team line up

[daz]

gk=andy, back4=ian,mark,daz,harry as normal. r/wing=tom, l/wing=kelvin, c/mid=mark and matt, forwards= gaz and ian. putting ian up front because his terrier style is wasted on the wing and mark in the middle cause he wins everything in the air.

[Manager]

That's not far off the team I would pick, all things being equal.

Defence as normal!!!!!!!!

Am I not good enough anymore!!!!!!!!

On a serious note however. We are still letting in 6 goals a game which is obviously far too many. We are never going to be competitive whilst we do that.

I think that we need (at the moment) to look at each game individually to make us competitive ie this week we play Bestwood next week Varsity as things stand I would probably play a slightly different formation against each team due to their standard.

I'm still learning this managerial lark and I am quite happy to admit I'm not always right.

So any input from you guys would be helpful.

thanks Daz

[daz]

the only other thing to do is to get hold of a out and out striker someone who knows where goal is. thats no disregard to Gaz but hes no Baros which i think he'll agree. hes scoring goals but where missing the strikers goals that are costing us. we need goals to defend.

[Matt Hallam]

Hi Daz, thanks for posting.

I’m not going to disagree with the team you’ve picked above. On paper it looks pretty good and I do like the idea of having Ian up front hopefully giving the opposition defence something different to think about. At the moment we’ve got two players up front who are a bit more ‘’subtle’ in their play in terms of finding space, holding the ball up and flicking the ball on (which Gareth is proving can work). Perhaps Ian would be a bit more of a handful for the opposition defence and ‘scare’ them a bit more putting them on the back foot.

HOWEVER (you didn’t think it was going to be all good did you!!! )

I don’t think recent results have been because of team selection. If we had been losing 0-1, 1-2, 0-2, 1-3, etc. then yes we would have to ‘tweak’ the side to try and make up this difference but we are being comprehensively beaten each week and we are conceding a hell of a lot of goals. This suggests that the way we defend as a team is wrong (either that or individually as players we just aren’t good enough, which I don’t believe). I’m not 100% sure what we are doing wrong but it is right throughout the team not just one or two players. We haven’t conceded 14 goals in the last two games because of the way Tom plays, or Ian plays, or Harry plays. It’s the way we are all playing. And while the team above would have its definite strong points I really don’t think it would have stopped us conceding six goals last Sunday. We would still have been making the same defensive mistakes.

Anyone who has the answer to our defensive woes would certainly get a slap on the back and a good firm handshake.

[daz]

Hi matt, i agree that the number of goals conceding is a problem and that its a team problem but what i am trying to say is if we were scoring more then the opposition would be on the back foot given how team the time to regroup behind the ball. from a defensive point of view i feel that the defence are marking there chosen men but are therefore unable to pick up the runners from midfield. also if we look at the goals conceded then we can see that the majority of them were long range efforts and not defensive errors in the box.

[Manager]

Yes, you're right an out and out striker who could score 30/40 goals a season would be great !!! But from experience they don't grow on trees. Thats why we were initially 'forced' to put our ex-goalkeeper upfront. But as hes already into double figures hes not doing bad for an ex-keeper.

Playing @ the back myself I know how frustrating it can be to feel like your doing your job but still getting stuffed.

But by the same token I don't expect a magic wand to change things overnight and if i'm honest my opinion is that we got ourselves into this mess so lets get ourselves out of it.

Although I wont turn my back on any new players who prove they are committed. eg Daz,Phil,Mark,Ian,Tom all new players who I can rely on week in week out.

Theres nothing better than a bit of competition to keep people on their toes.

First things first. We are letting in too many goals and I need to get us involved in games as opposed to waiting until we are '4-0' down by which time the game has passed us by.

How to do this is a difficult question but my first instinct would be to get the team working better as a defensive unit before I start worrying about how many we are scoring.( For a change I have actually got players this season who are attacking minded and correct me if i'm wrong Matt we are scoring more freely than in previous year.) We do however need to stop wasting chances which we are guilty of, opposition keepers are not being made to work hard enough.

So what to do on Sunday Bestwood obviously a good team but if we can compete against Elwes why can't we compete against other 'top teams' I have an idea in my head but don't want to commit my self yet.

How about some opinions from others Daz seems to be the only one 'thinking about it' at the moment.

PS Again i'll say why aren't I in your team !!!!!

[daz]

sorry craig but i thought your fitness was lacking........Only joking. there are alot of players to choose from.

[GARETH]

Firstly I'd like to thank Daz for his comments, obviously he thinks the way forward is to keep conseeding the 6 goals a games and try and find players that can score more than 6 a game.

For this we would nedd strikers that score 100 goals a season between them, and still need the rest of the team to chip in with a few. I'm sure there are strikers capable of this in our league, but most probably, if they can do that, they will play at a little higher level -hey!!

I'don't know if Daz has also noted that it isn't just the strikers missing chances - but perhaps it's easy to point the finger at me as he seems to have been doing since week one.

I admit that I have been missing chances, but so has Mark and so has Ian and so has Tom. He should also note that our opposition strikers miss several chances, but still get given enough chances, time and space to still score 6 a game.

I would also suspect that not that many players in any team have scored 10 league goals.

As a team it's not just down to the strikers to score the goals, yes they are expected to score the most - but when the team only has 10 and you are having a pop at the person who has 10 (which is more than the rest added together) then I think your judgement is clouded. ; ;D

[daz]

it seems as if gareth is taking it personal. if gareth does know football then he should know that attack is the best form of defence, and i dont believe that my comments have been directed at Gareth but at the team as an attacking unit, sorry if this spoils your tantrum......

[Matt Hallam]

Hey boys. Put the handbags away we're supposed to be bring the team closer together not creating more problems

I'm just about to leave for work but will reply to the latest comments on this board soon.

Now Gareth, Daz kiss and make up

[daz]

I would kiss and make up but im hiding because he nearly hit me with that last dummy he spat out...

[Manager]

Now then girls !!!! Calm down !!!

Read the Samba website & you'll see where this sort of pettiness gets you.

In my opinion both Daz & Gaz have a point (others may also be useful). But lets not lose our dummies over it. We need to be a team not a bunch of 'its not my fault its yours'.

Daz - I agree that attack is the best line of defence but to be fair to Gaz,Mark,Tom,Ian etc. we are scoring more goals & creating more chances than ever before.

Gaz - Sometimes your best line of defence is attack however yours is verbally!! I know your strengths & your weaknesses more than anyone in this team and you know i'll tell you what I think about your play. I would like to think that you know your contribution is about more than 10 goals but your all round contribution.

So girls put your handbags away. Pick your dummies up and have a big hug. Or i'll bang your heads together and send you to bed with no dinner.


And Daz i'm still sulking i'm not in your team. I hope i get another chance.

[Matt Hallam]

Daz,

You thought Craig was lacking fitness

Craig's as fit as he ever has been gaw'd help us. You want to see him when he's unfit!!!!

But don't tell him I said that