That was the chant of the U's supporters as he scored two goals, one from a penalty, in Colchester's 2-1 defeat of Charlton at The Valley. This was an atrocious performance by the Addicks. I haven't looked at what people are saying on the lists, but no doubt they are arguing that we should use this player or that formation.
That overlooks the fact that as a team Charlton are not good enough. Their play is far too disjointed. They cannot pass effectively and they cannot keep hold of the ball. And they seem to have very few creative ideas about how to penetrate the opposition, other than runs down the wings, and even fewer about how to create goal scoring opportunities.
Coming over Deptford Creek on the train the tide was very low which I always take as a bad omen. I then made another error in the light of subsequent events, using some vouchers in the club shop to buy, among other things, a Zheng Zhi mug.
I felt less than optimistic when I took what the annoying pitch announcer described as my 'ringside seat'. Any team, even the bottom one, that comes to The Valley can do so with confidence because of our appalling home record. And so it proved. Whereas we started the game very tentatively and with no clear plan, Colchester looked confident.
Nicky Weaver had to make an early save. Thomas won Charlton a corner which he took but was caught by the keeper. A U's corner was cleared by Holland. A shot saved from Iwelumo was saved.
Bougherra lost the ball in midfield, ending in a crumpled heap on the ground. McCarthy pulled back a Colchester player in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. I have no complaints against the officials (which means there is no scapegoat there!) There was some delay in the penalty being taken as a stretcher had to be summoned for Bougherra, although in fact he came back on the pitch. Keven Lisbie took the penalty calmly and dispatched it past Weaver into the corner of the net to make it 0-1.
The U's continued to look threatening with a ball flashing across the front of goal. The U's worn a corner which Weaver had to punch out. A Charlton free kick was unproductive. One of the things that struck me about Charlton was that they were too slow, often losing the ball while they were dwelling on it and not moving forward quickly enough so that the U's consolidated their defence.
A Charlton corner was played in again, but Iwelumo's header was wide. Then Kevin Lisbie made it 0-2 with an overhead kick, giving Charlton a mountain to climb. The quality of the Charlton response was demonstrated when Zheng Zhi blasted over.
Pardew realised that something needed to be done and withdrew McCarthy, who had received a yellow card at the time of the penalty, and brought on Luke Varney. Semedo moved to right back in a reshuffle of positions. However, Charlton continued to have problems. Zheng Zhi lost possession in midfield. Lloyd Sam lost the ball by trying to do it all himself, suggesting that the players felt that there was a need for heroics when calm, disciplined teamwork was what was required.
A Charlton corner led to a Charlton throw in. Then Luke Varney made use of a low cross from Sam to blast the ball in the net and make it 1-2. Shortly afterwards the ball was once again in the net, but the lino flagged, I think for a foul on the keeper.
Half time: Addicks 1, U's 2
Charlton came out for the second half very early, but I am not sure this did anything for them as they were as disjointed as ever. The U's took off Kevin McLeod and brought on Kemal Izzet who was once a household name of a kind.
The U's won a free kick, the ball was played in again, but Lisbie put it over the bar. Shortly afterwards, there was once again danger in front of the Charlton goal. The U's were not sitting back but going for a third which they might well have got. Charlton were getting more possession, but to little effect and the U's alwauys threatened. They won another corner, but their effort went over.
Nicky Weaver threw out a long ball rather than hoofing it in the air and Sam was able to connect well and win a corner. Although I always worry about opposition corners and feel little optimism about Charlton ones, this one was well taken, but Iwelumo somehow failed to connect two yards out from goal.
Bougherra conceded an unnecessary corner to the U's and Weaver dealt with it less than confidently, punching it high in the air. Semedo, who had been having a decent game, was taken off and replaced by Mouto2, presumably to have a natural right back on the park and it did have some positive effect. Lisbie won a corner for the U's, but it was caught by Weaver. The U's had a penalty shout and some of those around me thought that they had a case.
Sam won Charlton a corner, but somehow it ended up with the one Colchester player up the park (Mark Yeates). Lisbie went off to warm appluase and was replaced by Jamie Guy. Powell was taken off and replaced by Ambrose.
Luke Varney won Charlton a free kick in a potentially promising position, and it was well taken, but the action in front of goal ended with a U's free kick. A Charlton free kick was played through to Zheng Zhi, but he missed. In the four minutes of time added on, Ambrose had a chance which he should have taken, but he sent the ball wide. We did have our chances but we failed to take them.
I noticed Pardew gesticulating wildly during the game, as well he might. A despairing Charlton caller on 606 got the response from Spoony that we were still in 5th position which was not a bad place to be at this time of the season. True, and it does in part reflect how poor and inconsistent the other teams in the division are.
A QPR caller came on to say that with the money now had they would soon be in the Premiership and the only question was how soon they would be one of the top teams in Europe. QPR as Real Madrid is giving it a bit large, but Ipswich, just below us, now have plenty of money. Our problem is that we don't have much money and in any case it is difficult to get value in the January transfer window.
But, more fundamentally, the team is failing to play as a unit. Of course, the absence of Reid hurts more than I had realised it would and the suspension and probable departure of Sodje has not helped. Nevertheless, the problems are deeper than that. Next Saturday's cup game does at least provide an opportunity to try out some different tactics and players, not least Dickson.
Match analysis
Ivy the Terrible wanted to award the Silver Bone to Kevin Lisbie, but senior match analyst Hooch the Pooch has come from his Long Itchington home to Leamington and ruled that the coveted award cannot be given to an opposition player even if they formerly played for Charlton. He has also ruled that the unusual step will be taken of withholding the Silver Bone.
Weaver was not to blame for the two goals, and had very little otherwise to do. I wish he would not send his goal kicks soaring into the air, but maybe he is under orders to do that in the hope that the ball will land on Iwelumo's head. On one occasion when he threw the ball out it was much more effective. Bougherra's error led to the first goal. I think that after the knock he picked up then, he was less than fully effective. Certainly he failed to impress. Powell was probably one of the less bad players on the park. Certainly he didn't do much wrong. At his best Fortune is a competent defender. Today he was not at his best. For McCarthy it was from hero to zero. Having conceded the penalty, he was the first player to be withdrawn. Semedo had a reasonably effective game until he was withdrawn. Holland could be seen trying to urge on the Charlton tem to greater efforts. His performance was again one of honest competence. Zheng Zhi had an awful game. His passes never found anyone and he never looked liked scoring. Sam was quite effective, but I noticed in the second half that he sometimes hung back too much rather than moving forward so that he would be in a position to receive a pass. Thomas was probably the best Charlton player and was the only one consistently able to open up the opposition. Iwelumo roamed around up front to little effect and missed one chance to score from a few yards out. Varney lifted the team at the end of the first half, but in the second half he was anonymous. I'm still not convinced that he is as good as many of the Addickted think he is. Moutaouakil made his presence felt when he came on and looked as if he wanted to be involved. Ambrose was largely ineffective when he came on, missing one chance to score.
Hiss of the Match This has been directed by Juneau the Soccer Cat at the whole team for a sub-standard performance.
Crowd rating: The Addickted were understandably rattled by what they saw in front of them, but made some effort to lift the team. 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment