Cheltenham Town v MK Dons
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Jon Palmer
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Team news, live updates and reaction all here this afternoon: https://bit.ly/MKDonsH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Hubert Parry
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Looking forward to watching that back. On the audio alone, it sounded like we were fortunate to draw.
MKD were my picks for the title before the season so it's a good draw.
MKD were my picks for the title before the season so it's a good draw.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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More evidence we can compete with anyone in this league and should fear no one.
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Ben version 4:0
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It's a fair point against a decent team. First 20 minutes they were awful and we were hammering them...next 70 they had by far the upper hand.
Won't see many (any) better defenders than Lewington this season. Class act
I'm not sure we're quite good enough to shut up shop against teams in this league. Without the second goal, or threat of it, it's a tough ask to defend successfully for 45 minutes.
I'm not convinced by boyle. Too many mistakes in him - two clear ones in first half where I could see him clearly. And we do ply ourselves into difficulty with alarming regularity.
But a good point and a sign of the season to come - it'll be tough. Well done the lads they should be pleased with that
Won't see many (any) better defenders than Lewington this season. Class act
I'm not sure we're quite good enough to shut up shop against teams in this league. Without the second goal, or threat of it, it's a tough ask to defend successfully for 45 minutes.
I'm not convinced by boyle. Too many mistakes in him - two clear ones in first half where I could see him clearly. And we do ply ourselves into difficulty with alarming regularity.
But a good point and a sign of the season to come - it'll be tough. Well done the lads they should be pleased with that
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Raglan and Pollock to come back of course Ben.
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Ben version 4:0
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Yes of course RCS. And I think we look more defensively secure with long at wing back .
On the number of chances created a draw was more than fair, I don't recall Flinders making a serious save yet theirs made a worldie from Hussey and we had one cleared off the line. That said, if you based it on possession they absolutely dominated the ball from about the half way point of the first half. Freestone, Long not comfortable and the midfielder couldn't get into the game.Hubert Parry wrote:Looking forward to watching that back. On the audio alone, it sounded like we were fortunate to draw.
MKD were my picks for the title before the season so it's a good draw.
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horlickfanclub
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Harvie dominated Blair all game and we did nothing to counter it. After May and Joseph went off we had no legs up front. When Wright gave ball away in the lead up to the goal I am sure he would have knocked it in to space if Joseph was there but Williams was not moving .Ball goes to Harvie and bingo.
Having said that MK had other chances so a draw was on the cards. Flinders did well keeping a few out. We give too many fouls away. Makes life difficult. One more point in the bag.
Having said that MK had other chances so a draw was on the cards. Flinders did well keeping a few out. We give too many fouls away. Makes life difficult. One more point in the bag.
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Ben version 4:0
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They missed an absolute sitter in the first half where the lad rolled it to his mate..but he couldn't reach it
Missed sitter second half too when they got a corner...think flinders got something on it?
Oh well - at least we didn't concede 9 to chorley
Missed sitter second half too when they got a corner...think flinders got something on it?
Oh well - at least we didn't concede 9 to chorley
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Warwickshire Robin
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Another good point against another team expected to be closer to the top than the bottom, would have taken that before kick off.
Still came away with a frustrated feeling though. First 20 minutes we were excellent, put them under pressure, they looked shakey at the back and we got a good goal. It seemed when we had the break for Serc's injury (which I see MD reckons should have been a red, too far away for me to tell) we went in to our shell and were just happy to defend. We became too passive and put no pressure on the ball.
I know we want to keep our shape and not get open but just felt that if we were a bit braver we could have got another.
Still, plenty of positives, on to next week!
Still came away with a frustrated feeling though. First 20 minutes we were excellent, put them under pressure, they looked shakey at the back and we got a good goal. It seemed when we had the break for Serc's injury (which I see MD reckons should have been a red, too far away for me to tell) we went in to our shell and were just happy to defend. We became too passive and put no pressure on the ball.
I know we want to keep our shape and not get open but just felt that if we were a bit braver we could have got another.
Still, plenty of positives, on to next week!
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art vandalay
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Chorley‘s Twitter Feed is advertising a comedy night on Friday 10th. I think one of the acts arrived six days too early.Ben version 4:0 wrote:Oh well - at least we didn't concede 9 to chorley
Off the back of that I'm terrified what they'd have done with a full choice of attacking options.RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:More evidence we can compete with anyone in this league and should fear no one.
Fingers crossed Raglan is back soon and Pollock is decent
On the plus side Joseph looks a quality addition
Yes I recall those chances but again Flinders didn't have a serious save to make the entire game. MK absolutely bossed possession and we couldn't keep the ball for long but they rarely did anything dangerous with it, that's why in some ways it felt like two points dropped. With no Eisa and Parrot they were toothless in attack and there for the taking had we finished our chances.Ben version 4:0 wrote:They missed an absolute sitter in the first half where the lad rolled it to his mate..but he couldn't reach it
Missed sitter second half too when they got a corner...think flinders got something on it?
Oh well - at least we didn't concede 9 to chorley
I can't believe there hasn't been any mention on this thread of how utterly appalling the ref was, especially in the first half. The follow through on Sercombe was a red all day long and he didn't even give a free kick for it. We were 1 up and still on top at that point, would have been a different game.
He also stopped the game when May was one on one with the last defender for a non-existant head injury and then gave the ball to the MK Dons keeper to restart. Countless nonsense free kicks given to MK for minimal contact. Any excuse to give them the ball, it seemed, while ignoring identical contacts or unfortunate handballs the other way.
The lino on the Colin Farmer Stand side was no better. Finally got one right when Joseph had knocked the ball past the defender and was brought down right in front of him.
He also stopped the game when May was one on one with the last defender for a non-existant head injury and then gave the ball to the MK Dons keeper to restart. Countless nonsense free kicks given to MK for minimal contact. Any excuse to give them the ball, it seemed, while ignoring identical contacts or unfortunate handballs the other way.
The lino on the Colin Farmer Stand side was no better. Finally got one right when Joseph had knocked the ball past the defender and was brought down right in front of him.
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Hubert Parry
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With apologies in advance to Harp Hill Red, this is another one of my long posts.
> MK Dons played exactly as we knew they would - dominate possession, excellent with their rotations and able to pull players out of position. Defensively, they looked vulnerable but we were unable to test that enough in the last 65 minutes or so.
> Cheltenham are a technically inferior team, but that is to be expected. We also lacked confidence and conviction. Our defending became increasingly desperate and we lacked composure when we did have the ball - often leading us to throw possession away almost immediately.
> As has happened a couple of times this season, we retain greater control when our wing backs are further up the field. After the Sercombe injury, both Blair and Hussey essentially played as full backs, and this allowed MKD to pin us back. We did this because MKD reverted from a back four in their build up to a back three, and they pushed Kioso and Harvie higher up. This is a conundrum that we have yet to work out.
> We looked at our most threatening when Sercombe and Wright occupied more advanced positions than May and Joseph (who were almost playing as false nines in the early stages). This flattened and narrowed MKD's back five and gave Joseph the time and space to shoot for the opener. We also had a couple of other half-chances as Blair and Hussey provided outlets which they struggled to do as the game progressed. Had Blair squared the ball to Joseph who held his run, it might have been a different game.
> For all MKD's possession, their opportunities largely came from errors. The 'open goal' opportunity came because Twine teased Long to jump forward, and opened a huge gap between Blair and Boyle for a through ball to be played. MKD's rotations in the pockets caused poor decision-making in our defensive third throughout the match.
> The most common theme was when MKD switched the play quickly. They would have the ball down our right and encourage us to commit five defenders to their two. If MKD were able to beat this trap (which they often did), it led to overloads on the left hand side (sometimes 3 or 4 versus 1) leaving Blair exposed.
> To combat this, we tweaked to two 10s and one up front. This did help to reduce the space that Harvie found himself with all game, but it also meant that we lacked an outlet and MKD had the ability to build up from the back more easily.
> The goal was a poor one to concede - Williams failed to hold his run and this meant that Wright was trapped into giving the ball away, we collapsed into a narrow block and put no pressure on the ball, and our increasing desperation meant that we failed to clear our lines.
> Overall, a fair result. Our shape limited their opportunities but we were opened up on 3 or 4 occasions (but many teams in this league will be opened up more often than this). Unfortunately, our inability to retain possession and lack of outlet invited the pressure from which we ultimately succumbed.
Joseph my MOTM - showed great intelligence, has a bit of power and pace on him and looks an upgrade on what we have.
> MK Dons played exactly as we knew they would - dominate possession, excellent with their rotations and able to pull players out of position. Defensively, they looked vulnerable but we were unable to test that enough in the last 65 minutes or so.
> Cheltenham are a technically inferior team, but that is to be expected. We also lacked confidence and conviction. Our defending became increasingly desperate and we lacked composure when we did have the ball - often leading us to throw possession away almost immediately.
> As has happened a couple of times this season, we retain greater control when our wing backs are further up the field. After the Sercombe injury, both Blair and Hussey essentially played as full backs, and this allowed MKD to pin us back. We did this because MKD reverted from a back four in their build up to a back three, and they pushed Kioso and Harvie higher up. This is a conundrum that we have yet to work out.
> We looked at our most threatening when Sercombe and Wright occupied more advanced positions than May and Joseph (who were almost playing as false nines in the early stages). This flattened and narrowed MKD's back five and gave Joseph the time and space to shoot for the opener. We also had a couple of other half-chances as Blair and Hussey provided outlets which they struggled to do as the game progressed. Had Blair squared the ball to Joseph who held his run, it might have been a different game.
> For all MKD's possession, their opportunities largely came from errors. The 'open goal' opportunity came because Twine teased Long to jump forward, and opened a huge gap between Blair and Boyle for a through ball to be played. MKD's rotations in the pockets caused poor decision-making in our defensive third throughout the match.
> The most common theme was when MKD switched the play quickly. They would have the ball down our right and encourage us to commit five defenders to their two. If MKD were able to beat this trap (which they often did), it led to overloads on the left hand side (sometimes 3 or 4 versus 1) leaving Blair exposed.
> To combat this, we tweaked to two 10s and one up front. This did help to reduce the space that Harvie found himself with all game, but it also meant that we lacked an outlet and MKD had the ability to build up from the back more easily.
> The goal was a poor one to concede - Williams failed to hold his run and this meant that Wright was trapped into giving the ball away, we collapsed into a narrow block and put no pressure on the ball, and our increasing desperation meant that we failed to clear our lines.
> Overall, a fair result. Our shape limited their opportunities but we were opened up on 3 or 4 occasions (but many teams in this league will be opened up more often than this). Unfortunately, our inability to retain possession and lack of outlet invited the pressure from which we ultimately succumbed.
Joseph my MOTM - showed great intelligence, has a bit of power and pace on him and looks an upgrade on what we have.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Shame that the goal came from poor movement up front. Changing the strikers late on is meant to mean they are fresh enough not to make such mistakes.
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Warwickshire Robin
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Very good post Hubert, a lot of good points there some I had noticed and a couple I hadn't!
I think a big problem is when we have gone ahead we seem to default into going almost to a 5-4-1 formation. Whether this is by instruction or due to the lack of confidence you mention I don't know, but it has the effect of us falling very deep and inviting the opposition on to us so that when we win the ball back and try to play out there is no room to do it. This seems to constantly lead to us either losing the ball dangerously close to our goal or us just launching it up to the only man left up field who invariably loses it because he's outnumbered and the ball coming straight back at us.
I think a big problem is when we have gone ahead we seem to default into going almost to a 5-4-1 formation. Whether this is by instruction or due to the lack of confidence you mention I don't know, but it has the effect of us falling very deep and inviting the opposition on to us so that when we win the ball back and try to play out there is no room to do it. This seems to constantly lead to us either losing the ball dangerously close to our goal or us just launching it up to the only man left up field who invariably loses it because he's outnumbered and the ball coming straight back at us.
That had to have been the most one sided 2nd half I've ever witnessed at WR, does anybody know what the possession stats were for the 2nd half? I would go so fat as to sat 95% - 5% and that's being kind.
Fair play to MK they just played the waiting game and didn't get frustrated just kept doing what they needed to do and the goal will come, it was quite pleasing watching their build up play.
No mention of the ref on here, he was poor gave MK most things when we scored and made it very hard for us to put tackles in for fear of the impending free kick.
Fair play to MK they just played the waiting game and didn't get frustrated just kept doing what they needed to do and the goal will come, it was quite pleasing watching their build up play.
No mention of the ref on here, he was poor gave MK most things when we scored and made it very hard for us to put tackles in for fear of the impending free kick.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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longmover wrote:That had to have been the most one sided 2nd half I've ever witnessed at WR, does anybody know what the possession stats were for the 2nd half? I would go so fat as to sat 95% - 5% and that's being kind.
Fair play to MK they just played the waiting game and didn't get frustrated just kept doing what they needed to do and the goal will come, it was quite pleasing watching their build up play.
No mention of the ref on here, he was poor gave MK most things when we scored and made it very hard for us to put tackles in for fear of the impending free kick.
Yet we could easily have been 2-0 up!
Ahemlongmover wrote:
No mention of the ref on here, he was poor gave MK most things when we scored and made it very hard for us to put tackles in for fear of the impending free kick.
Shade wrote:I can't believe there hasn't been any mention on this thread of how utterly appalling the ref was, especially in the first half. The follow through on Sercombe was a red all day long and he didn't even give a free kick for it. We were 1 up and still on top at that point, would have been a different game.
He also stopped the game when May was one on one with the last defender for a non-existant head injury and then gave the ball to the MK Dons keeper to restart. Countless nonsense free kicks given to MK for minimal contact. Any excuse to give them the ball, it seemed, while ignoring identical contacts or unfortunate handballs the other way.
The lino on the Colin Farmer Stand side was no better. Finally got one right when Joseph had knocked the ball past the defender and was brought down right in front of him.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Indeed. So a draw a fair result in the end.Artemis wrote:Or down at least 2-1.
MK Dons were very impressive.
According to the BBC stats:
CTFC: 10 shots, 4 on target shots
MKD: 14 shots, 3 on target shots.
So on the stats that matter, it was an even game.
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Hubert Parry
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https://www.rdftactics.com/post/committ ... l-analysis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Interesting tactical analysis here.
Interesting tactical analysis here.
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RegencyCheltenhamSpa
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Very interesting indeed. Shows that what you do in and out of possession is more important than how much possession you have.Hubert Parry wrote:https://www.rdftactics.com/post/committ ... l-analysis
Interesting tactical analysis here.
Shade wrote:Ahemlongmover wrote:
No mention of the ref on here, he was poor gave MK most things when we scored and made it very hard for us to put tackles in for fear of the impending free kick.
Shade wrote:I can't believe there hasn't been any mention on this thread of how utterly appalling the ref was, especially in the first half. The follow through on Sercombe was a red all day long and he didn't even give a free kick for it. We were 1 up and still on top at that point, would have been a different game.
He also stopped the game when May was one on one with the last defender for a non-existant head injury and then gave the ball to the MK Dons keeper to restart. Countless nonsense free kicks given to MK for minimal contact. Any excuse to give them the ball, it seemed, while ignoring identical contacts or unfortunate handballs the other way.
The lino on the Colin Farmer Stand side was no better. Finally got one right when Joseph had knocked the ball past the defender and was brought down right in front of him.
Good analysis in this thread. Again it was very noticeable that our wing backs were pinned back nearly the whole game after our opening goal meaning we lacked options going forward when we won the ball back. At the moment I would say that has looked our weakest area on Saturday both Hussey and Blair were outplayed by their opponents. I do feel we need to be braver when we take the lead and commit a few men forward and try and put pressure back on the opposition. Last year in league 2 you could get away with sitting back defending a lead but at this level eventually quality teams will break you down like on Saturday.
MK's press was phenomenal, I thought they would tire around the 70min mark but nope just kept going. From the two games I've seen at WR I've been impressed with both Wycombe's and Mk's fitness levels.Benctfc wrote:Good analysis in this thread. Again it was very noticeable that our wing backs were pinned back nearly the whole game after our opening goal meaning we lacked options going forward when we won the ball back. At the moment I would say that has looked our weakest area on Saturday both Hussey and Blair were outplayed by their opponents. I do feel we need to be braver when we take the lead and commit a few men forward and try and put pressure back on the opposition. Last year in league 2 you could get away with sitting back defending a lead but at this level eventually quality teams will break you down like on Saturday.