Crewe Alex 0-1 Accrington Stanley 24/25 Review - Wake Up Call

Defeats happen. Bad performances happen. Heck, even god awful refs happen. But combine all 3 and it makes for a pretty awful afternoon of 'football'. And so ends the Alex's unbeaten home run that had lasted since the opening home game of the season. There is a lot to break down, so let's get into the review:

The Ref

Alex Chilowicz. Name marked for future reference. Abysmal, shocking, god awful. Numerous calls missed despite giving most Accrington's way. He evened things up in the 2nd half, but his afternoon was summed up when he somehow only gave 5 minutes of added time across the 2 halves, when double that would have been a closer to accurate. He wasn't the reason they lost, but my god he didn't help things either.

Outfought

Yes, the goal was a total fluke, as he could try that 100 times and never hit it again. But let's be honest, Accrington did what Crewe have done to plenty of teams this season. They sat deep, easily soaked up the pressure, played the ref like an absolute fiddle and got their rewards. They outfought the Alex, so often being quicker and sharper to crosses into the box and 2nd balls. They deserved their win, so credit to them.

Tactics

We need to have a discussion about how disjointed the Alex's midfield has looked most of the season and continues to look. I was happy to see Powell, Sanders and Holicek start together, but they were outclassed by what should have been an inferior Accrington group. They start 3 midfielders yet struggle to ever set the tempo of the game, which should be a concern.

And whilst I admire the fact the management threw on options to try and change things, we also need to have a discussion as to who came on, who came off and what they tried to do. Throwing on Tabiner and Tracey and taking off Powell and Sanders meant they had no options in midfield and lost the ability to build up attacks. And when they took off Conway and Cooney and threw on Hemmings and O'Riordan, it cost them any natural width. The finishing formation was 3-2-5 and it was totally imbalanced.

The back 3 were desperately trying to find options further forward and they just resorted to hoofing it forward. When has that ever worked? How is that the tactics of a team in 2nd chasing promotion. It wasn't the reason they got back into the games against Port Vale and Carlisle twice. It was clueless stuff, on and off the field today.

Sign a creator

I said earlier in the week that the Alex would miss Lankester's creativity more than his goals. That looked very accurate today. The Alex struggled to fashion many clear cut opportunities. They managed 3 shots on target and 0.95 xG against an Accrington side who concede goals for fun and let in 3 against Notts County last week. There isn't enough consistent creativity in this group sans Lankester. That has been made abundantly clear, especially given the fact they've scored 1 goal in their last 3 games.

Finding a good creator at this late stage of the transfer window will be difficult. And expensive. But so will not getting promoted. They have 2 choices. Either let things play out with the group they've got and hope they've got enough upfront to create the goals they need. Or find some money and back the manager to find a difference maker. It's that simple.

Ref Assessment

Said all that needs to be said. I hope we don't see him take charge of a Crewe game for a long time.

Management Assessment

Can't argue with the starting XI. But the management in the 2nd reeked of a group who had little to no idea how to influence things. It was all a bit clueless. Which is worrying.

Player Assessments

Filip Marschall

Having seen the goal back, there is nothing he could do. It's on a postage stamp into the top corner. No blame attached to him.

Jamie Knight-Lebel

Was he a bit fortunate to avoid a red for his challenge in the first half, which Accy seemed convinced was due to him being the last man? I didn't think so. He was ok to be fair, but nothing more than that.

Mickey Demetriou

A week of heavy speculation won't have helped, so I can forgive him for having something of an off day.

Zac Williams

Another performance where he's just sort of...there. He can come off in games, the manager does realise that? Him staying on whilst chasing a goal is baffling.

Ryan Cooney

He found it tough and got a silly booking for complaining about a decision. I don't agree with him being hooked and Tracey moving out there. As a reminder, Cooney has their most recent assist and 5 assists this season. Tracey hasn't managed one in over a year.

Matus Holicek

Another tough game where he couldn't get involved or influence things. He's really gone off the boil lately, which is a concern.

Max Sanders

I can't grumble at his performance. But I don't get taking him off and chucking on similarly uncreative attackers.

Jack Powell

Not the game to cap off his new deal. He looked slow and leggy and I don't think him on the left of midfield is the way forward. Although he was involved in Bogle's first half chance.

Max Conway

A poor game where the lack of creativity down the left hand side is becoming a big issue. The fact that they took him off whilst chasing a goal should be a shot across his bows that he needs to step up his game.

Chris Long MOTM

The only attacker who looked like scoring, although his 2 best efforts were speculative shots from range. He faded in the 2nd half and probably shouldn't have played the whole 90. The MOTM might be generous, but then who else do you give it to?

Omar Bogle

I feel for him as he was getting nothing from the ref the whole game and then got a baffling booked in the 2nd half. But that doesn't overlook the fact he really struggled. Again, baffling how he stayed on for the whole 90.

Subs:

Joel Tabiner

A nothing sub appearance, he added nothing when he came on. There is a deeper discussion to how poor he's been this season. It's a big concern.

Shilow Tracey

A few bright moments down the right, but they didn't find him often enough. And I'm sorry, but I have zero confidence in him to actually create something, I really don't. We're getting to the point where we have to utter those immortal words: "He's not good enough".

Connor O'Riordan

Looked calm and composed against an Accy side who were sitting back to be fair. Does he start on Tuesday? Who for is the question.

Kane Hemmings

Nice to see him back, although he was rusty as you'd expect. Does he start against Wimbledon? Probably not, but perhaps their hand is forced?

Overall Verdict

They are still 2nd and have another game in a few days to bounce back in. Although that game is at home to a tough Wimbledon side who are only 1 point behind them in the table. They'll need a massive improvement to get anything out of that game. How they respond to today's shambles will be interesting to see.