Only way we get anything here is 5-3-2. Mandroiu off, Diamond up top alongside Hopper. Bishop on in midfield and go to a three. Ask Boyes and Poole to play attacking full backs. Otherwise, if we persist with Sorensen and Sanders in a two, we lose 4-0.
— The Stacey West (@Staceywestblog) January 7, 2023
I tweeted at half time the only way to get anything from the game was to go 5-3-2, drop the wingers and bolster the midfield. Mark must read my tweets because he initiated the exact swap I suggested, aside from who he took off. On came Ted Bishop, and instead of Mandroiu, Diamond came off. For the first 15 minutes of the half, we looked better, but still at sixes and sevens. Ted nearly got an assist to his name, feeding Miles Leaburn for a chance, and had Charlton been lethal, it could have been 4-0 by the time we decided to put in some effort. That’s a turn of phrase, by the way; I despise hearing things like ‘we didn’t look interested’, because, whilst it might be perceptually correct, footballers don’t go out thinking they can’t be arsed. We just lacked ideas, creativity, inventiveness and application. Which I guess is the same thing.
However, once we tweaked things on the hour mark, I thought it all changed. Charles Vernam came on, Mandroiu dropped into the ten role and Ted found himself sitting alongside Lasse. That gave Lasse a little more protection to do his harassing, it gave us a bit more creativity in Ted, and it freed up Mandroiu to try to create. Ok, it was a winger and Tom Hopper up front, which isn’t ideal, and the fallacy of having two for every position was laid bare in that we didn’t have an alternative, experienced striker to bring on, but we did look much better. I know those who think everything was awful yesterday will be reaching for Twitter to tell me I’m deluded, but in the last 30 minutes, we were much better and had the game gone on for another 20 minutes or so, I think we could have got a draw. We didn’t; I admit that, but at least we gave it a bit of a go.
Mandroiu certainly excelled in the middle – I’m beginning to think he’s not a winger and that maybe we stumbled upon his best position, the ten, yesterday. If that’s true, is it time for another tweak? Should we now look to go 3-5-2 (you might call it 3-4-1-2 if you’re new school), ditch the wingers (because we don’t have enough of them) and recruit a BNC-style figure for the right side? On the showing of the last 30 minutes, it might actually be a decent option. Let’s be honest, the 3-4-3 has been great for nullifying games, for grinding out results against top clubs, but it doesn’t lend itself well to breaking teams down.
When we did score, with 14 minutes left, it was started by a player I’ve laid into a bit. Tom’s flick on found Vernam, and the so-called ‘no-product’ man teased his full back before laying the ball into Mandroiu. He did what we need to see more of – he had a go. Not once, not twice, but thrice. Two were blocked, and nobody was stopping the third effort. Boom, City were back in the game.
As you know, I listened to the game and have watched back this morning, and listening in, I really felt we’d go on and get a draw. We left a few gaps at the back, then went 4-4-2 for injury time, but in doing so, Mandroiu was back out wide, and it didn’t turn out to be the right move. Jovon came on and almost created a late goal; Mandroiu’s drive from the youngster’s lay off went agonisingly wide of the post. Listening in, it sounded like a golden chance; watching back, it wasn’t. Yes, it was a good effort from Mandroiu, but it wasn’t the sort of guilt-edged opportunity you think should 100% have gone in. The game finished shortly after, 2-1 to Charlton.
I think Addicks fans could have complained if it was a draw, but Imps fans can’t really say we deserved anything from it. We started alright, went awry for 45 minutes or so, and then came back into the game. Ultimately, a bit of quality separated the two sides, namely Scott Fraser. Seriously, even with Rak-Sakyi’s ability, Leaburn’s threat and whoever else they had, if you took Scot Fraser out and put a younger player, like Lasse or Max, in their midfield, we probably get a point, if not three. Even with Fraser, weak goalkeeping is to blame for their second goal and poor all-around effort for their first.
What’s really frustrating is that Charlton side will probably finish between 12th and 17th this season – they’ll be there based on the quality they can attract, not on how well they’re playing. They didn’t tear us apart, but they didn’t need to; it was another game where we didn’t seize the opportunity in front of us. We can go into David v Goliath matches (in terms of the balance of play) and fight for a draw, but when two evenly balanced teams (in terms of play again, not club size) are involved, Lincoln City seem to come out on the wrong side of the result, or with a share of the spoils at best.
We haven’t won in the league since November 19th, before the World Cup. We haven’t beaten a side away in the league since October 15th, and whilst we’ve had some great performances between and plenty to be hopeful about, this result underlines the current failings of the team. I always stress one result doesn’t make a season, I stand by that, but we’ve played four matches now and got two points – two points you wouldn’t expect us to get. We absolutely have to find a way to start getting something out of games we should be getting something from, and the next three games are the chance.
Here’s the thing, the next three games define our season. If we take seven or even five points from these matches, I won’t be too worried. Four or fewer, and we’ll be looking over our shoulders until the final weeks of the season. The only way we take points from these games is by being better in key areas and, in my opinion, finding a solution to the deficiencies within our squad. That means new faces, at least a striker and a midfielder, and maybe even a slight change to our formation.
Calls for the manager to go are ridiculous. We’ve underperformed recently, but we still have the makings of a good League One squad. Too many people think Rome was built in a day or that the success between 2016 and 2019 is something we should expect now, rather than experience once in a lifetime. It did anger and upset me last year; now, I just don’t engage or even check other people’s opinions after the game – I read one thread last night, which affirmed my new outlook. I have my opinion, rather arrogantly, I respect my opinion, and so that’s the one I listen to most. You might think that makes me sound like a bit of a nob, but I think I know a bit about Lincoln City. I don’t know much about anything else!
So, what does this arrogant blogger think? I think the next three games are critical to Lincoln City’s season. Win a couple, and the project is back on track. Get anything less than five points and I’m going to spend the next three or four months just as concerned as I was 12 months ago, which is a real shame given the promise we’ve shown going into the Christmas period.