Rochdale v Argyle Match Thread

[adegreenarmy]

I was at the game and it seemed to me that we were much the strongest in the first half and they were in the second. A draw might have been the fair result but happy with the win and I though we looked the better side overall. Surprising to find our view obscured by the sun for much of the game - should have packed sunglasses!
I thought that Jordan Houghton was the best player on the pitch - a class above in fact and took some threatening corners. Danny Mayor did well - and was very effective at breaking up play, particularly in the first half. Hardie has received some stick on here but I thought he worked hard for the team. Great cross from Broom and header from Garrick. Less impressive than usual at the back. Gillesphey struggled and Wilson has had better games - he could well have had two yellow cards. Scarr dominant as usual. George Cooper looked all at sea for me, but it was his first game for quite some time. I was please that Ryan Law came on to replace him, until he started playing. I saw some posters suggesting that he had improved the team, but he looked clueless and eventually the rest of the team used him to create space for others. His header was a good chance but it looked like a defensive nod back to the keeper.
Terrific decision to bring Luke on and a great save from Mike Cooper at the end to keep us in front.

 

[adegreenarmy]

totally disagree. A very good player

Totally disagree - Law looked like a duck out of water. Can't see how fans can have such different views on the same 30 minute spell of play. We thought he looked like a liability.

 

[Green Flash]

The best thing Law did was take the yellow card for Wilson who really should have been sent off

 

[Tonka]

I was at the game and it seemed to me that we were much the strongest in the first half and they were in the second. A draw might have been the fair result but happy with the win and I though we looked the better side overall. Surprising to find our view obscured by the sun for much of the game - should have packed sunglasses!
I thought that Jordan Houghton was the best player on the pitch - a class above in fact and took some threatening corners. Danny Mayor did well - and was very effective at breaking up play, particularly in the first half. Hardie has received some stick on here but I thought he worked hard for the team. Great cross from Broom and header from Garrick. Less impressive than usual at the back. Gillesphey struggled and Wilson has had better games - he could well have had two yellow cards. Scarr dominant as usual. George Cooper looked all at sea for me, but it was his first game for quite some time. I was please that Ryan Law came on to replace him, until he started playing. I saw some posters suggesting that he had improved the team, but he looked clueless and eventually the rest of the team used him to create space for others. His header was a good chance but it looked like a defensive nod back to the keeper.
Terrific decision to bring Luke on and a great save from Mike Cooper at the end to keep us in front.

Wow! Exactly as I saw it.

I would add that we have a mixed bag of quality, flair and industry. I just hope RL gets the combination right from here on in.

 

[The Doctor]

I think that one key thing that Law added when he came in was energy down the left flank. Watching on TV it was clear that every time the ball came to him he quickly tried to move up the pitch with it. That energy and movement came across well on TV, especially in relation to George Cooper’s (understandable) lack of movement beforehand.

 

[The Doctor]

The best thing Law did was take the yellow card for Wilson who really should have been sent off

This is certainly true!

 

[moles40]

Yeah poor performance yesterday but we still won,like to get Villa at home next round,but having supported Argyle for 40 plus years you know they surprise you when you least expect it,so 3 points Tuesday night!

 

[PL2 3DQ]

George Cooper concentrated on long crossfield diagonal balls (which were very good) from the halfway line rather than pushing forward with the ball down the wing.

Law gave the left side some pace and forward movement.

Grant had a rest, Cooper had some minutes under his belt and Law had some more experience of playing in the first team. Plus we won!

All good. 👍

 

[Tugboat]

I still think we lack a bit of muscle in the middle.

We’re very good at tippy tappy movement when we are allowed to play but sometimes we need to be a bit dirty in the middle when challenging for the ball. We lack that hold up ability when we are battling against teams that don’t play tippy tappy football.

I think that must be a priority for Lowe in January. Not sure how it all fits in with the formation but we struggle to control the CM areas sometimes which puts us under a lot of pressure.

 

[Aaron D.]

Yeah poor performance yesterday but we still won,like to get Villa at home next round,but having supported Argyle for 40 plus years you know they surprise you when you least expect it,so 3 points Tuesday night!

That would be a surprise as we don't play on Tuesday!

 

[Steve Evans]

Totally disagree - Law looked like a duck out of water. Can't see how fans can have such different views on the same 30 minute spell of play. We thought he looked like a liability.

here we go.local lad breaks into the first team "let's throw him under the bus".

 

[memory man]

We all have our own individual styles of posting & how we articulate our thoughts
I certainly respect other posters views , life would be very boring if we all had the same opinion
One thing about BG that i found worrying was that if he disagreed with what you had written he would make a sarky comment, try to belittle your intelligence or try & make you feel incredible small because he deemed what you had posted as not valid in his eyes
I find that incredibly sad but i guess its is choice to leave this forum

That is well put. It was that belittling style that I found difficult.

 

[Old Gunner]

Law didn't have enough time to adjust to the pace and Rochdale were pressing hard. I think he's a good player, potentially a very good player, based on what I have seen. I hope he gets a bit more game time to show us what he can do.

 

[Old Gunner]

I still think we lack a bit of muscle in the middle.

We’re very good at tippy tappy movement when we are allowed to play but sometimes we need to be a bit dirty in the middle when challenging for the ball. We lack that hold up ability when we are battling against teams that don’t play tippy tappy football.

I think that must be a priority for Lowe in January. Not sure how it all fits in with the formation but we struggle to control the CM areas sometimes which puts us under a lot of pressure.

I've seen Pan do this a few times for us...his ability to disrupt the opposition is superb, but yes we could do with another physical presence in midfield.

 

[Gary S]

George Cooper concentrated on long crossfield diagonal balls (which were very good) from the halfway line rather than pushing forward with the ball down the wing.

Law gave the left side some pace and forward movement.

Grant had a rest, Cooper had some minutes under his belt and Law had some more experience of playing in the first team. Plus we won!

All good. 👍

Totally agree with this. Cooper was out of his depth defensively, and failed to bring Mayor into the game, meaning that our left side failed to function either offensively or defensively in the first half. Law was much more positive in getting forward, with the result that we started to look more dangerous on that side.