Thomas i wouldnt even know where to play him from the start? if he had a left foot perhaps left wing back instead of Wallace see how he gets on?
I put the following in another thread i entitled MW we need to see more of Willock Adomah and Field
all 3 should have started tonight
they didnt so lets hope at least one of them starts in the next game
me personally i wanna see Field in the team instead of Ball
and i would either leave out Austin or Dykes out play 1 up top
Charlie looked tired tonight and i think if we keep playing him he might get injured
so my next team (im suprised at this line up too)
but (2 shake things up and keep the oppo guessing i would go)
4-4-1-1
Dieng
Kane Dickie Barbet Wallace
Adomah Johansen Field Willock
Chair
Dykes
with Austin ready to pounce from 50 minutes onward if like expected Dykes plays the role of Eeeeee Awwwww from winnie the pooh and if needed either Cameron or Ball come on to put the back 3 back
i know the 3-5-2 formation is the best formation but i really want us to see Field from the start alongside Willock and Adomah
with our usual plan A being used as Plan B if it goes all shrove Tuesday
Post by northwesthoop on Feb 25, 2021 10:02:05 GMT
There is no way Warburton will alter the 3 at the back at the moment. 5 unbeaten, 1 defeat in 8. He may change personnel but not the shape at the back.
I would also like to see Willock starting, but it is clear that Warburton is starting the same team and then wants good options off the bench. He clearly thinks Willock for example has more impact coming off the bench than he does starting.
The problem last night was he made all of his changes too late so they couldn't really make an impact. It also means we'll have even more tired legs on Saturday. You are right that Austin should have been off last night around 60 minutes.
Chair did another 90 and looked tired at the end as he covers so much ground.
even more proof that IMO we needed another left back too as im worried (WHEN) Wallace gets injured we have no Plan A or B Wallace is vital to us at the moment and hes only a very very average left back
im gonna write a very harsh EMail to the club asking us to rewind time and not let Ryan Manning go to Swansea
even more proof that IMO we needed another left back too as im worried (WHEN) Wallace gets injured we have no Plan A or B Wallace is vital to us at the moment and hes only a very very average left back
im gonna write a very harsh EMail to the club asking us to rewind time and not let Ryan Manning go to Swansea
that should do the trick
Do agree that the Rubba Hamma is not a viable substitute for Wallace, although Kakay was for Kane when he had his chance. Warburton cannot have it all ways though. He cannot complain about the relentless schedule of games (which is true) and then not make at least one change per Starting XI to rest someone AND make subs where needed. Soon we are going to have tired players making bad tackles and getting injured as a result, or making serious mistakes that donate a goal to the opposition.
