We're hurtling towards the latter stages of the campaign and, with that, desperation kicks in for teams at both ends of the table. At the minute, we're in the unique and unfamiliar position where we're so high up in the standings to harbour faint hopes of the play-offs yet not high enough to completely rule out an end to the season which sees us looking anxiously over our shoulders. The top seven isn't that far away for us but Peter Taylor has made it clear that our priority is simply staying in the division, and the fact that anyone can even mention the play-offs without being ridiculed shows just how well that ambition has gone. The run of games we're in the midst of initially looked inviting, bringing the potential for maximum points which could send us into the top half. Four points from a possible six, despite not playing well at all, is quite decent all things considered but there's no doubt that every home fan who exited the ground on Saturday did so with the regret and frustration of dropping two points overriding any delight at having got anything against a side who were vastly superior for most of the game. The likes of Aldershot and Braintree will be treating every game from now until the end of the campaign like a cup final, because in a division where the tightest of margins can be the difference between survival and relegation, every point is absolutely crucial. That's been clear to see in the last couple of weeks with both Maidstone and Aldershot Town performing as if they were possessed by the sheer will to win. Thankfully we had the quality against Maidstone and the scoreline disguised the fact that we were largely second best. It's easy to dismiss a poor performance when it brings a 3-0 away victory, but it's much harder to take when you drop points having performed in such an underwhelming manner which was the case on Saturday. After our unbelievable unbeaten run there's the sense that we're being found out a little bit. It's clear that we're struggling to exert our superiority over a team who sit back and are willing to soak up pressure. The pace and quality of the Daggers, especially in attack, is much more suited to counter-attacking football and that's why we've done a job on Salford, Orient, Fylde and Harrogate but slumped to disappointing results against the likes of Halifax and Aldershot Town. We need to find a way to retain our composure and break teams down, because on Saturday we were erratic and hurried in our play. It would be harsh not to recognise the effective nature of Aldershot's play. Despite being a far cry from the excellent Shots' sides we've faced since our relegation to the National League, they were spirited and determined. The difference-maker was Bernard Mensah who absolutely destroyed us as he always has done in the past. Mensah was the architect of all things good about Aldershot and, without him, we would've certainly won. While the Shots were patient and controlled in possession, we were disjointed. It was like we had ten minutes to score because we pumped it forwards with absolutely no composure as if we had no time to win the game. It's been strange to watch us since the turn of the year because we've looked really panicky and never comfortable in a match. There's been moments of brilliance, like the comeback against Boreham Wood, but they're always counteracted by absolute ineptness. We're either amazing or useless. It's hard to criticise Peter Taylor after the turnaround he's led us to over the last few months, but the starting lineup was somewhat bizarre. The absence of Tomi Adeloye, by far our most underrated player, has been strange; he seemed the perfect candidate to replace Balanta. Added to that, two of our best performers across the campaign, Gordon and Goodliffe, were missing from the lineup. In Gordon's case it's even more weird because he's been superb since the turn of the year, so it must've been a decision to preserve his fitness, but surely it would've been better to play a fit in-form 19 year-old over a 32 year-old whose barely kicked a football in the last year. Nathan Smith looks like a good player in all fairness but struggled against Aldershot, not only when defending but in staying onside from free-kicks. There were two occasions where really big chances were scuppered by his premature runs. Anyway, it was a game to forget but we still had some opportunities that could've won us the game. The clearance off the line, Wilkinson's speculative volley and McQueen's opening in the box were all 'nearly' moments, but in Balanta's absence we just lacked the spark and didn't look like scoring. It was a terrible spectacle in fairness, but let's get into some deeper analysis of our display. We changed to a back four in order to accommodate new signing in Doug Loft but in all fairness I don't think our new loanee was influential enough to justify it. As has been mentioned, the absence of Liam Gordon wasn't something that pleased the Daggers faithful and we missed his energetic legs sprinting up and down the pitch, which is one of the benefits of playing with five. We weren't great playing with that formation recently so I'm not attributing our failure to win to that decision, and certainly the eleven we had on the pitch were more then capable of doing the job, but it damaged our attacking capabilities. That was especially noticeable as we didn't have Balanta, who despite being fine according to Terry Harris' midweek interview, couldn't recover from the damage caused by De Havilland during the win over Maidstone. Loft was another strange one as he, like Nathan Smith, hasn't played much football and hadn't been properly integrated into the squad after a couple of training sessions. Hopefully we kick off at Maidenhead next weekend not only with Balanta back, but also with Gordon, Goodliffe and potentially Hoyte as Nunn has been off his game for quite a while now. Elliot JUSTHAM: Solid from Elliot. After having a few lapses in concentration over the last few weeks, he was closer to his best against the Shots. The goal was completely beyond his control and there was nothing he could do, but he still made a number of crucial saves to preserve our point. His save from Mensah's acrobatic effort was absolutely superb as most people were waiting for the net to bulge until he got a strong hand on it.
Nathan SMITH: Looked every inch of a player who hasn't played much football in the last few months. Was hard to expect him to play two games in a row, especially after lasting the ninety on a testing surface last weekend. Was brilliant against the Stones but this was a tired performance and it was his poor marking that gifted Bernard Mensah a free header to level the scores. All in all not his best display but in his short stint at the club he's already demonstrated that he's capable of being a great player for us. Manny ONARIASE: Him and Wilko are two players that you can rely on to perform every single week, and it's no coincidence that they're both players of a higher standard. Wasn't his best performance for us and there were times where his distribution was frustrating, but defensively he was faultless as always. Such a boost to have him for the remainder of the campaign because if he went back to Rotherham, we'd struggle massively. Kenny CLARK: A few errors have crept into Clark's game in recent weeks, but largely he's performed well and this was another solid if unremarkable display. Didn't get exploited many times, nor did he lose many aerial duels or concede possession. On the other hand, he didn't seem to make many tackles or get us out of trouble. Definitely looks better when we play as a five, but one thing we can judge from his ten or so appearances for us so far is that he's consistent. Ben NUNN: Nunny will be the first to admit that he's not been at his best at recent weeks. He given away many clear-cut chances recently and made mistakes leading directly to goals. This was a better display but still not the best, though it's not easy to defend against a player like Bernard Mensah. To be fair, Nunn has been strong going forwards and whipping in crosses but this wasn't a game where he had licence to do that as we didn't play with wing-backs. Jack MUNNS: Decent from Munns but he doesn't seem to be dictating play as much as he was a couple of months ago. In a game where the midfield was largely bypassed, there weren't enough times that he was allowed to get on the ball and make things happen. However, on the rare occasion he sneaked beyond the defence, his cross was millimetres from going over the line, so he did have an influence albeit not as frequently as he perhaps should've. Doug LOFT: Doug Loft didn't appear to be too much of an improvement to what we already have in the squad. Admittedly he made a few decent tackles and passes but didn't look like a League One player. However, it's important to acknowledge that he hadn't had much gametime, plus he's alongside new players with whom he has no chemistry or understanding, so I think he'll get better as the weeks go by. Definitely thrown in the deep end. Matt ROBINSON: Good to have him back! Thought he wasn't at his best at Maidstone, nor did he particularly excel on this occasion, but it was a gritty display and, out of everybody on the pitch, he did the most to try and break up Aldershot's play. Look forward to seeing the return of Harry Phipps because those two forged a good partnership and Robinson flourishes alongside good, technical midfielders. Alex MCQUEEN: Not much to comment on really. He never had much of an opportunity to get the ball out of his feet and run at defenders, which is a credit to the way Aldershot nullified our threat out wide. There was one chance where he was played in by Wilkinson but instead of shooting with his right, he cut inside and eventually made it too complicated for himself. That situation demanded a bit more composure. Conor WILKINSON: We've got to get used to teams putting two or three men on Conor because it doesn't take a genius to work out that he's the one to watch. He only got clear once in the game but that was all he needed to make a difference, smashing it past the keeper albeit with the aid of a deflection. Nearly won us the match with a moment of magic too. Even when Conor's quiet, he's at the heart of everything. Lamar REYNOLDS: With Balanta out, this was the chance for Lamar to really take his opportunity but instead he merely cemented his status as an impact sub. It was a mismatch between him and the physical defenders, there was also never really a chance for him to run at anyone, similar to why McQueen was so quiet. With Wilkinson being dragged all over the place, every defender seemingly surrounding him, Lamar needed to be the outlet to draw them off him, and unfortunately he couldn't.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WRITERArchives
January 2024
|