In an awful season, Tuesday night’s performance against Southend did well to stand out as probably the worst performance of them all. It wasn’t just the half-hearted defending that allowed Southend to saunter to a comfortable two-goal lead, it was the complete lack of attacking ambition or anyone even looking like they were playing for pride.
We all know what the situation is, we’re going down and we’ll probably finish bottom too. Mark Robins is here to build for next season, but it’s hard to see right now whether it will actually make any difference that he was appointed last Sunday rather than at the end of this season. Most of this squad won’t be here next season and I’m not sure whether you can lay meaningful foundations when both you and the players know that there’s neither no chance of salvaging the season or of the group staying together come August.
As a fan though, it still hurts to see us lose as meekly as we did on Tuesday night. The criticism of Russell Slade was that it was boring football that wasn’t working and we were going backwards. Tuesday was probably as bad, if not worse, than some of the tripe we saw under Slade. There’s nothing to lose by throwing caution to the wind now, and it would probably help if Robins attempted to get the fans back onside with some entertaining performances between now and the end of the season.
A big issue contributing to our lack of attacking threat I think has been the exclusion of players who actually create chances, such as Jodi Jones and Ruben Lameiras, and to a lesser extent Kyel Reid. We have too many strikers in the squad, but none of them offer pace, creativity, physical threat, or are a reliable enough threat in front of goal to get away with lacking those qualities. Attempting to shoehorn as many strikers in has made us into a team with no obvious threat. Jones, Lameiras and Reid should at least be given a go to remedy this situation, I also think Devon Kelly-Evans has been harshly overlooked given his performances for the under-23s.
Last Time We Met
Heading into our last meeting with MK Dons, we were looking to get back to winning ways after back-to-back league defeats for the first time under Mark Venus. It was a fairly even contest between two teams looking to build their confidence, however, our achilles heel in preventing and defending crosses into the box allowed MK Dons to take the lead via Ed Upson heading in a centre from Dean Lewington.
Ben Stevenson levelled the game with a typical Ben Stevenson goal, returning a poor clearance from MK Dons’ keeper David Martin into the top corner. However, it was Stevenson’s reckless tackle that earned him a red card that proved the game’s decisive moment, with Ed Upson once again benefiting from poor defending in our penalty area to score the winner just four minutes after Stevenson’s dismissal.
How Are They Doing?
It’s been what might be described as a ‘transitional season’ for Milton Keynes Dons following relegation from the Championship last season. The long-serving Karl Robinson left the club in November after a poor start to the campaign which saw them struggling at the wrong end of the division thanks to a series of poor displays at home. Robinson was eventually replaced in December by ex-Hearts manager Robbie Neilson, who is a friend of Steven Pressley’s and trained with the Sky Blues back in the summer of 2013.
While Neilson has steadied the ship somewhat at MK Dons, it has seemingly been on the assumption that he’ll be able to put together a more concerted bid for promotion next season with more of his own players in place. There have been some decent performances in the four months he’s been in charge, but not on a consistent basis – probably down to a squad rotation policy – and they still need three or four wins to ensure League One status next season, making this game must-win for them.
The team is still transitioning away from the possession-based, and sometimes naive, approach under Robinson towards a slightly more robust approach under Neilson. There are still the intricate attacking midfielders in place such as Ben Reeves, as well as ball-playing defenders such as Joe Walsh and Paul Downing, but Neilson has brought in more physical players such as the towering strikers Robbie Muirhead and Maecky Ngombo and the industrious Stuart O’Keefe in midfield, but has made a nod towards the previous era in signing the talented Leicester attacking midfielder Harvey Barnes on loan.
MK Dons are likely to dominate this game with extended spells of possession, but with more of an attacking impetus than before. Neilson has tended to play either a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-2 diamond formation with more of a physical presence in attack, which means they can move more quickly from defence to attack than they have done before. However, retaining some of those ball-players means they’re capable of holding onto possession and dragging us out of position.
Having quality attacking full-backs also helps MK Dons mix things up, offering support in possession, as well as the ability to put in telling deliveries into the box. At right-back, it’s a choice between George Baldock, who could well play at a higher-level in the next couple of season, and George Williams. At left-back, there’s the reliable Dean Lewington and the promising youngster Ben Tilney to pick from.
If MK Dons play to their potential, they’ll beat us comfortably, however, they’ve struggled in recent weeks due to the loss of the inspirational maverick Chuks Aneke. Yet, they do have Kieran Agard who is a proven striker at this level and has 11 goals to his name this season, so I’m sure they’ll find some way to deal with our robust defensive block.
Prediction
This is a game that MK Dons should win and win with ease. I find it odd that they have struggled to pull away from danger given the strength they have in their squad and that they have a good mix between creative players and physical players. Perhaps it will help us that they’ll look to control the game, which should offer us space on the counter, this is the exact type of games Robins’ previous Coventry City side would have relished.
However, we don’t have David McGoldrick, Franck Moussa and Carl Baker, we don’t even have Steven Jennings or Billy Edge. I’d be surprised if they were taking bets on this win. 4-0 MK Dons win.
Sideways Sammy 