NLS: Aveley v Torquay United 3pm 02/09/2023

Much like the England rugby team we have transitioned from " Disappointing" to " Embarrassing".
Woeful.

Your previous post is spot on, Pete.

I'm disappointed that Gaffer has perfectly encapsulated the performance in his interview. What he hasn't explained is why this happens so frequently.

Yes, we couldn't find our two strikers, so why bother putting a third one on when another midfielder would have helped solve that problem?

Yes, Aveley do have a certain way of playing in their home pitch. So why didn't we notice what it was and copy them? They played the ball on the ground quickly to players in space; while we kept hoofing it forward in the hope that Jarvis might get a flick-on to a team-mate. There was one goal-kick that arrived at their number 3 about knee-height. He trapped it first time, then picked a pass along the ground to a team-mate. Neither player had a Gulls player anywhere near them challenging for the ball. On the 3G (4G?) pitch the ball was bouncing higher than it does on a grass pitch, so surely we can work out that we need to stop hoofing it high, and instead play it along the ground.

I actually thought we started brightly, and made quite a few chances. Unfortunately none of them were on target, including the four or five shots from outside the area that we tried. I can understand the first of the game going a bit awry but if none of our shots are on target, why not? Aren't we practicing them in training?

Aveley weren't great in the first half (although Halstead made a couple of very good saves) yet went ahead with a diagonal ball across the area that was put in by an unmarked opponent at the far post. That was my view from the other end so I look forward to watching the highlights to see how accurate that description is. But in the second half they went up another gear. As I've said, everything went along the ground, every player was mobile and getting into space. They used the width to stretch our defence and our midfield were completely ignored. We defended desperately but they had numerous chances and I do think they could have scored at least six had they been able to shoot straight. That's in addition to the six goals Halstead prevented. We deserved to lose by more than our current record defeat.

We had a free-kick in the first half which was held up a bit while Downsey barked orders on who was to stand where. Surely this is something that should have been dealt with in training? It came to nothing. The next free-kick went un-coached because Downsey was putting on his suncream. I know this sounds irrelevant but how is it that our Asst Manager took until 3:15 to notice that the sun was beating down on the dugouts when I noticed it at 2:35? Perhaps a lack of preparation is involved...

I was a bit disappointed with Dillon de Silva. He was in space early on and called for the ball from Dan Martin. Martin looked up to make the pass at which point De Silva started to run behind his defender. Martin paused, then tried to pass it over the defender. It was cut out. Had Martin succeeded, De Silva had minimal space to control the ball and cross it: he would have been better holding his first position and beating the defender once in position. This is one example of the whole game: poor decisions costing us possession.

Gaffer's view on the game is correct, what Gulls fans want to know is why the coaching hasn't solved these issues which we have now been seeing every season since the play-off defeat. New players aren't the answer, it's the organisation and tactics that need to change.



Well, some new players will help: goodness me, we are very slow in transition. Every team has pace, except for us. It's going to be a long and unhappy season for Gulls fans up and down the country.

I live in Hertfordshire so it's only an hour round the M25 for me.

On second thoughts, I was brave or stupid to drive the M25 on a Saturday afternoon!