Gillingham 0-0 Crewe Alex 23/24 Review - Anti-Football

That was a tough watch wasn't it? Telling people that was a football match feels like the 2 teams should be sued for false advertising. It was 2 sets of players hoofing it in the air for 90 minutes. A neutral would have probably fallen asleep were it not for the blowing wind which made conditions tricky. I'm going to struggle to find much to talk about in what was a very uneventful game, but let's give it a go:

Dire

As mentioned above, the quality from 2 supposedly top 10 teams was non-existent. Both teams seemed happier to launch it as far up the pitch as possible and hope for a fortunate bounce or mistake. Those things never happened. An xG for each team of 0.61 and 0.82 respectively feels far too generous. It was a game of virtually no goal mouth action and only a couple of clear cut chances.

Clean Sheet

Still, if there was one positive to take from the game, it was the clean sheet. Tom Booth earned it with 2 smart saves, one in either half. And the defence earned it against a low quality but tricky Gills attack who gave them all sorts of problems in the air. After some shaky defensive displays in March, this was back to the steadfast group we saw in January and most of February.

Passing

The biggest let down for the Alex today was their passing. Time and time, they failed to pick out a man when they broke up the pitch. Adebisi mislaid a couple of basic ones and the rest of the team wasn't much better. When Conor Thomas completed the 2nd most passes and had the 3rd highest completion rate of the starters, you know it wasn't a good performance by those around him.

Attacking Issues

This isn't a new problem, but the way this team attacks continues to struggle for any sort of consistency. And unfortunately, it's due to a lack of quality. Yes, missing Powell and Tabiner hurts. But the attackers I would argue have been poor, Elliott Nevitt aside. Look at these league stats since the end of October:

Player	Starts(Sub)	Goals	Assists
Courtney Baker-Richardson	12(9)	3	1
Shilow Tracey	19(5)	1	1
Aaron Rowe	18(5)	2	3
Chris Long	7(2)	2	1
Charlie Kirk	5(5)	0	0

Ok, including Kirk and Long in this list is a little harsh, but it just shows that most of their production has either come from their defence, midfield or Nevitt. The players who are paid to put the ball in the net or create the chances to do so simply haven't been doing it. 8 goals and 6 assists over 24 games from 5 players making a combined 61 starts isn't good enough. Their only reliable attacker has been Elliott Nevitt, either in terms of starts or production or both. It needs a huge improvement come the summer.

Play-Offs

Yes, watching the top 3 slowly move away is painful, as it is to slip from 3rd to 6th. But, the chances of the Alex making the play-offs increased with this result. Crawley lost at home to Doncaster, Wimbledon drew at home to Harrogate, Gillingham drew(obviously), Walsall got hammered.

With 5-7 games to go for the teams below them and none of them looking primed to make a charge, the Alex are within touching distance of a top 7 spot. They need to use the last 6 games in April to get some momentum and go into the play-offs with some confidence, whoever their opponent may be. They are still in a good position and we shouldn't lose sight of that.

Ref Watch - 4

Just horribly inconsistent. Cooney booked for complaining about a throw in location, yet their players moved 10 yards from where the ball went out. Turns hilariously booked for time wasting. Lapslie not booked for whining twice after being warned. Rowe being chucked into the advertising boards and then dragged back on the counter, no action taken. Thankfully Mr Reeves didn't have a truly difficult decision to make, as I think he'd have got it wrong.

Management Rating - 6

They got the starting XI spot on for me, even if the players weren't able to do much. The changes I found a little puzzling, including changing the shape, which I don't think worked. I'm glad to see them realise Billington does indeed exist. It wasn't a banner day for them, but wasn't a disaster like a few games they've had recently.

Player Ratings:

Tom Booth - 7 MOTM

Made 2 very smart stops in the game, his kicking was good in difficult conditions and he claimed a number of tricky crosses as well. An all round decent afternoon for him.

Ryan Cooney - 6

He looked better than he has done in previous starts. I still don't think he has enough things he's good at to make him worthy of a start, but he probably deserves one more chance on Monday before I'm calling for Billington again.

Ed Turns - 7

Was in a real battle and got knocked down on a few occasions. He's a warrior and I admire his battling spirit, even if I wish he'd pick his fights more carefully. His booking was absurd.

Mickey Demetriou - 7

A solid display, even if his last minute shanked clearance gave me a heart attack. He wasn't facing his most difficult of opponents, but he still coped well with Hawkins and then Andrews.

Rio Adebisi - 6

Got forward more than in recent weeks, but his final pass was badly lacking. His cross for Nevitt's chance was sublime though and deserved more.

Conor Thomas - 7

The Alex's best midfielder. He was the only one of the 3 who could find a team mate consistently. Taking him off to preserve him for Monday made sense. I still think they need to find better than him, but I can't deny he's doing a solid job at the moment.

Josh Austerfield - 5

A poor afternoon for him. Had a few flashes where he looked like he was about to make something happen, but he never did. He probably should have come off, but Thomas took priority which I understood. Not a great day for him, does he retain his place on Monday?

Lewis Leigh - 5

Another who struggled in the rough and tumble of it all. He did his usual running around and did win a couple of nice tackles, but his overall quality on the ball never came out. He's another who will be slightly fortunate to keep his place against Forest Green.

Shilow Tracey - 5

What else can I say? We keep seeing the same version of him. Flashes of brilliance followed by a lack of end product. He's case number 1 in a winger group that I think has been very disappointing this season.

Elliott Nevitt - 5

Yet again feeding on scraps. He did have one chance in the 2nd half, but unfortunately probably got too much of a contact on it, as a lesser touch might have taken it into the far corner. I hope he doesn't lose confidence and keeps being patient. Some easier games await where he should get more joy.

Aaron Rowe - 5

Not lacking in endeavour, but definitely lacking in quality. I can't think of a single noteworthy moment he did within 30 yards of the Gills box.

Subs

Zac Williams - 5

His introduction raised some eyebrows. He had a couple of nice moments going forward, but also gave away a silly free kick late on which could have cost them. I struggle to see where he fits into the team long term, which is a concern.

Matus Holicek - 5

Had one big moment where he looked to have found enough space to get a shot away, but he got a small nudge which put him off just enough. He got involved and he has to be in contention to start on Monday.

Lewis Billington - N/A

Could anyone tell me where exactly he was playing when he came on? Because I couldn't tell, it seemed to be a LB/LCB/LM sort of role. Bizarre. Still, he finally got used, which is something I guess.

Chris Long - N/A

He came on apparently. The stats say he touched the ball twice and made 1 pass. Used too late again I'd argue.

Overall Verdict

It's a point in the right direction. But the concerns are still there. 1 win in 6 now sends them into a favour April desperately needing wins to not only wrap up a top 7 spot, but build some confidence and momentum. The game on Monday against a dreadful Forest Green side is huge. All the pressure is on them to win and how they respond to that tells us a lot about their promotion credentials. Make or break time.