Chester v Darlington

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JE93
Posts: 1855
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:48 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Chester v Darlington

Post by JE93 » Wed Nov 28, 2018 7:42 pm

Well what to say, we aren't a team in crisis, look to Nuneaton and Hereford for that. But we are certainly a team that has been frustrating to watch. Tommy should have been buoyed by a vote of confidence from the board, he needs to start improving us by improving our shape out of possession and making us more cutting in the final third. We need to take more risks in the final third and looking for the killer ball earlier.

However while a quick look at the 5 game form book isn't particularly inspiring, it does show us in 11th place with 7 points from 5 Games (W1, D4, L0) scoring 7 and conceding 6. It is however better than our hosts on Saturday who have 5 points from their last 5 (W1, D2, L2) Scored 6 Conceded 7. Probably more worryingly looking at the form table is that two sides currently below us in the table FC United and Southport are in better form than us.

Probably as expected Chester's Joint Managers have got them up at the right end of the table, though their form has tailed off slightly, possibly because of the fixture backlog caused by the well publicised problems are the Deva Stadium earlier in the season. They will want to get back on track and keep up with the playoff pack. So much so that Morley has named the game a 'must win for them'. In addition, they're looking to freshen themselves up by adding one or two players by the weekend.

In terms of the team I think it time for a change back to 4-2-3-1. There are a few too many square pegs in round holes in the 3-5-2 at the moment, it leaves some of our best players unable to show off their best attributes, all to incorporate Ainge into a front 2. My main thoughts on 4-2-3-1 would be:

- It moves Thompson and Trotman back into more familiar positions where we can hopefully get the best out of them.

- The 4-2-3-1 doesn't play to Ainge's strengths he's not mobile enough to make it work so Saunders comes back in.

- I don't think Galbraith has looked himself for most of the season, looks lethargic and has been poor on the ball when I've seen him. On that basis would quite freely change him with Burn and give Burn a run of games at CB with Hughes see what he can do.

- When out of possession we need to defend deep with two solid lines of 4 and 5 infront of Maddison. Encourage them forward onto us to create the space for Harvey to be most effective, when we win the ball we need to move quick get Harvey in behind them, get the ball to Thompson and Nicholson and get them running back towards their own goal.

Therefore i'd go for:

---------------------- Maddison -----------------------

Trotman ----- Hughes ----- Galbraith ----- O'Hanlon

---------------- Wheatley --- Elliott ------------------

Thompson ------------ Syers -------------- Nicholson

----------------------- Saunders ----------------------

Subs: Hemming, Burn, Henshall, Glover, Ainge.

tdk1
Posts: 2479
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:21 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Chester v Darlington

Post by tdk1 » Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:02 pm

Whatever formation we play, it doesn't make our midfield look any more like it's going to win a battle vs a Johnson and Morley outfit.

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