Saddlers Social: There are positive signs for Walsall despite defeat

James Kenealey

I went into the Cambridge game saying we wouldn’t come away with anything, and my fears were vindicated. But it was the 90 minutes in-between that makes the whole thing so frustrating, because we deserved something. I thought we just about matched a side flying high in second and ultimately it was a prolific, confident striker that separated us. Who’d have thought?

For the first time in a while we looked like a fairly well-drilled side, a group of 11 players who knew exactly what they needed to do and did it. We weren’t spectacular, but at last we seemed to be adopting a passing style of football that moves away from hoofball nonsense. No, we didn’t really threaten. No, we still don’t have a cutting edge in the final third. And no, I’m still not happy with this situation and where we find ourselves. But there are at least a couple of green shoots to desperately cling on to – Sam Perry looks like he could develop into a player, and Liam Kinsella was excellent.

I’d go as far as to say that we’d have gotten at least a draw from that game (possibly more) if we still had Elijah Adebayo. It’s clear how much the forward line miss his presence, his hold up play, and his knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Play like that every week between now and May and we should be alright. But we have a big few weeks coming up. We need a couple of wins to distance ourselves from those below us and we have opportunities against Barrow, Southend and Grimsby. Big games, starting this Friday.

Chris Saunders

Whilst Exeter away was an awful football performance it was a good point to pick up. Defensively it’s a foundation we should have seen forming early on in Darrell Clarke’s spell but it has taken him leaving to get to this. Moving on to Cambridge it was more of the same defensively and we looked like it would take something special to see us concede, cue Paul Mullin.

I don’t want to dwell on the loss though as the performance was much better and in the main we cleared our lines when needed but played football when it was right to do so. If we had got a 1-0 win it would have been the perfect display and exactly what we deserved but that’s simply not football.

Criticising forward play is easy but the pitch really didn’t help with the last ball quality we needed and ultimately that meant we didn’t end up with much in the way of clear cut chances. Whilst it’s easy to blame the pitch though, that is life at this level so now we seem to be finding a balance of when to play and when we need no nonsense foot through the ball. If we can replicate that performance weekly the final bit of the jigsaw is how to make it click on the final third and score goals, as I say you can’t blame the pitch for that it is merely an obstacle we need to overcome.

Nick Etheridge

Although we again failed to trouble the scoresheet, Saturday saw us play our best football under Brian Dutton yet. We defended well, more than matched one of the better teams of the division in midfield, and had a number of opportunities where if we’d taken more care with the final pass then we would have scored a couple of goals I’m sure.

There were some really good performances out there but I was mostly impressed by our midfield. Sam Perry complimented Liam Kinsella perfectly and it also meant that Emmanuel Osadebe was able to have a positive effect on the game. It’s vital now that we stick with this formation and give the players time to understand not just the style of play, but the system too. It was proven with Darrell Clarke that constantly changing things doesn’t work.

To come away with a point would have seen us hard done by, but to get nothing out of the game is a bitter pill to swallow. Moments like this can see a season turn and I just hope that we can get a couple of wins quickly to pull us away from danger. The game on Friday is huge, it’s not quite must win, but it definitely falls under the ‘must not lose’ category.

Robert Dearn

Two very different performances from the side last week, but maybe a small reason for hope. They look defensively stronger, and the system is making us more difficult to beat. Cambridge was frustrating, as the goal scored was a fantastic strike, and you sometimes cannot do anything to stop that.

My concern now is goals. I feel we won’t need to score many to win games, but we don’t look like we’re able to score, or even score multiple times in a game.

Caolan Lavery looks our most threatening player, but he seems to miss some good chances, and Josh Gordon has not picked up since his injury. Both need a goal or two to gain some confidence, and momentum.

The same goes for Emmanuel Osadebe, he has started to play a bit better, but not enough to hold down a place once Rory Holden returns from injury. I would like to see Jack Nolan in this role, as his passing and touch is much better than Osadebe’s.