Match Preview
Crewe.
Miserable Sunday evenings. Drizzling, dark November
nights stood watching the station clock tick around the 30
times needed before my train arrives to carry me back away
from the Beloved Blues.
Parents, Dog and Football firmly left behind, I glance at
the crock of humanity traipsing around, trying to keep warm
and dry but having to avoid the one waiting room as the local
tramp has decided to move in � Liverpool scarf and all �
and the smell, whilst reminiscent of an Anfield derby, is
enough to make the smoke filled, polluted, wet air outside
mildly appetising.
[Villa, Tottenham, Arsenal, Wimbledon(!), Chelsea, United]
(fill in as required) gather in groups celebrating. Other long-distance Blues appear to have evaporated.
I
wish I could.
Good memories of Crewe? Not many. Those that I
have are based at the local stock-car ground a mere 10 minutes
from the station � Now those guys are nutters!!
Will I have good memories of Crewe at 3.30pm on
Sunday? I pray to God that I do � after all we've
delayed the game for him!
Following the Arsenal game came the typical incantation of
the Blue optimist: "We played so much better than we have
for weeks"; " The new signings show loads of
promise"; "That was a blatant penalty"; "
What a damn lucky goal"; "Ref was crap"...
Probably more than usual, most of the clich�s have a
grounding. Ginola for 45 minutes was glorious and served
to remind us of just what we have been missing.
My Uncle John � a true Blue in every way � once told me
that he cringed when he saw Kanchelskis play because it just
made him realise how damn poor the rest of the team
were. I think I understood that more in the first half
on Sunday than I ever had before. Kanchelskis however
would have carried on for 90 minutes (and then buggered off to
Italy � after gifting Chris Waddle one last swansong! Thanks for the memories though,
KanKan). Daveed gave us
about as much as we have a right to expect � we just have to
ensure that we do something when he is on fire. Perhaps
a couple of people for him to hit with his crosses would
help?
Looking at the match reports from Everton fans a few people
seem to have criticised Peter Clarke. They must be
blind. He did everything and far far more than we had a
right to expect. Played out of position, he came up
against the most graceful, beautiful and downright lethal
player in the Premiership at the moment � and he gave him
next to nothing. He was outstanding and is a superb
prospect.
Blomqvist gave us a further reason for hope. I
thought he had his best game considering the opposition and
again with a few alternatives ahead of him may have made
something happen.
Enough of my quasi-review; back to (dreary) Crewe.
First things first � Welcome one of the great unsung
hero's of Football Management: Dario Grady. If Crewe
hadn't sold out to the Reds a few years ago, I would
definitely follow them, if just for this guy. His
loyalty has been incredible and the amount of quality
youngsters he has continually churned out has been
awesome. David Platt of one generation, Danny Murphy of
this and... well lets choose Dean Ashton for the next.
I believe he has brought on something like 30 Premiership
players through his tutelage. I'm afraid I can't come
close to listing them but just seeing Crewe where they are �
no money; no crowds; no real place in the world of football to
speak of � they proudly fight for the 2nd consecutive year
in the 1st Division whilst the likes of Bristol City and
Rovers, Cardiff and other proud cities with huge potential and
followings, languish below them.
He has also done it playing football � the only way to
bring the kids through.
In fact, whisper it quietly, but a fortnight ago I may have
suspected that they would play more football than us.
Maybe they still will, but I'm not convinced now. At
last we have a midfielder and ego in Ginola who will demand
the ball. With Blomqvist on the other flank, there is
now a reason to go through the midfield.
It will be interesting to see who Smith picks to replace
the cup-tied Carsley: Gemmill or Gazza? I'm assuming
that, even with an apology, it won't be Gravesen, although his
return to the fold would be a real fillip.
If it's Gazza then that midfield will demand the ball and
now has enough quality to keep it. Ginola, Linderoth,
Gazza, Blomqvist. All are footballers. A far cry
from the Unsworth / Joe-Max Moore axis that we had a few short
weeks ago !
As we struggle for strikers again (a state of affairs that
cannot be allowed to continue � bye Dunc, I loved you but
its over...) Smith may well elect to play Ginola
upfront. That would leave Naysmith � the most
committed player I have seen in Blue for some time � at left
mid or if Alex returns at right mid then Blomqvist switching
to the left.
This I think would be a mistake.
I know that Ginola will never track back but I don't want
him to. Naysmith will just have to take on all comers,
but leave Ginola on the right wing. We must play two
centre forwards. Who?
Campbell, even as poorly as he is playing, goes straight in
and will (and should) do for the rest of the season. Alongside him... Rooney?
"How ridiculous! He's only a kid. Hardly played for the reserves.
Could ruin him..." Bollocks! We are playing
Crewe for God's sake! A team of footballers. If
this was a 1st Division side likely to kick lumps out of us
then I'd say keep him hidden � but it ain't. And they
are crap. Chuck him on for 60 mins and then let JMM play
the final 30.
If nothing else, the adrenaline of the occasion will carry
him through and he will give us a huge improvement on the
movement upfront.
He's only days younger than Jeffers, Owen and Royle were.
There is nothing to lose. The crowd will love and
support him no matter what he does.
Will he play? Not damn likely! Ginola will
probably be upfront but I can dream of Walter surprising us
all! He did after all throw Jeffers in against Derby and
Coventry when we didn't expect it and Hibbert was given his
debut before most of us had even heard of him (although he was
then left in the reserves for a year).
Surely we will batter them!
Dean Ashton looks quality and carries their one true
threat. Weir and Stubbs will comfortably deal with
him. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets one spectacular
goal though, but that won't matter: we should get at least 3.
Ginola and Blomqvist have far too much for Crewe and
Campbell will benefit from the extra space. If Gazza
plays then you can expect a re-run of Orient (just not the
England claims again please!).
Let Crewe go mad for 20 minutes and then take over. A
goal before halftime and then just let the ball do the work
and break them down as the second half goes on.
I'm looking forward to this game... and the draw later in
the day
(PS Who are the Reds playing?)
BlueForEver
Lacking Sparkle in Attack
by Richard Marland
Sunday was one those early spring days where you can't help but think ahead
to the Summer � summer holidays, barbecues, Cup Final days out etc. With
yet another favourable home draw that Cup Final optimism doesn't look totally
misplaced. However, considering our current run of form, and our recent
history against lower-division opposition, absolutely nothing could be taken for
granted.
I was pleased with the team and formation, it seemed to me to have a nice
balance to it. Two proper central midfielders, too natural wide players,
both on their natural side, and Gary Naysmith returned to his proper
position. The only two who looked out of place where Clarke at right back
and Ginola up front, although both of these selections have been rather forced
upon us.
First half
We started off quite well. Most of the first 10 minutes or so were
spent in their half. We looked mildly threatening and looked capable of
controlling the game. Their noisy and excitable fans had been largely
quietened, we just needed to take our game up a notch or two.
That's where we ran into problems as we seemed incapable of raising our game
to actually win it. Despite the presence on the pitch of four attacking
players we were still struggling to create chances. As our attacking play
foundered the crowd started to get tetchy, Crewe started to gain in confidence
and we began to lose our way.
On balance we edged the first half, we did have the better chances, what few
there were, and our defence hadn't really been troubled by Crewe.
Second half
There were no half time changes. I thought this was right; we hadn't
played desperately badly, we just needed to step our game up. Looking at
the players out there, the quality was there to do it.
There was a slight increase in urgency in the early stages of the second
half. Linderoth for one was more noticeable. However, it wasn't
enough, and Crewe continued to enjoy too easy a ride. We kept our shape
and our defensive discipline and Crewe never looked like scoring � the problem
was we didn't look like scoring either.
Walter gave the team 20 minutes or so before starting to ring the
changes. First Gascoigne came on for Alexandersson. As is the way at
Goodison these days, plenty found fault in this. "Why take off a
winger when you're trying to win the game?" But Alexandersson had been
fairly peripheral, and his return from injury must have been a factor.
Next up was Moore for Blomqvist. Blomqvist was another who had
under-performed; Moore went up front with Ginola going wide. The guy in
front of me thought Smith was a "prick" for doing this, couldn't quite
see that myself.
The final throw was Pembridge for the third under-performing Swede �
Linderoth. The net result of all this was bugger all. All buzzed
about a bit without giving the impression they were going to change the face of
the game. In fact it was Crewe who came closest to changing the game, a
ball into the box and a snapshot from Hulse hit the face of the bar � a
heart-stopping moment.
Summary
The starting eleven we had out there should have beaten Crewe, let's make no
bones about that. We may well have had three quarters of Sweden's World
Cup midfield out there on the park � they should have had what it takes to
beat Crewe.
It's clear what our current problem is � the creating of chances. You
can't even berate the players for failing to put away the chances, the fact was
there wasn't what you would call a proper chance in 90 minutes.
As to why we aren't creating chances. Well, that's the big
question. The team wasn't defensively minded, we had a sensible balance of
defense and attack minded players. We saw enough of the ball we just
didn't use it well enough around their penalty area.
Everyone seems to have their opinion on what the fix is, a lot of seems to
revolve around Kevin Campbell. Campbell is indeed struggling and not
playing well, but the problem is more than that. For me it is to do with
the lack of pace in the side, and the absence of two fit, decent strikers.
It's easy to see things that are wrong, it's harder to fix them with the current
squad and our ongoing lack of finances.
By the time we emerged from Goodison, Winter had returned. The
temperature had dropped noticeably, there was a chill wind and rain in the
air. Thoughts of the summer will have to be put back for now, there's
still a winter to get through yet.
Ratings
- Simonsen 7 The only work he had was of the routine variety.
- Clarke 6 Defended adequately but his distribution was very
poor. Looks composed, has a reasonable touch and defends well, but
there has to be a quantum leap in his use of the ball if he's going to make
it.
- Weir 7 Running out of things to say about him. He was
just Weir-like.
- Stubbs 7 Another good display.
- Naysmith 7 Definitely better at left back.
- Alexandersson 6 I hope he gets the run in the side that will
allow us to know just how good he is. Did OK but by no means
brilliant.
- Gemmill 6 Saw lots of the ball but couldn't really get things
going.
- Linderoth 6 Disappointed in him in the first half but showed
a bit more in the second. Clearly still finding his feet, we could
with him finding them quickly.
- Blomqvist 6 Saw quite a bit of the ball and did give them a
few problems. I was frustrated in his reluctance to run into space
looking for the ball. Too often when we were in possession he was
looking for possession from behind the man and from a standing start.
- Ginola 7 Gives scant support to Campbell, so I'm not
convinced about him as a striker. However, did look our most dangerous
player but this was mostly when he drifted out wide.
- Campbell 5 Having a 'mare. Obviously struggling for
fitness, touch and confidence. However, this does not justify the
stick he is getting from many at Goodison.
- Gascoigne 6 Tried but could ultimately have cost us the game
by needlessly giving away possession in a dangerous position, and then later
on through a petulant kick at a player in full view of the ref.
- Moore 6 Always looks busy but never delivers much.
- Pembridge 6 Walter talks about Pembo "setting the tempo
for the team". On cameos like this I know where he's coming from
as Pembo definitely upped the pace and urgency of the team.
Team 6 Defensively we continue to look solid and reliable,
however, lacking sparkle in midfield and attack.
Man of the match Alan Stubbs.
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