Schofield
Oh dear. When he first came into the side he played with an air of confidence but that has completely gone. His decision making, strength and aerial ability are very questionable to be polite. Reflexes are good but that does not make a Championship or League One keeper. I personally feel that the best thing for the lad is a loan move out to League 2 and rebuild the confidence playing behind a defence that is solid. Draft in another keeper to provide competition to Nicholls. Todays’ performance was poor. Too many mistakes whilst not under pressure. Yes his defence do not help but he doesn’t talk to them. He needs to be vocal. Needs to let the referee know when he is being bullied in the area, just look at Gazzaniga today talking to the ref all the time. He needs to come for the ball at corners and take the players out of the way in getting there. A ref usually protects the keeper but when he stands on his line (or sometimes behind it) and doesn’t move, a goal from a corner for the opposition becomes a real possibility. Having said that Scholfield did pull off a number fo decent saves today but by then we had already lost the game.
Rating 4
Turton
It is still early days for Turton and I would expect that Pipa will be first choice at right back. I thought he did ok but he is playing in side which offers no protection to the wide defenders so to be the defensive king pin on that side whilst being an attacking threat is almost an impossible ask. Second half he delivered a few crosses which were decent, defensily a little exposed but that was partly down to the squad set up for the match.
Rating 5
Colwill
Really liked the look af this lad. Good on the ball string in the tackle we need to make sure that we use him to the best of his ability. Played on the left side of a back 3 (I think). Thought he was solid particularly in the first half and look forward to seeing more from him, hopefully he will be able to link up well with Toffolo when he is back in the reckoning.
Rating 6
Matty Pearson
Looked like a strong physical centre back. A handful in both boxes scoring Towns goal today and having another one ruled out for off-side. He needs to get ahold of our backline and the keeper and lead them as we still look rudderless on the pitch.
Rating 6
Sarr
At times I forget he was on the pitch. When he did go into the tackle he was well beaten each time and looked like he was not that interested to be honest. I’m sure that he was and my assessment is harsh but he looked well out of his depth today. He hasn’t usually played as the central defender in a 3 before and so this may not have helped at all.
Rating 3
Hogg
Hoggy has been inconsistent for a few seasons now and as club captain we really need him to step up, today he did not. The game seamed to pass him by, but again tactically we got it wrong. Fulham controlled the midfield and we let them, Hoggy and Vallejo/High could not do it on their own but we changed nothing to try and counter that. I know that Hogg can perform way better, but what he was being asked to do today meant that he was never going to have a good game.
Rating 4
Vallejo
Similar to Sarr I forgot that he was on the pitch. This was not a game for Vallejo, he needs the game to be played in front of him and it was not he ended up chasing shadows in the first half and so it was of no surprise that hw was hauled off at half-time. Again the role he was being asked to play did not suit him or this game.
Rating 3
Holmes
Duanne got on the ball early in the game and tried probing but after 20 minutes he began to disappear. He likes a few too many touches for my liking when their are better options around him and then he gets bullied off the ball too easily. Duanne then has a tendency to go missing as the game goes on. He does have talent but playing behind a front 2 who cannot stretch the play or hold the ball up is not his position.
Rating 3
Thomas
Shows real commitment and desire and knows how to cross a ball. Sorba is one of the few highlights to come out of last season and he is looking to be a real asset. Happy to receive the ball anywhere and is always looking to go forward. The team do need to give him options or it becomes easy for the opposition to defend against him and I felt that he should occasionally switch sides to ask questions of our opponents.
Rating 6
Koroma
I really rate Josh but this was not one of his better performances. He is better coming in off the left hand side but today appeared to be operating on the right of a front 2 with nobody on the right wing. A lack of supply to him from a depleted midfield may have added to the below par performance.
Rating 4
Ward
Danny put himself about in the first half but is he a out and out striker? When he was with us previously he played out wide since then he has played up front but he has lost some pace since then. He is not a front man who will look to break the back line nor is he a front man to hold the ball up. Carlos needs to work out how to use him at the moment he uses him to purely close down the opposition which is all well and good if the rest of the team are set up appropriately.
Rating 4
Subs
High
Scott came on and looked bright, dropping deep to pick up the ball and link up with the front men. He delivered the ball quickly and asked different things of the opposition, ultimately to no avail but offered far more than Vallejo.
Rating 5
Campbell
Not a performance for Campbell to really remember as he failed to make any real impression.
Rating 4
Rhodes
Came on too late to affect the game but in the short space of time he showed desire which had sadly been lacking. He was talking to his team mates which again a voice had sadly been lacking in the match.
Rating N/A
Carlos
Tactically he got it wrong. Second game of the season and we are at home playing one of the favourites so you set us up to be difficult to beat whilst offering something going forward. If we get a point it is a good point if we lose by a narrow margin it is what was expected. We set up with Ward, Koroma, Thomas and Holmes all in attacking positions offering nothing defensively other than occasional closing down high up the pitch. In midfield we had Hogg and Vallejo pitched against Fulhams 5 man midfield with 4 players at the back in Turton (it is possible that he should have been a wide attacker but was pulled out of position), Pearson, Sarr and Colwill. We were over-run in midfield meaning that our back line then had Mitrovic and the advancing midfield that had strolled passed Hogg and Vallejo to deal with.
What tactically did we do to combat this? Nothing – we changed nothing around tactically with the 11 on the pitch and when we made the substitutes is was a like for like change. Definition of madness is ‘to keep doing the same thing and expect different results’. No surprise then that the same thing kept happening until the ref thankfully halted play.
What needs to change? Lets’ save this for after the Preston game and see what Carlos serves up for us on Tuesday night.
Carlos rating 2
View From the Stand 