Match Ratings v Raith

[amadjambo]

Only Burns and Morrison get pass marks for me.

[18Jambo_dave74]

Zlamal 6 - did fine but felt a bit uneasy with him.

 

Haring 6 - decent enough performance. Wonder if he'd be better in the middle of the 3 as seems a bit more commanding than Souttar.

Souttar 6 - misjudged the bounce of the ball a few times, okay other than that.

Berra 5 - looks awkward on left side of a 3, not his best day.

 

Smith 6 - looked more comfortable in a back 4, great strike for the goal.

Lee 4 - pretty anonymous.

Bozanic 5 - slack at the start but one of the few who looked for the ball.

Burns 6 - thought he improved when moved into a wider position, can't fault his attitude.

Mulraney 4 - going to need more than pace to make it at Hearts, lack of quality on the ball.

 

Lafferty 4 - feeble performance.

Naismith 5 - need more from him, started to link the play better last 10-15 minutes.

 

Keena 5 - not involved much, good penalty in the shootout. 

Morrison 6 - ran at the Reith defence, looked dangerous.

McDonald 5 - not much time but had some nice touches.

 

A common theme with the players performances seems to be that they are not entirely suited to a 352. Unfortunately we have little in the way of quality wide men. 

Edited July 21, 2018 by 18Jambo_dave74

[sadj]

1 hour ago, Cruyff Turn said:

He could have played it differently, could have kept Morrison in from the start because we created nothing down the right in the first half, but I don't know what they've been working on as it clearly wasn't working today. Lee and Bozanic were poor, you'd think they'd have the ability to create through the middle. Naismith was shite, Lafferty was dug piss, maybe he was right to call them out but the way we played probably did effect everyone until the change, which was a bit late in the day. 

 

it'll be interesting to see if he preserve s with 3 at the back of scraps it and plays with 4. 

3-5-2 should work well against teams that want to defend as playing the wingers on the line and moving it side to side stretches them and lets the midfield lads get space and create. Smith in for Morrison meant we only went down the left first half and after Raith realised that we looked inept. We should be able to play different formations with the players and options we now have but when we dont do the basics its going to take magic to open a team up and thats not where we should be. Hopefully they gel quick but the interplay wednesday was far better than today so that cant be the full excuse. Even if Smith had been tackled a few times running at the FB it would of allowed us a bit more space. Laff and Naismith both looked laboured today. When we got burns/morrison and smith/mcdonald wide we started to create again.

 

As you say be interesting to see what we do next but no doubt the players took an absolute kicking after that performance 

[PeterintheRain]

4 hours ago, Jambof3tornado said:

Just back and those imposters deserve no more of my time today considering marks out of ten. Shocking display.

 

Lucky to scrape the draw.

 

 we scored 2 legitimate goals to their 1. Had double the shots on target and more possession.  Have you ever actually seen a football match before?  We won that game fair and square only to be cheated by an SFA(gtf) bigot.   Why are so many of our supposed fans not attacking the GFA and demanding answers as to why we are always being robbed by their scum employees as certain clubs enjoy the ability to kill players on the pitch without being punished.

[Shanks]

3 minutes ago, PeterintheRain said:

 

 we scored 2 legitimate goals to their 1. Had double the shots on target and more possession.  Have you ever actually seen a football match before?  We won that game fair and square only to be cheated by an SFA(gtf) bigot.   Why are so many of our supposed fans not attacking the GFA and demanding answers as to why we are always being robbed by their scum employees as certain clubs enjoy the ability to kill players on the pitch without being punished.

 

Should've been a goal at end but it doesn't hide the disgraceful performance.  That's a seriously shit raith rovers side, theyve just been beaten 2-0 by Cowdenbeath at that ground! 

 

Also a Hearts employee has potentially done more damage than the SFA employee this week with their incompetence 

[Jambof3tornado]

1 hour ago, PeterintheRain said:

 

 we scored 2 legitimate goals to their 1. Had double the shots on target and more possession.  Have you ever actually seen a football match before?  We won that game fair and square only to be cheated by an SFA(gtf) bigot.   Why are so many of our supposed fans not attacking the GFA and demanding answers as to why we are always being robbed by their scum employees as certain clubs enjoy the ability to kill players on the pitch without being punished.

Have I ever seen a football match before?? No mate, you?

 

We didnt win the game fair and square as it finished a draw because sometimes decisions go against you.

 

Thats why we shouldnt have been desperately scrambling for a late winner in a supposed must win game.

[Locky]

My main gripe with Naismith is he gives away far too many cheap fouls. Love his tenacity and work rate, and his all round c**tness, but he just gives away so many free kicks and needless fouls.

[Stephen Muddie]

5 hours ago, Nessjambo67 said:

I know it’s all about opinions and everything and I like to read how players were especially if I like many others were not at the game but my goodness Berra is. MoM Berra is awful Burns is great Burns is poor same as Jake M . Who do you believe ??

This.

[JME]

6 hours ago, Cruyff Turn said:

Levein had a wee pop at his senior players in his post match comments saying as much. 

 

Can't blame him, some posters are saying the formation is at fault which may be partially correct but if your senior players don't turn up does it matter what formation you are playing?

 

You can blame tactics and the manager as much as you want but I think the players take most of the blame in this instance. 

 

Let's hope we move past it and pump Cowdenbeath by another 10 goals as I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the new lads in the flesh and back home. 

Edited July 22, 2018 by JME

[Cruyff Turn]

3 hours ago, sadj said:

3-5-2 should work well against teams that want to defend as playing the wingers on the line and moving it side to side stretches them and lets the midfield lads get space and create. Smith in for Morrison meant we only went down the left first half and after Raith realised that we looked inept. We should be able to play different formations with the players and options we now have but when we dont do the basics its going to take magic to open a team up and thats not where we should be. Hopefully they gel quick but the interplay wednesday was far better than today so that cant be the full excuse. Even if Smith had been tackled a few times running at the FB it would of allowed us a bit more space. Laff and Naismith both looked laboured today. When we got burns/morrison and smith/mcdonald wide we started to create again.

 

As you say be interesting to see what we do next but no doubt the players took an absolute kicking after that performance 

Yeah mate spot on.

 

I think we tried to overload them on our left, make them pinch across, then when we put balls into the box it would allow Lafferty space on the far post, or Lee coming in late on the central right side of the box. late

 

I think he played M.Smith and kept him deep just in case a failed cross went in which allowed them to breakaway down our right hand side and we wouldn't be able to cover across quite enough,possibly leaving us stretched and open to a switch from Raiths left to right as we were moving across having committed bodies down the left.

 

As you said though, if we put in Morrison, then it's almost a 3-1-2-4 in attack and they wouldn't be able to leave men forward anyway and we would have created 1v1s out wide forcing their central players to come across creating space in the middle.

 

I think he should persevere with 3-5-2 personally. I've seen Conte play it one way at Juve where they contained deep when out of possession, but obviously they had the Defenders to play that wa under extreme pressure and pace to break out and the midfielders to play out in right situations. Plus, Italians are schooled religiously on various systems, especially 3 at the back so they know how to play it.

 

Naglesmann at Hoffenheim plays 3-5-2 but plays it differently, he geggenpresses or counter presses high up the park but the strikers, midfielders and wing backs are very fluid and cover each other well. I don't know if any of our forwards are mobile enough or fit enough to play that way, so it'll be interesting to see how we're doing it.

 

It's all about the philosophy as well though, in reality we should be able to hammer Raith in whatever formation we play, as you say again, if we've got the right plan and our players do the basics, follow instructions then we'll do our job. 

 

It is a very difficult way to play because of the fluidity and tactical instruction players have to take on board. It's a very team orientated system, it requires everyone to do their job and understand their position, if one or two aren't at the races it falls apart pretty quickly.

[sadj]

6 minutes ago, Cruyff Turn said:

Yeah mate spot on.

 

I think we tried to overload them on our left, make them pinch across, then when we put balls into the box it would allow Lafferty space on the far post, or Lee coming in late on the central right side of the box. late

 

I think he played M.Smith and kept him deep just in case a failed cross went in which allowed them to breakaway down our right hand side and we wouldn't be able to cover across quite enough,possibly leaving us stretched and open to a switch from Raiths left to right as we were moving across having committed bodies down the left.

 

As you said though, if we put in Morrison, then it's almost a 3-1-2-4 in attack and they wouldn't be able to leave men forward anyway and we would have created 1v1s out wide forcing their central players to come across creating space in the middle.

 

I think he should persevere with 3-5-2 personally. I've seen Conte play it one way at Juve where they contained deep when out of possession, but obviously they had the Defenders to play that wa under extreme pressure and pace to break out and the midfielders to play out in right situations. Plus, Italians are schooled religiously on various systems, especially 3 at the back so they know how to play it.

 

Naglesmann at Hoffenheim plays 3-5-2 but plays it differently, he geggenpresses or counter presses high up the park but the strikers, midfielders and wing backs are very fluid and cover each other well. I don't know if any of our forwards are mobile enough or fit enough to play that way, so it'll be interesting to see how we're doing it.

 

It's all about the philosophy as well though, in reality we should be able to hammer Raith in whatever formation we play, as you say again, if we've got the right plan and our players do the basics, follow instructions then we'll do our job. 

 

It is a very difficult way to play because of the fluidity and tactical instruction players have to take on board. It's a very team orientated system, it requires everyone to do their job and understand their position, if one or two aren't at the races it falls apart pretty quickly.

Quite possible in regards Smith as on wednesday we were all over cove and a few times they nearly broke once they did and Haring (i think) made a cracking challenge facing him up and moving back towards our goal. Raith should be a step up from Cove so may have been a concern. Still hope we would prefer to look at our game and say screw it get the men wide let them go and stretch the other team about. Our back 3 are good enough to look after themselves , Zlamal can keepersweep and Bozanic sitting in front of them should let us play the 3-5-2 as more a 3-1-4-2 with one striker playing off Laff. McLean did that well on Wednesday.

 

Fingers crossed we get it sorted as we have the potential for a fun season

[Cruyff Turn]

Just now, JME said:

 

Can't blame him, some posters are saying the formation is at fault which may be partially correct but if you're senior players don't turn up does it matter what formation you are playing?

 

You can blame tactics and the manager as much as you want but I think the players take most of the blame in this instance. 

 

Let's hope we move past it and pump Cowdenbeath by another 10 goals as I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the new lads in the flesh and back home. 

Yep, spot on. I could see Leveins disappointment, we've clearly been working a lot on it in training and with the pressure and importance of getting through these games (especially with a potential deduction) I think he was right to call them out, it's like all your preparations & planning out the window because a few didn't fancy playing. 

 

Levein probably should have changed it a bit earlier 2nd half though, then looked at it again during the week in training & vs Cowdenbeath/ICT but I have no doubt he's going to stick with it and with a big squad, if players aren't consistent or doing what they're asked they'll be sitting on the bench.

 

As I said above and as you say though, shouldn't really matter how we play against Raith, if they do their jobs, we beat them easily. 

[JME]

1 minute ago, Cruyff Turn said:

Yep, spot on. I could see Leveins disappointment, we've clearly been working a lot on it in training and with the pressure and importance of getting through these games (especially with a potential deduction) I think he was right to call them out, it's like all your preparations & planning out the window because a few didn't fancy playing. 

 

Levein probably should have changed it a bit earlier 2nd half though, then looked at it again during the week in training & vs Cowdenbeath/ICT but I have no doubt he's going to stick with it and with a big squad, if players aren't consistent or doing what they're asked they'll be sitting on the bench.

 

As I said above and as you say though, shouldn't really matter how we play against Raith, if they do their jobs, we beat them easily. 

 

I could imagine how frustrating that would be, therefore it is justified in my books.

 

Yeah you're probably right but on a positive note at least this season we have the luxury of doing so, I feel as though we should give Edwards his chance in midfield at Tynie as he's not had a competitive game to prove himself and as an outsider looking in he might see this as his chance to solidify his spot in central midfield. Whether that's over Bozanic or Olly that's up to CL. I feel as though Burns done enough to earn himself a starting spot against Cowdenbeath but the fact that we have multiple players vying for jerseys across the park gives me hope that performances like these are few and far between and players won't just fancy a kick about.

[Cruyff Turn]

2 minutes ago, sadj said:

Quite possible in regards Smith as on wednesday we were all over cove and a few times they nearly broke once they did and Haring (i think) made a cracking challenge facing him up and moving back towards our goal. Raith should be a step up from Cove so may have been a concern. Still hope we would prefer to look at our game and say screw it get the men wide let them go and stretch the other team about. Our back 3 are good enough to look after themselves , Zlamal can keepersweep and Bozanic sitting in front of them should let us play the 3-5-2 as more a 3-1-4-2 with one striker playing off Laff. McLean did that well on Wednesday.

 

Fingers crossed we get it sorted as we have the potential for a fun season

 

You've got the total football philosophy , let them worry about us, if we play more attackers, they'll have to play more defenders. In attack make the pitch as wide as possible, create 1 v 1's and if you have superior players then you'll force the other team to commit more men leaving space elsewhere (which we had today). Leveins probably a bit more conservative but at least he's tried to find a way of playing which allows us to play with two forwards. Agree though, Morrison likes to face up his man and cause problems,  that's not really Michael Smiths game and we looked a bit unbalanced. There lies our problem though, we don't have natural wing backs who can attack like wingers and defend like full backs, like Demitri Mitchell. Could see a couple of new signings in those departments. 

 

MacLean could be more important to us than we thought he would be this season tbh, seems keen. I don't know how I feel about Lafferty after today's performance, didn't think he fancied it after about 5-10 minutes. If we had that Czech boy now, Lafferty would be sitting on the bench for me for the next one anyway. 

[Cruyff Turn]

3 minutes ago, JME said:

 

I could imagine how frustrating that would be, therefore it is justified in my books.

 

Yeah you're probably right but on a positive note at least this season we have the luxury of doing so, I feel as though we should give Edwards his chance in midfield at Tynie as he's not had a competitive game to prove himself and as an outsider looking in he might see this as his chance to solidify his spot in central midfield. Whether that's over Bozanic or Olly that's up to CL. I feel as though Burns done enough to earn himself a starting spot against Cowdenbeath but the fact that we have multiple players vying for jerseys across the park gives me hope that performances like these are few and far between and players won't just fancy a kick about.

 

Oh, I think Edwards will definitely start v Cowdenbeath if fit, maybe Callachan could be in contention as he's done ok in pre season although I don't particularly rare him but, deserves a fresh slate like everyone else.

 

Burns has got fight in him, if he's not playing its probably because he's been rested. 

 

Dunno where Harry is, or whether he's got but him and Burns could show some of them up with their attitude in games.

 

[JME]

1 minute ago, Cruyff Turn said:

 

Oh, I think Edwards will definitely start v Cowdenbeath if fit, maybe Callachan could be in contention as he's done ok in pre season although I don't particularly rare him but, deserves a fresh slate like everyone else.

 

Burns has got fight in him, if he's not playing its probably because he's been rested. 

 

Dunno where Harry is, or whether he's got but him and Burns could show some of them up with their attitude in games.

 

 

I remember Levein saying that Harry is a little bit behind on training first to an illness and then some niggling injuries after. I suspect he'll be back in and around the first team in the first few League games maybe even in the Inverness game, but I distinctly remember him saying he is a bit behind.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Very poor performance by all in white yesterday. One paced (slow), poor passes (especially final ball), trying to walk the ball into the net (against a goalie we scored 10 against). Only thing in mitigation was the pitch which was abysmal.  I'll see them live on Tuesday and expect much, much more from them.