Reply With QuoteMost enjoyable game I've watched down at the Mornflake for ages. Reminded me of how we used to play.
Hall Of Fame
Anyone else going? I'll be there! Not a clue what kind of team he'll put out. Will he play his preferred team or have a look at the youngsters?
Who knows and many of you might say who cares. I know many people are boycotting this competition and I understand that and support your argument. However, it is, officially, a first team fixture and in the long run, it is the Alex who lose the revenue not the EFL or the Premier League so I'll cheering the lads on. As we all know, the game has nothing else hanging on it so I just want to see an honest and, hopefully, a good performance.
Prediction.....? Er...1-2.
Hall Of Fame
Most enjoyable game I've watched down at the Mornflake for ages. Reminded me of how we used to play.
Hall Of Fame
Originally Posted by MeForCrewe
It was nice to get a win on the board no matter the tournament let’s hope we can take it into the Bolton game on Friday and kick start our season. Did not go to the game last night anybody who played last night that has not featured this season who you think should be included for the trip to Bolton ?
Hall Of Fame
It's hard to say. I said that it was the most enjoyable game that I'd seen for a long while, but it's hard to judge the standard of the opposition. The ball was mainly kept moving on the floor at pace, retained most of the time, nobody looked uncomfortable doing it except T. Thomas. Will J contributed to the speed of it all. Outfield players I'll mention are Griffiths, Woodthorpe, Williams, and Bennett was popping up everywhere really enjoying the free role.
The present is dismal, the future looks bright, but I,m not going to wish my life away. That's why I lean towards keeping Artell, I think that he's definitely happier playing our own when they are ready.
Trialist
After a bunch of performances that have been disappointing, for more reasons than just the result, it's nice to have a win and good performance to talk about. We slightly altered the formation last night, with a 5-2-3/3-4-3, depending on how you want to describe it. You do have to put the result and performance in perspective, given the opposition (I don't think it was a particularly strong Wolves U21 side), but I do feel DA and KL can take quite a few things from the match.
PROs
The formation - The 5-2-3 did seem to give us more balance between defence and attack. Having the three attacking players operating high up the pitch seemed to make it easier the get on the front foot. However, against better opposition, the two in central midfield can become over run. We had Robins and Griffiths in there last night. A more robust two would probably be needed for league matches.
The youngsters - All four who started the match, and Joel Tabiner, who came on with about 20 mins to go, played well, and must be giving DA and co food for thought. The two that played in the back three particularly impressed. Williams' ability to bring the ball out of defence was exceptional, and Woodthorpe, who's a LB by trade as I understand it, showed really good reading of the game to play in the centre of the back three, sweeping and covering really well, as required. When we had the ball, the three centre halves were operating really wide, allowing the wingbacks to push on. This requires confidence and ability on the ball, and they showed it in abundance. Griffiths looks like a ready made replacement for TL, if and when he goes in January. Always making himself available for the ball, backing his ability by being more than happy to receive the ball whilst under pressure, that hustle and bustle, constant motion type persona on the pitch, a good range of passing and an ability to find space on the edge of the box, all bode well for this youngster, Again, he must be pushing for minutes. Robbins was neat and tidy, and got the goal on his full debut. Operated as right wing back for the last twenty minutes, and looked a bit of a fish out of water, but that shouldn't detract from an otherwise good performance. After he came on, Joel Tabiner showed glimpses of skill and composure that means we have another academy player who's going to make the transition to the first team sometime soon.
Movement - The movement of the team was much better last night. You could hear the nerves in the crowd as we continued to play out from the back. However, the movement of the players was such that there was always a player available to pass the ball to, and we routinely beat any press that Wolves U21s tried, with some really good movement and clever and brave passing. The wingbacks in particular seemed to give the opposition problems picking them up. With the Centre backs playing so wide whilst we had the ball, it allowed the wingbacks to push on and drift around, finding space to make themselves available to receive the ball. Our attacking movement seemed improved as well last night. People making runs in the channels, playing little triangles, and then releasing a player in behind the opposition defence, and players not being so underconfident that they were sticking rigidly to their position and/or playing the 'safe' ball into feet down the line, rather than trying that through ball into the run of Mika, J'Neill or an onrushing midfielder.
J'Neill - Although operating mainly on the left as per usual, he did, at times, swap with Olly Finney to play on the right. He looked so much more effective on that right hand side. Far more willing to run at his man, far more like the player that excited us when he first arrived and with a far greater return on end product, I feel he definitely needs to be used down our right far more often.
Long and Knight - Both came on as second half subs, with about 20 mins or so to go. Long replaced Mika as the lone striker and did really well. Definitely showed he's an option up front, instead of Mika. Very different lone striker than Mika, Long relies on his pace and movement to make himself available for the ball. He mixed his game up well; sometimes running in behind, down the channels, and other times dropping deep, into pockets of space to receive the ball. Gave the defenders a real headache trying to keep track of him. His movement in the box was clever too. With some better quality passes, he might've bagged a couple of goals himself. Knight looked good too when he entered the fray. Showed his game last night. drifting around, finding a pocket of space, and them receiving the ball on the half turn, ready to quickly play in a colleague with his excellent range of passing, or move forward with the ball. Very encouraging stuff.
CONS
Olly Finney - He played wide right of the front three for the majority of last night, and, whilst I have sympathy for a player playing in a role and position that he's not natural in and his skill set doesn't suit, his attitude sort of stank last night. Every time he lost the ball he stopped running, flung his arms in the air and started whinging at the nearest red shirt, even though, as far as I could see, it was his own poor touch and/or decision making that caused the gaff for the most part. I don't think he's done his chances of getting back into the league starting 11 any good with last night's showing.
McFadzean - He CANNOT defend. He's good going forward, and offers a real threat in the opposition final third, but his positional sense (or lack thereof), coupled with an inability to remain concentrated on the job at hand, was breath-taking. The number of times he lost track of his man, verged on the ridiculous. With showings that the likes of Williams and Woodthorpe put in last night, I'd play either of them at left wingback before him, easily.
More youngsters not used - This isn't really a 'con'. It's more of a 'in hindsight' thing. Given the poor quality of opposition, we could have put a couple more of our youngsters in. Of course, we didn't really know, ahead of the game, just how big a gulf in quality there was between us and them. However, especially seeing how J'Neill played on the right of the front three, it would've been nice to see Ty Onyeka playing on that left side of the front three. Additionally, it would've been nice to see Conor Salisbury come on when Mika came off. However, it's difficult to argue giving Chris Long some minutes.
Overall a good performance that, regardless of the quality of the opposition, it should not detract from the positives, that we can hopefully take forward to Bolton. A lot of those performances must have given DA and KL food for thought, both positively and negatively (far less of that latter though). After seeing last night, my suggestion for Friday's starting 11 would be (assuming TJ and Ramsay are still injured):
Will J - GK
Thomas - Centre Back
BSD - Centre Back
Williams - Centre Back
Rio Adebisi - Right Wingback (I do feel he's wasted here, and he does blow hot and cold when playing on the right but, with TJ and Ramsay injured, he's our best option here. Both Daniels and Josh Lundstrum (He played 70 mins or so at right Wingback last night) did ok here, but they offered very little going forward).
Woodthorpe - Left Wingback
Luke Offord - Centre Midfield
Lowery/Robertson - Centre Midfield
J'Neill Bennett - Wide Right
Ben Knight/Chris Long - Wide Left
Mika Mandron - Striker
Bench:
Trig
Daniels
McFadzean
Griffiths/Lundstram
Lowery/Robertson
Long/Knight
Kashket
What do you think?
Hall Of Fame
BSD on Wales duty unfortunately.
Trialist
Ah yes. I'd forgotten about that. If he's fit, Daniels instead of BSD.
Hall Of Fame
You don't want Murph even on the bench??
Hall Of Fame
Its interesting when looking at a lot of these results, these PL academy players are not up to the job when they are getting thrashed by comparitively poor teams from the lower leagues and explains what some here say that the loan players wnat sending back asap as they must cost a lot to have them.
If we are suggesting our season is almost over then the solution is easy. Get rid of the loanees and the non triers as DA is suggesting we have and fill the places from our academy to gain valuable experience for next season and we should not be leaving them out for other clubs academy players. They really cannot do much worse than one win in 16 can they!!
Hall Of Fame
You have to be careful with youngsters playing in a "mans" game. They could be burnt out in time. It's a gradual introduction but it does look good for next season
Posting Permissions