Re: Strengths and weaknesses - squad review

TCPH

Some thoughts on best and worst qualities of our current players who I've seen play this season. Yes I'm bored.

Beadle
Good: shot stopping when aimed mid-high
Bad: shot stopping when aimed low, tendency to punch, finding a target when kicking.

Allsop
Good: Calmness, distribution
Bad: Calmness, distribution ☹️

Laird
Good: brings energy/athleticism, attacking threat, combative defender, links well, runs the line well
Bad: injury prone, final ball

Osayi-Samuel
Good: tenacity, strong
Bad: doesn't pass the halfway line, can't beat a man despite pace, gets beat too easily (not switched on)

Sampsted
Good: reliable, has more quality than many people assume, tidy player
Bad: doesn't have blistering pace but he's a decent all-round player imo

Klarer
Good: Aerial ability, tidy feet and passing, strong, clever
Bad: 1 on 1 defending against pace, shooting

Neumann
Good: Resilient
Bad: doesn't use his physical advantage as well as he could, not as comfortable on the ball as Klarer

Cashin
Good: bravery
Bad: mobility, rash

Robinson
Good: steady enough on the ball, decent tackler
Bad: unreliable, nutcase, unserious, not a dynamic player

Cochrane
Good: crosses, simple football, team player
Bad: gets exposed by pace and power, positional awareness

Roberts
Good: wonderful feet, intelligent link up play, can be extremely influential when constantly fed the ball
Bad: being an inverted winger makes it more difficult for him to get to the byline.

Anderson
Good: can hold the ball decently well, good at winning free kicks, strong
Bad: final ball/crosses, decision making

Willumsson
Good: finding space, simple football
Bad: goal threat, not physical enough, heading

Iwata (based more on CM role than RB role)
Good: tenacious, simple football, ball striking
Bad: Lacks pace, passing too safe

Paik
Good: secure with the ball, finally adding goals to his game
Bad: inconsistent, plays too safe, doesn't progress the ball forward via dribbling/forward passes, can go missing, not creative/inventive enough

Doyle
Good: good passing range, assured on the ball, will get stuck in
Bad: probably the slowest player in the team, not an athlete

Leonard
Good: neat ball player, puts himself about, doesn't hide away
Bad: takes completely unnecessary risks, can be too casual, no pace or positive running

Gray
Good: shooting, dribbling, pace, ball control and technique, goals and assists
Bad: stamina, weak and easy to push off the ball, sometimes on a different wavelength to others

Koumas
Good: energy
Bad: crossing/lack of end product, generally ineffective

Stansfield
Good: stamina, workrate, pressing, tenacity, a fighter who can be influential when given regular service.
Bad: strength and power, can let games pass him by when teammates not playing him the ball.

Ducksh
Good: decent football IQ, funny celebration that my boys like to copy
Bad: hold up play and ball security, ineffective presser, scared of physical contact, unserious at times

Kyogo
Good: positive and willing player, nippy, clever
Bad: not suited to this league physically, zero composure in front of goal, trying too hard/forcing it

Dykes
Good: attitude, heading, physical ability, occupying defenders
Bad: pace, ineffective pressing, passing

Some recurring themes below....

Ball progression:
Too many players adhering to simple, safe, tidy, secure on the ball football but not progressive football through dribbling, risk-taking football or creativity. Our build up can be very slow with little to no reward.

Forwards look isolated because our midfield and full backs prioritise control, not penetration.

Pace:
Lack of pace everywhere e.g. Klarer, Cashin, Robinson, Doyle, Iwata, Paik, Doyle, Dykes, Ducksh and Cochrane.

The lack of pace means we struggle to defend when the ball's out wide, or when teams transition at speed.

Also when we pressed teams last season, it was effective because our lack of pace wasn't evident against League 1 teams but this season it's nowhere near as effective.

Physicality:
We can't consistently impose ourselves physically, big reason why we give away so many crap goals from set pieces and why we can't make the ball stick up top. Klarer is the only starter who consistently wins his headers, it's absolutely infuriating to see Ducksh actively avoid physical contact when the ball is in the air, whether that's his game or not, this is the Championship, you have to expect to jump for the ball, Kyogo does! We make it too easy for teams and don't get in players faces enough.

Final ball / end product:
We just don't have the quality to put the sword to teams. Getting into decent positions isn't the main issue. Decision making in key moments is killing us too.

Not playing to our forwards' strengths:

Stansfield – needs regular service to impact the game.

Kyogo – not physically suited to our slow build up and inevitable hoof up top.

Ducksh – not a 10 for me, can't hold onto it long enough to get us up the pitch, he's not a target man at all but we use him like he is. For me he needs to play further forward and be more of a box player.

Dykes – limited pressing ability due to having no pace so if we aren't pumping the box with high balls he's wasted. Can hold off a man but lacking the tidy footwork to be able to play in others.

Willumsson – not enough goal threat

Mentality & consistency:
Too many in the team have been unreliable and erratic this season. Players are going missing too often as well. The lack of confidence is the biggest disappointment because I felt for sure the confidence from last season would carry through to this season, we almost forgot how to lose and now we don't have a way of grinding out wins. We can't seem to ever switch it on any time there's adversity against us.

Squad imbalance:

We lack explosive pace, ball-carrying midfielders, chance creators who play centrally, strikers who can dominate games independently and physically dominant defenders.

We don't really have game changers on the bench.

I really wish we were able to sign Tom Fellows, someone who gets the ball on the half turn and just GOES at other teams' back line from the middle of the pitch, taking players out the game.

I'm worried we'll have another scattergun approach with signings in January and I personally wouldn't trust Gardner/Davies making decisions on recruitment any further if I'm honest. The profile of players we've brought in when you compare them to the demands of the league and how we want to play are misaligned.

Sorry for long thread, wasn't meant to be this long! It went from some thoughts to a lot of thoughts!