Our midfield did not exist in the first half for 2 reasons.
1. Apter had a free role. In his head that means without the ball he doesn’t need to pick men up and when we do have the ball he needs to dribble through their whole team and shoot. This left Beeston and Butterfield trying to look after a 3 in there. Not blaming Apter for this. He has talent but is only 19 FFS and needs telling where and how to play.
2. They had 2 men in their back line that could pass the ball forward properly. The long haired guy was good at it and their number 3 was exceptionally good at it. Our front 2 should have focused on those 2 and let their other defenders or goalkeeper kick it long. There was one moment that summed up the first half. Their keeper passed a goal kick short to their number 3. He dribbled past Nuttall’s half hearted challenge in his own box. Nuttall stood and watched him stroll into our half unchallenged and play a dangerous ball forward. Most players when they have the piss taken out of them would have chased the culprit down and left an agricultural challenge on him.
To be fair Dorking were good in that first half. I have never seen a team break with the ball and quickly get 5 or 6 bodies in the box. They did this half a dozen times in the first half alone. You can see why they score and concede so many goals. An entertaining team to follow not least for the owner managers interviews.
Someone Swann could learn from. If you own the club and feel the need to pick the team then be upfront about it and take responsibility for the successes and failures.
