Midweek fixtures play havoc with me trying to conduct analysis of our previous Saturday games, but I’m going to attempt to take a ‘better late than never’ approach to Silkmen News analysis this season. As always, your feedback will shape that.
A late brace from Luke Duffy saw Macclesfield FC come from behind and earn a 2-1 victory over a crestfallen Radcliffe side who parted company with manager Bernard Morley 72 hours later following another disappointing defeat at Hereford.
At the time of visiting the Moss Rose, Radcliffe had lost something like 15 out of 16 league games, ironically their only victory being a 1-0 win over a much-changed Silkmen team on the final day of last season.
I feel this context is important when assessing just how well John Rooney’s side have began the 2026/27 campaign, given our other win came against Marine who have also lost their opening three league games. And especially so considering Radcliffe lost both of their centre halves (Tom Davies and Michael Nottingham) to injury inside the opening half hour.
So based on the post-match stats, what can we gleam from the Radcliffe performance?
Lincoln McFayden can be a major threat, and an occasional liability
Let’s begin with the positives. New left back Lincoln McFayden’s two assists were outstanding and laid on a plate for Luke Duffy to convert from close range.
The equaliser, immediately from the restart after Radcliffe had taken a fortuitous lead, showed bravery and composure. Not bravery in terms of flying into a tackle, but the willingness to venture forward and gamble on timing a run to perfection and then having the precision to pick out a teammate in the box.
In the above still, we can see George Wilson on the ball and McFayden drifting forward in the top left of the picture. Wilson’s lofted pass was inch perfect as McFayden stayed onside, then galloped towards the byline and his pull-back was hard and accurate into the path of Duffy who cooly finished. A terrific team goal at a crucial moment.
Lincoln’s second assist was arguably even better. Fin Shrimpton’s ball may not have reached McFayden had Radcliffe substitute Jude Oyibo not showed the brains of a rocking horse in attempting to regain possession. But Oyibo, who had only been on the field for four minutes, lunged in trying to win the ball rather than mark his man. That landed him on his arse and McFayden was then in space and could get his head up and pick his spot.
Make no mistake however, Lincoln still had a lot to do with four Radcliffe defenders in the box. Rather than drill the ball across the face of goal, this time McFayden opted for precision as he bent in a beautiful, quick pass sublimely into the path of Duffy who showed excellent movement and anticipation to guide the ball into the net to earn the Silkmen three points.
With the loss of Neil Kengni (sold) and Brandon Lee (injured), combined with Luis Lacey standing in as a makeshift left-back last season, we needed an upgrade in this area and McFayden has all the qualities to succeed. Against Radcliffe he was exceptional from an attacking aspect:
· 2 assists
· 3 ‘big’ chances created
· 4 ‘key’ passes (a pass which directly lead to a teammate’s shot)
· 7 crosses (4 accurate)
· 2 out of 2 successful dribbles
But at the other end, McFayden does represent a cause for concern which probably explains why he wasn’t retained by former club AFC Fylde. Unfortunately Lincoln has a wrick in him, both in terms of concentration and decision-making.
Against Radcliffe, he was guilty of a weak header which was never going to reach Christian Dibble which led to Rio Clegg almost punishing us with a fiercely-struck half-volley. Minutes before that, a sloppy ball from McFayden eventually resulted in Clegg advancing towards the box only to see his effort blocked.
In total, McFayden conceded possession on 23 occasions (which is a lot!) and was dribbled past twice. I think we may have to accept that the full-back will delight and despair at times this season, but his good qualities outweigh his bad.
Do the Silkmen need a Jordan Hulme type striker?
Some might scotch at my suggestion of recommending a veteran, immobile target-man as the solution to our struggles upfront. But it seems clear that we need another ‘option’ in our forward line who can hold the ball up, play with his back to goal and create chances for others.
Jordan Hulme and the now departed James Gale may be similar in stature, but are chalk and cheese as players and I’d rather have someone like Hulme representing us. Hulme’s performance on Saturday might be best remembered for him missing his one-on-one chance which was excellently saved not once, but twice by Christian Dibble. That aside, Hulme produced an immense performance for Radcliffe which on most days would have won the game for his side.
His modest awarded score of 6.4 out of 10 by Sofascore in no way tells the story of his contribution in this game, which is why you’ve always got to assess the bigger picture when hanging your hat on data alone – it can be an indicator, but can’t be taken as gospel. Let’s look at the veteran striker’s contribution in more detail.
· 14 minutes - Hulme outmuscled McFayden following a cross by Radcliffe’s Afuye, which led to a big chance for Michael Nottingham from point-blank range which needed a superb stop by Dibble’s legs to keep the scoreline blank.
· 34 minutes – a long throw saw Davies beat Shrimpton in the air, Hulme then used his strength to get ahead of Cameron Borthwick-Jackson but couldn’t keep his hooked effort under the bar
· 43 minutes – a heavy pass out from Dibble put George Wilson under pressure. He dallied and Hulme showed aggression and anticipation to regain possession and feed Rio Clegg who blazed over from just outside the box. A let off for Macc.
· 47 minutes – a Radcliffe chance went begging following another vital stop by Dibble, with Hulme heavily involved once more. A long-throw saw Roscoe win his header against Osborne, Hulme then did well to hold the ball up and keep Borthwick-Jackson at bay before laying it off for Roscoe to shoot who saw his effort saved.
· 53 minutes – Hulme should have done better when one-on-one against Dibble. The Silkmen keeper smothered his first attempt, but Hulme should have squared it for Taylor, rather than electing to shoot again from a tight angle which Dibble also saved
· Before Radcliffe scored – Wilson was dispossessed and Hulme showed towering strength to retain the ball and then the vision to release Taylor in the left wing channel who was advancing towards the goal. It didn’t go down as a ‘chance’ per se as Taylor slightly overran the ball and Dibble was able to come out and dive at his feet to snuff out the attack. But Hulme, once more, was at the heart of it.
· 78 minutes – Radcliffe goal. Hulme was instrumental in the visitor’s taking a shock lead. Yet another long-throw into the penalty area saw Hulme control it with his back to goal, flip the ball over his head which bamboozled Borthwick-Jackson and his arrowed shot was beaten away by Dibble, only into the path of Taylor whose effort somehow ricocheted off the 4G surface and looped over everyone into the net
Hulme may not look the part, but if you want an example of a what a good, old-fashioned centre forward’s performance looks like, this is the closest you’re going to get to it. He was directly involved in creating six presentable opportunities for Radcliffe, and on another day might have bagged himself with better composure. And all this from just 30 touches of the ball.
Contrast this with the performance of Hulme’s opposite number, Adan George. I think Adan will prove himself this season, but we as a team and he himself needs to do more to help him. George only touched the ball 23 times, made 1 key pass and had two attempts on goal – volleying over when Duffy’s shot was partially saved, and then failing to head Lacey’s cross on target when his back was facing away from goal. George has promise, and might be a different type of forward to Hulme, but he could learn a lot from the veteran.
Dibble the difference as Radcliffe carve out chances from scraps
John Rooney’s side enjoyed 71% possession against Radcliffe’s 29%, with Macc making 461 passes compared to the away side’s 179.
But worryingly the visitors carved out several openings from their 11 goalscoring attempts, which required Christian Dibble to be at his brilliant best to keep the Silkmen in the game as he made 5 top saves. On another day Hulme (from his one-on-one), Nottingham and Roscoe may have converted and the lofted praise (for me) that some supporters (and Rooney, in fairness) are heaping on our defence may have been given a reality check.
It will be interesting to see how many chances Macc give up when we aren’t able to dominate the ball as much. A combination of Dibble’s brilliance and some poor finishing from Marine, Radcliffe and Spalding are the reason for us registering two clean sheets out of three so far. But the law of averages suggests this can’t continue.
Midfield concerns
I highlighted in my Marine analysis that the balance of our midfield between Elliot Osborne, George Wilson and Fin Shrimpton didn’t seem quite right, yet…
And while as a collective they faired better against Radcliffe (Wilson in particular), it wasn’t a surprise that Osborne made way for Luis Lacey against Spalding on Tuesday (analysis of that game to follow).
Osborne is a tidy and cultured player when allowed to do what he wants. He showed great skill and awareness to win the ball, turn and curl a cracking shot which cannoned off the post from 30 yards which almost gave Macclesfield the lead. I think there’s an argument for playing Osborne in an advanced attacking midfield position – he has excellent intelligence, can pick out a defence splitting pass and his shooting from distance is a genuine threat.
‘Ozzy’ is traditionally seen as a holding, defensive midfielder sitting just in front of the back four, but I wonder how sustainable this might be in the latter stages of his career in the sixth tier of English football? On Saturday, we saw more evidence of Osborne not having the legs or the strength to keep up, on occasions.
On 13 minutes it he was dispossessed by Greenfield who ran forward and shot tamely wide.
Then on 53 minutes Elliot carelessly lost possession when in the ascendency in Radcliffe’s half. It was as if he doubted his ability to carry the ball forward, went to turn back to find a teammate which gave Radcliffe the opportunity to nip in and launch a long ball forward which put Hulme through one-on-one.
Osborne was replaced by Lacey with just under 20 minutes to go who made a good impact off the bench. Luis produced two excellent right-wing crosses for George and Danny Elliott, the latter which was begging to be buried but Elliott couldn’t keep his header down from six yards out. Lacey also had a close-range shot blocked. Sadly, Luis hobbled off after 25 minutes against Spalding so Osborne is likely to be recalled for tomorrow’s game against Brackley, unless Rooney gives Carlos Dos Santos a rare opportunity, assuming Lacey doesn’t make it.
With Paul Dawson and Josh Kay suspended, Osborne could be set for an extended run in midfield but he must do more – just 49 touches vs Radcliffe in comparison to 82 from George Wilson alongside him in the defensive midfield role who had a greater say on proceedings.
Macc ARE creating chances, but could we be creating (and scoring!) more
For all the Silkmen’s attacking prowess on paper – Duffy, Ustabasi, George, Shrimpton and the soon-to-be returning to the starting eleven, Danny Elliott, three goals in three league games represents a modest return thus far.
Of course it’s early days, but does the relatively small sample size suggest we’re about to be banging in goals sooner rather than later?
If John Rooney persists with the current personnel in a 4-2-3-1 formation, I’d argue ‘no’, but there is positive evidence to the contrary based on the Radcliffe data alone (I’m just grouchy after Spalding).
Up until the Chester game (30 December) last season Rooney stuck rigidly to a 4-2-3-1 set-up. That saw us invariably enjoy greater possession but look toothless in attack, far too reliant on the excellent finishing ability of Danny Elliott.
After Christmas, with Elliott injured, Rooney took the handbrake off and switched to a 4-3-3 line-up, playing Luke Duffy further forward on the right wing as Duffy became a revelation in registering 9 goals and 4 assists. As a team, Macclesfield played more directly and got the ball forward far quicker into the likes of Duffy, D’Mani Mellor and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, supported by Paul Dawson and James Edmondson from midfield.
It’s fair to argue that only Duffy currently remains in the team – Mellor, Buckley-Ricketts and Edmondson have departed, and Dawson (who scored 12 league goals), is suspended for four more games. Maybe that’s why Rooney has opted for a more conservative approach as his revamped midfield understandably takes time to gel?
Whatever the rationale, our defenders are seeing far too much of the ball, we’re scoring fewer goals and not creating as many clear-cut chances. Against Radcliffe we had:
· 71% possession and made 461 passes…
· But out of those 461 passes, 249 (54%), were made by our goalkeeper and back four. In particular, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson made more passes than anyone at 78. Breaking news… CBJ completed OVER 100 passes against Spalding. Whilst we retained possession well, we were often too slow and telegraphed when building from the back.
· Contrast this against our 5-1 hammering of Kidderminster in February, and we only had 40% possession and completed 191 passes. But significantly we had 13 shots, 8 on target and 9 of them were in the penalty area…
· Aside from a couple of tame efforts from Duffy and Ustabasi in the first half, it took us until the 57th minute to register an effort of significance when Osborne struck the post. But this was a notable IMPROVEMENT on our attacking performance vs Marine (just one shot on target, Shrimpton’s goal).
Versus Radcliffe, we managed 15 shots, 7 on target and an impressive 10 efforts inside the box. Osborne hit the woodwork, Duffy ought to have scored following Ustabasi’s burst and pass, Ammar Dyer might have done better with his shot which was parried from close range, and on another day Danny Elliott would have converted Lacey’s centre. And let’s be fair, regardless of the timings, the Silkmen DID score two brilliant goals thanks to McFayden and Duffy’s superb play.
Width is vital
For me, the key to us hitting the back of the net more regularly is to utilise the pace and strong attacking luxuries we’ve got out wide, which was largely neglected against Spalding. Dyer, McFayden, Duffy and Ustabasi are a real handful, but we need to get the ball to them quicker in the right areas, more regularly.
I’ll analyse the Spalding game in detail when I can, most likely early next week. From an attacking aspect we were disappointing and it will be intriguing to see how we approach tomorrow’s game against Brackley Town, If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and UTS.