Following last night’s 3-1 defeat versus Derby County at Pride Park in League One, I asked the Vital Lincoln City members what three things they learnt from the match.
QUIZ: How much can you remember about the two matches between Derby County and Lincoln City at Pride Park last season? Have a go at the quiz provided below the three things or simply click HERE!
Here’s what sedgleyimp said:
1. Our striker issues are just so obvious now. It is incredible that the team is still, at the time of writing, in the top 10 in League 1 when you consider we haven’t had a forward line since the beginning of September. Some players have come in and done their bit with the occasional success but you can see the real issue when you come up against defenders who are of a higher quality and more experienced. You can get good results as we have against the likes of Cambridge and Orient by playing to our defensive strengths and the midfield contributing the odd chance but against the likes of Derby the gulf in quality is clear for all to see. At the beginning of the second half last night we were actually on top and made some openings, but had no one in a position to make the most of the half chances. That simple truth is the difference between getting points at the better teams and needs to be addressed quite quickly in the New Year.
2. The 2 in midfield needs to be a 3. Ethan Hamilton started in the wide attacking role last night. He did at times drop back into the middle but essentially we started with just Ethan Erhahon and Ted Bishop in the middle of the park. Lasse Sorensen and Jack Burroughs were nominally positioned as wing-backs. The reality was that they were full-backs in a 5. With our striker shortages, I really do get still playing 3 central defenders. It’s our strongest department and none of those who regularly play there let us down. However, what that leads to is a midfield which is constantly overrun in games. We may well have to sacrifice some width, but we need that extra solidity in the middle of the park.
3. We could do with a couple of old heads in the team. I understand and actually support the club’s philosophy of promoting youth. Long term that’s great. However, what you need is a couple of older heads in the team who will guide those players through difficult games on the pitch and we really only have Adam Jackson doing that and as our defence is very solid already, yet also very busy during games he isn’t able to do that with younger players playing further forward. Derby’s best players last night were the likes of Collins, Mendez-Lang and Hourihane. I appreciate they won’t have come cheap from a wages point of view, but the value of having a couple of players with that kind of ability and experience does permeate through to the younger players meaning they can develop and get that game nous quicker.
Thank you to Graham Burrell and Lincoln City Football Club for the photograph!
Derby County 3-1 Lincoln City: Three Things We Learnt:https://t.co/fsnEM4Id8r#DCFC #DCFCfans #WeAreImps
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) December 22, 2023
