| Changes, Chances, Cajuste, Confidence, Character, Clarke 23:26 - Oct 21 with 703 views | unstableblue |
I was going to post earlier today that tonight was going to be a big game for McKenna, a win needed, a game I felt he needed to get his selection right, and for me he made too many changes. The team are still not settled and at this time you need to get patterns and relationships set. McAteer is not working. Philogene has been brilliant on the right at home. Szmodics has been doing OK.
Having said that the team he put out dominated the first half, incredible stats, BUT, we didn’t create enough clear cut chances. And given the quality of attack on the pitch from the start you have to take the chances you do create - Akpom needs to be composed and not hit the bar.
Cajuste - he is flattering to deceive at the moment. His turns past players into space are a joy to watch. But there’s isn’t enough end product with chances created or players put through. Love the guy, but we need more.
Confidence is low - it’s hampering our ability to go up a gear. The biggest issue across the game was that we couldn’t believe in ourselves enough to increase the tempo, and attack them in waves with real intent and agression.
McKenna’s post match interview on BBC Suffolk was as always on the money. He’s a good person and manager and we need to back him. One key observation he made was that we are not showing ourselves as a team with character to handle diversity at present - the old town dressing room had that. But our manager does feel there are the personalities in the dressing room to form that much needed team spirit. Also I really felt that the North Stand didn’t back the team effectively tonight, and that contributed to this inability to raise ourselves after their first goal and to fall apart.
Someone who did show the necessary drive, belief, character, and engine was Jack Clarke. He is becoming a well liked player, and his driving onwards in the second half was a rare highlight on a very disappointing night.
This may get worse before it gets better.
[Post edited 21 Oct 2025 23:40]
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| Courage on 10:44 - Oct 22 with 400 views | unstableblue |
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Courage
Noun
the ability to control your fear in a dangerous or difficult situation
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Charlton showed that attribute last night, dug deep under waves of attack (yes, attack that wasn’t relentless or quick enough). It would have been easy to sit in the deep block only. But they saw some weakness in our character and defence and they scored, and then like Boro came at us again.
We lacked courage, we went against our motto of running towards adversity
I thought Azor did show fight at times and wishing to push himself. And Jack Clarke showed heaps of it in that second half… his team mates heads were down, but he pushed himself on… but when he did get that low cross across the face of goal… Hirst didn’t have the courage to throw themselves I there… they had gone into their shell | |
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| Changes, Chances, Cajuste, Confidence, Character, Clarke on 11:38 - Oct 22 with 332 views | Smoresy |
Perhaps controversially I think Cajuste had one of his better games.
I'm sometimes unsure if his signature move is a strength or weakness; he beats his man a couple more times than he concedes possession, while it's those turnovers that are more likely to result in a goal being scored because of where he's playing. Last night though his turn was faultless from memory, and he also managed to move the ball on afterwards.
If his stunner against Forest last season wasn't such a one-off then he may also have bagged a goal or two, such were the positions he managed to take up on the edge of the box. And he got the crowd on side early with some tenacious defending, which was wholly lacking against Boro.
However, I fully agree with you and many others that he's too much a passenger in our midfield two. The absence of Azor last night exposed how vulnerable he makes us; that tenacious defending near the beginning had deserted him before HT. Is it a permanent fitness issue? Is he managing his exertion in the hope of prolonging a career on dodgy joints? No idea, but Azor is a huge sponge who mops up many of the leaks, though definitely not all. Cajuste's jogging when behind the play is polar opposite to what we had with Luongo and Morsy, and to what we need now. |  | | |
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