match thread (image) [FT] Progrès 0 - 0 Rangers

[Frankie 8,145]

1 hour ago, DMAA said:

I think this is pretty harsh. Your job in that position is to provide clear cut chances for the striker. Once the game opened up a bit Ojo could have had 2 fantastic self made assists but for two last ditch goal-line clearances, and probably a bit of lazy positioning and finishing from Morelos, both should have been goals. His right foot is very poor and can make him look raw but all in all I think Ojo was one of our better performers and has solidified his place as a starter. 

He finished the game fairly well but before that was extremely ineffective (just like Arfield and Defoe were though as well to be fair).

 

Like I say, the lad has undoubted quality and his pace is very useful but, so far at least, despite his goals he's been wasteful and dwells on the ball too long.  However, he's young and I'm hoping that fault can be coached out of him fairly quickly.  If it can, then I've also no doubt he'll be a good player for us but I think saying he's very raw is fair comment.

[Frankie 8,145]

35 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Ojo has good feet and he's quick but his footballing brain needs work.  He constantly runs into players and holds on to the ball too long.  

 

The amount of times he had a great opportunity to put a player through on goal and didn't was very frustrating to watch.

Agreed.

 

The talent is there but the brain is not - yet.  That's why he's on loan to us though.

[Tannochsidebear 2,306]

Like others have said that was a bore and very concerning.

 

I mentioned in the other thread about our formation that as far as I could see this new formation and new players are simply producing the same football as the last lot, which is that we struggle to break teams down that are well organised and have no ambition, which accounts for about 25-30 of our SPFL league games a season, and cost us the title last season. 

 

Our refusal to shoot when 20-25 yards out means a packed defence doesnt need to come out and close down the attacker as they know we are only looking for a perfect pass or an opportunity to send it wide for a cross to nobody.

 

This tactic hasnt changed from us at all, and all your fancy diagrams and analysis doesnt change a damn thing when we have players who, when we need it most, cant go past a man to create space, and are fearful of shooting from the edge of the box. Without a quality creative midfielder, we lack the midas touch that unlocks sides like that. 

 

If Arfield cant find space to run into, we seem to be very short on ideas. 

 

SG has spoken of this many times, and again last night, but I dont want to hear his words anymore, I want him and his very well paid and numerous coaches to sort it out, or we will again be second best to a team with no more talent than ours.

[compo 6,094]

I always like to see youngsters get a chance so last night I would have given someone like Zak Rudden the last twenty minutes to make a name for himself  .

[DMAA 3,603]

1 hour ago, Frankie said:

He finished the game fairly well but before that was extremely ineffective (just like Arfield and Defoe were though as well to be fair).

 

Like I say, the lad has undoubted quality and his pace is very useful but, so far at least, despite his goals he's been wasteful and dwells on the ball too long.  However, he's young and I'm hoping that fault can be coached out of him fairly quickly.  If it can, then I've also no doubt he'll be a good player for us but I think saying he's very raw is fair comment.

I should have caveated my comments by saying I had to dip in and out of the game last night so wasn't able to pay full attention to the full game. However I watched the final half hour this morning without interruptions and Ojo definitely finshed the game strongly. He kept possession well but crucially he set up tap-ins twice from brilliant runs. He should be sitting on 2 assists after that game because imo those should have been converted. As you say he is at Rangers for a reason though and my view on Ojo currently is qualified by lots of things, not least the fact that these are not league games, but I see more quality than I saw in Kent and I think Rangers and Gerrard are exactly what he needs to improve the weaker aspects of his game.

[alexscottislegend 2,054]

25 minutes ago, compo said:

I always like to see youngsters get a chance so last night I would have given someone like Zak Rudden the last twenty minutes to make a name for himself  .

Has Rudden not out on loan at Falkirk or somewhere? Would love to see a young striker that has come through our ranks instead of being bred for loans like Dallas and Hardie.

[Uilleam 5,408]

14 hours ago, alexscottislegend said:

Surely we can do what Connahs Quay did?

We had better hope so. 

A repeat of last night's trundle-ball will render Kilmarnock, away, a struggle. 

[the gunslinger 3,366]

I am worried about our summer recruitment. We have spent all our cash on center halfs and blown a great deal of wages on a central midfield. 

 

Our areas of weakness were the left flank and that's where our cash etc should have gone. 

 

Last night we had 4 million quid of buys not playing and we have 5 good central midfielders for 3 positions and not one passable option at left back or left attack. 

 

Arfield at left wing is a sick joke and will do well not to ruin him. We have brought in aribo to play where arfield finished the season on fire. Madness. 

 

We have sold our best right attacker to fund some of  this. 

 

Our squad has improved but our starting 11 has regressed as we have bought all wrong. 

 

As it stands a 3 million pound CH Kamara and either Aribo or Arfield will be on the bench a lot for us. Luxuries we don't seem to be able to afford. 

 

Now it would be fair to wait to post this to see how things work out but it would also be cowardly to not say it up front. 

 

Let's hope i am wrong. In fairness it won't take much for these issues to go away. Surprising form from Halliday or Barasic and Kent on loan another year would solve most of it. 

 

Just my worries. 

[Frankie 8,145]

We're playing a 4-3-2-1 at the moment so whilst Ojo and Arfield did drift wide from time to time, they're both playing in more of an inside forward position.  

 

In the specific case of Arfield, he's actually in more of a free role and tasked with supporting the striker whilst Ojo is usually tasked with providing width where possible but tends to also stay inside to allow space for Tav.

 

Indeed, Tav and Barisic/Halliday are the ones who are asked to provide the real width with the deeper midfield three moving into the half-space with at least one also tasked with getting in and around the box, depending on the flank we're attacking from.  Aribo doesn't play in as advanced a role as Arfield but does look to get forward in such scenarios.

 

Now, last night, you could argue we didn't need both Kamara and Jack as, whilst the latter has expressed himself well recently in attacking areas he's never going to be the #10 want to unlock deeper defences.  However, with a 2-0 lead to defend it made sense to have a more pragmatic approach to begin with.  Where I was surprised was how defensive Progres stayed throughout the game (until the last 10-15mins) but even then they struggled to get forward with any great structure or threat.  

 

With that in mind, you could argue someone like Arfield could have dropped deeper to play the Davis quarterback role and dispensed with, IMO, Kamara in favour of another attacking player such as Jones or Stewart.  Instead, the manager preferred to introduce Docherty and I can understand that conservatism so late in the tie.

 

All in all, our performance last night was disappointing.  We should have won and won comfortably but, aside from one or two periods of poor defending, we controlled the game, controlled the tie overall and qualified with plenty to spare.  Yes, we're always looking for better but the results and performances this summer have been promising.  I'd hate to see what folk would have said if we'd actually lost a game or two and conceded more goals.

[Frankie 8,145]

PS: I don't actually think Arfield and Tav are playing that well at the moment and that's why our attacking play has been stifled a wee bit compared to earlier in the summer but neither player has changed their position or role.  They're just a wee bit off-form.  It happens.