Fan's View - 19/20 - Rotherham at home

What I don't understand is, KR obviously identified Rotherham had significant height and were good in the air. Therefore, why did Eastwood take goalkicks long. All three goals originally came from Rotherham winning headers from our goal kicks. Surely we should have played our own game of passing game, playing it out from the back at goal kicks.
 
If memory serves me correct they had 3 forwards up and close to our defenders at every goal kick, free kick etc making Eastwoods job of the short ball very difficult hence the longer ball
Exactly, it was very noticeable from the very start of the match. The three normal outlets (Dickie + two wider players) were marked at every goal kick and whenever Eastwood had the ball in hand. So kicking it long was really the only option. Unfortunately we never really managed to get hold of the ball from the longer kicks. I'm not sure we will come up against many other teams as uniformly tall and as disciplined about closing down the defence as Rotherham - it was something we didn't really have an answer to.
 
That third goal right on half time (or in extra, extra time) should have killed off the game, that it didn't gave me encouragement that we did still have something to bring to the game. I still worry that sometimes KR sets the team up with the wrong tactics or lack of options but that would be daft, wouldn't it?
 
That third goal right on half time (or in extra, extra time) should have killed off the game, that it didn't gave me encouragement that we did still have something to bring to the game. I still worry that sometimes KR sets the team up with the wrong tactics or lack of options but that would be daft, wouldn't it?
If he does he still gets it right a lot more often than he gets it wrong.
 
If he does he still gets it right a lot more often than he gets it wrong.
In the last year he’s generally got it brilliantly right, but just occasionally he gets it very wrong. There’s been lots of analysis, much of it learned and interesting, but I think in this case it’s just as appropriate to say ‘it was one of those. We move on’ like Mr Wilder would.
 
If he does he still gets it right a lot more often than he gets it wrong.

I’m not sure if it’s about KR getting it wrong (other than he should have stated Mousinho & Taylor), but what I do think we lack is a plan b when teams press us high and don’t allow us to play football. A bit like Burton earlier in the season. We seem to struggle with physical, athletic, tall and organised teams that press high.
 
When Rotherham Adopted this marking on our goal kicks. Easty decided to kick it out. We then all bunched up one side of the pitch around the left half of the centre circle and waited for Easty to punt it there. At least twice Sykes looked well placed to sprint out to a now empty right wing where a pass here could have broke the press, but it seemed to me that neither he or Eastwood could see that this might work.
We may well see others try Rotherhams tactics so We will need to find a way to get around it.
The false punt!?
 
Yes it was very noticeable that Eastwood was kicking it long and that Rotherham were winning it every time. Not only did Mackie win nothing in the air but he failed to stop Rotherham winning it too. Also I noticed even when the high ball went to the wings which they did on a couple of occasions Rotherham were winning that too. Ruffels who usually wins loads in these circumstances was getting out jumped too.

Even when full backs and centre halves are tightly marked some teams are good at getting midfielders to find a bit of space somewhere in the territory between the short ball and long ball and have a keeper who can accurately pick them out. I think there were a couple of times when players like Sykes were available but Eastwood either didn’t see him or didn’t think he could pass to him so still went long.

But if we have the ball and are doing the attacking it will rarely end up with Eastwood so we will not get penned in and have to knock it long. That was what happened in the second half. With players on their game none of this is such an issue. We had some very poor performers in the first half. Not so the second.
 
We had some very poor performers in the first half. Not so the second.
I do find it a bit concerning that this has happened a few times recently. Whether we have been trying the 'contain them until half time' plan and so have just looked a bit lethargic or if the players just need a boot up the a**e to get them going, I don't know - but we have to try to get on the front foot a bit earlier, ideally from the start!
 
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I do find it a bit concerning that this has happened a few times recently. Whether we have been trying the 'contain them until half time' plan and so have just look a bit lethargic or if the players just need a boot up the a**e to get them going, I don't know - but we have to try to get on the front foot a bit earlier, ideally from the start!
Good point.
 
Let's face it they did a well educated job on us, compressed the midfield got in our faces we never like it or can counter it the last few seasons
They were big strong and roughed us up. Hindsight a lovely thing, IMHO we should of kicked towards the East Stand with the wind and blitzed them!
Surely our scouting should of known this ?

3rd goal was offside right in line of me by a yard, not the bloke that scored but from the cross he would of been interfering.
Still second half shows what I have always thought about this division pace will win the day all day long. Just run at the f*uckers and the defence will part like the Red Sea.

Happy where we are in Jan, would of taken that at the start of the season, tomorrow start with Holland / Browne / Taylor it's going to be windy so if we win the toss go with the wind and hit em' hard from the off..
 
I do find it a bit concerning that this has happened a few times recently. Whether we have been trying the 'contain them until half time' plan and so have just looked a bit lethargic or if the players just need a boot up the a**e to get them going, I don't know - but we have to try to get on the front foot a bit earlier, ideally from the start!

I guess it didn’t help our cause with Brannagan being off the pace and not up for it, especially as he tends to be the midfielder who drops deeper on goal kicks to get the ball off of Easty if the other options are exhausted.
 
Let's face it they did a well educated job on us, compressed the midfield got in our faces we never like it or can counter it the last few seasons
They were big strong and roughed us up. Hindsight a lovely thing, IMHO we should of kicked towards the East Stand with the wind and blitzed them!
Surely our scouting should of known this ?

3rd goal was offside right in line of me by a yard, not the bloke that scored but from the cross he would of been interfering.
Still second half shows what I have always thought about this division pace will win the day all day long. Just run at the f*uckers and the defence will part like the Red Sea.

Happy where we are in Jan, would of taken that at the start of the season, tomorrow start with Holland / Browne / Taylor it's going to be windy so if we win the toss go with the wind and hit em' hard from the off..

The third goal counted so that's that. But by no stretch of the imagination according to the laws of the game (Law 11: Offside) was there "interfering."
 
The third goal counted so that's that. But by no stretch of the imagination according to the laws of the game (Law 11: Offside) was there "interfering."

I think we were poor for all 3 goals. Eastwood at fault for first two goals and Moore for their third.
 
I think we were poor for all 3 goals. Eastwood at fault for first two goals and Moore for their third.
Dickie was more at fault for the first, and just as much to blame for the second, as he lost his man for both.
 
Rob Dickie seems to have struggled against Hartlepool and Rotherham. Gorrin also got that early booking. I think if Mous had been playing both would have been less likely because of the excellent reading of the game he has, but Mous was never going to play Saturday and Tuesday so Moore and Dickie need to sort it out.
 
Rob Dickie seems to have struggled against Hartlepool and Rotherham. Gorrin also got that early booking. I think if Mous had been playing both would have been less likely because of the excellent reading of the game he has, but Mous was never going to play Saturday and Tuesday so Moore and Dickie need to sort it out.

Mousinho is steadily making a serious claim for player of the season at this rate
 
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