DCFC1388

I like Byrne but he had a poor game today. However, you can’t deny that was a poor error by Byrne in a critical area of the pitch. An error that had nothing to do with tactics, game plan, knowing your role or set up. No defender in the world would try to claim they didn’t know what they should do in that situation. He knew exactly what he had to but messed it up. 

Pathetic defending, the experience we have in the back 4 should have helped us see the gane out. But instead they challenge each other in the air and decide to fluff their clearances.

I also don't think Byrne and Ebosele are cancelling each other out, I think our offence is just so lopsided it's easy to play against. There's no threat down the middle or the left. If we can show some danger down some alternative channels we'll stretch their defence.
Don't know which of Lawrence or Morrison is supposed to be on the left but whichever one is supposed to be there, they're absent. Use the whole width of the pitch otherwise the overload is crowded out on the right.
With some effective changes I think Festy and Nathan could have a strong second half

Individually I don’t think we’re too bad.
Tactically it’s just so naive though!

They will be boosted by their 1st home game in front of fans in the Champ, we have to ride the early storm that will come our way and hopefully get to 20mins level (ideally winning) and quiten their fans down

It's a bugger trying to turn a 27" monitor on it's side just to see a bloody eye properly.....

More of a zoomed in photo of the ram head
Tilt your phone clockwise, makes it easier to see

Someone better than me will be able to draw the shape for you

Wow well that was easy, got mine & my sons, went on DCFC tickets, logged in, selected my tickets, red alert to say I have tickets reserved which sent me to my list of associated account, ticked both my sons & my accounts for both games then booked.
Well done Derby for making that so easy, I got mine easy enough for Huddersfield but this time not having to find my seat was much better

Ideal from the bench vs tired opposition or vs teams who play a high line

Rooney will stick to 4231 as he wants the CMs to drift out into the wing back area. Defensively, we're like this:
GK
RB   CB   CB   LB
CM   CM
RW   AM   LW
CF
But in possession we rotate into something closer to this:
GK
CB   CB
CM                     CM
RW   LW
RB   AM   CF   LB

Wow well that was easy, got mine & my sons, went on DCFC tickets, logged in, selected my tickets, red alert to say I have tickets reserved which sent me to my list of associated account, ticked both my sons & my accounts for both games then booked.
Well done Derby for making that so easy, I got mine easy enough for Huddersfield but this time not having to find my seat was much better

Wow well that was easy, got mine & my sons, went on DCFC tickets, logged in, selected my tickets, red alert to say I have tickets reserved which sent me to my list of associated account, ticked both my sons & my accounts for both games then booked.
Well done Derby for making that so easy, I got mine easy enough for Huddersfield but this time not having to find my seat was much better

Ideal from the bench vs tired opposition or vs teams who play a high line

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.

No chance of Rooney being sacked or walking this season. When the going gets tough, Wayne gets tougher. He is utterly determined to succeed at Derby and I think that he will.

Did anyone else notice Rav make a big fuss of Watson after his winning penno? ?

More of this please.

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.

They all wore the badge with passion and pride

Plenty to pick through about that performance, but I'm really enjoying the us against them mentality that's being born out of adversity. I think Rooney has used it to his advantage. 
The performance was no classic, but the young players seemed to develop an entire year within 90 minutes. Watson, in particular, started with a few miss passes but then was pulling the strings towards the end of the game. Ebosele is far from a polished footballer, but my word - he has a go. All I see is the Michail Antonio that was at Reading all those years ago. If he can follow a similar trajectory that would be great. 
Hutchinson has a lot of technical ability. Similar to Bird in a lot of ways. I thought Brown showed a bit of promise, although I'd like to see him with Davies rather than Forsyth. Sibley is just unbelievably talented, but I wish we got him on the ball a bit more. The ability as soon as he touches the ball just jumps off the screen. The first touch, the way he quickly changes the direction of the ball. We need to develop him because he's got a special talent in a role that we need a special talent. 
Ravel showing a lot of maturity and that's probably down to the team mentality. He has a real chance here and what a start. It's the best possible start for him and he will no doubt start again on Saturday. 
The first 30 minutes were a rough watch, but after that we blossomed and a lot of the younger players deserve a lot of credit. It was on their shoulders and they showed a lot tonight. I'm really looking forward to Saturday now - I want to see what we can do this season! 

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.

Rooney spot on after the game when he said he saw u23s players turn into mens footballers during the game.
Poor first 20-30mins, got beat in the air which was always going to happen with that line up.
Watson grew into the game, Sibley found lovely pockets of space and Stretton upfront making runs off the shoulders of defenders shows what we have been missing. Jozwiak showed glimpses at times, some decent first touches in tight areas, Williams at left back played really well, Ebosele a constant threat & Hutchinson had a decent game.
Last season the team would have crumbled at 2-0, and then again after a woeful penalty decision, but these young lads showed a huge amount of bottle & character, tonight will set them up well for this upcoming season.
And lastly, what a goal by Morrison! ?
All in all, excellent night for our young lads.