Doncaster Post Match

[Kitchandro]

We were woeful first half though we did pick up in the last 10 minutes or so. the penalty was damn lucky, we could easily have been 0-2 at half time.

Wellens gets stick for one simple reason. In general he dwells on the ball, takes far too long then with the opposition properly set and then with all our players well marked tries to play someone in and gives the ball back to the opposition. This has been going on all season and is one of the pivotal reasons we do not score the number of goals that our possession deserves.

Naughton's goal was probably the first time this season we played the ball quickly through midfield and had runners attacking the box, usually we sit on the ball, take time getting it forward so that when we do, our forwards are all marked up. I have made this point many times this season and second half yesterday was a great example of how it should be done.

Of course it helped a lot having positive runners up front, so we could play the ball up to them ably supported by King, Naughton and Cunningham all arriving at pace. so much better than all the long ball bollocks.

He doesn't 'dwell' on the ball, he simply waits until there's a decent pass available. There's no point in him passing it quickly to the opposition. He in fact rarely gives the ball away, he gives it away sometimes when he's trying to find the killer ball, but that happens. You only need to get it right a couple of times and you get a couple of goals

[CosbehFox]

I am a fan of Wellens but he does sometimes kill the pace of a move.

There's a ten minute spell we played absolutely brilliant. Quick, uptempo, winning the first and second balls. Play like that against any side in the division and we'll get promoted. That's the football I want to see.

Similarly there was a ten minute spell...the other way too. I am very much of the opinion, Davies is over-rated. He's too casual and struggles for pace off the mark. I can understand Cunningham's spell and Naughton to an extent, they are learning the game. Much prefer these pair to the likes of Bednar on loan.

[BlueSi13]

Yeah ok he had little effect, but Bednar is a greater option to Howard yet half are fans seem in love with him. I'd rather neither played though.

This...yesterday proved we have no need of a stationary wonder leading the line for us

[okie fox]

We were woeful first half though we did pick up in the last 10 minutes or so. the penalty was damn lucky, we could easily have been 0-2 at half time.

Wellens gets stick for one simple reason. In general he dwells on the ball, takes far too long then with the opposition properly set and then with all our players well marked tries to play someone in and gives the ball back to the opposition. This has been going on all season and is one of the pivotal reasons we do not score the number of goals that our possession deserves.

Naughton's goal was probably the first time this season we played the ball quickly through midfield and had runners attacking the box, usually we sit on the ball, take time getting it forward so that when we do, our forwards are all marked up. I have made this point many times this season and second half yesterday was a great example of how it should be done.

Of course it helped a lot having positive runners up front, so we could play the ball up to them ably supported by King, Naughton and Cunningham all arriving at pace. so much better than all the long ball bollocks.

Sorry you weren't at the game. You would have seen Wellens score a great goal (their goalie was not to blame). You would have seen Wellens making a perfectly weighted pass for Naughton's goal (one more assist makes 6 for the season). You would have seen how well Wellens plays when the forwards make runs to get open (e.g., Vassall through the middle, Dyer on the wing).

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Well done lads. You made me feel good on a bad day.

[hackneyfox]

You see just how far we have moved on when people start noting the mistakes made by Vitor and Davies, they could be sharper at times but currently the other option is:

Hobbs & Morrison

It isn't difficult to see which works the best.

I'd sooner see a player make a mistake through being complacent about his skills than see Morrison get humiliated because he hasn't a clue.

I'd sooner see neither of course, but we're not a Premier side

[Kitchandro]

Was Hobbs really that bad against Watford? Because he'd been much improved before then. I like Vitor but his marking isn't the best, Hobbs' positioning is better.

[hackneyfox]

Hobbs was poor against Watford and has been in a few other games.

I just expect mistakes from Hobbs and Weale nowadays.

And Vitor has better distribution than Hobbs, but then that wouldn't be difficult.

I like Hobbs and still think he can get it back but for the moment I much prefer Davies & Vitor.

[hackneyfox]

The 2 games he was improved on are bookended by 2 or 3 awful games and then Watford.

[Kitchandro]

Hobbs was poor against Watford and has been in a few other games.

I just expect mistakes from Hobbs and Weale nowadays.

And Vitor has better distribution than Hobbs, but then that wouldn't be difficult.

I like Hobbs and still think he can get it back but for the moment I much prefer Davies & Vitor.

I agree with that. I just thought Vitor let his man go quite a few times yesterday.

[OriginalRobboFOX]

I am very much of the opinion, Davies is over-rated. He's too casual and struggles for pace off the mark.

This couldn't be further from the truth. Davies is a class above any of our centre halves. I'd go as far as saying he's the best centre half in this league. End of.

[okie fox]

This couldn't be further from the truth. Davies is a class above any of our centre halves. I'd go as far as saying he's the best centre half in this league. End of.

Davies is a tremendous athlete, but seems to lose his man at times. Maybe, he loses concentration. If I remember correctly, he fell out of favour at Villa because of errors he made.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

This couldn't be further from the truth. Davies is a class above any of our centre halves. I'd go as far as saying he's the best centre half in this league. End of.

While I don't nescessarily agree with Cardiff's views on Davies being over rated, I do think on the rare occaisions he does have to chase someone, his lack of acceleration does let him down. Once he gets going he's reasonably quick and mobile, but he loses yards on opposition from time to time becasue he's not that sharp off the mark.

Still think he's a cut above, mind.

[Thracian]

Sorry you weren't at the game. You would have seen Wellens score a great goal (their goalie was not to blame). You would have seen Wellens making a perfectly weighted pass for Naughton's goal (one more assist makes 6 for the season). You would have seen how well Wellens plays when the forwards make runs to get open (e.g., Vassall through the middle, Dyer on the wing).

You've touched on the key there - the difference it makes when people make constructive runs - either for themselves or for the food of the team. And second half yesterday there were runs in all directions and from a fair selection of different players.

With people staying available wide it also meant those runs exposed the maximum amount of space which we readily exploited because we had players quick enough, selfless enough and in-tune enough to do so,.

Whenever we play badly people should look up and see the lack of movement - the picture of players just standing in one position waiting and hoping for something to happen. For years we've been generally pitiful in this respect. But yesterday's team, as an attacking force, would have been a handful for anyone in The Championship.

The secret now is to make sure that movement continues when we are not doing so well and in other phases of the game like corners and free-kicks. That way it won't be long before someone else gets a thrashing.

There was one other big factor about our purple patch. We had no-one slowing the play down but all sorts of players showing determination to get forward. Simple!

[hackneyfox]

I can't remember when I last saw a break with so many players moving forward and available as we did for Naughton's goal.

Wonderful to watch again and again on the telly last night and to confirm that it was as good as it had seemed at the game.

[Thracian]

This couldn't be further from the truth. Davies is a class above any of our centre halves. I'd go as far as saying he's the best centre half in this league. End of.

Sadly Cardiff Fox is probably right at the moment. Yes, Davies has a stack of talent but he doesn't make the best of it, which is clearly why he's not established himself at Villa. He'll probably make a better player when he's older and wiser.

Davies has just enough football in him to want to use it and, unfortunately, seeing as he's a centre-back, he's not got enough football in him to beat intelligent players if they hunt him down.

Bottom line is that Davies doesn't always make good decisions quickly enough. He doesn't always do the simple thing straight away. Wellens has become a much improved player since he started passing the ball more quickly and Davies needs to do the same. To keep it swift and simple.

For me he gets careless and is always likely to be caught in possession as happened yesterday, not because he needs to be, but because he wants to look cool.

Well I've news for him. Ian King was probably the best centre-back I ever watched at City - culture personified. And, although invariably constructive he just played the ball 10 yards and on the floor usually within one or two touches.

Alan Hansen kept it simple, so too Colin Todd and Bobby Moore for the most part. They read the play, won possession and got rid quickly and accurately by thinking ahead. Davies needs to do the same. Like a referee, the less you notice him, when he's on the ball, the better he's likely to be playing.

[marbelladave]

Naughton's goal was a classic counter attack against a side who had gone gung ho. There were only 2 passes in the entire move (1 a simple pass to Wellens who subsequently had no-one near him and 80 yards to sprint into) so I'm not sure that example is particularly relevant.

I was critical of Wellens earlier this season, but he's been imperious in the last few games in a slightly altered role.

If Naughton's goal was so classic, why have we never come close to such a goal at any time previously this season? It may have been an extreme example but attacking quickly with pace and purpose has hardly been a typical of our play this season.

Wellen's has improved in recent games, but that has not stopped us losing badly to Watford and Bristol, teams that we outplayed for substantial periods of both games. There are issues with our set up in all areas, midfield not excepted.

He doesn't 'dwell' on the ball, he simply waits until there's a decent pass available. There's no point in him passing it quickly to the opposition. He in fact rarely gives the ball away, he gives it away sometimes when he's trying to find the killer ball, but that happens. You only need to get it right a couple of times and you get a couple of goals

Sorry, but my view is almost the complete opposite, some of his passes might find a team mate but by the time his pass arrives the defence is in position to easily win the ball and tidy up, to my mind the primary reason our forwards have failed to find the net this season

.

Sorry you weren't at the game. You would have seen Wellens score a great goal (their goalie was not to blame). You would have seen Wellens making a perfectly weighted pass for Naughton's goal (one more assist makes 6 for the season). You would have seen how well Wellens plays when the forwards make runs to get open (e.g., Vassall through the middle, Dyer on the wing).

I accept that I was not at this game, but I have seen the majority of our games, both home and away, and the point I was making was about his performances in general. Yesterday Donny were poor, practically giving up in the second half so we had loads of space to exploit going forward. Wellens did well enough in this situation, having willing runners in space makes his job much easier and he hit them consistently and the results were excellent. Against more difficult opposition, who knows? With the kind of options he had yesterday, then maybe, did not happen against Watford or Bristol though...

[OriginalRobboFOX]

While I don't nescessarily agree with Cardiff's views on Davies being over rated, I do think on the rare occaisions he does have to chase someone, his lack of acceleration does let him down. Once he gets going he's reasonably quick and mobile, but he loses yards on opposition from time to time becasue he's not that sharp off the mark.

Still think he's a cut above, mind.

All footballers have flaws. I understand what you say about pace but centre halves by their very nature are not known for their acceleration. Upson, Terry, Jagielka, Dawson are all England class centre halves and they are not known for their pace or acceleration. I think Davies is top drawer and yes at times he has his flaws but I challenge anyone to name a better centre half in this league....

In fact if Haangeland goes Arsenal or if Gary Cahill leaves Bolton I'd expect the likes of Fulham, Bolton, and the likes of Wigan, West Ham to be sniffing around him if he is to be sold by Villa...

[Collymore]

I love watching players reactions and interactions when we score. I noticed when we scored our 5th Abe was tearing up the right, king hit the post and Waghorn popped it it and Abe just turned around walked back to his own half showing no emotion what so ever.

The guy is just so professional it is untrue.

[Haydos]

The guy is just so professional it is untrue.

You could look that at any way though.....eg. He hasn't really fit in with the lads yet.

Would prefer him to be celebrating tbh, having a tight knit team never hurt

[B52]

I love watching players reactions and interactions when we score. I noticed when we scored our 5th Abe was tearing up the right, king hit the post and Waghorn popped it it and Abe just turned around walked back to his own half showing no emotion what so ever.

The guy is just so professional it is untrue.

The closest to emotion you will see from him is if he performs Seppuku because we failed promotion.

[CosbehFox]

This couldn't be further from the truth. Davies is a class above any of our centre halves. I'd go as far as saying he's the best centre half in this league. End of.

Williams from Swansea is better easily IMO.

Davies marking and concentration are very suspect. He's not particularly very good at communicating as well. That's not to say he's not good, just over-rated.

Vitors distribution isnt all that either. A fair few pointless hoofs tbh. Hobbs normally has to pass it with little options available to him. The ball was considerably less knocked around by the defence cos Donny and fair play to them came to attack us. They played 4-3-3 and once the full backs got into the game, game over as the likes of Healy/Sharp weren't going to track back.

[AmyLGK]

Poor King looks so upset when he hits the post and Waggy finishes for him! It's alright mate - it's only one game! Bless him! He didn't celebrate at all for that last one!

[Narborough_fox]

Vassell is still yet to lose an English League game he's scored in

Darius Vassell has never been on the losing side in English league football in a game where he has scored (46 in PL, 1 in Champ). Hero.

[MrSpaM]

Anyone else notice how p'd off King looked when Waghorn got the last one