Behind the numbers: Macc 1 Hyde 1 in-depth analysis

5 key talking points

It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally gotten round to reviewing Macc’s 1-1 draw against Hyde on Bank Holiday Monday. The table-topping clash was somewhat overshadowed by the sad sight of a supporter falling ill and being taken to hospital by ambulance, delaying the kick-off by 30 minutes. I do hope the said gentleman is recovering, but there have been no further updates from the club. Fingers crossed.

As for the game itself, both on the day and on reflection afterwards a draw felt a fair representation between two teams who should be in the promotion mix come May. Rather than do a blow-by-blow match report, there are some key talking points I’d like to highlight from the game.

Execution in the final third

Right now, this is Macc’s main barrier to putting teams to bed and has been singled out as needing to improve by manager Robbie Savage. Let’s highlight two contrasting examples from the first half.

We’ll start with Macc missing an opportunity to take the lead, which would have capped a glorious move from back to front. Laurent Mendy did brilliantly to intercept a low pass from the Hyde centre back and laid the ball off to John Rooney. Rooney quickly released Danny Elliott, who played a first-time ball into Mendy’s path who had continued his striding run towards Hyde’s penalty area.

At this point Laurent has a decision to make as Macc have a 3-on-2 situation (arguably 4-on-2 as JJ is bursting forward on the right wing). He can either pass to Luke Duffy on the left, take it on himself, or slip in Elliott to his right. Of course, this is all happening in the blink of an eye and hindsight is wonderful.

Mendy opts to give it Duffy, but his pass is fractionally overhit sending Duffs wide. He recovers brilliantly, beats the Hyde defender and gets to the byline, however his cross is partially cut out by another recovering Hyde defender. The ricochet loops up towards Alex Curran, who at full stretch can only guide his header over the bar. Hyde did superbly to avoid conceding, but had Mendy executed a simple pass, the Silkmen would have had a glorious opportunity to score. It proved to be costly as two minutes later we fell behind. I’ll scrutinise what led to Hyde’s goal in more detail below.

On a more positive note, let’s reflect on a brilliant equalizer from Macc. Paul Dawson does well under pressure from a Hyde attacker to bring the ball out from defence and put Macc in the ascendancy. The ball comes to Luke Duffy on the left touchline who is mowed down for a free-kick. John Rooney floats it in, but it’s headed away to Justin Johnson on the edge of the box.

As with Mendy in the previous example, JJ has a couple of options. The ball is in the air and has sat up nicely. But rather than attempt an audacious volley, Johnson displays lovely control to bring the ball down on his right foot, check, then play an accurate pass with his left foot back to Rooney. John then shimmies, sells a dummy, before curling a glorious effort beyond the despairing dive of the Hyde keeper to bring Macc level. Without JJ’s composure the opportunity would never have been on. This is a good example of making the right decision at the right time.

Poor officiating and Macc defending led to Hyde’s goal

Jack Redwood danced around Tre Pemberton and guided an excellent finish into the bottom corner to put Hyde in front. On first glance, Tre gets done all too easily by Redwood. And while that view remains valid, there were two incidents in the build-up which were instrumental in Macc falling behind.

Firstly, Hyde’s impressive target man (Connor Heath) clearly handled the ball (it’s hard to freeze the footage to show this above) in the build-up, which somehow escaped the attention of the officials. The transgression wasn’t given and suddenly Macc were in trouble due to the poor decision-making of Laurent Mendy. It might seem like I’m picking on Mendy, I’m not, but I do think improving this aspect of his game can turn him from being a ‘very good’ player to an ‘excellent’ one.

What went wrong? Mendy abandons his defensive position and comes into midfield (highlighted in the above still). This leaves a gaping hole in the centre of defence which prompts Tre Pemberton to drift over from his right-back berth and scurry across to cover (see below still). The ball then gets played to Redwood in the area Tre has just vacated – Tre then makes his way back over with Mendy returning to help – but by that point Pemberton’s not set defensively and has given Redwood time and space. The wily Hyde striker takes full advantage, skips past Tre and scores with an accurate shot past Max Dearnley.

Why did Mendy abandon ship? As mentioned, Hyde’s goal came less than two minutes after Macc wasted a 3-on-2 opportunity which Mendy was instrumental in creating by intercepting a pass out from the back. I can only presume Laurent anticipated the same situation again, except this time the Hyde defender went long in the air, rather than short on the deck, leaving Mendy in no man’s land after he’d overcommitted. Would Hyde have scored had Mendy stayed put? It’s debatable, but I’d argue ‘no’.

Is Savage losing patience with Danny Elliott?

After scoring in consecutive games against Prescot and Guiseley, Danny Elliott has gone off the boil somewhat in recent games. It’s still early days, and those wishing to write off Macc’s star striker capture from Scunthorpe in the summer, may wish to keep their powder dry for now.

But undoubtedly Elliott needs to produce the goods, and soon, if he is to remain an automatic starter. Sitting in the Main Stand, it was noticeable to me how frustrated Robbie Savage was with his performance. It began with the Silkmen Head Coach repeatedly lambasting Elliott for straying offside after Danny Whitehead had volleyed a ball into the danger area with the outside of his boot. Later, Savage was urging Elliott to work harder and seemed infuriated on the rare occasions Danny failed to retain possession.

Was the manager’s criticism fair? Yes and no. Elliott was feeding off scraps, but despite this managed two of Macc’s five efforts on goal in the first half. One was a daisy cutter that he dragged wide, while the other was a fine bicycle kick effort which went narrowly over the bar, not dissimilar to his goal vs Prescot.

Apart from that, there wasn’t too much to get excited about, but it’s not as if Elliott is missing chances laid to him on a plate. I’m not sure what type of striker Danny is. He looks the part, however so far his end product is largely lacking as a goalscorer, target man or a dynamic forward who harries defenders and works the channels. I think he would be far more effective with a strike partner alongside him, but this isn’t a tactic which Savage is likely to stick with anytime soon.

Perhaps ominously for Elliott, he’s been substituted in all but one of Macc’s league games this season, departing after just 59 minutes vs Hyde to be replaced by Tom Clare who has netted three times this season, one more than Elliott, with far fewer minutes on the pitch.

The delivery from out wide needs to be more consistent

Savage spoke afterwards that the decision making and chance creation in Macc’s final third needs to be more clinical. With only playing one main striker upfront, the onus is clearly on Macc’s wide players to be a more potent source of supply.

That doesn’t just mean the responsibility should fall on Justin Johnson and Luke Duffy – both of whom have contributed to Macc’s fine, unbeaten start to the season. The Silkmen’s full-backs also need to support our attacking play, whether that’s Tre Pemberton, Neil Kengni or the welcome return of Brandon Lee.

Lee and Duffy linked up particularly well in the first half but were less of a threat after the break. In contrast, Johnson was constantly involved but his final ball often lacked accuracy – as evidenced right at the end of the game when he failed to find Tom Clare in space in the penalty area. JJ seems better running at defenders and going directly for goal, rather than as a pinpoint creator from the flank. He did produce a great piece of play to create John Rooney’s goal though, and his square ball to Tre Pemberton in the second half should have resulted in the net bulging, but Tre could only find the Hyde keeper with his scuffed shot.

Arguably it was Kengni, on as a sub for Brandon Lee, who wasted two excellent opportunities within a minute of each other. First, he failed to pick out the right option when crossing into the box when Macc’s forwards were queuing up in the penalty area. Then immediately afterwards, he opted for power rather than accuracy when leathering the ball across the face of goal, instead of picking out Tom Clare who was poised for a tap-in.

In fairness to Savage, he’s trying to lighten the burden (or give them a kick up the backside!) for Macc’s wide players. The recent arrivals of Ali Hayder on a short-term deal and the returning Edy Maieco should help to freshen things up and give Macc alternative options further forward.

Macc’s second half performance bodes well

The key stats from the game (apart from the scoreline!) were:

Macc                                        Hyde

Shots                11                                            8

On target          3                                             3

Corners 7                                             6

In isolation, that suggests a draw was about right. However, I think Macc’s second half performance was somewhat underrated. The Silkmen boasted six shots to Hyde’s four, and spurned two big chances when Pemberton and Rooney failed to convert when well placed in the box.

The Silkmen’s fitness levels and overall game management were also noticeably superior to Hyde’s after half-time, too. If you include Kengni’s two major opportunities to cross for goalscoring opportunities from close range, and JJ’s inability to pick out Tom Clare on the stroke of full-time, Macc may have won this game at a canter.

Other than a Max Dearnley howler where he almost gifted Hyde a chance with a loose pass when playing out from the back, the visitors never looked like adding to their tally. As frustrating as the draw was, Macc more than held their own against an expected promotion rival and most would agree that the Silkmen are still striving to find top gear with a number of new signings finding their feet.

When they do, our attacking stats and league position may look a lot rosier!