Barnet away Tuesday

[Mallard]

Thankfully we move on quickly from Saturday’s disaster.   IC says he is looking for a reaction.   Midfield and even up top he has options.   Looking at the back 5 he has little to no options to change things around with only Smith to possibly come in.   Otherwise he has to rely on the same players who threw the towel in at Sutton in the backline.

Be interesting to see how we set up.  Maybe have less of an attacking option and go for a hard to beat line up.

Thoughts ?

[Blue_and_Gold]

Thoughts ?

I'll tell you them Tuesday!

[KES80]

First thought is we need a few more players who can impose themselves on a game at this level.
Up front, we are not badly equipped... Mitchell, Marriott, Southwell and Gash to come back.
But we lack a pacey ball winner in midfield...by that I mean someone who will race back,put in a hard tackle, win the ball and turn defence into attack. The pacey players we have (Power,Loza, King seem a bit lightweight in that regard.......that in turn puts more pressure on the defence).
Virtually all of the established sides have 3 or 4 tall, well built pacey strikers/attacking midfielders. In most cases they are full time professionals and after 30 minutes of dogged resistance our back line is just buckling.
We need McFadden.... we may need another couple of new defenders in addition to bring us into a position where we can keep teams at bay.
It's a very steep learning curve for management and players alike when trying to get the required performance level on a consistent basis.
Can we honestly say that there is one stand out player who looks a good N L player at the moment.....this is the great challenge that is being laid down and to which players need to aspire to. It's a huge ask, when they are part time and have to fit training around their work schedules.

We may need a different plan in terms of how we play., as discussed in another post..we can't go toe to toe with the top 6/7, home or away at the moment....but by the same token, all the success so far has come from playing an open passing game and scoring more than we concede.... that's the dilemma, how to tighten things up, without taking the familiar style (which is the team's main strength) out of the side and maybe we just need to be more of a counter attacking side this season, as also mentioned before....however to do that, you still have to have a secure back line.

In the end it just may mean having to replace 5/6 of the side and jettisoning those that are still bit time players, who are not imposing themselves on a game sufficiently and consistently.

[TonyM]

Big test for IC and his squad, I hope his post-match comments about looking for a 'reaction' doesn't mean he will go with the same side/system.  I didn't watch yesterday but listened on the radio and seemed more of the same in terms of how the season has gone so far and IC has to try to find a combination that makes us look more solid without the ball, don't think either full back is really helping the two lads in the middle so maybe we need to go with a tighter back three for a period to see if that helps.  Hopefully Richards will return Tuesday but still think we are in need of a 'young Jarvis' type player (new lad can't play everywhere).  Lack of balance in the squad really starting to hit home with plenty of options further forward but almost no cover at the back or 'proper' midfielders and realistically only Jones out injured.  My side for Tuesday

               Mair
    Lupano, Smith, McAuley
Barrows, Clunan, Richards, Brown
            Carey, Kelly
                Mitchell

subs, Fleming, Jarvis, Loza, Marriott, King

[Mallard]

Not sure Barnet will be keen to let us start with 12 on the pitch Tone.

Power never seems to make your 16,  or 17 in this case 

[Grissles Oleary]

Maybe replace Mair with our other keeper? 

[TonyM]

Mallard, well spotted, duly amended.  Maybe I was thinking of junior football where teams are allowed another player once the deficit reaches a certain level!

As for Power, more an indication of the 'riches' of attacking options within the squad, although the worry for me is none of the additions really looks that much stronger than what we had to start last season and can't justify putting Loza and Power both on the bench when essentially would be coming on to fulfill the same role.  We are away and I was going with a back five and Fleming as cover so who would you leave out to bring him in?

KES posed the question as to 'who looks an NL player' for me it would only be Richards and Carey and then others who have looked the part at times but not consistently enough.  Appreciate players like Marriott could probably question whether they have been given sufficient chances to prove their worth (he can't score every opportunity) and Mair has maybe had more opportunities than he would like but overall we are looking short all over the pitch imo, most of the squad are capable of playing 'in' a NL side when they are playing well but equally when the side is not playing well are they able to help turn a game at this level?

[Paul47]

Power never seems to make your 16

Yet, somehow, Kelly does??

[KES80]

Hi Tony,
Yes we need a new system, problem is , as I see it , we don't have the personnel on board yet to make it happen.
Personally not sure that Smith has the pace for this league.
When McFadden arrives, could see him playing alongside or  just in front of McCauley and Lupano.
Think we need another full back and a ball winning midfielder....we have a lot of similar players in midfield....I think one or two will be released and replaced over thecoming months.

[TonyM]

Power never seems to make your 16

Yet, somehow, Kelly does??

Different players who bring different qualities to the team imo.  Somehow IC has got to find a pattern that both suits the squad we have (subject to any strengthening that can be achieved) that can be competitive against the bottom half of the league and doesn't get consistently thumped by those chasing the playoffs.  The choice seems to be keeping the pass & move style but ensure the players adapt to the higher tempo required at step 1 to be successful with maybe the need to replace some who can't make that step up against going with an alternative plan of playing longer, relying on pace, catching teams on the break which would probably mean more wholesale changes in midfield but greater roles for Loza AND Power.

[TonyM]

Hi Tony,
Yes we need a new system, problem is , as I see it , we don't have the personnel on board yet to make it happen.
Personally not sure that Smith has the pace for this league.
When McFadden arrives, could see him playing alongside or  just in front of McCauley and Lupano.
Think we need another full back and a ball winning midfielder....we have a lot of similar players in midfield....I think one or two will be released and replaced over thecoming months.

That was part of my issue with the summer's recruitment - players coming in that were similar to what we already had whilst not really addressing the issues from the NLN campaign.  Hopefully McFadden can be part of the rebuild (in whatever position) but do we need adapt the system to get the most out of the existing squad or make changes to the squad so the current system can work at a higher level?  Difficult choice for IC who seems very set on how he wants his teams to play but has also been very loyal to many of the squad, maybe signs in the post match interview from Saturday that he was starting to lose patience with some ("enough experience but not enough leadership")

[Mallard]

It seems a lot of faith/emphasis is being put upon the signing of McFadden.   I think we really need to see what we are getting before building him to the messiah and the saviour of Kings Lynn’s season.   He is coming from the Irish Prem League which is not the best paying League around.  The lad is joining a struggling National League on a limited budget.   So let’s keep this in prospective.

I think in reality we are about where some of us thought we would be in this League.   Always saw it was going to be a battle in the bottom half to keep out of the bottom 3, with the squad we have.   What has proved the real surprise is the strumping’s we have taken 3 times already this season.  I never saw ya challenging at the business end of the League but thought we might have at least been competitive and not a soft touch who would roll over.

We have 84k per month coming in (20k per week). I thought the idea was that gate money would pay the playing squad.   So 20k per week for 20
Players should give us a squad that should be at least competing.    SC, on a recent podcast suggested that there were players dropping out of the Football League who would be prepared to sign up for £400 a week.   Maybe it’s time to start looking at bringing some experience into the squad to steady what is looking a very rocky ship.

[westlynnmike]

Seems that Barnet FC experienced serious Streaming problems in previous games. Saturday saw that these problems had not been resolved.

https://www.barnetfc.com/news/2020/november/club-statement/

Will they have it sorted for Tuesday evening     

[Squire of Langham]

With Barnet losing 3-1 at home to Bromley on Saturday they will not want two home defeats on the bounce.  Lynn will do extremely well to come away with anything from The Hive.  Dover is a must win game.

[Non League]

Mair: Barrows, McAuley, Lupano, Brown: Loza, Richards, Kings, Power: Marriott, Mitchell

Get as much pace in the side as possible. Ensure the 2 lines of 4 are closer then normal, slightly deeper and look to counter fast. With the ball, have the wide players pushing on for the outlet.