There's a Moose loose about these U's Take Twos. Cambridge United Away. 20/02/2024

[BWFC_Insane]

Sheehan does struggle when pressed I think it’s obvious. He’s better than he was in that regard but I don’t think he’s been at his best recently, second half last night he was at his best.

Morley nearly gave them an equaliser too.

Maghoma - the criticism of him baffles me. He’s scoring goals and looking effective if not always consistent. I’d pick him over Dempsey personally.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Just watched the post match interviews on WTV and Ogbeta genuinely seems like the nicest, friendliest and most humble man on the planet.

He’d be our third choice LWB when Randy comes back, for me. Still early days, but I was expecting a bit more from him.

Thought he played well last night. Williams looks a little more 'rounded' I agree, but Ogbeta is certainly good cover / competition

I think Ogbeta has promise - just needs gametime and Evatt 'downloads' to fit in more. I think we've all been pleasantly surprised by Ashworth's recent improvement.

Williams can play RWB too and I think he may be phased back in as a sub wingback on either side - probably, given JDC's indefatigability, on the left... although that might mean Ogbeta and Ashworth take it in turns to play the first 70 minutes and then sit it out.

That's perhaps already starting to happen - Ogbeta was out of the 18 on Saturday, Ashworth last night - and as the more senior players return, it'll get harder to even be on the bench. I don't think we'll be seeing two centre-backs there, as we had last night, very often - which would possibly mean Forrester and Taylor both in the stands while Toal and Iredale battle to be alongside the skipper and his vice-captain.

[boltonboris]

Sheehan does struggle when pressed I think it’s obvious. He’s better than he was in that regard but I don’t think he’s been at his best recently, second half last night he was at his best.

Morley nearly gave them an equaliser too.

Maghoma - the criticism of him baffles me. He’s scoring goals and looking effective if not always consistent. I’d pick him over Dempsey personally.

He's the best in the team at beating the press. He's the only one who has the technique to pop off the first time pass under pressure and he's the most able to turn and wriggle away form an aggressive touch press. It's not "obvious" at all

Morley, I agree with. He doesn't look comfortable when he has his back to rest of the of the pitch. With a picture in front of him, he can play

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

The most obvious thing is that players "struggle" more when pressed than when left alone. I mean, yeah – driving's easier on an empty road.

Some are better at it than others. Notably for me, some of our midfielders are better than others at receiving those 20yd vertical passes from the goalie or the back three. Watch these carefully when we're being pressed, because there's a delicious game-within-a-game afoot here. The higher you go in football, the more these balls from the backline are seen as the trigger for the opposition press – especially if the player receiving the ball is either (1) seen as relatively uncomfortable on the ball or (2) in the habit of receiving it completely square-on to his/her own goal.

I get worried when these balls are pinged in to a 'square' midfielder because that's often precisely what the oppo will want – it's their trigger ball. For example (not to pick on any particular players), say Iredale's at LCB, just outside our D. With the LWB already on the halfway line, Jack fizzes it in to Dempsey, as the left-hand 8. Immediately, the oppo midfielders are at Demp's back, so he can't turn and flick to the LWB, which would often be our favoured route. Instead, he has to one-two it straight back to Jack – except that Jack's already been covered by a striker, who knows the trigger and the likely passing lanes. So either Demps pings it back to a marked centre-back - risky - or he has to improvise and try to fling it sideways, decreasing the chance of retaining possession and thus increasing the chance of empurpling fans and manager.

Obviously, these things change a lot from player to player, and time to time. Sometimes teams out of possession will let a target player have it a couple of times, before pouncing when he's not expecting it. Sometimes they'll back off the press for a bit to catch their breath – pressing is tiring and nobody in the division does it as much as us, per Opta stats.

The most relentless specific targeting of us I've seen this season has been when Toal plays LCB. Clearly word got round that this was a weak link. But as a general rule oppo teams have been targeting that straight pass from back three to midfield three (I think it was mentioned on here the other night), partly because it's often into the most congested part of the field (although some teams will only press from lower on the pitch).

Of all our midfielders Sheehan and Maghoma seem to me the most comfortable under pressure. Sheehan will trundle around on his little Welsh wheels calmly looking for the pass that best balances risk and reward - if he's under pressure, he'll pop it off fairly safe, but if he's not he'll look up and ping. Maghoma likes the risk more and is more likely to dribble past these frankly rude men sent to stop our progress. Sheehan will often protect the ball until said men simply crash through his legs, sometimes taking it in turns to do so like prime Don Revie Leeds. Morley needs to watch him and learn and perhaps nudge down the risk/reward dial; I sometimes think he's trying to catch the eye with a clever ball (fair enough as a sub against tiring oppos) rather than patiently recycling.

[BWFC_Insane]

Sheehan does struggle when pressed I think it’s obvious. He’s better than he was in that regard but I don’t think he’s been at his best recently, second half last night he was at his best.

Morley nearly gave them an equaliser too.

Maghoma - the criticism of him baffles me. He’s scoring goals and looking effective if not always consistent. I’d pick him over Dempsey personally.

He's the best in the team at beating the press. He's the only one who has the technique to pop off the first time pass under pressure and he's the most able to turn and wriggle away form an aggressive touch press. It's not "obvious" at all

Morley, I agree with. He doesn't look comfortable when he has his back to rest of the of the pitch. With a picture in front of him, he can play

I dunno - I think that Sheehan isn’t massively comfortable in those scenarios. He’s given it away in dangerous areas recently. I think he’s much more comfortable with 5 yards in front of him to carry and then see the pass. When physical teams press him he noticeably struggles but I don’t think that’s necessarily his fault entirely. It’s a very hard role and he does it better than anyone else we have but I’m still not convinced it’s optimal.

We face two games now where it’s likely teams will test that very thing so hopefully we stand up and do the business.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Forgot to say. Another part of the delicious game with the oppo is that you can trigger their trigger - tempt them into pressing, in order to play round them and into the gaps they've left. Of course, to do that you need confidence and ability, and not to be terrified by risk...

[Mar]

Sheehan does struggle when pressed I think it’s obvious. He’s better than he was in that regard but I don’t think he’s been at his best recently, second half last night he was at his best.

Morley nearly gave them an equaliser too.

Maghoma - the criticism of him baffles me. He’s scoring goals and looking effective if not always consistent. I’d pick him over Dempsey personally.

He's the best in the team at beating the press. He's the only one who has the technique to pop off the first time pass under pressure and he's the most able to turn and wriggle away form an aggressive touch press. It's not "obvious" at all

Morley, I agree with. He doesn't look comfortable when he has his back to rest of the of the pitch. With a picture in front of him, he can play

I dunno - I think that Sheehan isn’t massively comfortable in those scenarios. He’s given it away in dangerous areas recently. I think he’s much more comfortable with 5 yards in front of him to carry and then see the pass. When physical teams press him he noticeably struggles but I don’t think that’s necessarily his fault entirely. It’s a very hard role and he does it better than anyone else we have but I’m still not convinced it’s optimal.

We face two games now where it’s likely teams will test that very thing so hopefully we stand up and do the business.

Don't think anyone is particularly comfortable when pressed and I agree Sheehan is the best at popping off the ball under pressure.

Its clearly a risk vs reward approach that no doubt bears fruit for us. Sheehan does well making space so that he's less under pressure than his counterparts making those break away passes easier to pull off.

No doubt we'll get it wrong on the odd occasion such as Morleys miscue last match but those are unexpected as they're relied upon to do a job.

[TANGODANCER]

Worth remembering that the opposition can't guarantee perfection ; they're just as likely as us to be less than perfect. We're not were we are by sheer luck.