BFTG - Derby

[Hound]

Regarding the OP - Joao set up the first with a bit of magic and scored the second. Certainly wasn’t woeful

Midfield was wrong first half and we totally lost the battle there. Good subs to bring on Swift and Pele and we bossed it from that point and could have scored more/ Derby had more sent off

Get Miazga back in, Swift/Pele/Ovie in midfield and Yiadom back and there’s a decent team there

[PieEater]

I thought we made hard work of a game that should have been over after the sending off. We looked quite fragile until the second went in.

All credit to derby that made us work hard for the points.

Shout out to meeting Maguire post match, who oddly remembered us meeting at Leicester away at the Counting House when we won promotion.

[Singing Defective]

Was impressed with their fans..well apart from the bunch who got booted out early second half from Y23..

Was that first half in fact longer than the runway in Fast and Furious 6?

Their supporters were terrible. Nothing to be impressed by. Leeds supporters were the benchmark for away fans this season.

Leeds were and always are loud. But IMHO there is a difference cheering at 0-0 / 0-1 to 2-0 /3-0, particularly when the rams could not get the time of the day from the ref.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Strange game;at times Derby with ten men looked better than us in the 1st half and then they went mental come 2nd half.At one time they had seven players on the pitch on yellow cards with one off following a straight red.There should also have been another Derby straight red on the 2nd penalty.
Yet only Gunter had a poorish game and there were a couple of very good performances.It seems forever that we are just ten percent off being a really good team.

IMHO
Rafael 6 Solid .couple of regulation saves and one really good one.
Gunte 5 If only he had a bit of self belief.
Blackett 6 One brain fade 2nd half ,but generally good.Unlucky with the yellow.
Moore 9 At his best.
Morrison 6 A very limited player,who believes in safety first ,because he gets caught out when he takes a touch.
Rino 7 Much much better today,seems to have recovered his confidence,up against a really good player in their number 23.
Adam 9 But for a couple of missed passes,would have been ten.Even at his advanced age, makes you realise what a great player he was.However did Blackpool get hold of him.
Ejaria 7 Not at his best today,but still some wonderful bits of play.Over egged it at times however.
Meite 8 The best of Meite today.Suprisingly good penalty.
Jao 7 Just dont know about him,but well taken goal.
Baldock 7 Ran his heart out with some good runs and some great tracking back.Once again however did not quite work for him.

Swiftly Needed the game,poorish start.But got better and better.
Pele Did his job effectively.
Boye Unfortunately did nothing right,there is potentially a good player in there somewhere.

Ref showed his inexperience and lost control at times.Bottled it on the red for the 2nd pen,but fair does on the red so early in the game and the dive by the Derby player.Not helped by his linesmen.

Derby will moan about all the cards,but they were fully justified.

disagree with the Gunter comment, thought he didn’t do anything much wrong.

Agree with the Adam comment, thought he was awesome in the first half....where are all of the gobshites who questioned his signing now?

Meite? yeah good penalty....and it revitalised him, just moments earlier he was so fooking out of breath, he could barely muster a walk up the field.

Slightly more impressed than yourself with Boyes’ cameo....thought he got stuck in and created himself a few opportunities out of nothing...but sadly, they came to nothing.

Looking forward to watching the game on tv tonight,...the first penalty looked like a decent block from Hamer that took out the player, but ball came first....the sending off? I haven’t a clue....too busy celebrating our luck (edit....just read that it wasn’t Hamer that actually took Meite down....must make that trip to spec savers)

[Royalwaster]

Regarding the OP - Joao set up the first with a bit of magic and scored the second. Certainly wasn’t woeful

Midfield was wrong first half and we totally lost the battle there. Good subs to bring on Swift and Pele and we bossed it from that point and could have scored more/ Derby had more sent off

Get Miazga back in, Swift/Pele/Ovie in midfield and Yiadom back and there’s a decent team there

No disagree Joao was woeful apart from getting assist for first, scoring second and winning penalty for third - giving him a 1/10 for that! Shocking player.

[Hound]

Regarding the OP - Joao set up the first with a bit of magic and scored the second. Certainly wasn’t woeful

Midfield was wrong first half and we totally lost the battle there. Good subs to bring on Swift and Pele and we bossed it from that point and could have scored more/ Derby had more sent off

Get Miazga back in, Swift/Pele/Ovie in midfield and Yiadom back and there’s a decent team there

No disagree Joao was woeful apart from getting assist for first, scoring second and winning penalty for third - giving him a 1/10 for that! Shocking player.

Ha, yeah forgot about the third
Decent turn of pace that

[Zip]

First off well done to the club on the free dodgems and mince pies. They didn’t need to do it but chose to do so.
One downside being the long wait for buses back to Mereoak after the game. It was a drag especially when there were two empty double deckers for Shinfield Park.

Rafael. 8. One crucial save in the first half as well as a couple of other decent saves
Gunter. 6 Steady but could have pushed forward more.
Moore. 8 Several superb blocks. Put his body on the line again
Morrison. 6 Better today. Some important clearances
Blackett. 6 Blocked one one the line and ok going forward but crosses disappointing
Adam. 8. A passing masterclass at times. Set pieces could have been better
Rinomhota 5. I thought he was a bit lacklustre
Ejaria. 6. He really does need to shoot more often.
Meite. 8 MoM A bit more zip today. Worked really hard and deserved his goal
Baldock. 7 Great movement and work ethic
Joao. 7. Scored plus an assist but as with Ejaria he needs to shoot first time more often

Swift. 6 Good assist for the goal. Dwelt on the ball at times
Pele. 6. Composed and assured
Boye. 6. Had to shoot first time on one occasion but some decent passes

I thought the Derby fans were pretty good. They didn’t get a decision today and their team played some decent stuff in the first half. We were lucky to be ahead at the break.

[NewCorkSeth]

I'm here. Still questioning his signing to some degree. He has really stepped up and done well at times recently. Important assists from set pieces. I still worry his lack of mobility will haunt us at some point. Also his directness can be counter active. But I concede we would be worse off without him.

[andrew1957]

A bit of a strange match in that on the balance of play Derby definitely did not deserve to lose 3-0. However, as they lost their heads they deserved all they got and I will certainly take 3-0.

I actually thought the referee had a good game and got all the decisions right in what must have been a difficult match to officiate. The last man red card rule is now a question of whether the foul is deemed to be "deliberate or accidental". It is only a red for deliberate. The first pen was a 100% blatant push and so a red card was the right decision. With the second penalty the player went for the ball but was very late and so it was definitely a penalty but no sending the player off is fair enough. In any case I can see why the ref would give the player the benefit of the doubt at 2-0 and with a penalty awarded.

I thought Meite was excellent - definitely MOTM for me and the best I have seen him play this season. Back to his best from last season. Come on Meite keep it up.

Also a big up to the goalkeeper who did well and I really don't think Chris Gunter deserves the flack he gets. How can people criticise him when he has been party to two clean sheets in a row in a flat back 4. It is true that Yiadom offers bit more going forwards but IMO Gunter is the better defender.

All the back four did well. I thought Blackett also had a good day. He seems much calmer on the ball these days and less error prone.

Some of Adam's passing was brilliant but his corners were awful! Swift excellent when he came on.

And so on the whole a good day but RFC were a tad lucky to win so comfortably.

[NewCorkSeth]

I'm not a stats guy but it is interesting to look at as it highlights what different people look for when watching football.

Adam - total passes = 70, pass accuracy = 76%, key passes = 0

Ejaria - total passes = 40, pass accuracy = 98%, key passes = 3

One of these players is lauded for his passing ability and the other is frequently called poor at picking a pass.

I agree Ejaria can lack a killer instinct when trying to pick a pass and can hold onto the ball too long and I agree Adam has a worldie of a pass in him but, for me, he has a touch of the Liam Kellys. Hollywood over simplicity.

I also want to highlight I'm not trying to knock him. Adam has done far more good than bad and without his assists for Joao we would worse off and he has a purpose. Just think that people are being a bit over the top in praising him.

[sandman]

I'm not a stats guy but it is interesting to look at as it highlights what different people look for when watching football.

Adam - total passes = 70, pass accuracy = 76%, key passes = 0

Ejaria - total passes = 40, pass accuracy = 98%, key passes = 3

One of these players is lauded for his passing ability and the other is frequently called poor at picking a pass.

I agree Ejaria can lack a killer instinct when trying to pick a pass and can hold onto the ball too long and I agree Adam has a worldie of a pass in him but, for me, he has a touch of the Liam Kellys. Hollywood over simplicity.

I also want to highlight I'm not trying to knock him. Adam has done far more good than bad and without his assists for Joao we would worse off and he has a purpose. Just think that people are being a bit over the top in praising him.

Adam always looks to go forward with his passes so he's going to misplace more than someone who always takes the safe option.

Maybe we're not used to having players who actually try to make forward passes after the last five years of sideways and back.

[Snowball]

I presume there is no stat for putting the winger or overlapping fullback into space?

Adam did that A LOT

I thought he was a division better than any other RFC player first half

[Hound]

What constitutes a ‘key pass’?

I can think of 4 or 5 what I’d consider key, inc for our 2nd

[AthleticoSpizz]

Statistics Corker?

The difference being....Adams passes were mainly 50 metres plus across field

Oves’ between him and Blackett on the left side

No criticism of either...both had great games imho

[NewCorkSeth]

I'm not a stats guy but it is interesting to look at as it highlights what different people look for when watching football.

Adam - total passes = 70, pass accuracy = 76%, key passes = 0

Ejaria - total passes = 40, pass accuracy = 98%, key passes = 3

One of these players is lauded for his passing ability and the other is frequently called poor at picking a pass.

I agree Ejaria can lack a killer instinct when trying to pick a pass and can hold onto the ball too long and I agree Adam has a worldie of a pass in him but, for me, he has a touch of the Liam Kellys. Hollywood over simplicity.

I also want to highlight I'm not trying to knock him. Adam has done far more good than bad and without his assists for Joao we would worse off and he has a purpose. Just think that people are being a bit over the top in praising him.

Adam always looks to go forward with his passes so he's going to misplace more than someone who always takes the safe option.

Maybe we're not used to having players who actually try to make forward passes after the last five years of sideways and back.

Yes but it is telling that none of his, often excellent, passes forward go down as key passes or lead to goals or even assists. He is playing a different style of football to the other players. The forwards are rarely on his wavelength and frequently come short only to watch the ball knocked into a channel they could have run into.

I dont think praising him for "being the only one willing to play it forward" is quite correct either. Morrison and Moore do it too. Just far less skillfully. If we had Barrow in the team I'd be all for Adam blasting it up the pitch for someone to chase but we dont. We have 5 forwards who either prefer to receive the ball to feet or have been instructed to contribute to the build up play. It just seems a culture clash to me.

[Zip]

Agreed about Adam’s passes. Often positive passes played out wide. He did a look a level above at times in the first half.

[Hound]

Agreed about Adam’s passes. Often positive passes played out wide. He did a look a level above at times in the first half.

He is a luxury though. Offers nothing defensively and with Rino off form they were waltzing through our midfield

Less Hollywood but far more balanced with Swift/Pele

[NewCorkSeth]

What constitutes a ‘key pass’?

I can think of 4 or 5 what I’d consider key, inc for our 2nd

Key pass on whoscored is the final pass leading to a shot from a teammate. On other sites I think it is more expansive. I'm not suggesting his lack of assist from open play is the problem. Just that it is telling he doesnt have any/hasn't thus far had many chances to get an assist from open play.

[NewCorkSeth]

Statistics Corker?

The difference being....Adams passes were mainly 50 metres plus across field

Oves’ between him and Blackett on the left side

No criticism of either...both had great games imho

Yeah. Pass distance is something I'd like to see more of. But is nobody else worried at times when Adam is far left, pings a ball across right, it is intercepted and Adam struggles to get back to defend? He has his uses but these cross field passes are often just as likely to lead to a good counter attack as an attack.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Agreed about Adam’s passes. Often positive passes played out wide. He did a look a level above at times in the first half.

He is a luxury though. Offers nothing defensively and with Rino off form they were waltzing through our midfield

Less Hollywood but far more balanced with Swift/Pele

luxury? lol, without him we would’ve barely gotten out of our own half...and yes, he tackled too