Jump to content

Dundee Utd away: Tues eve


scotty
 Share

Recommended Posts

We did indeed play far better than on Saturday (tho' that wasn't too difficult). Always in the back of mind is the thought that when you don't score you don't deserve anything out of the game but that notion was certainly stretched last night. Put another way Dundee Utd fans will I believe be extremely relieved to come out the game with 3 points.

Good points were when we got on the ball we moved it about much faster (even with the crisper passing it was by an large accurate) plus we made much more use of width, which was our main threat. On the debit side and strangely given these plus points (to me at least) our default ball out of defence was a punt up the park from Fox. Not for any lack of effort we rarely won first or even second balls from those punts. Overall I don't think we looked like a relegation threatened outfit that was prone to chronic outbreaks of lack of confidence. We looked more like a side that would just fall short of a top four place due to lack of a striker or or two.

Had we beaten Arbroath on Saturday I'd likely have come away from Tannadice feeling reasonably positive, putting last night down to a bit of bad luck and enthused re our chances down at Ayr.  Saturday's defeat and the manner of that defeat will take more than a couple of  plucky showings to get over.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot to be positive about from last night's performance, there is no way we deserved to lose. However, our lack of creativity in final third and weakness of defence remain the major concerns.

The goal came from a poor clearance from Fox, which went out for a throw in mid-way inside our half, then Williamson letting cross come in too easily again, in my opinion.

Once mistake aside, Bannigan was very good and I thought Palmer was our best player. Cardle's inability to get the ball past the first defender continues to frustrate.

I think we all agree that we are in desperate need of reinforcements up front. Mitch Austin back training and Alex Jones a couple of weeks away but not sure that will be enough.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We played well last night and had so much possession that it was almost like a home game.

Saunders does look like the best of our 3 central defenders as he does the basics well. The midfield 3 of Bannigan, Palmer and Gordon dominated the Dundee United Midfield. Cardle was consitently getting crosses in but we didn't really have anyone in the box and struggled to create clear chances. Apart from the disallowed goal we only really forced the United keeper into one save from Zanatta. Cardle did come close but that was about it.

Miller was quiet last night. Zanatta had flashes but also picked the wrong options more often than not. Mansell had pretty much zero impact when he came on but I thought McCall should have left Miller on and went with 2 strikers.

We have a clearer style of play with a 4-5-1 in defence and a 4-3-3 in attack. McCall is probably getting the most out of the squad but we are short of confidence and striking options. We are largely dependent on Cardle or Zannatta to open defences and neither is proving to be massively effective just now.

We'll need at least another winger, striker and central defender in the January transfer window

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I listened to the match on BBC Sportsound, and we appeared to be the better team for the majority of the 90 minutes.

What was noted by the commentators was:- 1) when we have chances to score we don't take them 2) we need a better striker [it sounds like Mansell added nothing to the game when he came on] 3) Bannigan played very well and appeared to boss the midfield for much of the game.

To sum up ….. We play the game well, but continually end up not getting what we deserve from the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, laukat said:

Mansell had pretty much zero impact when he came on but I thought McCall should have left Miller on and went with 2 strikers.

I'm guessing three full games in eight days may be a bit much for Miller and with the ball being played down the flanks he may have done more running than usual last night. Your point tho' is valid in so much that any plus points that Mansell may have involve playing others in by hold up play or head flicks to another attacker. Symptomatic of how lacking we are up top, a player that is more likely to provide an assist than score himself and an albeit fit 40 year old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jag said:

A lot to be positive about from last night's performance, there is no way we deserved to lose. However, our lack of creativity in final third and weakness of defence remain the major concerns.

The goal came from a poor clearance from Fox, which went out for a throw in mid-way inside our half, then Williamson letting cross come in too easily again, in my opinion.

Once mistake aside, Bannigan was very good and I thought Palmer was our best player. Cardle's inability to get the ball past the first defender continues to frustrate.

I think we all agree that we are in desperate need of reinforcements up front. Mitch Austin back training and Alex Jones a couple of weeks away but not sure that will be enough.

Spot on with that analysis Jag. 
 

I do get frustrated with Zanatta’s lack of effort to win any aerial battles. He constantly just looks back at the defender while backing in and never really jumps for the ball. Think he needs to offer a bit more than we’re currently getting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

I'm guessing three full games in eight days may be a bit much for Miller and with the ball being played down the flanks he may have done more running than usual last night. Your point tho' is valid in so much that any plus points that Mansell may have involve playing others in by hold up play or head flicks to another attacker. Symptomatic of how lacking we are up top, a player that is more likely to provide an assist than score himself and an albeit fit 40 year old.

Miller pulled up, holding his leg before he was substituted.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

I'm guessing three full games in eight days may be a bit much for Miller and with the ball being played down the flanks he may have done more running than usual last night. Your point tho' is valid in so much that any plus points that Mansell may have involve playing others in by hold up play or head flicks to another attacker. Symptomatic of how lacking we are up top, a player that is more likely to provide an assist than score himself and an albeit fit 40 year old.

 

1 hour ago, scotty said:

Miller pulled up, holding his leg before he was substituted.

He didn't look to pleased about coming off.

I said to my son similar to what LIB said - McCall probably doesn't think playing three 90 mins in the space of 8 days will see us get the best from him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/27/2019 at 5:08 PM, scotty said:

After Saturday's capitulation we'll hopefully bounce back. Though I'd bite your hand off for 0-0.

Anyone tried to book tickets on-line. Their on-line ticketing seems as crappy as ours.

When I eventually got to order tickets on-line (on my phone) there was no on-line discount as stated on the Thistle website!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty much summed up our season.....good possession and controlled play for large parts of game ,however, ultimately failed in front of goal.Game also reflected state of league...in all honesty not much between us and Shankland United with exception of you know who...and that’s  why they’ll win the league and we’ll bumble about in lower half again .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Anniesland Jag said:

Pretty much summed up our season.....good possession and controlled play for large parts of game ,however, ultimately failed in front of goal.Game also reflected state of league...in all honesty not much between us and Shankland United with exception of you know who...and that’s  why they’ll win the league and we’ll bumble about in lower half again .

Lower half at this moment would be a good achievement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...