Crewe Alex 24/25 Monthly Review - September

If August started terribly and ended on an upward swing, what can we say about September? Well, it went really well for most of the month, but then ended on a bit of a downer. But that shouldn't overlook what has been a mostly positive month for them on the whole. So, let's review September for Crewe Alex.

Looking Back

The Alex came into the month off the back of a draw with Swindon and a late win over Bromley, looking to continue their rebuilding of the confidence after a tough August.

They didn't get off to a good start when a much changed team got hammered 4-1 by a strong Blackpool side at Bloomfield Road, but that was easy to sweep under the carpet.

In the league, things started positively with a scrappy but deserved win over a limited Morecambe side. Attacking excitement was in short supply and it took a penalty from Kane Hemmings to get them the win, but in truth Morecambe offered little and it was a merited 3 points that brought their dreadful run at home to an end.

They then went on the road to a ground they usually struggle at, the Crown Ground, to play Accrington. It was another scrappy and dull game, but the Alex limited the struggling Accy to very few chances and eventually had the quality to take one at the other end, with a Ryan Cooney cross being smashed in by Zac Williams.

It was 3 wins from 3 in the month as they swept aside Harrogate at Gresty Road the following week. It was a fantastic performance, with 2 first half goals from Kane Hemmings and Jack Lankester put them on their way to victory. They kept pushing for a 3rd in the 2nd half and whilst they had to withstand a bit of a wobble late on, Hemmings grabbed his 2nd and the Alex's 3rd to record a brilliant win.

Unfortunately, their quest to win 5 on the bounce for the first time in 30 years came up short at Newport. In what Lee Bell described as a patchy performance, they fell behind to a stunner from Cameron Evans before sub Adrien Thibaut got the Alex level with 20 minutes to go. Unfortunately they switched off at the back to allow Matt Baker to rise highest to nod in what turned out to be the winner. It meant the Alex finished the month 3-0-1, much better than the 1-1-2 they managed in August.

U21s

The U21s finally saw some success in their league campaign. They started off with a heavy 3-0 defeat against Ipswich, but picked up their first goal and point with a 1-1, draw against Charlton, Thibaut with the goal. The following week they had their first win, as 2 goals from Agius and one from Billington handed them a 3-0 victory. That was followed by a not so good defeat, 3-1 at Burnley.

They were then minutes away from a 2nd win, at home to Wigan, but a late penalty cancelled out Fin Roberts' first goal and meant the Alex finished the month 2-1-2.

U18s

The U18s also had a mixed month in September. They picked up 7 points from 15, with a heavy 8-1 win over Colchester to start things off. They then fell 2-1 to Cardiff on the road, picked up a 2-0 win over Fleetwood at home and then lost 6-3 to the always impressive Sheffield United. They finished off with a 0-0 draw at home Peterborough, meaning they now have a 3 game home unbeaten streak going.

Injuries

Well, to the surprise of nobody, the injury list is starting to start to stack up. The only surprise is that it's come so early. From the game with Newport, they were missing Bogle, Long, Thomas, Lunt and Holicek. They then saw Tabiner and Hemmings also limp out, so I'll add them to the list too.

Last season, the injury bug hit in late October, this time it's a month earlier. Now, at this point none of the injuries, Robinson's aside, seem long term, but we also don't know when any of the players on this list will return or what their prognosis is.

Player	Injury	Possible Return Date?
Joel Tabiner(CM)	Ankle?	???
Matus Holicek(CM)	???	???
Kane Hemmings(ST)	Ankle?	???
Conor Thomas(CM)	Hamstring	???
Owen Lunt(CM)	???	???
Omar Bogle(ST)	Calf	Early Oct 2024
Chris Long(ST)	Hamstring	Early Oct 2024
Jack Powell(CM)	ACL	Oct 2024
Nathan Robinson(CB)	???	Late 2024/Early 2025

Loans

Charlie Finney was sent out to get some much needed experience after a lost 23-24 due to injuries. He's out at Buxton, who've had a stop-start time of things due to cups and adverse weather. But he's been a regular starter with the Bucks, which is good.

Player of the Month

Ryan Cooney

I never thought I'd say this, but Ryan Cooney has been the Alex's best player for the last 4 games. He was immense against Morecambe, got assists on the goals at Accrington and Newport and was decent in the home game against Harrogate. He's growing in confidence and looking good at RWB.

Previous Winners:

August: Filip Marschall

Step It Up

Shilow Tracey

I know, I don't want to keep hounding him. But the fact is, he's sat on 0 goals and 0 assists despite starting week in, week out. It isn't good enough. Having pace and being a menace only takes you so far before you actually need some production. And he's giving them nothing.

Previous Winners:

August: Everyone

Underrated Player

Zac Williams

Williams has been quietly going about his business at LCB and is growing in confidence. His winner at Accrington was well taken and he's not put a bad display all month.

Previous Winners:

August: Jamie Knight-Lebel

Analysis

There have been a lot of discussions about the Alex's style of play over the last month. Alex fans have become accustomed to teams that play a certain way, win, lose or draw. So to see them win against Morecambe and Accrington in a dull and boring way didn't sit well with some, even if others shrugged and pointed out that winning was all that mattered.

Well, thankfully the discussions were relegated to an afterthought as the Alex blew Harrogate away with a display that had attacking intent, passing football and excitement a plenty. Even their defeat at Newport contained a lot of what Alex fans want to see as they took the game to Welsh side, but just fell short in both boxes. It said a lot that fans were happier with this defeat than they were with the win over Accrington.

How they maintain this style as the weather turns, the injuries stack up and the pitches start to cut up, I don't know. But the last couple of games have been a return to the Alex fans want to see.

Looking Ahead

They made the most of a soft September schedule against sides mostly tipped to struggle, as we hoped they would. But now the tough games kick in and frequently, with 2 midweek trips to come in a 6 game month. Oh and there is the final EFL Trophy game as well.

Optimistic Prediction: 3-1-1(Win the 3 home games, lose to Donny, draw at Fleetwood)

Pessimistic Prediction: 1-2-2(Beat Salford or Tranmere and draw the other, draw at Fleetwood, lose to Gillingham and Doncaster)

Realistic(My) Prediction: 2-1-2(Lose to Donny, take 1 point from Gillingham and Fleetwood, beat Tranmere and Salford)

Honestly, a couple of wins out of these 6 would do nicely. Anymore than than 2 would be fantastic. It's a very tough month for games and we'll have to see if the squad can take it.

Final Word

The Alex are in a good place in terms of results heading into October. But the mounting injuries are a huge concern. None of them seem long term, but you can't help but wonder if we're about to go through the same issues that we saw last season in the colder months, where absences saw a dip in form. The Alex need to hope for better developments on the injury front in the coming weeks, otherwise their upward swing from September might be hard to maintain going into October.