|
The
Saddlers lost 3-1 to an Ipswich Town side who had failed to win any of their
last 5 away games. It was a clueless performance by the Saddlers who
lacked imagination and never looked like worrying Ipswich. Why
on earth did Colin Lee tinker with the team that got 3 points on Saturday? Ok,
so Leitao was injured, but why change the system. Emblen was man of the match on
Saturday, so why move him in to the midfield where he quite clearly
struggles. The
Saddlers never looked likely to win the game, and the first 15 minutes provided
the proof. It was some time before we managed to get hold of the ball and have a
decent spell of possession. Ipswich outplayed, out maneuvered and out passed the
pedestrian Saddlers. The
best Walsall chance of the game came courtesy of Paul Ritchie, who saw his
powerful goal bound header cleared of the line by an Ipswich defender. Tommy
Miller and Ben Bowditch put in excellent performances for the Tractor boys.
Miller saw 1 effort come off the cross bar, while his other forced Jim Walker in
to an outstanding save. It
was Ipswich who opened the scoring 5 minutes after the restart as a Wright cross
was palmed in to the path of Darren Bent who sent the ball in to the back of the
net. . As the Saddlers threw men forward looking to get back in the game the
they were caught short at the back, as Bowditch played in Bent who was given to
much space Ritchie to score his and the games 2nd goal. It was poor defending by
Ritchie who gave Bent a lot of space, but with a lack of support from his fellow
defenders, committing himself would have been suicide. Paul
Merson had a good chance inside the 6 box, but fired his effort in to the side
netting. Merse showed some nice touches and along with Andrews looked like our
most creative player. Andrews worked hard throughout the game and seemed like
the only player who realised that the Saddlers were in a relegation
battle. The
fans chanted "Too late, too late" as Fryatt and Taylor were introduced
towards the end of the game. This was followed by cries of "What a load of
rubbish". It is easy to understand just why the fans are so frustrated. Why
leave it so late to try and change things? We
did get back in to the game as the clock ran down, Andrews caught the Ipswich
wall napping and stuck a free kick in to the bottom right hand corner of the
Ipswich goal. The
fight back didn't last long as Bent got his 3rd goal of the game, finishing off
a good ball by Westlake, as Aranalde lost his man in the box. It
is disappointing to see us losing games like this. This time last season, no
matter who the opposition we were having a go. Trying to get a result. It wasn't
to long ago that Colin Lee promised to build a young squad who would play
attacking football This is not happening. Radio WM was flooded with calls
calling for Colin Lee's head. Give
us your views in our latest poll.......
|
