Difference

[ian1980]

Haven’t been able to get today, so what’s been the main difference today from the previous few games

[Filo]

4-4-2 we look comfortale with it, and Fleetwood were dog turd

[DonnyOsmond]

Fleetwood were shit. Defence did their job, McCullough linked up well, the midfield 3 were quality and created plenty. Kiwomya and Marquis pressed well. Players wanting the ball and as soon as got that first goal confidence grew. Nothing to do with formations but it helped having Rowe further forward.

[dickos1]

It's not just the 4-4-2, as we played that last week and we're terrible.
Playing Rowe further up makes a difference and McCullough, coppinger played better than last weeks partnership.
Be tough to play this formation away at Rotherham but we will see

[bpoolrover]

Dont think we can play anything other than 442 as it works far better

[Chris Black come back]

How shit were they?

[the vicar]

John Marquis was imence today covered every inch of the pitch today

[roversdude]

Agree Vicar the guy was awesome

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Helps John having pace next to him. I say this all the time as it creates space for him which he used well today.

[Campsall rover]

Well that was what I was hoping for today and we got it.
Brilliant from every player. 4-4-2 simples. Or 4-3-1-2 Simples.
A word for Mason today and he was playing on the wrong side.
One word Outstanding. McCullough in that position where he was needed on Tuesday. Outstanding.
Please Mr Ferguson stick to this from now until the end of the season and I will guarantee we will finish in the top 10 ( providing we don’t get any more bad injuries )
Instead of a P45 on the 3rd of March if we beat Rotherham and Bury i will be nominating DF for a knighthood to go with his dads.
By heck what a difference one game makes the contrast from that garbage on Tuesday to today was on the Richter scale.
Onwards and upwards 
Rotherham watch out we are coming for you.

[andysly]

Fleetwood were just what we needed today, a poor side with little confidence.
McCullough for me was what we’ve needed most of the season, a midfield man who will just sit deep and allow others to play. That said he played a few quality passes too.
Shame we didn’t get that 4th goal just after the third as we’d have ended up 6/7, that’s how poor fleetwood were.

[RoversAlias]

11 players in red shirts played well today, that was the main difference.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Very refreshing. Kept it simple. Starting at the back, Marosi was much calmer in goal and has a much better awareness of positioning and is willing and very able at coming out to claim the ball.

The two centre halves looked comfortable and Anderson added value at the top end with two goals. He's a 100%er even if he looks a bit awkward at times on the ball he did the basics very well.

Basics were what we got from Alcock and Mason with the latter catching the eye with a very strong performance.

McCullough gave us what we've been missing from Houghton since he returned showing some neat touches, passing, tackling and being positionaly spot on.

All the above gave us a stronger platform to play from with our more forward players punching holes and closing down. Very good to watch with Beestin and Copps playing with flair occasionally and linking things up. That gave Kiwomya an ideal game to get minutes and stretch his legs. Just what you want from a goalscorer, taking up a great position to score.

It's a start. Fleetwood looked like we must have looked in midweek, devoid of much belief with Rossler looking like he's in a precarious position.

Speaking with Andy Butler at half time and he reckons he'll be back in 2 or 3 weeks so we're looking to finish this season quite strongly.

[besty]

What does this say about Houghton?
If Lukes doing his job better do we need to break the bank to sign him?

Thoughts as I wasnt there today?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Could be just confidence. We know Houghton has got it in him as we saw last season.

[DonnyOsmond]

McCullough for me. The worry is his injury record.

[essexrover]

Agree with Andsly. Fleetwood were ideal opponents today. They were very poor and IF we'd lost to them all hell would've been unleashed on Fergie.
Copps & McCullough were great but it doesn't mean that reflects badly on Houghton.
Same again v Rotherham & I'll be happy.

[Campsall rover]

Agree with Andsly. Fleetwood were ideal opponents today. They were very poor and IF we'd lost to them all hell would've been unleashed on Fergie.
Copps & McCullough were great but it doesn't mean that reflects badly on Houghton.
Same again v Rotherham & I'll be happy.

You have to remember Houghton is only 20 yrs old. He has come back from a bad injury which kept him out for months. Give the lad a break. We need to sign him if at all possible. We need strength in depth next season. He is going to be a very good player. Patience please.
A rest was what he needed today, same goes for Whiteman. Young players are inconsistent in their performance levels. We also need an old head in midfield next season as we can’t rely on Copps to play 40 odd games any more.

[Lesonthewest]

Well done to the management & players, we looked well balanced & EVERY player worked their nads off, thought Alcock & Mason were outstanding, along with Marquis. Marosi commanded his box well & the team fought & closed down really well, more of the same please.

[pib]

Fleetwood looked so bad. Not sure if we just nullified them or whether they're that poor but Christ they were terrible.

We did alright, never looked in any danger really. Impressed with Tommy Rowe and Beestin but I think the big difference was Kiwomya. If he keeps playing like that we've got a useful player on our hands. Good work rate, good pace, and his movement off the ball made us much more of a threat. Seemed to partner well with Marquis as well.

[chrisd_123]

They were bad but we can only play against what's in front of us and, to be fair, we did the basics right.

Recently it's clear they've been trying to over complicate things. Today they stripped the performance down to the bare bones and kept things simple.

Goal one - good player and a good poachers finish.

Goal two - quickest to react at a set piece (makes a change!)

Goal three - Great cross and a good header from the biggest player in the box.

All simple goals. None of this 50 passes in front of the 18-yard line.

What was more noticeable was the confidence that seemed to begin to return too. Yes they were poor but that's what we needed. To dominate a team. Pass the ball around nicely, get some confidence into the players with the pressure off.

Also pleased with Alcock. Adds that balance to the back line. He's a solid full back. Not going to take you to the next level but he's solid enough and has the experience.

[RedJ]

The opposition were shit. But we made them look shit too. As has been said, the passing was decent, the set pieces clever and some of the play around the box was much better - quicker when necessary and much more incisive than it's been for quite a while.

Now to keep that up consistently...

[dickos1]

How shit were they?

🙄

[RedJ]

Well you can't deny that they were shit...

[Jimmydee]

As the Fulham manager was saying after their win against Villa today, “it's nice to have a clean shit”

[Campsall rover]

Well you can't deny that they were shit...

Thy were but as others have said you can only play against what’s put in front of you.
Only Northampton on Boxing Day have been worse. At least Fleetwood did show some intent at 3-0 down whereas Northampton showed pretty much none for 90+ mins.
We were good though, we looked like a proper football team. Can’t fault us today, took the foot off gas’s a bit at 3-0 but wait if it’s perfection were after well that’s quite frankly asking for too much.
Credit where credits due. Well done DF you got it spot on today.

[drfchound]

The change to 4-4-2 gave the players the confidence and belief to perform today in a pattern that they are comfortable with.

After the first ten minutes or so we started to dominate and once the first goal went in, as far as I was concerned, there was only one winner today.

Fleetwood though were up there with Northampton as very poor opponents, not getting a shot on target until 74 minutes.

Still, as others have said, you can only play against what is in front of you and we did well today.

All of the players contributed and to pick a MoM was tough but I would have gone for McCullough, with Mason a close second perhaps.
Luke linked everything together.

I am glad that Ferguson (in his own words) went back to basics today and picked a team to utilise the players strengths.
Well done for that.

[southwestexile]

Loved it today, Copps and McCulloughbrilliant. At 3-0 we went for counter attack using Alfie May's pace but he was poor imho. His chance in the box was disappointing too

[Filo]

Loved it today, Copps and McCulloughbrilliant. At 3-0 we went for counter attack using Alfie May's pace but he was poor imho. His chance in the box was disappointing too

Alfie may has no pace

[walter the red]

Whatever Fergy's reasoning for dropping Lawlor and bringing in Marosi was a stroke of genius -Marko was much calmer and assured and his kicking out is a major plus compared to Lawler's .he looks to have beefed up a bit also and the defence improved with Marko's confident handling and positional play .Hope its not just a flash in the pan !