Chesham (home)

[Lord Elpus]

Tonight sees us at home to Chesham. Despite them having a very solid season in mid table, this is surely one of those games where we ought to be a bit more optimistic of a win. They're not a huge, well funded side like so many others in the division and so arguably we should be a bit more realistic of trying to pick up some points.
If we're going to survive the drop this season then the points have got to come from somewhere...

[Josh2002]

Massive game tonight, definitely need to be looking at picking up three points. If we play like we did prior to conceding against Dorking then we have a great chance.

[Josh2002]

Lost 1-0. For all the possession we had, we rarely threatened their keeper and look very poor in attack.

[Lord Elpus]

So, Project Relegation continues. If we can't pick up points against a fairly ordinary side like Chesham then things are beginning to look a little bleak.

[Tony]

After Saturday, despite the defeat, tonight felt like a retrograde step. We lacked quality in the final third and couldn’t break down a well organised Chesham defence. We lack pace going forward and the final ball was often poor. Could have played a couple of hours more without a goal.No corners turned just yet.

[Sparky]

10/10 for effort but we’re so easy to mark, so predictable when going forward.

[Thelittleowl1]

Good effort but looked toothless in attack. Not looking good atm.

[HamptonLifer5]

I can't shake myself off of the feeling that we are in real real trouble. We look a more spirited side, but unable to score. We created the best chance in 3 games when Kiernans shot was saved, but other than that we are lacking goals and First-Rate chances. Every game seems to get more important, and Saturday especially so, knowing that we face Worthing next Tuesday. There's a danger of the current bottom 6 in the league being cut adrift, and having to scrap amongst ourselves. 1 good month keeps us up, but we don't have many months left. 21 games, 9/10 wins, must start soon, and Saturday is as good an opportunity as any.

[Lord Elpus]

I can't shake myself off of the feeling that we are in real real trouble. We look a more spirited side, but unable to score. We created the best chance in 3 games when Kiernans shot was saved, but other than that we are lacking goals and First-Rate chances. Every game seems to get more important, and Saturday especially so, knowing that we face Worthing next Tuesday. There's a danger of the current bottom 6 in the league being cut adrift, and having to scrap amongst ourselves. 1 good month keeps us up, but we don't have many months left. 21 games, 9/10 wins, must start soon, and Saturday is as good an opportunity as any.

I'd agree about us looking a bit more spirited, and maybe a bit more willing to try things, but despite this, none of it seems to amount to much. Certainly in terms of clear cut chances amounting to goals. We seem to have quite a lot of players who buzz around, undeniably working hard, but failing to score.

Looking at the bigger picture, I'm really starting to wonder just what it takes to survive in this division. Even Eastbourne, a full-time side, are really struggling, and with the sheer size or funding of at least 8 or 9 other clubs, a realistic chance of promotion is now becoming more and more unlikely. A good season for a club like us is mid-table anonymity and a poor season means being very close to, or an actual relegation.

[EastTerracer]

We played well in spells but also at times looked disjointed. Seems to be a big focus on getting crosses in without much threat in the box.

[EastTerracer]

Interesting interview with Dowse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNBuI4Fx1o.

Calling for better players and that no-one was better than 6/10. He's already brought in a lot of players so is he saying those he brought in are no good ? Personally, I thought Sayers had a decent game though not sure if he was involved in 'the worst goal ever' that we conceded. I think he needs to look whether he is getting the best out of the players. Also maybe changing systems when we are not creating chances / working their keeper.

[Sparky]

Interesting interview with Dowse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpNBuI4Fx1o.

Calling for better players and that no-one was better than 6/10. He's already brought in a lot of players so is he saying those he brought in are no good? Also maybe changing systems when we are not creating chances / working their keeper.

I noticed that comment as odd too, EastTerracer.

Putting my very amateur tacticians hat on again (so take this with a pinch of salt). What really stuck out about last night's performance was the predictability. For example, we'd move it over to one side of the pitch, look for an opening, then move it over to the other side of the pitch to look for an opening. Most commonly known as recycling. But when we got it over to the other side, there was usually one player against at least two of the opposition. On top of that, members of our team were painfully slow to join him. So the switch was absolutely pointless.

The idea of creating overloads (finding pockets of the pitch where you can create "plus ones" and progress that way seems alien to this team). Yet, this is what other teams do to us all the time. Instead we're relying on wingers getting behind their defence (despite the fact that we don't even carry an aerial threat).

Is it a player or coaching problem? I don't know. Probably both. But the player movement is just awful, in my humble opinion.