For comparison's sake, I also pulled up the analysis from our last defeat—the home tie against Gateshead just over two months ago.
Our passing against Braintree was exceptional. We moved the ball around expertly, with Richardson (pictured below) especially impressive. He popped up all over the place, embodying the midfield support role to a T. The midfielder's work rate and stamina are second to none, and the difference he's made since coming into the side is clearly evident here.
Contrast that with the man he replaced, Jean-François Christophe. Christophe's passing against Gateshead was almost entirely directed towards Shuker on the right wing. It was also mostly square—he passed sideways, rather than forwards or backwards. Richardson's passing yesterday used the angles. Christophe looks downright one-dimensional in comparison.
If we look at movement, against Braintree we had players making runs across the entire forward line. But against Gateshead it was pretty much just Shuker on the right flank. Our attacking players look their best when running at defenders, but they just didn't do it in the anaemic display that saw us lose to Gateshead. If you rely too heavily on one player to lead the attack, the opposition can focus on dealing with him; by spreading the runs and through balls between four or five different players, we left Braintree stretched and on edge.
Other things I noticed: Bore is always very involved in our build-up play—he consistently contributes more passes than any but one or two other players in the team, and he makes a lot of interceptions. Richardson has, since coming into the team, dominated the midfield. He covers heaps of ground, makes several interceptions per game, and gets up for headers. If he could improve the quality of his output, he'll be brilliant. Shuker, meanwhile, is a beast. He covers 11.3 kilometres per game, on average, all the while managing several crosses, a few dozen passes, and a handful of forward runs.
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