Blackpool v Crewe Official Matchnight Thread 02.03.21

For what it’s worth, good game but substitutes were needed ,Virtue was blowing ,as were 3 or 4 others. Crewe management used theirs. Not rocket science
 
If I were a Crewe fan watching that tonight I'd be wondering how the hell they hadn't got the 3 points tonight.
They controlled the majority of that match and if they had won you couldn't really have argued.
However, Blackpool have had a few of those matches that they should have won and come away with nothing or just a point so swings and roundabouts.
That could be the point that gets us into the playoffs 🤷‍♂️🤔
 
very entertaining game in hindsight, but during its puckering time. weird subbing Simms thought he had the measure of the centre halves thought he was causing them a lot of problems. the ball came off a pool player on its way to their goal but the player was at least three yards offside. That had been waiting to happen all night though, Thorniley is always susceptible to a ball over the top.

I think crewe are probably the best team ive seen at BF this year so far. but we were very hurried on the ball we had moments when we calmed things down and looked more dangerous, but all in all probably a fair result.
 
They pressed more than we did and as a result our forward passes failed too often. I also wonder if Maxwell should have done better with their goal, but our defence dropped him in it and I'm not really blaming him. Either side could have nicked it, but a draw was the fair result.

The good news -- CJ is back and looks quick!
 
Thought Stewart was a little off tonight, seemed to lose the ball a couple of times. Saying that, Crewe closed us down rapid - point gained.
 
Memphisboy said:
Can’t even get out of our own half at home against a mid table team
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Nah i agree with you about being a shite performance for a lot of it, first half kept giving it awayor passing aimlessly, was not impressed by this performance, I have said win lose or draw the passing hasn't been good enough and it showed tonight. If you keep giving it away better sides (than Crewe) will punish you eventually.

If we are a team that wants promotion then we MUST improve the passing.

I'm surprised after such time in charge we still see players at times struggling to pass in a style, Crewe showed how but don't have probably the firepower up top the top sides do.

People got all excited thinking we'll just win each game but I still haven't seen the sort of consistent football that controls a game and /or creates enough clear cut chances to beat teams when their on it like tonight.

Its the one area we need to improve. Critch keeps saying we need to be better with the ball control the game more, but certainly didn't happen tonight.
 
They'd done their homework and used the ball over the top to exploit Thornley's lack of pace. We would have been playing a couple of yards further up the pitch with Marv or the Viking with the result that we could have pressed further up the field. Crewe were excellent technically and were as good as any we have played this season.
 
Matty Virtue did ok but was never man of the match in a million years...Ward was excellent and Stewart was better than Virtue so he wasnt even man of the midfield. Maxwell made some decent saves and had a good game but might be a little disappointed with his distribution tonight and whilst it was a decent strike he could have saved it if he were a little taller. Kai Kai is an enigma and had another night where he just wasnt at the races.

I would have gone Dougall for Virtue and tightened it up but hey ho a point v them when they have played well isnt a bad result.
 
Who's teaching the players how to pass? To me, that is the major problem, too many stray passes that give the opposition possession and chances. Admittedly Crewe played well and deserved a draw, but much of that possession they did not work for. And why take Simms off, with CJ making the runs and Simms in the box would have given us an extra bullet.
 
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We didn't take our chances. Yates should have scored and someone fluffed a chance shortly afterwards. In games like this it is still possible to win if you take your chances.
 
We didn't do enough to justify all three points tonight. We did better in the second half than the first and had a few opportunities that we couldn't quite take advantage of to get that two goal cushion that I always felt we would need.
But it is what it is, we realistically aren't going to win all our remaining games at home and they're a good side, I can see why they've had a decent season.

Good to see Hamilton back, although it was obvious he'd been out for a while, and I thought Stewart did well. Great to see some good corners from us for once.

Still plenty to play for. Charlton were absolutely hopeless on Saturday but win tonight, Lincoln looked to be running away with it at one point but now stuttering badly, Doncaster were on a terrible run of form but manage to beat Portsmouth. It's a very strange league this year and we shouldn't get too downhearted about a point well earned.
 
A point gained for me, Crewe were decent, fit and hungry. Virtue had a good game tonight. It’s going to take CJ several games to find his feet. You can’t win them all.
 
8 points behind Portsmouth in 5th with 3 games in hand. 10 behind Sunderland, and due to play them twice, in 4th also with 3 games in hand. Lincoln gone to shit since the topped three division a couple of weeks ago.

Plenty to play for.
 
That was a good game but I must admit, every time Crewe went forward they looked dangerous. Great point - it always was going to be a hard game, particularly the way Crewe like to play. Well done Pool.👍
 
EagleDay said:
Who's teaching the players how to pass? To me, that is the major problem, too many stray passes that give the opposition possession and chances. Admittedly Crewe played well and deserved a draw, but much of that possession they did not work for. And why take Simms off, with CJ making the runs and Simms in the box would have given us an extra bullet.
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Stab in the dark but itll be the person that's taught them how to pass whilst accumulating 10 points out the last 12🤷‍♂️
Or 17 points from the last 8 league matches😁
 
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Martonmosser said:
Definitely mate. Points like that are the ones you remember at the end of the season 👍🏼
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Like the point won at Hull away. Keep winning or avoiding defeat against teams above us, Hull Portsmouth, Charlton and Crewe, there's only the Ipswich game really where we slipped up. Games in hand will count for us, guaranteed to pick up points. We wont be far off the Top 6.
 
I thought Virtue did have a good game.

I also couldn`t understand why Simms was subbed.

Crewe certainly made a big contribution but I hadn`t thought they looked like scoring in the second half till they did.

I would love to see the right camera angle for their goal because my first impression was that he was well offside,If I`m right the substitute linesman was incompetent.Having said that we left a massive hole in our defence when they scored .Thorniley`s zone I think
 
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EagleDay said:
Who's teaching the players how to pass? To me, that is the major problem, too many stray passes that give the opposition possession and chances. admittedly Crewe played well and deserved a draw, but much of that possession they did not work for. And why take Simms off, with CJ making the runs and Simms in the box would have given us an extra bullet.
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Exactly, people laugh when i go on about possession because it not the be all and end all but you have to use the ball wisely.

If you keep giving it away you have almost no chance to score only be under pressure.

From the off tonight it was poor, from kick off, pass back and aimless loose ball straight to Crewe who were then attacking us 10 seconds in!

Where is the know how there? For me I'd be saying to them dont pass it back and boot it forward, most the time its instantly lost. You may as well pass it about and try and work your way forward with the ball.

Same when we have the ball at the back sometimes, it comes from the manager and coaching to know how to work your way forward, but far too often we pass it along and go back to maxwell and lump it forawrd only to lose it anyway.

We look much better playing it to feet and through the wings.

To me a promotion side doesn't give the ball away this much.

Ironically start of the season we passed it brilliantly and went away from it somewhat. It was just the players weren't gelled as well as they have been more recently.
 
Good game and I thought Crewe were the better team, tbh. Our distribution let us down tonight, particularly from the centre halves. That said, their goal looked miles off!

Could be an important point come the end of the season 👍
 
Potts Must Go said:
I've read 10 posts tonight from Memphis boy and every one is a whopper 🥺. Crewe were the best team we've come up against in months, probably since Ipswich tore us apart at home in early season. Its a small blip, back on track on Saturday. Could be a point won come May.
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A bit harsh. 7 maybe but not all 10 😜
 
Happy with a point.. everything considered!
Some very, very poor decision making all night. We started the second half well and then took KK and Simms off...I thought that was strange.
Many Pool players below par except Matty who deserved MOTM. Good to see CJ back but brought on far too early into the game after such a long time out. You can see why Thornily is only cover in a crisis, his positional play is not great but overall has done Okay since Marvin's injury. Yates was disappointing tonight and looked tired. Three points required on Saturday to put us back on track.

Maxwell 6 Gabriel 5 Ballard 6 Thorniley 5 Garbutt 6 Ward 5 Stewart 5 Matty 7 KaiKai 5 Simms 5 Yates 5

Mitchell 5 CJ 5
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
I think everybody is forgetting that we've travelled 1100 miles in the last week whereas Crewe have travelled how far in the same period ? 7 points out of the 9 that were available, I'm more than happy with that !
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I agree we looked a tad jaded after 2 long away trips and there was not enough running off the ball with too many passes to players standing still. We can’t win them all though and a point helps the cause.
 
I hope Critch holds his hands up in interview tonight and admits he got it wrong. Finally got a foothold in the game last 15 of the first half and start the second half on the front foot. Eleven minutes in he takes off Simms, who's been outstanding recently for CJ who's not played in months. Maybe for KaiKai, bur Simms. I know i'm banging on about it, but it was a piss poor substitution at the wrong time, against a good side.
 
TANGERINETOWERPOWER said:
Matty Virtue did ok but was never man of the match in a million years...Ward was excellent and Stewart was better than Virtue so he wasnt even man of the midfield. Maxwell made some decent saves and had a good game but might be a little disappointed with his distribution tonight and whilst it was a decent strike he could have saved it if he were a little taller. Kai Kai is an enigma and had another night where he just wasnt at the races.

I would have gone Dougall for Virtue and tightened it up but hey ho a point v them when they have played well isnt a bad result.
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I'm Virtue's biggest critic but had to agree with both commentators in that Matty Virtue was Blackpool's best player tonight.
 
EagleDay said:
And if eight teams above us average 2 points per game from now until the end of the season?.
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You really think that'll happen?
And I always thought my glass was always half full!!
Anybody moaning tonight cant see the bigger picture, yes we were 2nd best for the majority of the night but we still came away with a point.
As I've said before, weve battered teams this season and come away with jack shit.
You cannot win every game and you will not play fantastic in every match.
Every Blackpool fan wants the team to win but tonight they didn't play well but didn't lose the match which they would have done earlier in the season.
 
I'm just making an observation Wizzer, nothing more. I'm not one that has been criticising the players at the beginning of the season and wanting them gone. I have often said they needed time to settle, same with Critch. that is happening.......big time. But does that mean we should not make small observations about how and why we think things went wrong in certain games? And yes, I can see eight teams doing just that.
 
I personally cannot see what was wrong with the subs. Crewe were in the ascendancy, Simms wasn't as effective as he was on Saturday and Kaikai did one of his vanishing acts, so the introduction of two pacy wingers made perfect sense to me. Hindsight, don't you just love it ?
 
thedevilsadvocate said:
I personally cannot see what was wrong with the subs. Crewe were in the ascendancy, Simms wasn't as effective as he was on Saturday and Kaikai did one of his vanishing acts, so the introduction of two pacy wingers made perfect sense to me. Hindsight, don't you just love it ?
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Well i have to say i think you were watching a different game to me. Crewe were excellent for half an hour and then we got on the front foot, last 15. We started the second half as we ended the first and as Colin Greenall said, for the first seven minutes Crewe struggled to get out of their own half. After 56 minutes he changes it, CJ for Kai Kai was the obvious change and i said it at the time. Pacey wingers ? You thought CJ played wide ?
Crewe got back into the game after those substitutions and the least they deserved was a point.
All about opinions i suppose.
 
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