Back from the game

[Earl Grey]

Hoof!
Stockley up front just encourages hoof-ball. Even on the odd occasion he gets to it, the header is completely out of control and there's no one to pick it up.

We changed to what looked like 4-4-2 with the intro of Tubbs second half which at least reduced the amount of hoof-ball to a degree but by then Exeter had the measure of us.

I'd like to have seen Webster on in a 3-5-2 from the outset as Exeter seemed to know our set up so well it made things difficult. The change to 4-4-2 was little surprise to them and they adapted well. Maybe even at that stage a 3-5-2 might've done the trick - but it's easy in hindsight.

Still, on the bright side we don't have that 'undefeated' monkey on our backs and hopefully Cookie has learned that Stockley as the lone ranger doesn't work too well.

[pomp 'n circumstance]

Hoof!
Stockley up front just encourages hoof-ball. Even on the odd occasion he gets to it, the header is completely out of control and there's no one to pick it up.

We changed to what looked like 4-4-2 with the intro of Tubbs second half which at least reduced the amount of hoof-ball to a degree but by then Exeter had the measure of us.

I'd like to have seen Webster on in a 3-5-2 from the outset as Exeter seemed to know our set up so well it made things difficult. The change to 4-4-2 was little surprise to them and they adapted well. Maybe even at that stage a 3-5-2 might've done the trick - but it's easy in hindsight.

Still, on the bright side we don't have that 'undefeated' monkey on our backs and hopefully Cookie has learned that Stockley as the lone ranger doesn't work too well.

H'mm - you are a little parsimonious with the words this morning EG. You merely mention hoof ball and Stockley for your criticism - as for knowing our set up, the whole ruddy League knows that and rely on the counter attack accordingly. The stats indicate that we had a substantial part of the game, but if you play the pressing style, then in the main the opposition will 'park the bus' and eventually consider us to be a one trick pony. Personally, I'd rather have the monkey on my back and remain undefeated.......

[Pompey Wales]

EG I completely agree with you. It wasn't working and yet we continued to play that way. When Roberts and Naismith came on against Bristol the whole game changed. Would like to have seen the same.

Sure enough Exeter parked the bus although they had some neat touches.

Still, can't complain about the start to the season.

[Pompey Penguin]

As usual, a few random thoughts.

We didn't play at all badly; I have seen worse this season. The first half we were unlucky, but in the second half I didn't think we did enough. Until Exeter really sat back in the last ten minutes, we didn't create enough chances from the amount of possession we had and the good attacking positions we got into; their goalkeeper certainly didn't have enough to do. The final pass/cross still seems to be a problem. Having said that, we would expect to have won that game most of the time.

The goals conceded were very disappointing. Hollands' mistake for the first, but then Clarke was burnt off and the goalkeeper in a poor position (the shot was hardly in the corner as it hit the rear stanchion and so must have crossed the line nearer the middle of the goal). Getting caught on the break was an obvious risk from then on, but the cross-shot should have been dealt with. For all the praise for Burgess & Clarke, we have conceded ten league goals, that is one per game, which I would suggest is too many for a team with promotion ambitions, and playing 4-2-whatever. Time to rotate Webster into the mix?

Bennett had his best game for Pompey (that I have seen). He was a threat throughout, and got regularly kicked for his trouble. He linked with other players better than I have seen previously, and there was more of an aim towards an end product to his game.

I was a bit disappointed not to see Naismith on as a sub. 0-2 down with 15 minutes to go would have been a good chance to give him some time. He is the one player I have not seen at all this season, and would have been interested.

I agree with EG about Stockley. It is not his fault, but his presence does seem to encourage too many high looping balls forward. He may be better used as a sub. However, with McGurk out, the options are limited. Do we try Tubbs again as a lone striker?

I expect to see a number of changes for Saturday. Doyle, Roberts and Tubbs for Hollands, Evans and Chaplin. The latter looks like he could do with a break to regain some sharpness, again looking to use him as a sub. Evans just can't cross a ball; he had four good opportunities (at least) yesterday and none of them were even close to threatening; however, Cook seems to like him and he has a knack of scoring just when I think he has reached the end of his chances. It is now an important game against Yeovil.

[Pompey Dave]

I thought we lacked effort from the 20th minute until the point when we went 2-0 down. It was all too slow and too predictable, what has happened to the snappy passing and movement that we saw in the early league and cup games at home?

Disappointing but the announcer raised a laugh at half time when he announced the added time brought to us by Breeze Volkswagen "a breath of fresh air". Do they pay extra for advertising which is a blatant lie?

[Pompey Dave]

Worrying that Roberts is clearly so important to our midfield. I cannot understand why our captain was not selected when fit and rested. We were a quiet team until he came on and started organising things and encouraging.

[pompeygunner]

Worrying that Roberts is clearly so important to our midfield. I cannot understand why our captain was not selected when fit and rested. We were a quiet team until he came on and started organising things and encouraging.

Dave, he's still getting aggravation from his ankle injury.

[Pompey Penguin]

I think we see both Doyle and Roberts on Saturday. The latter from the start until he needs to (or can) be subbed, rather than the other way round.

Doyle seemed to make a difference, but it is difficult to judge as he only came on once Exeter had given up all pretence of attack, and were mostly just booting the ball back towards Pompey. At that point we didn't need two holding MF, and would have preferred to see Naismith.

[Pompey Dave]

Worrying that Roberts is clearly so important to our midfield. I cannot understand why our captain was not selected when fit and rested. We were a quiet team until he came on and started organising things and encouraging.

Dave, he's still getting aggravation from his ankle injury.

Nothing wrong with Doyle is there? Roberts is the one with the ankle injury?

[Pompey Dave]

Doyle made a difference, tackling and winning the ball on the edge of their box, Hollands does not have the energy, pace or inclination to do this. was crazy to have Hollands on in place of a fit and rested Doyle.

[Selsey Bill]

Not much to add to what has already be said and agree with most of it, but for what it is worth:

Arrived just as the game kicked off (horrendous traffic on M27 and Eastern Road) and the first thing I noticed was the massive improvement the new floodlights had made, so no excuses for missing another player in blue, or the target! Whilst we haven't experienced any bad weather yet or played many games on it, the pitch also looks far better than last season, at the moment at least.

On to the game, and I am not exaggerating when I say we could have been 4-0 within the first 15 minutes. We were dominating the game and playing very well. If any one of those chances had gone in, I'm sure we would have gone on to win comfortably. Then on about 20 minutes Danny Hollands was caught in possession of the ball leaving Wheeler to run through on goal to shoot past a diving McCarey. I heard Cook's post match interview and he thinks Hollands slipped. I haven't seen the replay, but it happened quite near where I sit and my initial reaction was that he just got mugged by Wheeler. Also, I think McCarey could have done far better with the shot. On the subject of our loanee GK, he was also partly at fault for our second, as I believe was Hollands who ducked a challenge in the build up.

Pretty sure Hollands will not start on Saturday as he was as poor last night as he was good on Saturday. I'd definitely keep Barton in the defensive midfield two though as I have been very impressed by him since he replaced Atangana at Oxford. He looks classy and will only get better. He always has time on the ball and knows how to find another Pompey player with a pass. It was his clever little assist that lead to McGurk's super goal at Oxford. He and Doyle would be my starting pairing going forward. (Apologies to Nigel Atangana!)

Roberts must be struggling with his ankle as he has to be the first name on PC's team sheet when fit. He is too good for League 2 and made a significant impact when he came on against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, and again last night, but it was too little, too late. I'm also surprised Naismith didn't play any part last night as he looked VERY good when he came on at Bristol. He has some skill on him.

I've been trying to stick up for Bennett for the last few weeks, especially on Twitter and with other Pompey fans around me home and away, as I believe he has been getting undeserved criticism. Yes, he does make some poor decisions and he does sometimes keep the ball for too long, but he was our MOTM last night by some distance. He never goes missing, always wants the ball and has the ability to unlock defences. People are suggesting he needs a rest. He doesn't, Conor Chaplin does. He was ineffective last night.

It will be very interesting to see who Cook lines up with on Saturday, and how our team react to this loss. I'm confident this is only a blip and that we will bounce back. In all honesty, we didn't play at all badly last night - we have played far worse this season. It was our final ball that let us down, and some poor finishing. How Evans didn't score early on, how Tubbs missed a free header, how Stockley didn't get a foot on the one that crossed the goal mouth untouched, etc, etc.....

[<dj.>]

Not much to add to the above. I too thought Hollands got done before the first goal - it didn't look like a slip to me - but the rest of the defence should have done much better than they did. For the second goal, we seemed to stop playing because we thought we should have had a free kick which was not awarded. By the time we did start up again the goal looked inevitable.

The whole team seemed to play with a lack of any sense of urgency until the last 15 minutes or so. Too many times we passed the ball around the back until Exeter had all 11 behind the ball in perfect, neat lines.

I did take some feeling of justice from the ref, who had failed to see at least 3 blatant handballs by Exeter, failing to spot Burgess's blatant handball in the run-up to our goal. All-in-all I thought the ref was poor, but he definitely did not lose the game for us. To be fair to Exeter, they played some decent football at times, looked dangerous on the break and will be around the play-offs at the end of the season. I always thought this would be a difficult match. Onwards and upwards, though, eh?

[blue architect]

My view quite simply is that we have not yet learnt how to unlock tight defenses. We pass the ball across the park, then feed in forward balls only for these to be passed back and then across the field again. Repeat this for twenty minutes and you have most of our performance for the game. Good for possession but rubbish for getting goals.
Our opponents did not park the bus. They had a game plan which included keeping a tight defense, two banks of four and no-one stepping out of line. They had great discipline and when the opportunity arose they took it and scored twice. When they were in possession we gave them far too much room. When we were in possession we played the patient passing game with no penetration or resorted to the hoof ball.
My concern is that all our opponents will learn from this and mimic it. And we have no solution.

[Selsey Bill]

Our opponents did not park the bus. They had a game plan which included keeping a tight defense, two banks of four and no-one stepping out of line. They had great discipline and when the opportunity arose they took it and scored twice. When they were in possession we gave them far too much room. When we were in possession we played the patient passing game with no penetration or resorted to the hoof ball.

Unfortunately, I was very impressed by their defence last night. Their centre backs played a blinder and hardly missed a thing all night.

[Selsey Bill]

For the second goal, we seemed to stop playing because we thought we should have had a free kick which was not awarded. By the time we did start up again the goal looked inevitable.

It happened very near me (in a similar position to Hollands' 'slip') and I am certain Evans was fouled. However, even as school kids you are taught to play to the whistle, we didn't.

I did take some feeling of justice from the ref, who had failed to see at least 3 blatant handballs by Exeter, failing to spot Burgess's blatant handball in the run-up to our goal. All-in-all I thought the ref was poor, but he definitely did not lose the game for us. To be fair to Exeter, they played some decent football at times, looked dangerous on the break and will be around the play-offs at the end of the season. I always thought this would be a difficult match. Onwards and upwards, though, eh?

He was poor last night, and you could argue that if he had given the Evans free kick they wouldn't have scored, therefore, we wouldn't have lost. However, the official running the north stand line was awful. He missed everything, apart from the one foul he flagged that wasn't actually a foul!