Yesterday afternoon was my first opportunity to see Southend
United compete in the flesh for the first time in almost a year. Now whilst
this might prompt some to question my support of the club for not for not
attending enough games, those that know me that well enough will know that I
actually stay over four hundred miles away in Edinburgh and so only ever really
get the chance to see The Blues in action when I am down visiting friends and
relatives. I would love to be able to attend every game we play, but like
Southend, I’ve not got a huge financial backing behind me and so making regular
trips south of the border every second weekend would leave me penniless
unfortunately.
As you all know, yesterday The Blues drew 0-0 with Bury at
Roots Hall in a game that we’ll be unlikely to ever talk about again once this
season is done and dusted. A game filled with few chances and a red card for
Barry Corr which helped kill off any slim chance we had of nicking just one
goal that would have surely made a big difference for us in both league table
standings and team confidence to help get us through the remaining games this
season. Whilst it’s harder to really judge a team over one game and just two
minutes worth of YouTube highlights every week, I will try and figure out what
were the good and bad points from yesterday’s match and how we can potentially
fix the problems so that we are still in the fight for promotion at the end of
the season.
The first thing I’m going to highlight is formation. We’ve
gone with this 4-5-1 system for the majority of this season and now I like many
believe that it is time for a change. Clubs who play at a much higher level
than us often like to play with just one up front and try and pack the
midfield, and whilst I generally don’t have a problem with that, it seems not
to be the way to go about business in the lower divisions. Route one football appears
more common at this level as it seems to be the main way that teams can grind
out results for themselves. I’ll admit right now that I would hate to see
Southend constantly playing like this on a regular basis as it would take away
some of the enjoyment you get from watching the game, but introducing a small
part of this style of playing into our game is something I am less likely to
object to when we are in need of goals and points in a big way.
Yesterday there would have been no point in us trying to
play the long ball from the back up to the lone striker Freddy Eastwood as the
Bury defenders kept a close eye on him for the entire time he spent on the
pitch and the lack of a strike partner meant that anytime he did manage to receive
a long ball from the goalkeeper of the defence, there was no one for him to
give it to, and by the time the midfielders had made themselves available the
opposition had already won possession back. The best chance that came Eastwood’s
way was in the second half, but he put his shot over the bar after a decent
turn. I didn’t think that he would last more than an hour, and I was right when
Barry Corr replaced him on 57 minutes, but some feel that the change could have
been held off slightly longer as Eastwood was eyeing up a free kick on the edge
of the opposition area which of course came to nothing in the end.
A positive from yesterday’s match I felt was how solid we
looked defensively. Whilst Bury didn’t create any great chances themselves,
given how much bad luck we’ve had with defenders picking up injuries lately, it
was good to see us keep a clean sheet for the first time in almost a month.
John Egan and Jakub Sokolik looked well placed together and give us something new
to work with while Luke Prosser and Adam Thompson return to fitness. With
regards to midfield, our wide men showed some promising signs yesterday, with
Anthony Straker’s runs at the opposition full backs probably being my personal
highlight of the match. The central midfielders worked well with the defence in
keeping the likes of Ashley Grimes and Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro of Bury quiet, but
their communication amongst each other could have been a lot better and I felt
that none of them offered us anything special going forward, even though Ryan
Leonard fancied a couple of shots from distance that sailed over the bar.
To summarise, if yesterday is anything to go by then we will
hopefully have no more defensive calamities before the season concludes in May
and we can keep a good looking back four together that will see us through to
the end with no major problems. That should then allow us to now turn our
attention to improving the product being supplied by the front line. Hopefully
Phil Brown will now realise that playing with just the one man up front isn’t
going to keep us in the hunt for a top 7 finish and that seeking a new forward
to help us in the remaining games shouldn’t be ruled out. It would seem like
the best option at the moment as Barry Corr, who will now miss the next game
isn’t getting the job done on a regular enough basis, Freddy Eastwood
occasionally adds an extra spark to the team but also continues to fade, and
Lee Barnard still doesn’t look match fit having missed the whole of the first
half of the season except for the odd Southampton reserve game here and there.
I am all for giving youth players a try when they are ready, but I’m not sure
Jason Williams, for all the promise he is showing can be considered a realistic
option for what we are trying to achieve at the moment. A loan move for someone
with a little more experience and a poacher’s instinct is what we should be
looking at I think.
Whilst this current barren run is something which is getting
us all down, we can’t afford to lose the faith. Remarkably we are still 7th in
the league and not completely out of the race just yet. I believe that if we change
our formation so that we have two men playing up front, it will definitely make
us a more threatening force going forward, which will hopefully result in us
scoring more goals again. Bristol Rovers away on Friday will be tough, and we
follow that game up with one against fellow promotion hopefuls Oxford United on
the Monday at Roots Hall in front of the television cameras. If the performance
from the defence and midfield yesterday is anything to go by, then once we’ve
got the attackers sorted out then the wins will come again, and when they do it
will do wonders for our confidence and that will hopefully send us on a decent
run that will see us secure a comfortable top 7 finish in May.
Andrew.
https://twitter.com/ADNU92
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