Millwall vs Crewe Alexandra

[Jockney]

Think this is going to be trickier than it looks. Would take a hard-fought 1-0 if you offered me it now.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

We'll set up for a 0-0 because it's Dull Davis, if Millwall score they will win. Simple.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Should be an easy win for Millwall to cement their place in the play offs.

 

[JJ1532]

Be interesting to see what Davis does for this game should he not have Colclough. I personally would go with the same formation we used against Swindon. Bring Howell in alongside Jones and Fox, put Cooper at the tip of the diamond and have Inman alongside Haber upfront. I mean, how many more games is it going to take for Davis to realise Haber can't play upfront by himself and that we look so much more dangerous with 2 upfront instead of 1?

But as TNO says, we'll go for a 0-0 and it'll all depend on whether Millwall can score one of the 4-5 sitters we'll present them. Score 1 or score first and we'll crumble.

 

[TimeyWimey]

It feels like years since we had a good London game. Looking forward to this so much. Apart from the result, which could be anything from a celebrated 1-0 battling defeat to an absolute spanking.

 

[Jockney]

But as TNO says, we'll go for a 0-0 and it'll all depend on whether Millwall can score one of the 4-5 sitters we'll present them. Score 1 or score first and we'll crumble.

Think if you set up for a 0-0 there's a good chance you'll get it as while we're not lacking for options in attack, we do lack a genuine plan B. We are easily frustrated and play with very little patience which is why our form at the Den is so poor.

 

[JJ1532]

You don't need a plan B, you just need to score on plan A. Which shouldn't be hard, we present teams with enough easy opportunities.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Who plays on Millwall's left side out of interest? Didn't go the Crewe-Millwall game this season so just interested. Whoever it is will have a field day against fucking Ollie "first name on the teamsheet when Harry's not fit" Turton.

 

[Jockney]

Who plays on Millwall's left side out of interest? Didn't go the Crewe-Millwall game this season so just interested. Whoever it is will have a field day against fucking Ollie "first name on the teamsheet when Harry's not fit" Turton.

I imagine it will be Aiden O'Brien, who is not naturally a winger. Your fella will be dealing more with Shane Ferguson, a wing-back, who, again, is playing slightly out of position at left-back. Good player though he is, Ferguson's main attribute is his final ball. Jed Wallace on the opposite flank is probably the most likely to give fullbacks the runaround.

 

[Football Purist]

Millwall 0 Crewe 2

 

[Jockney]

You don't need a plan B, you just need to score on plan A. Which shouldn't be hard, we present teams with enough easy opportunities.

Yeah, well, tell that to Wigan and Bury.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

The immovable object vs the irresistible force. Ie, our home form vs Crewe.

If we get an early goal it'll be a stroll, if not, it'll be goalless or we'll lose 1-0.

 

[Freethinker]

You don't need a plan B, you just need to score on plan A. Which shouldn't be hard, we present teams with enough easy opportunities.

Given Millwall's strikeforce is fairly effective if not especially prolific, if we have a dozen or so chances we will score 2 or 3 on a normal day, more on a better day.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Aaaand there it is.

 

[Football Purist]

Very good point for the third game in a row.
Unfortunately,though,draws on their own ain't gonna get us out of the bottom four...but it's encouraging.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

You couldn't beat us at home, you're as good as down. Sorry.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Steve Davis' plan to draw ourselves to safety would be a semi-decent one if we knew how to win a home games.

Bored of the negative football we dish up each week, third consecutive let off in a week, should have lost all three games. If we actually played well and attacked in games I could accept it but we literally camp in our own box in games and it's not worth the entrance fee to watch. Imagine doing this in League Two next season.

Rochdale at home next week is a huge game, if Davis doesn't bother attacking then pay the bellend off.

 

[JJ1532]

Negativ? Which part of the game were we negative? Sure, we sat deep at times, but even the most attack minded teams will do that from time to time.

We had a bloody good go today and more than deserved the draw. Had we lost thanks to that late penalty, it would have been so harsh. Game by game. Deserved a point Saturday, deserved nowt Tuesday, but again deserved a point today. They are battling, sticking in games, against some dangerous teams. Considering we have a poor side and are managed by an abysmal coaching pair, I'll take today's performance every day. In no circumstances did we deserve to lose and a point away at Millwall is never a bad result.

Survival? We aren't staying up. This us all about preserving a bit of pride and preparing for L2. Proud of the players(especially without Colclough) today and that is not something I have been able to say very often this season.

Game by game. Let's see how we get on next week.

 

[Jockney]

Yeah, we had enough chances but once again we didn't do enough performance-wise to merit the three points. Ultimately that is why we are short being truly top-six quality. Level of performances haven't been consistently good enough. Looking forward to the Summer where we'll hopefully address our glaring central midfield problem.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Negativ? Which part of the game were we negative? Sure, we sat deep at times, but even the most attack minded teams will do that from time to time.

We had a bloody good go today and more than deserved the draw. Had we lost thanks to that late penalty, it would have been so harsh. Game by game. Deserved a point Saturday, deserved nowt Tuesday, but again deserved a point today. They are battling, sticking in games, against some dangerous teams. Considering we have a poor side and are managed by an abysmal coaching pair, I'll take today's performance every day. In no circumstances did we deserve to lose and a point away at Millwall is never a bad result.

Survival? We aren't staying up. This us all about preserving a bit of pride and preparing for L2. Proud of the players(especially without Colclough) today and that is not something I have been able to say very often this season.

Game by game. Let's see how we get on next week.

You play to win the game, not set up for draws and hope for the best. No point in preparing for League Two when half the first team aren't going be here for it. As long as everything is mathematical we need to fight and attack. We won't get away with defensive tactics in the league below, we need to instill attacking confidence in the likes of Cooper and Jones who definitely will be here next season.

We did sound a lot better than the absolute waste of an evening that was Bury and Millwall but still we only produced two shots on target. From what I believe all three penalties given were a joke and we were very fortuitous that Millwall decided to spoon their second penalty, just like we were when Leon Clarke and Yanic Wildschut had mares in front of goal which 99 times out of 100 they'd likely put it in the back of the net. We probably did deserve a point today as opposed to the previous two games even though we were well and truly second best and we could, thanks to a strange decision, easily have lost it late on. Millwall just didn't seem as threatening as Wigan and Bury were.

Call it what you want and some fans are getting carried away and all giddy about it but I fail to remain convinced that this form we're in is any good. There have been far too many 'turning points' and the majority of Crewe fans have been gullible to believe them before we end up coming second best in home games to crap opposition like Fleetwood and Shrewsbury. Let's actually attack a team and blow them away before we start getting giddy, but we just know Steve Davis is utterly incapable of getting his side to do that.

If Davis dares play defensive at home to Rochdale next week he needs putting out of his misery, and you just know we'll be second best next week against a side who got knocked for 6 in their last away game, like we have been for the vast majority of home games in the last year or so. Genuinely can't see where our next win is coming from.

 

[Football Purist]

You play to win the game, not set up for draws and hope for the best. No point in preparing for League Two when half the first team aren't going be here for it. As long as everything is mathematical we need to fight and attack. We won't get away with defensive tactics in the league below, we need to instill attacking confidence in the likes of Cooper and Jones who definitely will be here next season.

We did sound a lot better than the absolute waste of an evening that was Bury and Millwall but still we only produced two shots on target. From what I believe all three penalties given were a joke and we were very fortuitous that Millwall decided to spoon their second penalty, just like we were when Leon Clarke and Yanic Wildschut had mares in front of goal which 99 times out of 100 they'd likely put it in the back of the net. We probably did deserve a point today as opposed to the previous two games even though we were well and truly second best and we could, thanks to a strange decision, easily have lost it late on. Millwall just didn't seem as threatening as Wigan and Bury were.

Call it what you want and some fans are getting carried away and all giddy about it but I fail to remain convinced that this form we're in is any good. There have been far too many 'turning points' and the majority of Crewe fans have been gullible to believe them before we end up coming second best in home games to crap opposition like Fleetwood and Shrewsbury. Let's actually attack a team and blow them away before we start getting giddy, but we just know Steve Davis is utterly incapable of getting his side to do that.

If Davis dares play defensive at home to Rochdale next week he needs putting out of his misery, and you just know we'll be second best next week against a side who got knocked for 6 in their last away game, like we have been for the vast majority of home games in the last year or so. Genuinely can't see where our next win is coming from.

I can...next week.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Again, really not sure how teams are not putting us to bed. Are they terrible or we are deceptively decent at defending? Considering how Guthrie, Turton and Ajayi looked like they'd never played the game before in the first half, it has to be the former. Garratt made some crucial, although not particularly spectacular, saves and he was the difference yet again. One meaningful shot on target besides the penalty yet again against a team in the same league just doesn't cut it. Ref was bonkers though and Millwall nearly got fortunate after 85 minutes of terrible attacking play.

By our low standards it was a decent performance. Cooper had really a good game in a seemingly free role. Still crying out for a attacker him and Inman can work with.

 

[Millwall_Matt]

Crewe were relatively comfortable in possession, but weren't interested in trying to attack (as predicted by their fans). To their credit they defended in numbers, but even so we had enough good chances to win it by 2 or 3. Some of the misses, particularly the penalty, Morison's 1 on 1, and both of Wallace's tap ins were absolutely dire.

Have to say, whilst the tactics from Crewe might have frustrated their fans as much as ours, with the number of chances we created against a team thinking defensively, had they been more open we would most likely have created even more and probably have won the game. One to chalk up as a disappointing missed opportunity, but one that hasn't done us significant damage in terms of league position.

Need to look at our central midfield in games like today. Their no. 10 dropped into midfield to create a 3 in the centre and as a result our two struggled to control the game until Crewe resorted to lumping long balls out of defence. Need better options than Adbou and Williams.

 

[JJ1532]

Few more thoughts.

After 30 minutes, we hadn't had a shot, let alone a shot on target. Ben had made a decent 1-on-1 save after some poor defending by Turton(standard). But after that, I felt we grew into the game and whilst we didn't create much, we looked a lot better in a number of areas. Considering we've just sold our best attacker and top scorer, I felt we carried a threat today that whilst it didn't translate into chances, still looked dangerous at times. Cooper shot just over, we had some decent corners for a change, forced a couple of corners through good attacking work.

2nd half, pretty even game until the penalty. Really well worked, Cooper gets in behind, but Archer hesitated when had he come he would have probably got the ball and cleared it. But he hesistated and then dived in on Cooper, looked a stonewaller. Well put away by Inman.

But my biggest annoyance was how we fell to peices in that period after we took the lead. No composure, no control. We'll have to see whether the penalty was fair or not, but we just didn't defend well enough and let a lead slip yet again. Thats why we're going down, because we have no ability to see out leads. Well put away by Gregory. But after that, I felt we settled down and dug in. Don't recall Millwall having many dangerous chances before their 2nd penalty. Again, not sure about it, but Rich Sharpe felt it was a terrible decision and he's usually steers away from making those sorts of calls. Turton, who wouldn't say boo to a goose, was fuming. Might tell a story? Gregory tried to outsmart Garratt by going for the opposite corner, but all he did was outsmart himself by hitting the post. Silly boy, he picks the same corner and he scores.

But I thought we saw the game out and fully deserved a point. In terms of the game, yes we didn't create much. But considering was have a dreadful management team, a poor squad who are playing in the wrong formation, whilst our attacks didn't often translate into chances on goal, we looked a threat. We had a few dangerous moments we didn't make the most of, but we did carry a threat, something we sorely lacked on Tuesday.

Feels like we are going round in circles here though. Not every point is greeted with universal acceptance and support. Every time we don't lose, people aren't sitting there going "turning a corner". Yeah, maybe some of the deluded fans are, but they'll be in for a shock come April time when we get relegated. We've just sold our best player because we are broke, we are going down, the management haven't got a clue and we haven't heard a peep from the board all season. Anyone who tells you that 3 straight draws makes everything hunky dory is either lying or clueless.

 

[Millwall_Matt]

Didn't think of the penalties should have been given to be honest. All 3 were highly suspect.

 

[Freethinker]

On the pens, 1st was a bad 'backpass' interception by Jimmi that turned into a great throughball for Crewe, Poor Penalty decision as no contact.
Millwall's 1st penalty wasn't one but a ref evening things up. The 2nd was a blatant handball that half the ground appealed for, the ref missed but the Lino woke up to give.

2 points dropped, but our own fault for poor finishing and not throwing an extra attacking player on last 10 mins.

 

[Brammer_£500000]

Steve Davis' plan to draw ourselves to safety would be a semi-decent one if we knew how to win a home games.

Bored of the negative football we dish up each week, third consecutive let off in a week, should have lost all three games. If we actually played well and attacked in games I could accept it but we literally camp in our own box in games and it's not worth the entrance fee to watch. Imagine doing this in League Two next season.

Rochdale at home next week is a huge game, if Davis doesn't bother attacking then pay the bellend off.

It kills you when we don't lose, which makes smile and laugh even more you fucking arsehole

 

[Crewealexfan123]

That second penalty was a joke, made the first look clearcut and that was a complete shocker too..

Good result today by us, got what we deserved. The saddest thing is that particularly today and last weekend we've proven that we can compete at this level against sides with a lot higher budgets than us. We've shown that under the right guidance this group of players actually aren't that bad, just a shame we've discovered it when were so far adrift at the foot.

We've got no excuse not to go all out against Rochdale next Saturday. If Davis does sit back and play for a point as he unfortunately has a habit of doing, he should be given a one way ticket out of Gresty Road at the earliest opportunity.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

It kills you when we don't lose, which makes smile and laugh even more you fucking arsehole

Absolute state of that comment. There are just no words to describe a sheer lack of nonsensical wisdom and black pots and black kettles come to mind with the latter two words of that post. However, least I please people!

Think it kills me when we don't win mate, damage limitation tactics will just allow the more aspirational and ambitious of the relegation threatened sides to pull away even if we pull off a run of draws. It's the truth. Of course, happy clappers like yourself are easily pleased by a run of somewhat fortuitous points, that is completely undeniable, and I'm unsure how you can be so easily impressed. However, it's clear a failure to win games is killing us and these points are meaningless without a home win against Rochdale next week. No win since the end of November after all and we need a run of them fast.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Weirdly every game in February compared to this month looks realistically winnable in my opinion. We're playing against similarly built young teams who aren't as well-resourced as your Coventrys, Burys, Millwalls and Wigans. Chesterfield have sold their best player and are hovering above the drop zone. Rochdale are incredibly inconsistent even if they have the Indian Sign over us, Walsall seem to have lost some momentum under SOD and apparently he's a fan of Davis inspired tactics of sitting back on a 1-0 lead and even though Barnsley are in form, Steve Davis tends to always get a result against his golfing buddy at Mere Lee Johnson.

February is make or break for the club, no good form in that month and we can put away any blind faith that we can get out of this mess. Three home games and we need at least 2 wins from them and a win on the road. Winning just one game will be a start but this month is a huge one. I agree with JJ though regarding the mentality of the players whenever we take the lead. Our composure disintegrates and this, conjoined with the ineptitude of Steve Davis and Clipboard tactically and the eternal silence from the board to publicly back or sack is the collective failure on all three fronts that is anchoring us to the bottom currently.