Exeter City vs Portsmouth Matchday Thread (Friday 29th December)

[iscalad]

Portsmouth were only as good as we let them be. That doesn't mean they were poor. Give us some credit FFS.

Ah, seems I was mistaken about how well City controlled the Portsmouth threat.
Reading the Exewebber reviews they were bog standard.

 

[Avening Posse]

A good battling performance where we were disciplined and everybody gave everything for the cause. And we were a bit unlucky in front of goal as well. Gutted we haven't got Mitchell out there, he adds that killer quality dimension going forward. As for Portsmouth, if I was a Pompey fan I would get SO frustrated with their keeper, he thinks he's a sweeper but actually just wastes a lot of time across the entire match doing basically nothing. Reading will be interesting ! UTC.............and hope Sonny is okay

 

[iscalad]

I did! No need

You said Portsmouth were poor. I say they were only as good as we let them be.

 

[hillview red]

Sinisalo - Solid (didn't have much to do to be honest)
Aimson - Did very well. Yes, his distribution isn't as good as Sweeney but he's quicker, wins more headers and rarely gets beaten to the ball. He was up against a very good winger tonight and played him well.
Diabate - Rock solid. Comprehensively won his battle with Bishop.
Hartridge - Similar to Aimson in terms of distribution but played well.
Jules - Brings physicality and strength. Solid if unspectacular.
Carroll - very tidy and keep going for the full 90. Helps us keep shape and his experience means he's in the right place more often than not.
Cole - works really hard but looked (understandably) tired tonight. His delivery is so frustrating. He clearly has a brilliant ball in him but in the last two games I've lost count of the number of times he has failed to beat the first defender.
Niskanen - works really hard just lacks quality in the final third. Having said that he played a great pass through to Rankine in the first half.
Rankine - tricky and generally direct. Not sure what to make of his performance. Sense he's getting better and his pace is one of our only threats at present.
Aitchson - Works so hard. Desperately needs a physical presence infront of him (like a Nombe) who could create space.
Cox - Again, worked really hard against strong and physical defenders. Not as good as Boxing Day but progress nonetheless.

Subs
Taylor - Never really sure what he does. He runs around alot but seems to always be second to the ball. He keeps the shape and runs around but he doesn't seem to ever make a telling contribution.
Kite - Worked hard trying to keep Lane quiet but struggled to stop the cross. Showed what a good job Aimson had done.
Scott - Sprinted really fast on to the field.

Very good point. Defensive unit looks really solid. Roll on January and reinforcements to make us exciting in the final third.

 

[manc grecian]

Ah, seems I was mistaken about how well City controlled the Portsmouth threat.
Reading the Exewebber reviews they were bog standard.

You'd expect a team at the top of the table to have a stand out player or play some decent football, compare them to Ipswich last year. They didn't. Yes partly down to us but mainly they were just a little meh.

 

[arthur]

You'd expect a team at the top of the table to have a stand out player or play some decent football, compare them to Ipswich last year. They didn't. Yes partly down to us but mainly they were just a little meh.

Ipswich were exceptional, and it's no surprise that they're second in the Championship

 

[arthur]

Who was MoTM? I agree with Hants

 

[JGrecian23]

Just back. Boring as always. They were crap, their keeper is dreadful and they didn't look any better than Shrewsbury or Port Vale.

We were average but kept trying. Mom for me was Cole then Diabate.

I'm Aitchison's biggest critic but he played better tonight.

 

[manc grecian]

Who was MoTM? I agree with Hants

Diabate

 

[manc grecian]

.

Spot on