Rotherham United 2-1 Crewe Alex 24/25 League Cup Review - Improvement

It was there time to lose I suppose. Did you know that the Alex haven't progressed out of round 1 in the League Cup in back to back seasons since 03-04 and 04-05. It's a ridiculous streak and it looked hopeful that they might end that run tonight at Rotherham, but it wasn't to be as they let a Matus Holicek stunner go to waste with 2 soft goals against admittedly strong opposition. So, they exited at the first hurdle, but there was plenty of positives to take out of the game. Here are some of my thoughts:

U23s

The Alex's starting XI was hilariously young. Only Tracey and Lankester were over 22, with guys like Connolly and Williams looking like the experienced pros in comparison to the youngers like Knight-Lebel, Conway, Lunt and Breckin. Why they had to go so short handed is another question, with Long and Thomas held out and Bogle and Powell not fit. But a very young side held their own against far more experienced opposition.

Formation

The biggest talking point from the game was the new look 3-5-2 formation the Alex rolled out. A back 3 of Connolly, Knight-Lebel and Williams started at the back, with COoney and Conway at wing back. New signing Kian Breckin started alongside Holicek and Lunt in midfield, with 2 false 9s in Lankester and Tracey upfront. It produced some slightly better results than Saturday and I think it's worth persevering with going forward, or some variation of it.

Attack

The attack was the biggest let down on Saturday at Barrow, as they managed 4 shots in total and zero on target. Well, tonight managed 7 and 4, which isn't a lot, but against League One opposition it's a marked improvement. Lankester had a couple of decent efforts and Holicek's effort was the goal of the game. It's a step forward for sure.

Lapses

It's disappointing to concede a goal at any time. But to concede them 5 minutes after going in front and then 5 minutes from the end of the game really stings. The defending on both Rotherham goals was very poor, with crosses coming in from the left and not being won in the middle. Yes, we can bemoan the fact Sanders seemed to get pushed in the build up for the winner, but Rotherham had enough chances and the Alex played with fire most of the game.

Is it worth questioning the fact that the Alex's defence consists of 34 year old Demetriou, 9 players under the age of 25? Would it not have been wise to add an older player or two?

Light Schedule

Yes, a cup run would have been nice, but given the massive amount of U21 and U18 games needing to be played on top of the 51 first team games and with just 50 players between the senior and U18 teams to play them, this cup was not a priority.

The other added benefit of an early exit is that they now don't have a first team midweek game until the start of October and only 2 up until the end of November, discounting the BSM Trophy, which is a reserve team competition these days.

They will have a lot of free mid weeks in which to get in work on the training ground and work on things that come up from the Saturday games. A lighter schedule isn't the worst thing in the world.

Ref Assessment

Meh, maybe he could have picked up the foul on Sanders, but he gave the Alex a lot of soft fouls, so they can't have any complaints about how he reffed the game.

Management Assessment

They named a very young team and it could have backfired had they been on the end of a drubbing. But they got a valiant shift out of the players and the formation showed promise. That's about as much as you could ask for.

Player Assessment

Filip Marschall

Didn't make any mistakes, even if a couple of shots almost squirmed in. Still, he kept them out and that's all that matters.

James Connolly - MOTM

Impressive I thought. Coped well under a lot of pressure defensively and he distributed the ball well. He also got forward onto the end of a chance. I'm liking the early impressions of him.

Jamie Knight-Lebel

The fact that I can't think of anything he did shows that he had a solid game. Given he was put in the unenviable position of playing in the centre of the back 3, he coped as well as you could hope against Clarke-Harris and Nombe.

Zac Williams

He looked good in his new leadership role, making a key block to deny Nombe in the first half. His position whilst Demetriou exists is LCB in a 3 at the back.

Ryan Cooney

He was ok in his chance to shine. Found it tough against L1 opposition.

Owen Lunt

A quiet evening as he couldn't get on the ball. A tough game in which to make his debut.

Kian Breckin

See Lunt for the new lad. Always difficult to step in after only signing on loan the day before and probably not even having a training with his new team mates.

Matus Holicek

A quiet game until he curled a weak foot effort into the top corner. He's the most talented player at the club and Bell has to find a way to get him regular starts.

Max Conway

Tried to get on the ball and get forward, but he had limited chances to do so. Eventually made way for Demetriou late on.

Jack Lankester

He was much more in the game than at Barrow in a makeshift striker position, having 2 chances saved. He's obviously not a striker, but him more centrally might not be a bad idea.

Shilow Tracey

Like a few of the team, he struggled to get involved and it's hard to judge him playing in a central striking role when he saw so little of the ball.

Subs

Joel Tabiner

Didn't get into the game much, but tried to make an impact.

Fin Roberts

It was nice to see him come on for his debut. He showed his rawness when he picked up the ball in a promising position on the left and proceeded to run into a defender as he cut inside. He'll get plenty of U21s football now to develop and hopefully push for a first team place.

Kane Hemmings

Put himself about as he tried to hold the ball up, but once again he was feeding on scraps.

Max Sanders

I didn't even realise he came on to be honest.

Mickey Demetriou

Came on to try and sure up the defence, not sure he could do much to stop the winner.

Overall Verdict

They scored a great goal. They had some chances. They played better football and might have deserved a draw and penalties. But going out early is not a bad outcome given the sheer amount of U21s games they have to play and how stretched the squad is. They now need to make sure this positivity is taken into the Chesterfield game on Saturday.