Hartlepool United Match Discussion Thread

Well I'm just relieved we got our first win, I thought we played quite well actually and Curran took his goal superbly. I thought Sonko was our MOTM never stopped running and created numerous chances. We could and should have won by more and its no coincidence Goodison comes back and we keep a clean sheet. On another note I really hope Ronnie drops his son for Greenacre, he doesen't score and in my opinion doesen't offer much to the team.

Couldnt agree more a good performance and Sonko did really well

I agree i think geenacre will be a better option upfront and moore dropped he has never had a great scoring record

I would say Man of the Match for me was Taylor although Sonko and Moore both did well I thought.

I thought we were defensively a shambles again first half but we managed to keep them out and based on the second half we just about to deserved to win!

Great strike by Curran for the goal!



Deadly Submarine



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:16:17:27:39 by Deadly Submarine.

I thought the defending was dodgy and it was always last ditch tackles or a last minute block to stop them from scoring which wasnt good on my finger nails! Going forward we looked immense all we lacked was more goals.. having said that we did get 2 because i thought Curran was onside for the 2nd! I thought Sonko was classy and played extemely well as did Taylor. I thought Ian Moore was good in parts but in other parts he looked fairly clueless. I thought Antwi was ok, so must have improved! And some of his crossing was very good.

We played well today and were good value for our 1-0 win. It would have been good to close the game out with a second, therefore preventing the final few shakey moments when Hartlepool attacked, but we deserved the win at the end.

I thought we passed the ball around excellently and it's great to see a Tranmere side who are so intent on getting the ball on the deck and passing it around. Kay and Chorley in particular now keep the ball down a lot more and as a result we are able to tire teams more as they chase the game.

Although O'Callaghan's set pieces were a let down, I thought otherwise his game was very good. He gets in good, intelligent positions and intelligently plays the ball around.

Sonko was terrific, if only he could shoot he'd be a Championship standard player. He's got pace and stamina and he can use the ball well!

Elsewhere, Ian Moore was very good. Ok, he's@#$%&in front of goal, our worst striker in that sense, but what he does that is oh so crucial in a 4-3-3 formation is always, always track back and annoy the opposition, always looking for the ball. It wears them down and tires them.

Good performance, increadibly well taken goal and the ball has started rolling.

Antwi had a slightly better game I have to say!

Agree fully Matt about the way we are trying to pass the ball too!



Deadly Submarine



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:08:16:18:21:12 by Deadly Submarine.

Ye, agree with everything most people have wrote!! Thought Sonko was great, anyone else think he might be better played in a 4-4-2 formation? I thought he looked better when he was getting at people out and wide and cutting in etc and if both himself and Shuker could hit form, id think wed be great out wide! O'callaghan i thought showed some inteligent play, but bcause of the formation i thought he looked abit out of place endig up out very wide instead of his favourite central role! Thought Kay plyed well in that holding role and defended superbly from set pieces winning every header! Curran took his goal superbly and Taylor was as good as ever, how good was his approach and delivery for Currans disallowed goal! Few nervy moments, but its a in, just what we needed! With a few new faces it will be a while before wer scoring goals and defending well, its just part of the learning process!!

Can i just add... for the attention of Chorley haters... he played well and dominated in the air!

Yes Chorley had another good game I thought Rich!



Deadly Submarine

I was well impressed with yesterdays performance, I thought we played really well. Hartlepool were a good side and I think they will be up there this season so to get a win against them was good.
Sonko impressed me again today as did O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan takes a while to get into the game but when he did I thought he was really good. I thought that once he went off we lost our way a bit, but I think that was more down to the fact that nobody really knew what formation we were playing or who was where.
Antwi looked too dodgy for me. I can't doubt his ability in the air but in the first half everything came down the left because they knew they wouldn't get change out of Taylor who for me was man of the match. Antwi could cost us games if he doesn't improve, which is very worrying.
We just need to get our away performances sorted now. I don't think playing 4-3-3 away from home is an option, it leaves us far too vulnerable. Lets just see how we get on at Leicester on Saturday.

I agree about the 4-3-3 away from home Matty and we said that after the game at Grimsby on Tuesday.

I said I thought it would work at home though and with a less shaky defence I think it will.



Deadly Submarine

tbh i thought first half we where abosloutly shocking and where it not for goodison and taylor we would have been losing atleast 3-1.

i agree compltely abot moore i think hes shite and offers very little i think eother greenacre or savage would offer much more

i was very bemused about the whereabouts of charlie barnett and i think we lacked creativity at times which he would have helped with alot

antwi was very good today imo he recieved alot of stick from the pool fans and respomded perfectly hi tackiling and ball winning was brillaint and crossed really well at times hopefully this will be a good sign for things to come

my motm would be either curran or taylor. Curran was the only person on the pitch i thought that looked like scoring for us he was really impressie and rounded it off with a superb goal.

Sonko impressed me alot but his end product lacked alot at times.

i think if we can get our top players like taylor goodison barnett sonko curran all playing well we will be a threat but we have to be better organised at the back

This is more of an observation than a criticism but does anyone else think Curran is a bit lightweight at times?

He obviously scored the al important goal and played well but he gets knocked off the ball easily at times I think.

Ronnie's reason for dropping Barnett was apparently to give the midfield a little bit more defensively and that at least seemed to work although as you say Dani, Barnett has that creativity element we could also do with.

I thought Moore had an excellent game and as in pre-season he really compliments the 4-3-3 well at times.



Deadly Submarine