Brief Synopsis!!! (Southend)

[Johndelve]

2nd best all game, and lucky to come away with a point .
As was the case at Walsall last week, we seemed to be 2 yards off the pace, played with no control and always looked like conceding .
Resorted to lumping the ball upto Taylor who had little or no support .
Fortunately we were awarded a soft penalty, as other than that I don’t remember us creating anything in the 90 mins. Ladapo shot late on, was made by himself but in reality was never going to score from that angle.
Point gained rather than 2 lost, but we need to improve .

 

[Larry David]

Macey - 8
Made a number of good saves and good catches, he was the difference between a point and nothing.

Moore - 4
I've got no idea why so many people thought he had a good game, baffling, constantly lost possession and constantly out of position, then again Argyle fans have always had this odd "oh he's quick he must be good" mentality.

Edwards - 4
Again, not sure why he's being praised, a number of errors.

Wootton - 4
Looked worryingly slow and weak.

Smith Brown - 6
Did fine.

Fox - 5
A couple of good challenges but not involved much.

Grand - 5
See above.

Ness - 4
Frequently lost the ball.

Carey - 5
Good penalty but that was about it.

Taylor - 6
Worked hard with little service.

Ruben - 4
Went missing.

All 3 subs failed to make an impact.

Agreed with the majority of this. Except Tafari Moore will improve although he was poor yesterday and aside from Sawyers first ten minutes the subs made a difference. Songo was decent.

 

[Balham Green]

Macey - 8
Made a number of good saves and good catches, he was the difference between a point and nothing.

Moore - 4
I've got no idea why so many people thought he had a good game, baffling, constantly lost possession and constantly out of position, then again Argyle fans have always had this odd "oh he's quick he must be good" mentality.

Edwards - 4
Again, not sure why he's being praised, a number of errors.

Wootton - 4
Looked worryingly slow and weak.

Smith Brown - 6
Did fine.

Fox - 5
A couple of good challenges but not involved much.

Grand - 5
See above.

Ness - 4
Frequently lost the ball.

Carey - 5
Good penalty but that was about it.

Taylor - 6
Worked hard with little service.

Ruben - 4
Went missing.

All 3 subs failed to make an impact.

i disagree about all three subs not making an impact.songo'o was excellent in my opinion.

But you gave Macey a 4 so difficult to take your opinion seriously.

 

[TRA1984]

Lucky to get away with a point...

Macey - 5. Some good saves & catches but his punch when he could have caught led to their penalty.

Moore - 4. Bambi on ice.

Edwards - 4. Dodge.

Wooton - 3. Even more dodge.

Smith-Brown - 6. Good in possession, generally tidy.

Fox - 5. Unusually poor and too slow.

Ness - 4. Too slow.

Grant - 5. Best of midfield trio but need more from him to cement a starting spot.

Carey - 5. Not good enough despite the penalty.

Lamerias - 2. Was he playing?

Taylor - 5. Battered all game by the CBs but service to him was poor.

Subs

Songo'o - 6. Did something that the starting midfielders couldn't, i.e. tackle players

Ladapo - 5. Not great.

Sawyer - 4. Worse than not great.

 

[Deacster]

Will Sarcevic make the difference or do we need to find Toums mk2 to add physicality and dynamism to the midfield?

 

[TRA1984]

Will Sarcevic make the difference or do we need to find Toums mk2 to add physicality and dynamism to the midfield?

Past experience shows Sarcevic will need two/three games to hit the ground running.

 

[Tugboat]

Will Sarcevic make the difference or do we need to find Toums mk2 to add physicality and dynamism to the midfield?

We need that physical CM that can hold the ball up and dictate play a bit. Southend were very good st that yesterday, ball to feet, holding off our player giving time to move the ball once another player had moved into space.

We looked awkward at best

 

[jerryatricjanner]

This demolition and rebuilding each year doesn’t look like a winning formula to me. Early doors but we looked like a patched up league 2 team fresh to league 1
Surely year on year improvement would show it has worked thus far?

 

[samjones]

The rebuilding of the team looks as successful as the rebuilding of the grandstand.
Despite all the promises and fantasy its a botched up refurb with big holes in it

Moore not a patch on Threkeld
Wooton not a patch on Bradley
Edwards not as good as Vyner

Fox legs have gone
Lameiras is a lightweight
No midfield general to win the ball

All the others struggling with form and to gel as a team.

Lets hope we start better than last year as there is no way this team can go on a run like last year.

I do question our pre season arrangements as we successively fail to hit the ground running after playing local non league teams in preparation.

Southend looked 2 leagues above us yesterday and were mentally and physically fitter, being first to every ball

 

[jerryatricjanner]

Quite an assumption after just two games.

 

[moles40]

Come back after 10 games then let’s see how inaccurate your forecast is.

# nailed on play offs

 

[Pettgreen]

Got home at midnight last night. Long old poke to the home of football.
Great to have a wee chat with Luggy.

Well that WAS a turgid affair. Southend looked sharp, with good passing and movement. Thankfully their age old problem of scoring goals continues to haunt them.
Southend started very brightly and for the first 10 minutes parked themselves in our half. probing and passing. A goal disallowed for offside after a spill from Macey. Was it?
Their 11 McLaughlin put a wonderful ball into the 6 yard box with no blue shirt to meet it. Phew.
We got a penalty which, from where I sat looked dubious at best but considering the way we were playing. manna from heaven. Carey dispatched it very well. You would think that this would be turning point for us but no.
Southend got their penalty. Again very soft. Ref trying to even things up? That was the view of the Southend fans. They thought both pens were very soft. Anyway it was 1-1. We were lucky for it to be so. There was nothing inspiring about our play.
2nd half started and it was a carbon copy of the 1st. Poor.
Lamerias was sacrificed. He hadn't really done much. Sawyer coming on with Smith-Brown pushing up. Sawyer started like bambi on ice but he did settle after that and actually ended up making a few crucial tackles. Southend seemed to settle for a point with 20 to go but we just couldn't muster any decent attacks.
Songo'o came on for Fox, who probably had his worst game i've seen for us. Immediately we felt much more solid in the middle. Doing what he does best, breaking up play and tackling. Something our midfield hadn't done. Was it a game changer? No.
Ladapo came on for S-B and looked strong and lively. Southend were very glad to see the back of him and couldn't believe we signed him. He reminds me of Jordan Slew.
Southend made their subs which suggested they were happy with the draw.
In the last 5 mins or so with us pushing for a winner Southend had 3 good chances. All them falling to Theo Robinson. Thank goodness they all fell to him as "he can't hit a barn door. Why the hell is he even playing for us" (This was shouted before he even took a shot!! hahahaa)
Anyway it ended 1-1 and we were lucky to even get a point.

Macey 6 Spilled his first call to action and got away with it. Grew in confidence and I like the way he comes and catches most crosses. Got decent distribution on him and made a few decent saves. He is young but talented.

Moore 6 Not entirely convinced yet. Sometimes looked as if he had his laces tied together and other times looked very lively. Needs a run of games one feels to get an understanding of those around him. Potential yes. Probably the best of a bad bunch.

Wootton 4 Poor. Panicked in possession. Poor distribution and ponderous in his passing. Has to improve and quickly.

Edwards 5 Got dragged down by Wootton I felt. Was equally as bad imo. Between the 2 of them we lack proper pace. That's worrying. In the air no real problems.

Smith-Brown 6 One of our better players again but nothing to shout home about. His pace helps a lot.

Fox 5 1 season too far? Hope not as he has been such a key player for us. But without someone to do all the dirty work around him he gets very exposed and no time to do what he does best. Pass.

Ness 5 Looked like he was running in custard. Another who has no pace. Yes he can run all day but was totally off the boil yesterday.

Grant 5 Anonymous. It felt yesterday as if we had 3 midfielders who were all too similar to each other. I would like to see what he did when I watch the full match but during the game I felt he was a passenger.

Carey 6 Tried but never really got going. He was getting wound up towards the end. Nearly put a lovely cross onto Ness head near the end but it never happened. He will have better days.

Lamerias 4 Not his fault as he never really got the ball. He is a luxury player but for him to perform and do his stuff 2 things need to happen. Midfield need to win the ball and offer movement and crucially Taylor needs to hold the ball up and lay it off. Neither of those things happened.

Taylor 4 Was owned by their no.6 Turner. Southend were chuffed to keep him this summer as he is destined for greater things. Big strong and kept Taylor who is a very good target man at Lg 1 level very quiet. Turnerr was my man of the match.

Ladapo 6 Good little cameo of energy. Should have done better with his one chance

Sawyer 5 Had a mare when he came on. Settled down after.

Songo'o 6 Added some steel to the midfield. You can never ever fault this guy for effort and commitment but he doesn't half scare you when he's in possession of the ball!

Midfield. That's where the problems are for me. The lack of pace there and a ball winner makes things very difficult for the 4-3-3 set up. Adams has said he wants another midfileder on loan and we can see why. Sarcevic does offer that in a way. How far is he from match fitness? Seemed to be moving around ok yesterday with his family.
We were spoilt last season with Vyner and it shows with our 2 current CB's.
Someone said it was a gutless performance. No it wasn't. It was a performance with a slow cumbersome midfield and 2 CB's who didn't seem to compliment each other.
Were are all happy with a point.

 

[Phil Sloggett]

Disappointing. Need to start finding some fluency.

I think Smith-Brown is quality and our best left back, so chopping and changing him on the left is counter productive.

Let him do what he is good at.

Back five look pretty good overall BUT I think we really miss a Vyner / Nelson type player, Wootton and Edwards are both physical and too similar in my view. Football is often about partnerships and I am not convinced about the two of them playing together.

Midfield also lacks bite, a physical presence. It is no coincidence that our upturn last season coincided with Toums coming in, a strong midfielder who could win the ball and distribute it accordingly. We didn’t seem to have that yesterday, or last week.

Perhaps a chance for Songo’o to stake a place?

If we can secure a couple of loan signings which plug the holes we are missing, we could start doing better. Adams and his team need to have a really good think about the attributes each player has shown against league opposition, and work out a a starting XI which works as a unit.

We seem too disjointed at present.

Adams needs to focus on the job at hand and stop claiming the headlines by getting into touchline scraps. It seems to be happening more and more, and frankly I am starting to find his conduct a little embarrassing.

I know some people love the ‘Everyone hates Derek Adams, we don’t care’ thing, I am just not one of those people!

Tuesday is a good opportunity to try and get our performances on the pitch to where they need to be.

 

[Nobby]

The rebuilding of the team looks as successful as the rebuilding of the grandstand. Despite all the promises and fantasy its a botched up refurb with big holes in it

Moore not a patch on Threkeld
Wooton not a patch on Bradley
Edwards not as good as Vyner

Fox legs have gone
Lameiras is a lightweight
No midfield general to win the ball

You seemed to have missed the fact that Sonny Bradley's Argyle career got off to a pretty poor start. Likewise, Threlkeld was a rotational player for most of his first loan spell. I doubt you were singing either of their praises after just a few games.

Everyone said Fox's legs had gone after a few weeks last year, he then bossed the second half of the season. It's called match fitness.

Everything isn't going to be perfect after two games. I know your not in the business of being rational, but still, come on...

 

[Tugboat]

Fox isn’t a CM in a 3 man midfield. He lacks physical presence and hasn’t got the legs for the amount of ground needed. His best and arguably only position is in a deep holding role behind a 3 man midfield.


Once Sarcevic returns that might be the change we need allowing Ruben and Carey to get further up to support Taylor because yesterday they were like a 4-5-1