Colchester United 4:2 QPR
A hugely frustrating night and the only positives we can take away is two of our boys scored their first goals of the season.
The team selection surprised me, but in a positive way. I didn’t think about being able to move Martin Rowlands to right-back, so it seemed like a smart idea to begin with. I was worried though that moving Mikele Leigertwood to centre-back at the same time would bee too much tinkering with the back line at once.
Nevertheless, we started relatively well. Rowlands was getting plenty of the ball from right-back and he was able to switch play from right to left better than any full-backs we currently have. That seemed like a good plan, because the defence are on the ball a lot more than the midfield or attack, so having people who can play from there will help so long as they can do the defensive stuff too.
Rowlands however also played some pretty poor passes too. They were more sloppy than being bad decisions or through lack of ability – but it was a concern because he conceded possession cheaply and stifled our own chance of breaking away on the attack sometimes as a result.
I was pleased with the intent of the defence in the opening minutes. Colchester attacked early down the right but Hogan Ephraim and Chris Barker were doubling up, which is something we haven’t done very well all season. Barker even got in a solid slide tackle to block a run, which was his first and probably last proper tackle of the night.
Ephraim was looking lively down the left and fashioned out the first moment of danger when he flashed a cross into the box that Dean Gerkan scrambled by and was relieved to see go out for a goal-kick.
Moments later we ought to have taken the lead. Rowlands crossed in for Dexter Blackstock to nod down into the path of Rowan Vine, and when it looked like it was going to be a certain goal, it somehow ended up wide. I turned to Clive and Sam at the time and said “How did we miss?”, but in fairness, it was right down the other end of the pitch and difficult to actually make out what happened.
Vine looked excellent. He found the ball deep and his ability to dribble at pace seemed to cause panic every time. A couple of times he and Ephraim darted together in tandem before slotting one another in. It was working well and Vine forced a corner with a low drive that Gerkan pushed out and then he set up Gareth Ainsworth with a cross that Gareth volleyed wide when squaring it probably would have been the better option. The fans groaned at his decision but it was actually worth a pop too. I also liked the way he linked with Ephraim, who also was lively throughout. Those two seemed to enjoy playing alongside one another and that’s a positive for us.
The bright early start soon started to fade though and we got sloppy, real sloppy. Kevin Lisbie wriggled his way past Mikele Leigertwood and flashed a shot just past the post and we didn’t heed that warning.
Mark Yeates picked up the ball wide on the left and Gareth Ainsworth nor Martin Rowlands seemed to want to close him down. This happened just a few moments earlier as well, and this time Yeates feinted and sent them both the wrong way and created space for himself wide of the box. He was still going to need to pull out an amazing shot to score, and he fizzed a strike in that Lee Camp pushed upwards and onto the bar and it came back out and hit Leigertwood before ending up in the back of the net. I thought Camp may have done better with the initial strike, but from the angle we were standing and watching from it was difficult to tell. Rowlands and Ainsworth made the age old mistake of allowing crosses and shots to come in without much pressure though, and it’s been a huge thorn in our side all season.
Vine though was spearheading our fight-back and looked really lively. He had a shot tipped over and had a cross tipped away. He was at the heart of all of our best attacking work and was involved in the move that led to our equaliser. Barker carried the ball forward and played in Ephraim who played a quick one-two with Vine and then Ephraim finished well to level the scores.
Disaster struck about a minute later though. All the good work went to waste with another simple goal. Danny Granville was given the time to cross the ball into the box and Kem Izzet arrived on cue to head into the corner with Camp not being able to even dive.
Leigertwood and Cullip were being given a torrid time by Clive Platt and were struggling to deal with his height, and seemed to cave in under the pressure as Colchester sensed we were starting to wobble again at the back. Platt had a great chance himself when he burst free of Leigertwood but shot straight at Camp when he should have done better. His real strength though was winning those flick-ons in the air.
At one point in the first-half, Cullip failed to deal with a ball over the top and almost got mugged until the referee gave a generous free-kick. He yelled furiously at Leigertwood who didn’t understand why he was having a go at him. I thought I lip-read Cullip say he wanted some help, perhaps a call or something – but it just goes to show that we’re struggling at times with basic communication.
Things got worse for us though. Adam Bolder slid in well on Kevin Lisbie just outside the box and seemed to be harshly penalised. The resulting free-kick was smashed in by Yeates and deflected off somebody and into the back of the net for 3-1. It was frustrating because it took and age for the kick to be taken, and we spent a long time organising the wall to no use. Clive felt the ball went straight through the wall but I wasn’t really sure. It was another soft goal to concede though, whatever the case!
Our only other best chance of the half came from when Gerken miss-kicked a back pass from his own player. He was lucky it went out for a corner and not in the net, and I kept thinking if we could just test this keeper, we’d be in with a chance. We went in at half-time 3-1 down and looking a bit lost out there.
The second-half had more goals but was a rather drab affair. Gareth Ainsworth headed wide early on and we wasted a free-kick in a great attacking position when Chris Barker tamely shot into the keepers hands. I was still hopeful we’d get back in it though as for a corner we had shortly afterwards, we practically had nobody back apart from Mikele Leigertwood who hung just outside the box.
Colchester though had two very good chances out of nowhere. The usual problem of the ball ending up wide and crosses raining in were the source. Lee Camp though made two excellent saves to deny both Pat Baldwin and then Kevin Lisbie.
We eventually pulled one back in the 58th minute through Rowan Vine. Ainsworth won the ball out on the right and ran from right to left, almost losing control of the ball before slotting in Vine just from outside the box. Vine finished really well to make it 3-2, and for a few moments you sensed we could get something from this game.
Some minutes later though Colchester finished us off. Lisbie got the ball on the left side of goal and struck the post with a shot. The defence, as they’ve been doing all season, just didn’t react fast enough and a cross into the box, followed by the all too familiar sight of Lee Camp scrambling from one side to another saw Platt nod home with ease, and he deserved a goal, for 4-2 and game over.
The players after this point pretty much had nothing left to give. They just played the game out, despite Stefan Moore coming on for Gareth Ainsworth and Ben Sahar coming on for Jason Jarret.
Before Jarret’s removal, he did have a great chance to make it 4-3 thanks to some smart link up play between Blackstock and Vine, who played him in on goal but he shot woefully wide when he really ought to have hit the target.
I was disappointed at the end. We are clearly having a bit of a mare at the back but the whole team is lacking punch where it matters and we’re looking disjointed and unorganised. The basics need to be worked on and I was surprised how open we played given our recent problems. I think we need to go back to basics and think about playing two very rigid and defensive banks of four with a striker dropping in the hole when we’re not off the ball.
The deep defensive line that Cullip seems to enjoy did not work for the second game in a row. I liked what I saw of it against Watford, but when someone like Platt wins so many flick-ons and knock-downs, it becomes very dangerous as it practically puts the opposition within sight of goal every time.
Much work needs to be done to prevent crosses coming into the penalty area as well, and the team really need to work hard on shaping where the ball goes and where they are happy to allow teams to cross from. You can’t stop everything coming in but you can lessen the probability of dealing with crosses that are more difficult than others.
As for the new boys. Jason Jarret started brightly and is a tall lad for a midfielder, but he faded in the second half (probably due to a lack of games) and needs more time to settle in. Rowan Vine on the other hand looked like a great addition to the team. His pace has already brought something to the table that we don’t have and I thought he was by far the most dangerous player on the pitch for us.
Dexter on the other hand, as does Bolder, appear to be out of sorts at the moment. I think we need to think about dropping or resting one of these guys, to give them some time out and try some alternatives. It’s just not happening for them, but that doesn’t mean it’s all over for them as they’re big players for us.
Blackstock at the moment isn’t doing all of the things we loved about him last season. He’s looking a bit lethargic and is not working as hard as he was last season. He’s got to get back on his game and he needs a goal to get him going again. Bolder on the other hand is struggling to deal with the way the defence are operating behind him. I think the starting positions they’re taking up are affecting him and the amount of space he’s now having to cover isn’t suitable. That, and teams have wizened up and are sticking close to him so he can’t pick up the ball and play short little passes to keep things ticking over.
As for the team selection, it was bold, brave and interesting. It didn’t work though and that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Roll on Norwich and Monday.
