| Harper and Evans... 17:40 - Aug 21 with 3585 views | pointofblue |
Utterly absymal today. Couldn't tackle, couldn't pass, couldn't shoot. We wouldn't have noticed a difference if we played with nine.
I actually thought our defence did ok considering they were constantly being exposed by them; Coulson has a lot to do to prove he is better than Penney though.
Edwards and Bonne also had good games. Burns flattered to deceive again but is only just coming back from injury; then again he was no better against Morecambe. Fraser was non-existent until he made our second with a lovely cross; Twine was far more effective.
I guess it could be argued that it's promising that we created so much considering we had no central midfield and we could have been out of sight before they equalised but we could have easily lost it as well. |  |
| |  |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:45 - Aug 21 with 2985 views | gazzer1999 |
Evans looks unfit and still on the beach. Forget the mistake, awful corners that do not go over the first defender, he really is not an upgrade as skipper. |  | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:47 - Aug 21 with 2953 views | JDB23 |
Hard to disagree with any of that. I thought Harper was ok first half but completely overrun in the second. Coulsen looked miles off the pace, not sure if it was Penny who was ill and Coulsen rushed in after his recovery from Covid, but that was a very underwhelming debut. Two bad games in a row for Evans, wouldn't be surprised to see Carroll in against Wimbledon.
Fraser has 2 (should have been 3) goal contributions this season and yet he's barely got into a single game. I hope he wasn't made to look better than he is by MK's possession based game last season and he starts to come good soon. | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:51 - Aug 21 with 2899 views | portmanking |
Too true. No amount of gelling will see this pairing work. They're just inherently incompatible and I'm more alarmed that Cook thought they would work.
Both lackadaisical, both lacking stamina, both guilty over overplaying. As poor a defensive shield as you could wish for really. | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:53 - Aug 21 with 2873 views | jayessess |
Harper was good I thought, but tired after their 2nd and could barely complete a pass in the last 15 minutes. Evans is... well... let's just say I'm not very convinced at the moment. Maybe I'm missing something, but he doesn't make a lot of tackles and interceptions, seemingly can't play on the half turn, doesn't play short passes between the lines. Atm I've got "hits a nice diag" in his plus column. [Post edited 21 Aug 2021 17:59]
|  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:54 - Aug 21 with 2856 views | thebooks |
I thought Harper was good in the first half, but seemed to tire in the second. He was pushed forward as well, which I’m not sure suits him.
Evans is like Matt Holland but with a mistake in him.
Carroll looked tidy when he came on. |  | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:57 - Aug 21 with 2827 views | DanTheMan |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:53 - Aug 21 by jayessess |
Harper was good I thought, but tired after their 2nd and could barely complete a pass in the last 15 minutes. Evans is... well... let's just say I'm not very convinced at the moment. Maybe I'm missing something, but he doesn't make a lot of tackles and interceptions, seemingly can't play on the half turn, doesn't play short passes between the lines. Atm I've got "hits a nice diag" in his plus column. [Post edited 21 Aug 2021 17:59]
|
Think this is right, Harper did OK I thought, especially in the first half but Evans hasn't impressed me so far. |  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:58 - Aug 21 with 2806 views | portmanking |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:54 - Aug 21 by thebooks |
I thought Harper was good in the first half, but seemed to tire in the second. He was pushed forward as well, which I’m not sure suits him.
Evans is like Matt Holland but with a mistake in him.
Carroll looked tidy when he came on. |
Comparing Evans to Matt Holland is a horrendous take. I'd retire your TWTD profile now.
Have to hope he's unfit because if this is him at full speed we're frankly fcked. | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:02 - Aug 21 with 2751 views | JeanManuelThetis |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:54 - Aug 21 by thebooks |
I thought Harper was good in the first half, but seemed to tire in the second. He was pushed forward as well, which I’m not sure suits him.
Evans is like Matt Holland but with a mistake in him.
Carroll looked tidy when he came on. |
I struggle to see any comparison between Evans and Matt Holland other than the fact they are both central midfielders... |  | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| Harper and Evans... on 18:03 - Aug 21 with 2735 views | pointofblue |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:57 - Aug 21 by DanTheMan |
Think this is right, Harper did OK I thought, especially in the first half but Evans hasn't impressed me so far. |
I'm not sure; MK Dons still played through us very easily in the first half - we still didn't have a central midfield to speak of. It didn't turn up all match. | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:06 - Aug 21 with 2707 views | gazzer1999 |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:02 - Aug 21 by JeanManuelThetis |
I struggle to see any comparison between Evans and Matt Holland other than the fact they are both central midfielders... |
Number 8? | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:06 - Aug 21 with 2701 views | DanTheMan |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:03 - Aug 21 by pointofblue |
I'm not sure; MK Dons still played through us very easily in the first half - we still didn't have a central midfield to speak of. It didn't turn up all match. |
That's fair but I think that's more to do with balance. Personally think we need a Skuse type player in there who covers more when we break forward.
Maybe Carroll is that player. | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:11 - Aug 21 with 2639 views | thebooks |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:58 - Aug 21 by portmanking |
Comparing Evans to Matt Holland is a horrendous take. I'd retire your TWTD profile now.
Have to hope he's unfit because if this is him at full speed we're frankly fcked. |
Of course — I just mean in the way Matt Holland could seem anonymous. | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:13 - Aug 21 with 2589 views | pointofblue |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:11 - Aug 21 by thebooks |
Of course — I just mean in the way Matt Holland could seem anonymous. |
Though Holland tended to be anonymous because he kept the play ticking over and more often than not we dominated matches during his tenure. Evans is anonymous because he does sod all. | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:18 - Aug 21 with 2531 views | thebooks |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:13 - Aug 21 by pointofblue |
Though Holland tended to be anonymous because he kept the play ticking over and more often than not we dominated matches during his tenure. Evans is anonymous because he does sod all. |
I, erm, didn’t phrase my original post very well :-)
To be clear, Lee Evans is some way short of being Matt Holland! | | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:18 - Aug 21 with 2524 views | belgablue |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:13 - Aug 21 by pointofblue |
Though Holland tended to be anonymous because he kept the play ticking over and more often than not we dominated matches during his tenure. Evans is anonymous because he does sod all. |
I think he lacks a bit of composure - gives the ball away far too often and gives away needless free kicks. The goal is a shambles.
I feel we’re missing a genuine sitting midfielder as neither Evans nor Harper seem right for that role. The amount of times MK found space between our back four and centre midfielders was frightening, surprised they didn’t capitalise on it more. |  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:30 - Aug 21 with 2425 views | Deano69 |
I said almost the exact opposite about them against Morecambe, defended a lot higher up the pitch and broke up play. No one done that today. |  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:33 - Aug 21 with 2403 views | pointofblue |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:30 - Aug 21 by Deano69 |
I said almost the exact opposite about them against Morecambe, defended a lot higher up the pitch and broke up play. No one done that today. |
To be fair, I think I said similar after Morecambe! | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:47 - Aug 21 with 2331 views | legoman |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:51 - Aug 21 by portmanking |
Too true. No amount of gelling will see this pairing work. They're just inherently incompatible and I'm more alarmed that Cook thought they would work.
Both lackadaisical, both lacking stamina, both guilty over overplaying. As poor a defensive shield as you could wish for really. |
Early days! | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:51 - Aug 21 with 2305 views | HighgateBlue |
| Harper and Evans... on 17:45 - Aug 21 by gazzer1999 |
Evans looks unfit and still on the beach. Forget the mistake, awful corners that do not go over the first defender, he really is not an upgrade as skipper. |
I seem to recall Cook being quite publicly harsh about the previous squad's fitness, and seemed to be implying a fair bit of criticism of his predecessor in terms of what training they did.
Well, this season is just as bad in terms of injuries, and worse in terms of stamina. We really do just go into a coma halfway through the second half at the moment. If Cook can dish it out, he needs to be able to take it too. |  | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:56 - Aug 21 with 2266 views | Scuzzer |
Think you are being a bit severe. First half they were good enough but second half they completely fell apart. Taking off Burns and putting on Carroll had the affect of confusing them to their roles. They were sorting it out for a good minute. It also reduced our fluency in attack with Fraser now playing out wider. Midfield is plain to see is our weak point at the moment...they constantly leave no protection for our centre backs. Needs sorting. |  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 19:03 - Aug 21 with 2198 views | DarkHorse |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:06 - Aug 21 by DanTheMan |
That's fair but I think that's more to do with balance. Personally think we need a Skuse type player in there who covers more when we break forward.
Maybe Carroll is that player. |
We look far too open, easy to counter against.
Carroll looked pretty industrious when he came on. If he stays deep and plays like that, he could compliment Harper and/or Evans, but I would still like an enforcer-type there against better sides. [Post edited 21 Aug 2021 19:04]
|  | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 21:13 - Aug 21 with 1982 views | 3_5_2 |
It was clear we were being over run in midfield and this was picked up by Mick Mills who said they play 2 the striker and we play a single standard “10”. Cool mentioned it in his post match so he knew about it yet didn’t change the shape.
I was impressed with Evans / Harper v Morcombe but not today. I think this was due to the shape MK which we didn’t deal with, a worry going forwards re Cooks tactical know how |  |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 21:40 - Aug 21 with 1877 views | pointofblue |
| Harper and Evans... on 18:56 - Aug 21 by Scuzzer |
Think you are being a bit severe. First half they were good enough but second half they completely fell apart. Taking off Burns and putting on Carroll had the affect of confusing them to their roles. They were sorting it out for a good minute. It also reduced our fluency in attack with Fraser now playing out wider. Midfield is plain to see is our weak point at the moment...they constantly leave no protection for our centre backs. Needs sorting. |
MK Dons dominated the middle of the park throughout. Bringing Carroll on actually stabilised us defensively though did seem to affect us moving forward - perhaps because Fraser moved out wide rather than being in the number 10 position? | |
| |
| Harper and Evans... on 22:21 - Aug 21 with 1789 views | michaeldownunder |
Tin hat on
If Cole had been playing in the last two games we would have won both of them.
No one is covering the high flying fullbacks
As I said before we are playing a back three but with only two players |  | | |
| Harper and Evans... on 22:23 - Aug 21 with 1779 views | pointofblue |
| Harper and Evans... on 22:21 - Aug 21 by michaeldownunder |
Tin hat on
If Cole had been playing in the last two games we would have won both of them.
No one is covering the high flying fullbacks
As I said before we are playing a back three but with only two players |
Cole at his best, yes, not the Cole of the last couple of seasons. | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
