AFCB Vital Blogs

Vital Verdict – Millwall v AFCB

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Written by kirsikka

What can you say about that? Lucky to go in a goal up at half time in a scrappy 45 that nobody really deserved to lead and completely second best in the second 45 and lucky to come away with a point.

The patterns of play were often missing, with misplaced passes compounding the lack of usual fast play. One quick break with over and under lapping runners in place was baffling brought to a halt by Anthony choosing to put his foot on the ball rather than keep the movement going.

Parker has again been unable to influence a match with his subs. That’s a concern.

We’re still up there and an away point against a top eight side is still decent. However, the performance was poor. Hopefully, we can get back on track at the weekend.

Positive performances:
Lerma – All over the pitch in the first half. Not as dominant in the second but still did well. Plus an incredible clearance near the end.

Stacey – Showed the weekend was an aberration. Kept trying to get forward again, which was good

Room for improvement:
Kilkenny – A few early good passes aside, didn’t look in the game at all.

Lowe + Anthony – Equally ineffectual. Didn’t provide an effective outlet throughout the whole match.

The Jekyll and Hyde Award:
Mepham – Looked very good first half. Look all over the shop in the second.

A final word on the co-commentator. I always wonder what Willo did in training when he was assistant manager at AFCB since he doesn’t seem to have anything in the way of tactical insight. I hope he gets well soon though if the alternative will be Jo Tessem. An irritating presence and I’m not sure he has ever watched us play under Parker based on some of his comments. There has to be someone better available?

Man of the match against Millwall

Mepham

Mepham

Solanke

Solanke

Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Someone else

Someone else

SteveJonesLegend wrote…

Losing the left side of our defence has had quite an impact these last few games…

We scrapped a point against a slightly above average Millwall side… Didn’t see the game but a common theme is Mepham’s second-half showing. Cahill looked about 80yrs old chasing Afobe’s dust for their goal so I doubt we’re likely to see Cook playing alongside him.

The sooner we get both Kelly and Zemura back the better and we can get back on track… We’re playing poor but we’re still picking up points and more importantly, the others are also still dropping points as well…

Not a disaster tonight but Cov on Saturday in terrible forecasted conditions will be a completely different prospect… Need to up the energy levels again…

thegazzyb added…

You can clearly see that losing Kelly and Zemura has knocked us off our stride a bit. We are trying to find ways to cover their absence and it is proving difficult. No big surprise really. This is where a manager earns his money. We were flying high with our settled team and losing those two and others at times ( like Pearson ) has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works.
I dare say we will improve once we get used to playing without them or better still when they come back.
I think it’s about damage limitation at the moment. Fortunately, Fulham did no better tonight, so no harm done, we at least showed character to hang on tonight.

Neil Dawson said…

Funny how fluidity waxes and wanes in teams. I stood at Bristol City wondering if anyone could beat us, fast forward to JZ, Kelly and Billing injured or out, a few others dipping form and I’m now wondering when we will win again.

Our whole game plan was a high back line and then lots of interplay with the forwards pressing. That high back line went with Kelly, now the team just looks stretched out. Proof of that was how little the two wide forwards had the ball compared to the first few months. They are just too far out of it in a stretched team.

It also makes whoever plays in defensive central midfield look like an adrift traffic cone deposited by a student in the middle of a field. Nobody remotely near them and the only option to pass back.

The forward five press is being by passed with balls into our defensive third.

It’s all becoming a bit predictable and we need to break the loop, maybe even by trying different formations or style of play until the key players are back.

Every side has a spell in the season and I think we may well continue ours until after the Fulham game.

AFCB_Liam wrote…

My thoughts
– poor performance – lacked composure and confidence on the ball. Too many hopeful balls up to Solanke
– Mepham good 1st half bad 2nd
– Christie through the middle doesn’t work, need him out wide
– Their crowd got going 2nd half and the team fed off of it and we looked rattled
– Benik Afobe getting his own genuine (not ironic) chant was a bit odd, I did say “bet he scores now”.
– Without Billing, we lack the link with Solanke who was feeding off scraps
– Ref was very inconsistent and made some odd decisions
– Overall not a pleasant watch but at least we were able to dig in for a point

Sandman2 added…

First half was fairly comfortable but dull. 1-0 just before the whistle, perfect timing. The second half was awful, Millwall started playing it long behind Cahill and Mepham and we went to pieces. It was like watching us every time we come up against Burnley. No matter who is on the pitch for AFCB, we have always struggled against that sort of game. The bit I have never understood is why does that suddenly stop you from being able to control a football or even pass to your teammates? It happens every time and it infects the whole team. And you could bet your house on Benik ‘Barn Door’ Afobe suddenly turning into a centre forward last night.

I understand we have our injuries but so does everyone else, we have to deal with it. Apart from the odd game where we get a brief glimpse of what we are really capable of, this team doesn’t play in an exciting way that gets you on the edge of your seat. With Coventry and Fulham up next, we need to get our mojo back. One thing to note from last night, Fulham minus Mitrovic = 0. Only one game, but might just confirm how reliant they are on one particular player. – Join the conversation, click here.

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