The question on the majority of the Alex fans lips leaving Gresty Road today was ‘How have we not won that’. Crewe took a point from a goalless draw at home against Cheltenham today and despite most fans labelling this as a ‘must win’ game, the players were applauded of the pitch for there valiant and dominant performance despite only taking one point from the game. Crewe boss David Artell made one change with Nugent coming in to partner Guthrie and Ray at the back in a change of shape to a 3-4-3, this change cam about as Artell had lost his first two in charge whilst conceding 5 in the process and he brought in a extra centre half to deal with the long ball tactics of the robins, Artell’s plan worked a treat at the back as the Alex kept a rare clean sheet which was there 7th of the season.
George Ray who has benefited from the change of management earned his second man of the match award in just 3 games with a dominant and solid performance at the back with shades of Jon Stones in the way he brought the ball out from the back with real ease and precision. The already tough fixture wasn’t made any easier for the players as a change of shape meant that the majority of players had to play in new roles, the biggest change to role was natural attacking winger George Cooper who was dropped back to full back, despite a few rough patches here and there George adapted to his new found role rather comfortably.
All in all the Alex did everything right, cut out any threats from Cheltenham and created chances often but the one main problem which cost the railwaymen two extra points was finishing and cutting edge. Crewe created lots of chances but no one could seem to get the ball to cross the line, by far Crewe’s best chances fell to Charlie Kirk who hit a one on one straight at Brown and the best chance fell to Alex Kiwomya who had been on the pitch less than a minute when he found himself in on goal only to hit the post and Crewe failed to convert the follow up efforts. Cheltenham’s stand out player was keeper Brown as he tipped over George Cooper’s curling free-kick and turned Cooper’s curling shot around the post. Kiwomya was very lively when he came on and had a few chances to win it for Crewe as he almost made an immediate impact after coming off the bench as he blasted an effort against the near post after the restart. Alex Pike’s last-ditch tackle robbed Kiwomya as he shaped to finish inside the box. The Crewe substitute also found Brown in the way of the route to goal as he shot from 20 yards.
Fear and worry is still in the Crewe fans hearts as they sit 4 points from the drop and all the teams below them except Nott’s County have a game in hand and even more worrying for Crewe is the fact that Accrington Stanley who sit one place below the Alex and 3 points behind have 2 games in hand. Crewe face 3 tough games in the next few weeks against playoff chasers Exeter (A), Grimsby (H) and Wycombe (H), despite these tough games I believe if we play with the same passion and flair for the full 90 against all 3 I don’t see why we can’t get results against all 3 but with the poor scoring form of Dagnall and Bowery up front and with top scorer Lowe leaving, Artell will need to try and bolster the attacking line before the transfer deadline on Tuesday.
Following the game Crewe boss Artell spoke to The Crewe Chronicle and said ‘I said to the players if it was a boxing match it’d have been stopped. We didn’t get any luck but we can’t rely on luck, we have enough quality. ‘But we have to look at the positives and take it as a real positive step to build on and go into next week and hopefully repeat the performance. ‘It’s a clean sheet, it’s a performance over 90 minutes. It’s a good point if we build on it. It’s not worth anything if we don’t. ‘I think we are getting there, very slowly, the players are giving everything. They still need a lot of guidance. ‘We created a lot of chances but didn’t have the quality to stick them away, and that’s the difference. We’ll be working hard over the next few days to address that. ‘I’m pleased for them, it’s hard to drag yourself up from the canvas when you are on the run we are on. We were far better than Cheltenham which should give us all great hope for the run in. ‘You don’t want to lose any game, but it was important we didn’t lose this one. Was it vital we won? No. It was more vital we didn’t lose. ‘I’m sure Gary Johnson will be on their team bus more happy with a point than we are, that shows how the performance of the players was. ‘If I was a paying fan, I’d want to see 11 lads giving everything. That’s a minimum, not negotiable for me. That’s what my teams will get to. I think we have seen that in all three games. ‘They have a right good go and that will continue. I’ve told the players if I think anyone is swinging the lead then they’ll be swinging it sat next to me. ‘It was a penalty in the first half. Jon Guthrie’s shirt was up round his neck, it was ridiculous. But should we be relying on that? No.’ The January transfer window ends on Tuesday, and Artell said he will be grafting to bring in fresh faces. He added: ‘There will be a lot of hard work between now and Tuesday, we’ll be working every hour – it’s my wife’s birthday tomorrow so I might have half an hour off – but it is a big few days for this football club.’
It was a very positive interview from the boss who spoke what the majority of the fans including myself were thinking, I agree that it was vital we didn’t lose today but I think he needs to approach the situation with more urgency as we can’t be making small and slow progress with 18 games left when we are in a relegation battle as we are slowly but surely being dragged closer and closer to the drop, yes the progress today was good but he needs to make the hard work he said he would make towards transfers and bring in 2 or 3 lads that will run themselves into the ground or else Crewe could be in serious trouble of falling into the abyss of non-league football.
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