Spalding stalemate: reaction

Spalding 0 Macclesfield 0

In a nutshell. The away kit looked great, we were too slow out of the traps (again), our midfield looked disjointed (again), and despite numerous attempts on goal we rarely carved out any quality in the final third.

The match stats and maybe even tomorrow’s match highlights will be kind to us. But they shouldn’t shape the narrative that the reality is the Silkmen are yet to click this season against Marine, Radcliffe & Spalding.

Match stats:

Shots on target: Spalding 1, Macc 4

Shots off target: Spalding 5, Macc 8

Corners: Spalding 4, Macc 5

In context, with the bigger picture in mind, perhaps 7 points out of 9 is all well and good. But I’d be surprised if these three sides aren’t in the bottom eight come the end of the season, and if you’re in agreement with me, you’ve got to put tonight’s ‘result’ in context.

First half

We didn’t get going for 25 mins. John Rooney set us up in a 4-2-3-1 - Luis Lacey (deservedly for me) came in for Elliot Osborne on the right of midfield with Luke Duffy played centrally, Ustabasi on the left and Wilson and Shrimpton as the defensive midfield pairing.

A quick point on Luke Duffy, and I’ll argue this until I’m blue in the face. Yes, he’s talented, yes he can be creative centrally and he’s arguably the only natural ‘number 10 / attacking midfielder’ in the squad.

But here’s the thing. Luke Duffy’s best form for us since January, where he contributed multiple goals and assists are when he has played wide right in a 4-3-3. So if it wasn’t broken, why are we trying to fix it by negating his and (to a lesser extent) Jonathan Ustabasi’s effectiveness?

In fairness, I think the penny dropped for Rooney midway through the first half. Lacey was sacrificed, somewhat harshly, after 26 minutes and I don’t think he had picked up a knock. On came Osborne to partner Wilson in central midfield, Shrimpton was pushed further forward and Duffy switched to right midfield. It was still a 4-2-3-1 set-up, but we suddenly started to dictate play.

The largely ineffective Adan George found the side-netting after a long clearance by Dibble. A promising run from Ustabasi earned a corner which saw Heathcote’s goal bound header cleared. And the generally impressive George Wilson flashed a free-kick centrally narrowly past the post.

Adan George got into a good position in space, but his cross-come shot failed to pick out Ustabasi. My immediate irritation felt he was shooting which is why his pass for Ustabasi was so poor.

Spalding asked a few questions initially, mainly through nippy forward Jack Roberts, but rarely threatened. Macc were largely in control, however we played far too sideways and back between Dibble, Heathcote & Borthwick-Jackson, with full-backs Dyer & McFayden struggling to get any traction.

Second half

Rooney sent the Silkmen out early. I don’t know if this was deliberate, but we certainly began the second half on the front foot. Territorially we dominated until the last ten minutes, yet infuriatingly failed to create a single, clear cut goalscoring opportunity and had to ride our luck as Spalding realised they had nothing to fear late on.

A nicely worked exchange between Duffy and George saw the latter feed Osborne whose fierce drive was turned around the post by Spalding keeper Peter Crook.

Ammar Dyer got in behind for a rare occasion after latching onto Dibble’s long ball but his cross was straight at Crook. And then Duffy’s deep cross to the back post was headed over the bar by Ustabasi.

You couldn’t fault the Silkmen’s application, the tempo was far better after the break, but often our decision making in the final third was not of the standard required. A case in point being when Heathcote found Wilson in space with a beautiful defence splitting ball, only to see Wilson dally in getting his shot off and a promising opening was squandered.

Luke Duffy, finally operating on the right wing in a 4-3-3, flashed a curling effort inches wide with Crook scrambling. And then a lovely ball from Wilson created a good opening for Ustabasi but he couldn’t hit the target.

It was mostly one-way traffic, however Spalding gradually became more threatening. They started to get joy down their right wing as Lincoln McFayden became ragged defensively, A delicious cross saw substitute striker Cybulski glance a header narrowly off target.

Rooney introduced Danny Elliott off the bench for George after 66 minutes and Danny was well involved. Firstly, he shot high over the bar from 25 yards out, but his second effort from Duffy’s lay off was much closer although Crook in goal didn’t need to make a save.

The Silkmen had huffed and puffed all evening without coming close to blowing Spalding’s house down, failing to turn their possession into any real quality. And we were almost made to pay.

A dangerous Spalding centre was turned behind and the Tulips almost scrambled in the resultant corner until Macc desperately hacked it clear. The home side finally believed they could win it and Silkmen supporters had to endure some anxious moments.

McFayden got beat and Spalding’s cross saw an effort hit the side netting. Then a looping centre had Dibble back-pedalling and we were forced to concede a corner which came to nothing. In the end, we were probably relieved to come away with a point given how Spalding were in the ascendancy late on.

Positives

• We looked much better when we finally switched to 4-3-3 and carved out several openings in the second half

• George Wilson was busy and took responsibility to get us going forward whenever he could

• Danny Elliott was lively and looked fit and strong in his 30-minute cameo, even flying into a 50-50 tackle. He should start v Brackley on Saturday

• We’re unbeaten in three league games without finding our stride fully yet as our new signings find their feet

• A second clean sheet in both away games this season

Negatives

• We started too slowly, again. Not an attempt on goal until after 25 minutes

• Too much farting about playing sideways from the back between Heathcote & Borthwick-Jackson stifles our forward momentum

• Our attacking full-backs Dyer & McFayden can be great weapons, but they failed to ask any questions of Spalding despite us dominating the ball

• We need to figure out how to get the best out of Jonathan Ustabasi. He did have a number of efforts on goal, however we’ve not seen him as a flying winger getting to the byline as per his stellar reputation thus far

• The midfield dynamic isn’t working seamlessly and we lack tenacity and urgency. Captain Paul Dawson’s return from suspension can’t come soon enough

• After a promising end to pre-season, Adan George has gone off the boil. He’s been largely anonymous against Radcliffe and tonight. I’m not sure the 4-2-3-1 formation plays to his strengths and he’s been isolated