Just got back from the glorious surroundings of Sussex, and must say that we were very, very, VERY lucky to even get a draw. That's the worst I've seen us play in a long time - it looked like 2 poor sides to me, who will both struggle...even if you were definetly on top for most of it.
(By the way - Dario is very scathing of us and you can hear his post match interview with local radio at http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/realmedia/2005/08/gradi_130805.ram)
First half - we just created very little. I thought you did really well to stop our dangerous forward line - especially the big ginger bloke (McShane?). The midfield was tight and we really struggled to play and get to grips with you. Leon Knight and that new French winger of yours were excellent. Even if you didn't create much, you were good value for the 1-0.
Second half - same as usual. I don't think we created a single chance and looked totally and utterly abyssmal. It's weird seeing Crewe looking so miserable as that and, if you're bothered, there's going to be a load of changes for our next game. The turning point was when you took that French lad off. Why? It completely changed the outlook of the game and we came into it - scoring two totally undeserved goals by two players who shouldn't be professional footballers, let alone on the pitch. We should have held on...but fair play to coming back and the draw was the least you deserved.
To sum up - very unlucky to only get a draw. The Alex were dreadful, you were better; if average. I'd worry that you couldn't finish us off because, on that performance, you won't play many sides worse than us. And, if you remember, my pre match advice was to 'isolate the full backs and whip in loads of crosses as the keeper doesn't like it'. The two goals came from er...crosses!
As you can see, I'm not too happy!
(By the way - Dario is very scathing of us and you can hear his post match interview with local radio at http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/realmedia/2005/08/gradi_130805.ram)
First half - we just created very little. I thought you did really well to stop our dangerous forward line - especially the big ginger bloke (McShane?). The midfield was tight and we really struggled to play and get to grips with you. Leon Knight and that new French winger of yours were excellent. Even if you didn't create much, you were good value for the 1-0.
Second half - same as usual. I don't think we created a single chance and looked totally and utterly abyssmal. It's weird seeing Crewe looking so miserable as that and, if you're bothered, there's going to be a load of changes for our next game. The turning point was when you took that French lad off. Why? It completely changed the outlook of the game and we came into it - scoring two totally undeserved goals by two players who shouldn't be professional footballers, let alone on the pitch. We should have held on...but fair play to coming back and the draw was the least you deserved.
To sum up - very unlucky to only get a draw. The Alex were dreadful, you were better; if average. I'd worry that you couldn't finish us off because, on that performance, you won't play many sides worse than us. And, if you remember, my pre match advice was to 'isolate the full backs and whip in loads of crosses as the keeper doesn't like it'. The two goals came from er...crosses!
As you can see, I'm not too happy!
