Lincoln City
Reaction to the Carling Cup defeat at Leeds
By Nathan Jackson
August 11 2010
Another year, another Carling Cup first round exit. It was a comprehensive defeat for the Imps who got off to a bad start, finiding themselves 2-0 down within the first seven minutes of the game. It was a game which City were realistically never going to win, but at least the second half showed brief signs of positivity, even eventually getting a few shots on goal.
I'm not sure what it is about Chris Sutton's teams, but they certainly don't like the starting five or ending ten minutes of games. Since Sutton took over, City have conceded 17 goals in either the opening ten or closing ten minutes, something which has often cost City points. This time it realistically cost City a shot at the second round as yet more poor defending saw three goals shipped within the first half hour of the match.
To be honest I'm again not sure to be disappointed as I was expecting to lose anyway, I think it was more the manner of the defeat which was questionable. From the off some players showed very little fight and the defence was a shambles, again. It really does make you wonder if they actually practice defending in training, especially as some of them seemed very reluctant to even tackle.
One thing is for sure, I'm certainly not going to jump on the "I blame Joe Anderson" bandwagon. The person next to me said when it was 2-0 that it was four goals he had cost us already this season. The same old person then also moaned like thunder whenever Anderson misplaced a pass, but never said anything about the other players who were consistently giving the ball away.
It is a bit strange blaming him for the first four goals of the season given that he didn't actually have a decent chance to clear the first against Rotherham, the second he was doing his job and forcing the winger wide and then yesterday that ball shouldn't have even got into that area if the defenders on the right hand side had been doing their job.
However, he seemed very reluctant to tackle on occasions and did have a "Let's wait and see what happens" aura about him. I think during the whole night I saw him tackle once. I think he could turn out to be useful, but must like Fagan, I don't think he was expecting League Two to be as competitive as it is and suffered a huge blow in confidence. I think Sutton realised his confidence was down and he took him off at half time (that and he marking on the first two goals was awful), to be replaced by Clapham. At this point the defence did come a bit more stable.
Then there's the problem of whom to play upfront. If Sutton insists on playing his 4-1-4-1 formation then the best option from the opening two games appears to be Delroy. You'd have been forgiven for not noticing that McCallum played last night, whereas Hutchinson also had a very quiet game (as usual) and Broughton's impact as a loan striker the other day was pretty much non-existent.
So that leaves Facey and despite being much maligned when he signed, Facey appears to be the most capable out of the four. He held up the ball like Broughton does, broke through the defence and even had a few shots on goal, something that neither McCallum, Hutchinson or Broughton have managed so far. If we're going to play the 4-1-4-1 formation then Facey is probably the best way to go. He's the only one who's even looked likely dangerous.
I'm still not overly panicking. So far we've played two games against teams that are better than us. We may have deserved better against Rotherham, but realistically we were always going to lose to Leeds. If we were in the days of Alexander then we might have pulled off the shock, but as it stands, we're nowhere near a team capable of beating someone from two divisions above us.
Now on to face top of the league.
THEIMPS.KA OFFICIAL RATINGS | |
 | Decision making was a bit of a worry but otherwise did quite well. He made some excellent saves and as strange as it sounds after losing 4-0, the goalkeeper was one of the better players on the pitch. 7.5/10
|
 | Still showing strength as a defender and was easily beaten for some of the goals. 5/10 |
 | Is Watts actually fit yet, as in fully fit? I don't think anyone seems to know any more. Still the strongest central defender we have and made some vital tackles during the game. 6.5/10 |
 | Marking was suspect for at least two of the goals and the performance certainly improved once he was taken off. He did put a few dangerous crosses into the box though (all of which were wasted). 4/10
|
 | Green was committed as every but the fact that all of the goals came from either shots, headers or crosses from his side, it is a bit of worry, but least one defender was chasing everything. 6/10 |
 | Another quiet game for Hughton, but then again he is being played out of position so you can't really complain. 5/10
|
 | One of the very few Imps to perform well during the game and arguably the best on the field last night. If only he would shoot first time then maybe he would score. 8/10 |
 | Despite giving away the ball for the first goal, Kerr had a decent game and he even tackled three players with about 10 seconds during the match. Still nothing spectacular but at least it was better than normal. 6/10 |
 | I'm not entirely sure what O'Keefe actually offers to the team. He's not awful, he's good great, he's just there. He's a slightly taller, slightly more attacking version of Kerr. 4/10
|
 | If he would only learn to pass when in an attacking position then we'd be laughing. He's got more potential than N'Guessan had, plus the fact he actually makes an impact on games automatically makes me better, but his lack of passing is a bit worrying. Still he was one of our only attacking forces. 7/10.
|
 | You could be forgiven for not noticing that McCallum was actually there, then again, when you're playing up front on your own against Championship defenders then you're always going to struggle to make an impact. 4/10
|
 | A decent debut from the defender and it certainly got tighter at the back with his experience. Didn't do a lot wrong at all and was certainly one of the better players on the night. 7.5/10
|
 | The young striker had a decent pre-season but didn't really do a lot at all against Leeds. However, he did come on when Sutton dabbled with the 4-4-2 formation and even broke through one-on-one with Schmeichel towards the end, although the keeper got to it first. 5/10 |
 | Facey did really well when he came on and did better than all the other strikers have done so far. Get him in a 4-4-2 with a quick striker and I think he'd do well. Got some shots off and even outran some defenders. 7.5/10 |
 | Sutton could have played any tactic tonight and still lost, although the 4-1-4-1 certainly didn't help. However, he did try the 4-4-2 later on, hints of hopefully a better formation being used on Saturday. 5/10 |
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11/08/2010 12:14
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What worries me is the full backs are not blocking crossses or defending the far post when a cross comes in and the midfield is not tracking back with runners, eg the third goal I think, when jarret stopped and the lad had a free run at the far post to head in without a challange. This is basic defending and these are professional players.
There are some posatives from last night Jarrett and Caroyol will cause problems for teams at our level, Facey looked hungary when he came on, Anyon made some good saves.
I agree about not only starting games but also starting halfs, something i have noticed too. I remember us coming out second half at Bolton and being two down in minutes. maybe Suttons dour demeanour doesnt get them fired up?
Anyway its only too games and we do have ability in the side which we didnt have at the start of last year, im still optimistic and behind Sutton and the team, 3 points on Saturday is what we want now.
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