Match Discussion: Game 5 - The Magpies (H)

[PON_News]

Game 5 - The Magpies (H)

Team: Maidenhead United

Date: 17/10/2020

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

[Dripsey3]

Maidenhead will do well to stay up. They lost their first 3 games before beating Wrexham 1-0 last Monday. They have scored 3 goals and conceded 10. I can't see them causing Notts any problems. 4-0 to Notts. 

[Chris]

Last time we played them, I thought they had a decent midfield but lacked in the defence department and, had woeful finishing.

It's still somewhat of an unknown, I haven't check who they've signed and, I don't really know how strong they're. I will bow to @Dripsey3 and @ARLukomski who will certainly know what they have about themselves.

[TheSkipper]

At this point I would take a draw, lower the expectations a little.

We went from the pre-season where fans overreacted, to being undefeated in 3 back to back games. Win a 4th and those doom and gloom mongers will be hyping us up and getting disappointed again when their bubble bursts.

I do feel Notts are more than good enough to win.

Provided Wootton is fit, I have every faith he can score. I feel Doyle, Reeves, Enzio, Roberts, Thomas etc, are all capable of chipping in.

[menzinho]

I don’t think the squad will go into this one over-confident because Ardley won’t let that happen, he'll make sure we think of our defensive duties as much as our attacking ones.

In terms of the team, not heard back about the Covid testing so I assume everyone’s in the clear there. I’d stick with the 4-3-3, maybe have Rodrigues as part of the midfield 3 with Thomas or Enzio up with Wootton and Roberts. McCrory back in at LB for me, not a dig at DKE but it’s just so much easier for a natural left-footer.

I don’t think it’ll be as easy as everyone thinks, just a hunch I can’t see a thrashing. I still think we’ll control the game, but I can see Maidenhead frustrating us.

2-0, but the second goal will come late(ish) in the second half. Wootton to keep up his scoring run, Thomas with the other.

[allardyces tash]

3 hours ago, menzinho said:

In terms of the team, not heard back about the Covid testing so I assume everyone’s in the clear there

It might be done on the day.

I agree that Neal Ardley won't allow the team to go into this game overly confident, but being at home it would be more encouraging. The grass allows for slick football, the players are used to it and I generally think it will be a better game for this reason.

[CliftonMagpie]

I am not sure what to expect, or what team will take to the field.

I'm expecting one or two changes due to fitness, it would be nice if Cal Roberts could start. I think we miss him a lot when he doesn't play. If Kyle Wootton misses the game, it would be disappointing. Wes Thomas or Elisha Sam to partner him is fine by me.

Not sure about the young striker from Mansfield.

[Dripsey3]

Jimmy Knowles opens the scoring. Maidenhead just levelled it. Didn't expect that. Anything less than a win would be disappointing. 

[Dripsey3]

3-2 down at home to Maidenhead. The build up was severely disrupted but that team should be good enough to get at least a draw. Still time.....

[super_pie]

I think we played well and deserved rather a win or a draw we played to well on the attack to lose in my opinion but sadly our defence lacked a bit

[Chris]

I'm not concerned, because the phase "it's a funny old game." springs to mind here.

I don't feel Notts deserved to lose, the opposition wasn't special and never looked up to much. I genuinely feel, that we handed them the game due to how we defended. The calmness had gone from throughout the game, we never tried to take the sting out of the match or control it naturally. The praise is how we attacked which for the most part was very good, we did look like we could win, get back into it but we need to stop with the rushing.

The signs of the first half would've been encouraging, yet the second half just comes across as a massive blip.

The lights got turned off inside the heads of a lot of our players during key stages of the game.

[DonnyNotts]

Not an ideal build up but that's no excuse, there will be many games where that will happen this season. Need to find a way to win these games if we have genuine promotion expectations. 3 points dropped for me

[menzinho]

Barratt should’ve been sent off, but that said it’s still annoying how we were so poor defending set-pieces. It’s the sloppiness against Barnet again, but this time it’s actually cost us. I agree we with everyone that we still had the players capable of getting a result, the bench was very weak in terms of attacking options but we still scored 2 goals and should’ve at least been able to get a draw.

Disappointing result aside, I think the issue of testing and postponing of games could become an issue now. 6 games off today (throughout the national league structure) due to infections. We are incredibly lucky we’ve got owners able to fund rounds of testing, other clubs aren’t so lucky. Are Sutton getting a round of testing? I Imagine it’s likely one of their players could have covid-19. Surely they can’t play their game until they know they’re all unaffected…

If clubs like Sutton have to wait until players show symptoms it could well be to late, players could play and pass the virus on. Getting Covid-19 test results after games means it won’t stop the spread. It’s just going to slowly and continuously disrupt the season if nothing is done but I know clubs can’t afford the testing. A real catch-22 scenario…

[liampie]

@menzinho barratt should have been off, but i do give him credit for being their main outlet. without him they would have been extremely poor.

i feel like notts dropped 3 points, not lost them or conceded goals against a good team.  

[upthepies]

It quickly went downhill.

It's a disappointing loss for the main reason that Notts attacked better than them, we just made a pigs meal of every slight attack that they had. No real danger otherwise!

[RetroPie]

I thought Notts played some really enjoyable football in the first half, but got caught napping at stages where Maidenhead managed to punish the poor marking. I was surprised by how easy Notts made it for them to get back into the game, no marking and no body pressing to get tight. This are fundamental mistakes which are the easiest to address if you can apply some discipline to players. You either get someone like like Michael Doyle to give the offenders a wake up, drop them or demand better during the game.

Ruben Rogrigues looks to be a cut above those around him, but he needs to keep his head up when looking to pass the ball.

Defensively, Notts played a rather poor game which is disappointing because of how good they started. Some could be down to fitness and the amount of games the players have had to play but it's not going to get easier.

If 4 players have caught COVID-19, then it could only get worse so the defence must be at its best.