Derby post match thread 0-1

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Gritty is probably an appropriate word to describe the performace but better sides than Derby would have ensured we came away with nothing from that match.

 

We started poorly and our passing was disjointed and it meant that for the first 10 minutes or so we were under the kosh a bit. The important thing was that even during that spell, we didn't concede and we then went and did what all good teams do and got a fortuitous goal at the other end to end a first half 1-0 up when we really should have been level!

 

Second half we looked fluid in glimpses when going forward but the final balls just weren't right, as with the Leeds match. As much as I'm a fan of his, Knockaert could quite easily have cost us the game with his powder puff performance on the right hand side when we switched to 4-4-1-1 for the last 15 minutes - he's got to be better defensively in such situations and his ball retention was poor meaning that a lot was coming at De Laet down our right flank.

 

Moore and Morgan were our standout performers, so many times they made blocks or just bullied Derby players off the ball! King did the little things, De Laet got up and down and Drinkwater tried his best to link things up in the middle. MOTM I'd probably go for Morgan however.

 

With the front 3 I think given a bit more time it could work but Wood needs to either a) improve his touch or b) not insist on trying to bring everything down and flick some balls on occasionally. I wish we would play to Vardy's strengths though as well. Watch him, every time he's looking for that ball over the top or slipped in behind but far too many times today he was given it to feet rather than ahead of him where he can use his pace to good effect. That goal that he scored at Boro exemplified what he's about, ball a few yards ahead of him, pace and a nice finish.

[Monsell1976]

Just got back, not the best but another 3 points.

Only real complaint is when we get in good position why don't we just have a shot, seemed to over play it at times, strikers look out of sorts a bit, look like they need a bit of confidence.

[Matt]

Well nobody on our team has scored for 2 games and we've barely had a shot on target either. Nobody's crying about it yet but it does look like someone needs to pick up some form and become our "goalscorer". I don't think we need to buy one but our strikers need to step up. 

 

Between Nugent, Wood and Vardy they've scored 6 goals (2 penalties, one in the cup) since February, in 19 games. If we had one striker who's scored 6 goals in 19 games I'd be concerned they were a bit out of form, let alone that being the combined total of all three. 

 

Thank-you.

 

Rationality.

[purpleronnie]

I already noted that our team doesnt look full of goals, thats my only concern and I guess its a big one, we'll see.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Well nobody on our team has scored for 2 games and we've barely had a shot on target either. Nobody's crying about it yet but it does look like someone needs to pick up some form and become our "goalscorer". I don't think we need to buy one but our strikers need to step up. 

 

Between Nugent, Wood and Vardy they've scored 6 goals (2 penalties, one in the cup) since February, in 19 games. If we had one striker who's scored 6 goals in 19 games I'd be concerned they were a bit out of form, let alone that being the combined total of all three. 

 

You can't be carrying on stats from last season! 7 points out of a possible 9 and people are harking back to the bad run we had LAST SEASON

 

I think at the minute the main problem is supply. First half at Boro we were nowehere near getting it to the front men and they were chasing shadows. Second half when the midfield got their act together and we saw what Vardy and Nugent can do.

 

For me, the question should be more about how, when we've played a variety of systems with a central 3-man midfield this season, we've still not been able to dominate in that area of the pitch so far this season bar 45 minutes at Boro...

[cc_star]

Gritty is probably an appropriate word to describe the performace but better sides than Derby would have ensured we came away with nothing from that match.

 

We started poorly and our passing was disjointed and it meant that for the first 10 minutes or so we were under the kosh a bit. The important thing was that even during that spell, we didn't concede and we then went and did what all good teams do and got a fortuitous goal at the other end to end a first half 1-0 up when we really should have been level!

 

Second half we looked fluid in glimpses when going forward but the final balls just weren't right, as with the Leeds match. As much as I'm a fan of his, Knockaert could quite easily have cost us the game with his powder puff performance on the right hand side when we switched to 4-4-1-1 for the last 15 minutes - he's got to be better defensively in such situations and his ball retention was poor meaning that a lot was coming at De Laet down our right flank.

 

Moore and Morgan were our standout performers, so many times they made blocks or just bullied Derby players off the ball! King did the little things, De Laet got up and down and Drinkwater tried his best to link things up in the middle. MOTM I'd probably go for Morgan however.

 

With the front 3 I think given a bit more time it could work but Wood needs to either a) improve his touch or b) not insist on trying to bring everything down and flick some balls on occasionally. I wish we would play to Vardy's strengths though as well. Watch him, every time he's looking for that ball over the top or slipped in behind but far too many times today he was given it to feet rather than ahead of him where he can use his pace to good effect. That goal that he scored at Boro exemplified what he's about, ball a few yards ahead of him, pace and a nice finish.

 

Nugent & Vardy both thrive running onto the ball, obviously Nuge with his experience at this level has a bit more to his game, but we should be looking to mix it up with through balls to get the best out of them, especially Vardy who has a bit of pace.

 

I've still not made my mind up about Wood, he's 21 though and there's plenty to work with, I think he's hindered by us playing to him like he's a big man when that's not really his game at all. I'm not actually sure what his game is though.

[Matt]

All i'm saying and i'm not moaning, just raising my big concerns that I don't see goals in our team.

 

The simple fact is without goals you don't win matches.

 

But we're doing ok so far, i'll enjoy tonight and it's on to Birmingham next week.

[BNET]

About as ludicrous as saying Pearson is one of our worst ever managers.

In your opinion, and who cares about that you plank.

[Grewks]

May i just add.....

 

 

 

United have been pretty poor first half at Swansea...but are leading 2-0.

 

 

They have been the master of it for years.

[Carl the Llama]

Just got back from a road trip north of the border to see we got another gritty away in.  Absolutely chuffed.  If we can keep up being a nuisance on the road then I don't see why we shouldn't end up challenging for the automatic spots. 

[Fox92]

We weren't fantastic today at all, but we dug in deep and grinded out the result, which for me shows the sign of a good team, just look at Manchester United throughout the years. 

 

Thought the front three were excellent despite not scoring. Nugent and Vardy work so hard for the team. Moore and Wes were solid once again.

[Matt]

May i just add.....

 

 

 

United have been pretty poor first half at Swansea...but are leading 2-0.

 

 

They have been the master of it for years.

 

Exactly, I'm happy with that, yeah it's nice to see us play well, but ultimately goals win games, as long as we score (Or get goals via OG's of which we can't rely on every week) and win I don't care, i'm happy.

 

Playing well is something to work on when we consistently win, winning = points, not playing well.

[BNET]

About as ludicrous as saying Pearson is one of our worst ever manage

double post

[ScouseFox]

You can't be carrying on stats from last season! 7 points out of a possible 9 and people are harking back to the bad run we had LAST SEASON

 

I think at the minute the main problem is supply. First half at Boro we were nowehere near getting it to the front men and they were chasing shadows. Second half when the midfield got their act together and we saw what Vardy and Nugent can do.

 

For me, the question should be more about how, when we've played a variety of systems with a central 3-man midfield this season, we've still not been able to dominate in that area of the pitch so far this season bar 45 minutes at Boro...

 

Ok seen as last season and the form from last season is now COMPLETELY irrelevant, this season...

 

1 Vardy goal in 3 League games from the 3 players. Wood, bought to be our goalscorer has barely managed a shot on goal at all, let alone an actual goal. Vardy still regularly missing routine chances as well, it seems. 

 

Hardly banging them in, are we? 

[MattGamble92]

After the first 10 minutes we had 3 or 4 great chances and looked good. We wasn't spectacular but we didn't need to be. They never really threatened. 7 points from 3 games while experimenting and finding our feet is great no matter which way you look at it

[cc_star]

Exactly, I'm happy with that, yeah it's nice to see us play well, but ultimately goals win games, as long as we score (Or get goals via OG's of which we can't rely on every week) and win I don't care, i'm happy.

 

Playing well is something to work on when we consistently win, winning = points, not playing well.

 

I never saw Cardiff set the world alight last season, Hull had their moments but again they were more solid than fantastic.

 

Us in the first half of the season and Watford in the second half of the season were (generally) fantastic.

 

Cardiff & Hull are in the Prem while us & watford are in the Champs

 

Winning games is about a winning spirit, a certain sort of attitude.

 

We didn't have that last season, for eg. we were playing really well creating 20 chances away at Blackburn and losing 2-1

 

So yes, I'd like our performance level to raise a bit, I'd love to see a bit more creativity from the midfield but those sort of things come with confidence, but in the meantime I'll take a hard-nosed, winning spirit, last ditch tackles, the whole team digging in as if their lives depended on it... God knows we could have done with it in games like Brighton & Cardiff away last season where we were winning going into the closing stages of the game but conceded soft goals.

 

We can certainly pick fault that we're not flowing yet, but if we can do this playing relatively poorly it bodes well for when things do come off

[fleckneymike]

I think we're lulling teams into a false sense of security by being so remorselessly dull and uninspiring.

On the bright side Wood did jump once and even won the ball.

On the down side looks like Nugent has reverted to playing whilst pissed.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Obviously not gelling yet, but as long as we can eke out points, we can't complain.

[Bob Weasel Fox]

with two away fixtures 7 points is a great start, got to be more positive at home.

This

Please be more positive at home big Nige

Great start mind you

[foxes4e4]

Great win......but jeez it's hard listening to the commentary.

isnt that just listening to stringer anyway

[Guest Col city fan]

I think Liam Moore is gradually making that second centre-back spot his own.

That's good to see.

Another very solid game today.

[Babylon]

All i'm saying and i'm not moaning, just raising my big concerns that I don't see goals in our team.

 

The simple fact is without goals you don't win matches.

 

But we're doing ok so far, i'll enjoy tonight and it's on to Birmingham next week.

Goals are in our team, it's the same team as last year. We just aren't scoring that much at the minute.

[Tielemans63]

I never saw Cardiff set the world alight last season, Hull had their moments but again they were more solid than fantastic.

Us in the first half of the season and Watford in the second half of the season were (generally) fantastic.

Cardiff & Hull are in the Prem while us & watford are in the Champs

Winning games is about a winning spirit, a certain sort of attitude.

We didn't have that last season, for eg. we were playing really well creating 20 chances away at Blackburn and losing 2-1

So yes, I'd like our performance level to raise a bit, I'd love to see a bit more creativity from the midfield but those sort of things come with confidence, but in the meantime I'll take a hard-nosed, winning spirit, last ditch tackles, the whole team digging in as if their lives depended on it... God knows we could have done with it in games like Brighton & Cardiff away last season where we were winning going into the closing stages of the game but conceded soft goals.

We can certainly pick fault that we're not flowing yet, but if we can do this playing relatively poorly it bodes well for when things do come off

Cracking post.

[Ric Flair]

just read this on the sky report , i thought it must be a mistake .

is it really true ?

Apparently so, shows how crap we've been over the years. Haha

[Guest ttfn]

I'd be interested in people's thoughts as to whether they'd like to see us Cardiff/Hull our way to promotion or play like we did in the first 15 games of last season and stay in the Championship.

Ideal world, you get both. But if I had to choose, the second one looks very tempting.