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As WellDon is in an unknown location (start the conspiracy theories) I thought I'd attempt to take the reigns. I won't do this thread any justice, I've had about 4 hours sleep but fuck it here we go.
The clocks have changed over here in New Zealand a week after yours, so kick offs are 2am rather than 4am. So I decided to spent £25 for a monthly video pass. The recent results and the slightly more sensible kick offs time means I may just get my moneys worth.
Before the game I watched the Man City vs Liverpool game. It is quite incredible to see the gulf between those teams right now, but equally worth mentioning how Jack Grealish is starting to flourish under Pep and how poor and despondent Liverpool looked. As Russ once said 'things can change quickly in football'.
Onto the Dons game. Stewart came in. Some would question why break up a back 3 who have performed well, whilst others would argue we've brought in an experience centre half who knows Wycombe's physicality and we can allow Watson more freedom from a wing back role.
We started the game brilliantly, like we have done in many games under Jacko. We were on the front foot, showed some aggression and the passing was slick. The goal game after some nice work from Leko on the right before his tame cross was half cleared only for Daniel Harvie to be miles out of position and stroke the ball home much to the joy of the 800+ fans.
I have to say both before and after the goal the noise from the away end was absolutely superb. Wycombe, who had so many empty seats in the stand behind the benches ad were absolutely silent from the get go. Were they nervous about our form? Or do small old stadiums not always guarantee atmosphere?
After the goal we lost it. Our passing was poor, we looked nervous and let Wycombe back into the game. I have to say Stewart looked off the pace and was bullied a few times by their forwards. A free kick was whipped in and former Don Wheeler, who loves a goal against us, out jumped Stewart and headed home. Whilst the goal was coming, we looked a little shocked. Eisa got booked for kicking the ball away after he was lazily offside, Cumming was lucky after running into no-mans land from a set piece and our passing was just awful.
A big frustration was the ref. Zero consistency. And when Watson went down with a bloody forehead after an off the ball incident during a Wycombe corner, we had to defend said corner and the next few minutes with 10 men.
The second half wasn't a huge amount different, there were slight improvements, but we were inviting trouble as we conceded 16 fouls and 6 corners to a team with Joe Jacobson in their armoury. A second Wycombe goal game after we failed to clear from another free kick and once again that man Wheeler smashed home. I still didn't hear a Wycombe chant on the stream following the goal.
As time went on we started to get into the game again. A very end to end game with a clear lack of quality leading to so many turnovers of possession. Wycombe went long with little success, we tried to play out the counter but lazy or poor passing would lead to a Wycombe defender happily taking the ball back from us. Eisa had a chance from point blank after a nice cut back from Watson but frustratingly it was straight at the keeper. Maghoma was a driving force in midfield, however his hesitancy once arriving in the final third would lead to wasted chances or us going backwards again. He did however force a nervous unconventional save from the Wycombe stopper after his shot from distance took a big deflection. Described as 'Leko and 'Hyde' by Toby Lock, the forward was frustrating all afternoon. Moments of brilliance by pure embarrassment. He is Daniel Powell on steroids. And just like how Powell could cut inside and score goals, Leko can too. After some good work by the former Birmingham forward, the chance looked to have fizzed out, but Wycombe's number 10 decided not to clear it, allowing Leko to recover possession, take a few touches and beautifully stroke home into the bottom right corner sending the Dons fans into ecstasy. 2-2.
Not a huge amount happened after. Time wasting from both sides, lots of stoppages and really a lack of quality. Harvie had a half chance and Wycombe pumped lots of balls into the box from set pieces. Tucker had another solid game heading away many of those crosses and Stewart improved in the second half
We had a 4 on 4 break after their player pulled down Johson and an avdntage was given, but the ref decided to stop play due to an off the ball scuffle involving Johnson. No cards for either man, so why kill the attack unless something serious happened?
The 4th officials board broke leading to confusion around every substitution and resulted in an unknown amount of injury time being played, we ended up playing over 8 minutes, nobody at home knew how many were given. Nor did the Dons twitter team.
I felt our performance matched that of Leko's. At times we looked strong, dangerous and creative. At others we just gave the ball needlessly, looked nervous and did stupid things. Overall a point was well deserved and a good result on paper at play off chasing Wycombe, who I thought looked pretty poor in all honesty. It will be a very difficult next two fixtures, hopefully we can nick a point or three from them and make it a marginally more comfortable end to the season.
Come On You MK Dons!!!!
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