An Angry View of Cambridge game sponsored by Mountain Dew (Throw the bottle)

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Angry wrote:

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Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

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No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

Dreadful first 45, poor first 30 of the second half, great after that. It was a pleasing win, if not a pleasing game to watch. Cambridge as a side are okay but nothing special.

PLAYER RATINGS:
McCormick - 7 - Very solid.

Nelson - 5 - Not the best game he'll ever play. Not with it for the first half an hour, but in fairness to him he did improve.
McHugh - 6 - Improved after a poor start. Did get caught positionally a bit too much.
Hartley - 8 - Such a classy centre-back. Everything he did was good.

Talbot - 7 - Pretty good. Competed well going both forward and back, if he did sit a little too narrow at times.
Bobby Reid - 5 - Just for his play leading up to the two goals.Anything he tried before that just ended up in him giving the ball away to the opposition.
O'Connor - 5 - Seriously bad first half where he was pulled around all over the place and gave away so many cheap silly fouls. Was good in the second.
Lee - 5 - Did look a goal threat on occasion. But he just didn't dictate play enough, and he leaves so many gaps in behind him because of his lack of mobility and concentration.
Holmes-Dennis - 6 - Not bad. Good defensively but it didn't always come off for him going forward.

Reid - 2 - Disappointing.
Alessandra - 8 - Back to his best form. Great work ethic and movement, and a decent goal too.

SUBSTITUTES:
Brunt - 5 - Good reactions for the VITAL goal. Did little else.

Cox - N/A

Purrington - N/A

MannameadGreen wrote:

Dreadful first 45, poor first 30 of the second half, great after that. It was a pleasing win, if not a pleasing game to watch. Cambridge as a side are okay but nothing special.

PLAYER RATINGS:
McCormick - 7 - Very solid.

Nelson - 5 - Not the best game he'll ever play. Not with it for the first half an hour, but in fairness to him he did improve.
McHugh - 6 - Improved after a poor start. Did get caught positionally a bit too much.
Hartley - 8 - Such a classy centre-back. Everything he did was good.

Talbot - 7 - Pretty good. Competed well going both forward and back, if he did sit a little too narrow at times.
Bobby Reid - 5 - Just for his play leading up to the two goals.Anything he tried before that just ended up in him giving the ball away to the opposition.
O'Connor - 5 - Seriously bad first half where he was pulled around all over the place and gave away so many cheap silly fouls. Was good in the second.
Lee - 5 - Did look a goal threat on occasion. But he just didn't dictate play enough, and he leaves so many gaps in behind him because of his lack of mobility and concentration.
Holmes-Dennis - 6 - Not bad. Good defensively but it didn't always come off for him going forward.

Reid - 2 - Disappointing.
Alessandra - 8 - Back to his best form. Great work ethic and movement, and a decent goal too.

SUBSTITUTES:
Brunt - 5 - Good reactions for the VITAL goal. Did little else.

Cox - N/A

Purrington - N/A

Disagree with that and some of your ratings.

I disagree with some of the ratings but those first two lines sum it up well for me. The last 10 minutes do not cover up the fact that for 80 minutes we consistently failed to get the ball of little old Cambridge United. A decent win in the end but we weren't great at all.

Josh Pope wrote:

I disagree with some of the ratings but those first two lines sum it up well for me. The last 10 minutes do not cover up the fact that for 80 minutes we consistently failed to get the ball of little old Cambridge United. A decent win in the end but we weren't great at all.

Now you definitely are

We dominated the entire second half... they hardly had a look-in.

Les Miserable wrote:

Josh Pope wrote:

I disagree with some of the ratings but those first two lines sum it up well for me. The last 10 minutes do not cover up the fact that for 80 minutes we consistently failed to get the ball of little old Cambridge United. A decent win in the end but we weren't great at all.

Now you definitely are

What did you see then? We weren't bad and never looked in any real trouble but they passed the ball round us quite easily I thought.

As i have now prepped the meal  i been told to make for tonight  i can write my view on the game.

Started off by me receiving a text with the playlist that the club released on twitter of all the cheesy love songs they plan to play to celebrate valentines day. I was expecting them to go OTT because thats how backwards thinking the club is behind the scenes. So i took a detour via the hoe walking to the ground today got there just in time to see the return of the worlds worse cheerleaders who in their week off still couldn't learn a new dance or keep in time with each other. Also while outside the ground and was given a red rose which i took to mean after watching the godfather that there is a hitman after me so i gave it to a bucket rattler.

As for the action it was a drab first half with both teams cancelling out each others attacks, The cambridge number 10 looked a threat and likely to score so it was a relief when he came off injured after a tackle on McHugh. The way the game was set and was played it was like tectonic plates rubbing together it just need a little nudge to set off a chain reaction, in this case a goal.

2nd half was mainly Argyle on the attack and with alot of huff and puff with no doors being blown over it was looking like a no score draw so it was a relief when Brunt bundled in his effort and Alessandra got the rebound from talbots saved shot on goal liertally straight away giving us a much deserved win and 3 points when a draw was looking very likely which would have been harsh in fairness and more than likely started up the sheridan out voices for sure.

Overall it was a game that was even both teams attacking so it was half decent to watch. It could have been gone either way in fact it just needed a goal and the floods gates would have opened and thankfully we got that goal which quickly lead to another and we got the much deserved 3 points. Next up Exeter

The non Bias and over the top like some on here give review on the indivdual

McCormick: made some good saves another solid performance
Nelson: Good performance not the best though it has to be said but still ok
Hartley: Same as usual needs a longer contract now.
McHugh: Did very well breaking up cambridge attacks
Talbot: much better performance than last week clearly more suited on the right
O'Connor: another performance to make you realise how better the team plays with him init.
B.Reid: did well but how much better would he be if he could strike a ball on target.
Holmes-Dennis: was so so for me made a few errors but clearly a good player from what i saw. Hope his injury isnt a bad one looked like a hamstring.
Lee: Trying to be Gerrard with his long range shots and its annoying me as he cant get them on target. Could be a goal threat if he like B.Reid could strike aball with better accuracy. Mind you i think his loan is up next week.
R.Reid: The time has come for him to rested like Mellor as he is out of form he needs to get motivated again otherwise he is just a bystander
Alessandra: worked his socks off, quick to react too a saved talbot shot bagging him a goal
Brunt: other than the goal i cant really say he didnt anything that warrants all the hero worshipping i am seeing on twitter and the farm. its a strange one. But i am willing to see him start inplace of reid soon maybe after exeter though.
Cox: did his duty in the middle
Purrington: came on for H-D not much to say as it was a cameo really.

oh PS

i would like to know why not one steward (that i could see) from where i was sat reacted or tried to look for the person who threw an mountain dew bottle at the ref near the end of the game when he didn't award a penalty.

Les Miserable wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

Will be inserted here later

We're waiting

No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

i have dyslexia

There is a dog...................

unny old game that. Talk about hot and cold. We had moments where we strung some very nice stuff together. We controlled the second half and after about 60 minutes or so there was only one team that was going to score and it was us. There were large spells of the game in which we looked extremely disjointed.

The first half was by and large a very disappointing affair. It seemed as though some of the players basically thought they just had to turn up in order to win the game. Cambridge were winning pretty much every second ball and they were playing through our midfield and defence with ease. Nelse and McHugh seemed to also fall for the 'we just need to turn up' syndrome and even O'Connor had a very shakey first 20 minutes. Hartley and Luke seemed to be the only two who were switched on at this point and both of them were visibly losing the plot having to organise the players around them. We then had a good ten minute spell between about the 20th and the 30th when we carved up a few chances and O'Connor got into the game a lot more. Bobby and Olly Lee both also excelled in this period as did Lewi. Reuben and both wing-backs however weren't decisive enough. On the whole a poor half and Cambridge ended the first 45 looking by far the more likely to go in front. Luke made a great one on one save that would have been a completely different game if it had gone into the net.

The second half was much better but it still was sloppy at times. We dominated the play. O'Connor grew into the game after a shakey start and I thought he absolutely BOSSED the second half. Cambridge never looked in any real trouble and that was mostly due to O'Connor rushing about in the midfield and tidying up all the loose balls before dispatching them quickly. As has been said, when he plays, we play. Olly Lee is a funny player and I still cannot quite get the measure of him. He's clearly got something in his locker. He isn't a bad player. He can make some passes that are absolutely fantastic- well spotted and executed. He also has that little bit more on Norburn/Blizzard in terms of energy and zip to burst forward and just go for goal out of nowhere. Norburn is more refined but Lee is more likely to pull a moment of magic out of nowhere. However he's also more likely to go missing for spells and to give the ball away cheaply. A curates egg of a player. Bobby had an absolutely shocking half until the first goal but not for want of trying. He tried to get involved in everything, just nothing went right for him. His decision making is very poor but he forced two excellent saves out of their keeper in the last 10 minutes one of which resulted in a rebound goal.

The wing-backs got better in the second half. I really don't think Talbot had quite as good a game as everybody is saying. He crossed well but his positional play was poor in my opinion. Where THD hugged the touchline for much of the match, Talbot was basically vertical to Nelson for most of it: which is not the way to play a 3-5-2. He needs to learn to go for it a bit more and get some proper wing-play going because he is good at it when he actually does it. THD also was too cautious in the first half but really grew into the game and was very solid and secure throughout from a defensive point of view. Nelson and McHugh both put shakey starts behind them and were solid in the second half, whereas Hartley continued to excel.

Lewi had a very good game and was probably our best attacking player. Always searing forward and involved in most of the play during the period that we were looking threatening. Great composure and a great finish for the goal. When he's playing like this, he genuinely is a pleasure to watch. If he was consistent, he would be in the championship. As is stands, he is in League Two. What are we going to do about Reuben? I was his big advocate over the Christmas period when he had a bad run. Like Lewi, he's a confidence player. Unlike Lewi, he is currently in a trough rather than a peak. His confidence right now is at rock bottom. It's getting beyond just an iffy run now sadly. He's been iffy at best, terrible at worst for about 2 and a half months and has only scored 2 open play goals in that period. I wouldn't drop him yet but I am beginning to get seriously worried now. It's more than just a bad patch.

As for the subs- Brunt did nothing apart from his goals but it's goals that win games. Fantastic anticipation to be alive to that rebound. A real poachers finish. Cox did all he had to do very efficiently. He's a tidy passer and probably one of the best defensive midfielders in this league. He's just unfortunate that we have O'Connor who's just as good if not better. Cox would walk into most teams in this league. Purrington only on for a matter of minutes so not enough time to say.

On the whole, I've seen better but I've seen worse. We controlled more of the game than they did. We had some shocking individual performances but ultimately we have more class in our team than Cambridge have in theirs. Not a pretty win but I've seen uglier. Positive signs to build on. Ratings:

Luke-7

Nelse-6
McHugh-7
Hartley-8 MOTM

Talbot-6
O'Connor-8
Bobby Reid-4
Lee-5
THD-7

Reuben Reid-2 (sorry but he really was that bad. I usually defend him on here but I can't think of one good thing he did all game. Howler of a game)
Lewi-7

Brunt-5
Cox-7
Purrington-N/A but 6 if forced.

Angry wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

Will be inserted here later

We're waiting

No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

i have dyslexia  

Even if you were just plain unedoocaited I think that's a cheap shot, I feckin hate the spelling police.

I lost my woolly hat at the game.

A very welcome result: 3 cleans sheets in a row + 5 goals = 3 Wins (9points)

If only we could have started stringing results like this together at Christmas...

As for the game... We were very lucky and rode our luck alarmingly. In the first 45 they walloped a FK against the woodwork with McCormick well-beaten, were saved by said McCormick who stopped well when they were through one-on-one (a particular strength of our goalie it has to be said) and blazed over the bar when wide open on another occasion. Our response was a speculative/spectacular overhead kick from Olly Lee which was in truth easily saved (but would have been an amazing goal had it been one) and little else. Had we gone in 1-3 down at HT it would have flattered us.

I was expecting Cambridge to be very direct but they weren't at all and they played the ball around as competently as any team we've seen at Home Park this year which pulled us all over the shop defensively. One simple ball along the ground from front to back carved us wide open... It wasn't good and HT was a welcome relief.

We were much better in the second half and enjoyed much more possession and eventually began to exert some pressure but didn't look much like scoring. For some reason our midfielders just don't get into the box to support the strikers; I know it's a cliché bit if we had a genuine box-to-box midfielder  a la Friio or Castle they'd clean up in our side and we'd be unstoppable but we don't and we are stopped rather too often as a result.

Brunt was alive and on his toes for the rebound which came his way and he gleefully slammed the ball in the net when he got the chance to. He may not have done much else but if he makes a habit of scoring as he did yesterday (and the other week) then that's all he has to do. Gary Lineker made a career out of doing little else... Reliably scoring when it is easier to score than it is to miss might not seem like much but it is more than many players an manage and it's a welcome trait to have.

To be honest the game had seemed like a nailed-on 0-0 and if the fist goal was unexpected then the second was doubly so! Again it came from pressure, a knock down and a player, this time Lewi, being in the right place.

So 2-0 it was. Undeserved? Probably. Cambridge will be gutted to have so well with no reward but it goes to show the value of clean sheets so despite strikers getting the goals it has to be the defence that takes the credit for the win.

Beat Exeter next week and Bury the week after (5 wins in a row!) and we're near dead certs for a play-off spot.

The Bury game will shape the rest of our season every bit as much as a dreadful Christmas has..

Iggy wrote:

Angry wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

Will be inserted here later

We're waiting

No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

i have dyslexia  

Even if you were just plain unedoocaited I think that's a cheap shot, I feckin hate the spelling police.

It wasn't even a dig at Angry's spelling, more a throw away comment about him taking his time you thick coont.

Les Miserable wrote:

Iggy wrote:

Angry wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

Will be inserted here later

We're waiting

No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

i have dyslexia  

Even if you were just plain unedoocaited I think that's a cheap shot, I feckin hate the spelling police.

It wasn't even a dig at Angry's spelling, more a throw away comment about him taking his time you thick coont.

In that case I apologise although you can see why the remark was misunderstood.

Iggy wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Iggy wrote:

Angry wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Les Miserable wrote:

Angry wrote:

Will be inserted here later

We're waiting

No pressure but don't forget to check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors before you hit send.

i have dyslexia  

Even if you were just plain unedoocaited I think that's a cheap shot, I feckin hate the spelling police.

It wasn't even a dig at Angry's spelling, more a throw away comment about him taking his time you thick coont.

In that case I apologise although you can see why the remark was misunderstood.

I can, apology accepted, it's easy to find offence in almost anything though if you look hard enough, the Hitch incident last week being a classic example. #calmdowndear

Yeh feck you an all.

You can see the infamous bottle throwing incident in the highlights. Looked a good match judging by the highlights on AP, shame the commentary was piss poor so us listening in didn't really have much of a clue about the game :-(

spowell92 wrote:

You can see the infamous bottle throwing incident in the highlights. Looked a good match judging by the highlights on AP, shame the commentary was piss poor so us listening in didn't really have much of a clue about the game :-(

Looked a fair shout for a penalty though.

A definite penalty, luckily it didn't matter.

have the club caught the bloke yet? As the stewards didnt even bother to investigate.

one thing about matchday moments that the former drummer boy and silencer of the fletcher out chants films he seems to miss most the game walking around set up his camera.

tell thee what wouldnt this match day moments thing be so much better if he filmed the game itself from one set location and stayed there. Or even used the zoom function on that camera of his.

It's easy to be churlish, but he does a pretty good job.