ALAN SWANN’s talking points from MK Dons 1, Posh 1: ‘Far too timid, the Dembele dilemma, Beckenbauer at the back, a soulless experience despite the best efforts of a hopeless referee’

Maybe Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson is right and MK Dons are far better than 15th place suggests.
Ronnie Edwards of Peterborough United in action against Milton Keynes Dons. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.comRonnie Edwards of Peterborough United in action against Milton Keynes Dons. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com
Ronnie Edwards of Peterborough United in action against Milton Keynes Dons. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com

They did win at Sunderland and Charlton Athletic fairly recently after all.

But then again they failed to beat rock bottom Burton Albion at stadium:mk at the weekend, so surely Posh could expect to experience some joy going forward, especially after routing Rochdale, a team in a similar league position, in their previous outing?

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But no. Whereas Dale were run ragged by a vibrant attacking display by a team on the front foot from the first whistle, the Dons were allowed to play last night’s League One game at their own pace. Slow. There was so little threat on their goal, particularly in the second-half, keeper Andrew Fisher could have called for the pipe and slippers.

Of course MK Dons play in a vastly different way to Rochdale. They deploy three centre-backs and two wing-backs and when both teams use that formation it can lead to a dull affair. Russell Martin’s side are also careful in possession, too careful to be honest, as quicker passing would surely have caused a Posh defence with a 17 year-old Football League debutant at its heart far more problems.

As it was Posh defended with so much spirit and resolve keeper Chris Pym had a quiet night, but it was a desperately disappointing 90 minutes or so otherwise.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM THE GAME...

1) I assume by design, from the start of the game, Posh just allowed the MK Dons centre-backs to have the ball under no pressure whatsoever from an opponent. Posh played deep, presumably to try and catch the hosts on the break, and rarely made contact until an MK player was 25 yards from Pym’s goal. It was so passive and timid, mystifyingly so, against a team whose manager talked up the threat of the Posh forward line before the game. The tone for the game was set from those opening exchanges and Posh actually became less of a threat the longer the match went on.

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2) I get why Ferguson is unhappy with Siriki Dembele. It’s frustrating to see such a naturally talented player make so many poor decisions when in possession. Most commonly he dribbles when he should pass and when he does lose the ball he doesn’t appear overly-concerned about winning it back. But it looked a poor decision to take him off and replace him with Mo Eisa early in the second-half. Posh were under so much pressure at the time they were desperate for an out ball and, while it wasn’t sticking to either Jonson Clarke-Harris or Eisa, there was no point in playing channel balls, turning defenders and finding respite in that manner, as there was now no pace up top to make it work. I would imagine veteram MK defenders Richard Keogh and Dean Lewington preferred to play against Eisa than Dembele even though the latter hasn’t scored since the FA Cup win at Oxford on November 7.

Happily Ricky-Jade Jones could be back this weekend. He should be given time to find his feet again, but his natural speed will be a very handy asset.

3) Posh still have 28 League One games to go and it’s almost Christmas. A big squad is going to be crucial this season more than ever before. Effective squad rotation is going to be a required skill for all teams. If clubs are concerned by the number of muscle injuries they’ve suffered already in the 2020-21 campaign, just wait until they’re all playing on Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday on heavy pitches. Posh have met two in a row (sadly including their own) and some players looked out on their feet midway through the second-half last night. Midfielder Reece Brown almost missed the game with a hamstring issue and he won’t be the last to suffer in such a way. The emergence of the youngsters in the last couple of matches has been encouraging as they’ve shown they can perform at this level. They still need using wisely, and perjaps sparingly, but there is depth to the Posh squad, although they will still need Dembele and Sammie Szmodics to return to their early 2020 form to have any chance of promotion.

4) Posh chief Darragh MacAnthony calls Ronnie Edwards ‘Beckenbaur.’ It’s easy to see why. For 17 he’s so composed and calm on the ball, but last night he also showed immaculate timing when tackling and made many headed clearances. Of all the Posh youngsters I’ve seen this season, Edwards is one I’d make a certainty to enjoy an oustanding career.

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5) Stadium:mk is a fine League One arena, but 2,000 fans spread out over such a large area made for another soulless experience.

6) But to be fair referee David Rock did his best to generate an atmosphere by being so absolutely terrible. From the second minute when he failed to award MK the most blatant of free-kicks he made non-stop poor decisions and displayed hopeless game-management skills. His attempt to control the game involved waving cards in every direction with yellows for the MK goalkeeping coach and assistant manager as well as Ferguson, bizarrely just before the second-half started. Rock would call players over to communicate with them and let the game re-start before those players had returned to their positions. He showed little interest in playing advantage and it was fortunate the outcome wasn’t determined by his hopelessness. Posh have enjoyed a good run of referees in recent games, but Rock was dreadful.