Walsall 1-0 Crewe Alex 25-26 Review - Boxing Day Blues

How prophetic of the Alex's social media account to tweet out the team sheet today at 1:45pm with the caption "Boxing Day Blues". How fitting as well, given that is what feeling Alex fans are usually left with 5pm on December 26th every year. So it was that they slipped to a 4th straight Boxing Day defeat and 12th defeat in 22 games on this date as they fell 1-0 at Walsall. Here is my review of the game:

Same Issues

I promise I don't have an agenda against him, but why is James Connolly still in the starting XI? He is a woeful player who can't do anything well. He can't defend, he can't attack, he can't pass, he can't head a ball. Now it turns out he can't even use his head and not give away a needless free kick in the final minute of a half. Nor can he, from the resulting ball into the box, win a header against his man either. That Walsall goal is 75% on him and it's a repeating pattern which isn't getting better. If that was Phil Croker, I'd give him some leeway. But a 24 year old with 100 senior appearances to his name doing it week in week out? That to me says he never will learn. It's the same issues.

The manager making baffling decisions. Like starting Finney at RB when he could have put Hutchinson there or kept Agius there instead. Like narrowing up the pitch with his first few subs in the 2nd half then bringing on a winger for the last 15 minutes. Or playing a clearly injured player despite it being obvious he should come off. It's the same issues.

Or the management giving new contracts to bang average players for the wrong reasons. Or signing bang average players to long contracts/loan deals despite them being horrible fits for what the Alex want to do. It's the same issues.

The reasons why the Alex are 11th in the table and now 6 points off the top 7, with a crippling injury list, a weak academy core in the squad, a tactically limited manager and a business model that is increasingly unfit for purpose are a continuation of the same issues.

Creativity

It's actual a miracle that the Alex have scored 34 goals so far this season given they've been down Tabiner and Tracey the whole season, whilst they've only got 7 starts and 12 appearances combined from Bogle, Lankester and Holicek. They've relied on the likes of March, Tezgel, O'Reilly and Sanders to do the heavy lifting in front of goal, but with them down Tezgel and facing a stingy Walsall back line, they got nothing going.

A brief flurry late in the 2nd half wasn't enough to force a goal and they were blanked for just the 6th time in the league this season. They desperately need attacking reinforcements back just as much as defensive ones. Especially as March came off holding his shoulder and O'Reilly was visibly limping at the end. We might have to ask Bell and Lunt to dust off the boots and suit up on Monday at Newport at this rate.

Ruthless

Losing this game wasn't too much of a surprise, but the cold reality of the Alex's situation shouldn't be lost on this in charge at the club, either at the management or boardroom level. The Alex are drifiting further and further from the top 7. Hoping and praying that their injured players are going to return is just not a strategy. Hoping certain struggling players are going to find form and turn a corner is not a strategy.

Today should show more than ever that the Alex need to be ruthless in January. I could identify now as many as 8 individuals who could and maybe should be playing elsewhere come February. They need serious injections of quality in midfield to support Sanders and across the defence. But if they go in with a softly softly catchy monkey approach, they probably won't improve to the degree needed and they probably won't have enough in the squad to catch up to the top 7.

And if the play-offs are already a distant dream by February, good luck selling mini-season tickets, new season tickets, etc etc once the weather improves. They are at a critical crossroads in their season. Where the club go from here, only they can decide.

Referee Assessment

I thought he was poor on the whole. Bell referred to a missed penalty in the 1st half, but we were too far away to see it properly. Either way, I'm not inclined to bemoan missed penalty shouts every week, sorry.

Management Assessment

Was Agius staying at RB and Finney to LW not preferable? Why the constant chopping and changing of formations in the 2nd half? They aren't fully to blame for the current malaise, but they aren't faultless either.

Player Assessments

Sam Waller

Back to the bench. He was poor today. Couldn't catch a ball to save his life and his parry gave Matt the chance to tap in. 2 games on the spin that he's struggled.

Charlie Finney

I'll give him some sympathy for being played out of position when he's barely even a starting calibre LB in L2. But he was poor for the most part.

James Connolly

Dire. A needless free kick then makes it worse by losing out on the header into the box. I'll say it again, whatever decision making led to him going from 4th/5th choice CB last season to a starter this season needs to be studied.

Lewis Billington

Did get a booking, but bailed out another Connolly mistake with a brilliant sliding challenge in the first half. They desperately need his consistency back at RB though. Nothing else they've tried there works.

Reece Hutchinson

A solid performance, but yet again we're faced with the reality that he's played 19 games and he's up to 41 league fixtures played since February. All this talk about rotation has been just that. How many more starts does he have left before they run the risk of burning him out?

Max Sanders

Once again trying to do it all himself in midfield. Give him some proper support for goodness sake. My MOTM.

Jack Powell

Some decent moments in the first half, but he was average on the whole and never got close to the final third to influence things.

Tommi O'Reilly

Worrying to see him limping at the end, he couldn't find that killer ball and he kept losing the ball after doing too much.

Owen Lunt

He's not a number 10. He gives you those moments when you think he can be, but given most of his starts have been there, 1 goal isn't enough. He doesn't get into dangerous positions and he doesn't create anything. He is credited with just 3 big chances created. That's not enough. But if he isn't a number 10, where does he play?

Calum Agius

The ghost of Christmas present. I preface his reviews every week by acknowledging that he's 20 and is just a 2nd year pro, starting consistently for the first time. But he is not justifying his place in the team. At all. 1 league goal since August is just not good enough for a player that doesn't create much either.

Josh March

Got no joy, but then the other players were often 10-20 yards away from him. Yet again we're in fingers crossed territory over his injury, which looked a sore one.

Subs:

Omar Bogle

Nice to see him back, he was the best of the subs and almost pinched an equaliser late on with a smart shot. Does he start at Newport I wonder?

Louis Moult

Rubbish as usual. Moving on.

Matus Holicek

Some nice moments, but rusty for the most part and he picked up a booking. The Alex need him up to speed and contributing urgently.

Dion Rankine

Some lively moments, but he's not shown anything to justify all the chants to see more of him at this point. Still, give him a start at Newport and if he can't do it there, then leave him on the bench going forward.

Jay Mingi

Ill, which is why he didn't get on sooner. Not sure he was ill for the previous 3 1/2 months he's been here and barely started. Like the other subs, a couple of nice moments, but some woeful ones as well.

Overall Verdict

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel for the Alex? Get players back, lose others. Get close to the top 7, hit a rough patch of form and slip down the table. The only saving grace is that they now face the worst team in the division. Can they end December and 2025 on a high?