No attacking ideas, no points

If a team is beaten in it’s mind, then it’s going to get beaten on the pitch as well. With about 20 minutes to go last night I turned to my mate and commented that we were playing as if we were already 4-0 down, the side didn’t look like they believed there was a way back into the match, so the fact that we went on to concede another 2 late goals was hardly a surprise to any of us up in the attic of the Covered End. Indeed, if not for the sturdy Charlton woodwork and the accomplished shot-stopping of Scott Carson, tonight could have been utterly embarrassing.

United were good, there are no doubts about that, but they didn’t have to work nearly as hard as they should have done in order to claim all three points from us. Faye, Holland and Hughes were just chasing ghosts around the middle of the park for almost the entire second half, and Dowie now has less than a week to bring in a player to create things and orchestrate the midfield. 26 year-old Steed Malbranque from Fulham would be my first choice in that regard. Coleman has told the man that he won’t play for Fulham again even if he is fit, and if the fee is as little as £2.5m (the same amount we paid for M. Bent), we should definitely take a punt on him.

The baiting of Ronaldo kind of dried up once it became evident that he was the best player on the pitch by a country mile, and the defence struggled to cope with surging runs from the United midfield all evening. It was almost comical in the 80th minute when the ball came to Saha, only for both of the defenders we had between him and the goal to instinctively go running towards Ronaldo instead of attacking the ball. Saha can’t have believed his luck, and he simply turned and smashed the ball into the corner without even having to evade a challenge.

On another day we could have had a penalty or two at the beginning of the first half, but it’s worrying that we are yet to score a goal from open play, and even more worrying that we don’t look likely to score a goal from open play. There was no verve or creativity in this performance, and the chances that fell our way were a result of shoddy United defending rather than a nicely weighted through ball or perfect cross.

Dowie cited post-match that his plans for the fixture were thrown into disarray with the late injuries to Sorondo and Reid, but that doesn’t qualify as a legitimate excuse to me. Sorondo allegedly fractured a bone in his back during the West Ham game, and was in pain towards the end of that match. That was four days ago, so it doesn’t qualify as a late injury. Reid hasn’t been fully fit since he joined the club so plans to start him in place of the woefully ineffective Brian Hughes, although tactically sound, were never going happen this early in the season. I also found Dowie’s comments about the goalkeeping situation rather interesting. His quote, “We have two number ones at this club, and I hold Thomas in high regard, but Scott has just got the nod at the moment” must not have gone down particularly well in the Andersen household.

Anyway, two games played, 6 conceded, and bottom of the league. The start to this season could not have been much worse, and things need to be sorted out quickly. If you include the pre-season friendlies, Dowie hasn’t managed to deliver a clean sheet in any of the 9 games in which he has managed us. The Bolton fixture is huge now, and we must avoid defeat at all costs.