Thread by @tomhwilliams23

🆕🧵✍️ Here’s my thread on #Notts 3-1 defeat away at Dorking

This game ended our unbeaten start, but there is a lot we can’t take away from the game

Video credit to Dorking on this one. A fantastic place to go to, any #NationalLeague fans should deffo make the trip down

Let’s start with the positives, and this goal from Cedwyn Scott was exactly what we needed. Individual brilliance and a striker grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck. It’s a classic Ced goal; gives the eyes for the far post before smashing it in the near side

This was one of our best passages of play, and I’ve decided to include the full clip then break it down bit by bit. It’s a really pleasing move on so many levels, and on another day this would have been a goal. This is Williams ball at its best; high turnover creating chances

The ball is won back high by Ruben, and once again we have to praise his pressing; he is relentless and he’s improved this side of his game. The press results in turnovers, but the great thing about it being Ruben is he has the quality to find the right pass

I have mixed feelings about this part. Langstaff did really well to spot the overlapping run of Chicksen, and it’s a great weight of pass, but I wish he had shot first time! I felt this was the best chance of the second half, and usually I’d expect Langstaff to finish here

Usually I’m critical of Chicksen’s attacking output but he couldn’t have done much else here. It’s a great run and a finish that is in the perfect corner. It’s just absolutely brilliant goalkeeping, and sums up Lincoln’s afternoon. He had an unbelievable game, saving everything

Chicksen again gets down the left and smashes the ball at Lincoln; on another day this would have fallen for an attacker. Ruben also showed his class in the game, and this is a lovely reverse pass, sending the defender completely wrong way.

Cedwyn was our best player, and when he came off we really lost an extra dimension in our attack. He drops in beautifully here, and picks his head up and spots the right ball. He then gets the weight just right, and it shows what a well rounded forward Scott is

Ruben also dropped into the space and was able to pick passes, threading the ball showing his ability. Langstaff might not have scored but he was really threatening throughout. His positioning here is great; between the two cbs, and he shows great trickery to get free and shoot

The subs made a decent impact, although in hindsight bringing Scott off was the wrong decision. Kairo did have a really good game though, and did exactly what was asked of him. He won every header and flick on, and we needed to get Ruben closer more often like we did here

Quevin wasn’t quite as impressive as Kairo, but in the final third he did come alive, and was particularly pleasing supporting Nemane out on the right. He overlapped and also supported from deep, and he showed his pedigree with the quality of his final ball

Another positive we can take is Slocombe’s distribution continues to improve. He consistently hit the right areas with his long balls, and we thrive on winning the second ball. He looked calm, probably aided by their reluctance to press, but he’s definitely getting better

As previously mentioned, Ruben had a good game and showed his quality throughout. Here he beats two men with ease, and also shows great decision making, laying it off to Langstaff. Again, ML strikes this well and it was just one of those days; Lincoln had an unbelievable game

This clip sums up our afternoon; on any other day this would end up in the back of the net, and the game just didn’t fall for us. Chicksen does really well to get forward, and Lincoln makes a rare mistake here. ML would throw himself at this on another day, just so unlucky

I said Scott was our best player, and I think he was, but this miss is really poor. He will be kicking himself for missing this, and a goal before half time might have changed things. Let’s take the positives tho; great attacking positioning & he also made amends after the break

For all the positives we still have things to work on. The high line is always going to be a risk, one that usually proves reward that outweighs that risk. It still needs work tho; at the moment it’s too easy for a quick striker to get in behind and go clear

The first goal is a terrible mistake, one which isn’t helped by the playing surface, undoubtedly why he slipped. The pass itself is underhit and the wrong decision really, and you could argue that Palmer should have been deeper. Bad mistakes, but these things happen

Here’s a freeze frame of the exact moment the pass was made. This shows how it was completely the wrong ball. It probably should have gone long, but even before the ball is played their attacker is on the move, and has the run on Palmer. Without a slip it would have been bad

I’m a huge fan of Matty Palmer, but I felt he had an unusually poor game, especially by his standards. He seemed off the pace, and his decision making simply wasn’t there. Here he opts to shoot rather than feed Langstaff who’s in a good position. He will bounce back tho

Here’s another uncharacteristic mistake, this time from Baj. He does have to cut the ball out, but he tries to play in a tight dangerous situation. I think the pitch doesn’t help, as the run of the ball is totally different, but this could have ended much worse

Our decision making was poor all afternoon, and here it’s Ruben who makes the wrong choice. The obvs and easy pass was to Langstaff, and I’m sure if he had the chance again he’d play that ball. ML acc had a really good game, getting into all the right positions

Now the goals in stoppage time, and this doesn’t make for pretty viewing. This goal is a freak goal, comical and just one of those where you have to hold your hands up. If we’re being really critical the keeper and defence perhaps could have reacted quicker but that’s harsh

Quevin gets beaten far too easily here, and his defensive work was really poor; hopefully he will learn from this. To Slocombe’s credit he made several big saves in stoppage time, keeping us in the game and definitely atoning for his earlier error

Another big save from Slocombe, but where is the defence? The response after they went ahead in stoppage time was worrying. They were all over us from that point on, and we seemed to totally collapse. I really hope this isn’t a mental/attitude issue

Once again Quevin doesn’t get it right defensively, and I think Slocombe pushes this into the wrong area. Connell probably should react quicker, but at this point we seemed totally deflated, and a third goal seemed inevitable. Hopefully we learn from this and come back stronger

That’s it, there’s the thread. I think the main takeaway is that we played well, and if we play like that 9 times out of 10 we will walk away victorious

Let’s not rip up the script, trust the process and most importantly have faith in this man

#Notts #COYP ⚫️⚪️⚫️⚪️

If you want to read more check out our report below 👇

nottscountystats.com/post/report-do…