A division of dross

There was a great opinion piece in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago from a WSC writer which perfectly summed up my feelings about the football I've seen this season. We're too good to risk squandering our advantage by resorting to "traditional" L2 type tactics and risk losing but we're not good enough to beat teams who just want to avoid being beaten so we've ended up being stuck in a terrible cycle of boredom.

Well worth a quick read:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/when-saturday-comes-blog/2023/jan/18/lower-league-football-premier-league-pyramid

 

This bit caught my eye in the article
"During those rare passages of actual play, prevailing tactics have done little to increase the entertainment value. Whereas tiki-taka has been used by elite clubs to elude opponents with snappy, progressive passes, the lower-league parody has seen the centre-back pass to the other centre-back, to the goalkeeper, to the deep-lying midfielder, to the centre-back, to the goalkeeper. Bored yet? If you’re not, try a stab of acute despondency instead, as that same centre-back is caught in possession and the ball gleefully thrashed into your team’s net."

 

Absolutely spot on.

 

We now have a jubilant Mansfield to contend with who have just won 4-1! Whilst we have been twiddling our toes!

 

Really important game now for us against Mansfield,a win and we go back above them /back into the playoffs.

 

Not too bad a batch of results today. Stockport lost, Salford lost, Swindon only drew. Shame Carlisle won again but Leyton Orient continue their slump.