1st Pre season Friendly - Tranmere Rovers away

OnLoanfromEnfield

OnLoanfromEnfield

Vital 1st Team Regular
Anyone else go ?

Few snippets to allow others to chip in.
Air of positivity around the away end with plenty of new jerseys on display too.

Tranmere gave a good account of themselves and never gave up. Not sure how many of their squad played in the friendly against Liverpool during the week..

Typical early pre season friendly for me.Some rusty players out there to begin with. Far too early to make subjective judgements on players.
It should be interesting to see who is playing by the Rangers pre season match and the start of the season.

Nice to see that the players training with the club were mentioned previously and listed. Took me a few moments to realised that it was Jamie Walker with his shorn locks despite the number 7 on his back.
Could have sworn there were some other players up in the home stand but far too far away to see who.

Very early penalty for Will Grigg to slot into his usual middle / upper right hand spot. Couldn't tell if it was soft or not. It looked like he was sandwiched between two players though.

Nathan Byrne playing at left back and demonstrating that his left foot is not as good as his sweet right foot.
Reece James playing like Reece James circa 2015/2016 and hitting a few duff crosses from his right back spot

James Perch came on and played left centre back in place of Alex Bruce.
Tyler Golden played left back when he came on.
Lopes looked liked he was playing in the Nick Powell Role and dropped back to right back after the final subs.

Ross Wallace ... dye his hair blonde and you would think that David Perkins was back (but not as active).

James Vaughan had a ding dong with their number 5 (McNulty) ... nice bench clearing scrum.

Onwards and upwards !
 
Olfe, I noted a few absentees from the squad (assuming the team sheet I read was accurate) namely Burn, Power, Cole, Colclough. Anything rumours or reasons for their absence that you know of?
 
Made in Wigan said:
Olfe, I noted a few absentees from the squad (assuming the team sheet I read was accurate) namely Burn, Power, Cole, Colclough. Anything rumours or reasons for their absence that you know of?
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Liverpool friendly during the week according to the club website.
Dan Burn - surgery for a groin injury from last season
Nick Powell did play. Usual Nick Powell - strolling, still in the right places, tries something that doesn't quite come off interspersed with moments of pure Nick Powell quality (pre season version).

Young Mr Gelhardt had a good chance to score but put it well over the bar (like his warmup and possibly a tad nervous) ... got a ribbing from James Vaughan for that.
 
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I see Callum Lang was absent as well from the teamsheet and didn’t play in the week either. I’m assuming he still won’t sign a new contract and has been banished from the senior squad to either rot or be sold unless he changes his mind.
 
It's hard to judge if a first impressions in a non competative game against lower league opposition in very hot weather will reflect how things start. Like the Southport game last year compared to how we performed in the league. But couple of bits and pieces from the game for me:

- Byrne isn't half as good as left back as he is on the right - it's obvious we still need a new face for there.

- James didn't look anywhwere near as good as Byrne at RB, especially going forward on this showing. Did well enough defensively but didn't that comfortable going forward and struggled with his crossing.

- Gibson looked ok, he didn't rip up any trees but wasn't bad either. But he's nowhere near as mobile as Sam Morsy or Lee Evans, while Morsy and Evans looks to take the ball and make the angles all the time and turn and drive play on, Gibson was just more looking to fill in the gaps left by other players as they attack. I think our style of play needs another Morsy or Evans type for CM and i don't think Gibson is that type based on this game.

- Lopes De Silva came on and appeared to operate in attack midfield briefly before being move the right back (where he was poor for Peterborough as it's clearly not his position). So hard to really comment on him, he played a part in the goal and he looked very fast but would've liked to have seen him given the chance to play on the right wing for longer to see what he has to offer.

- Ross Wallace came on and initially looked very bright, laying on a smart pass for the goal but he seemed to fade out of the game completely after a good first few mins.

- Perch came on and looked fine, but didn't have enough to do to really say too much.

- Geldheart looked very interesting, he had a stocky build for a 16 year old, certainly not skinny or lightweight as most young lads are at that age before they fill out. And he wasn't afraid to get stuck in and run at players. He had a golden opportunity to score but nerves got the best of him and he skyed it. But i thought we saw enough from him to see why other clubs have taken an interest - in the second half he looked very bright.

- very encouraging return from MacDonald, thought he did very well for his first game in 18 or so months. But he's a completely different type to the midfield type Cook wanted last season. I like MacDonald but think he is maybe going to be more a player you bring on to protect a lead rather than a player who will fit into our starting 11 due to the way we play.

- Jamie Walker and James Vaughan both looked very bright in the second half and were probably our best 2 players overall.

We overall weren't that fluid, our normal game was hampered by our full backs not getting forward as much and our midfield pivots that control posession not be on and no one else taking up that role (Power off injured early and Morsy not on at all). We ended up going long more often than we'd like due to that and Grigg struggled to hold up the ball and the attacking mids get on the ball and create. Jacobs, Massey, Powell and Grigg didn't really make a great impact on the game but we looked more dangerous once Walker, Geldheart and Vaughan came on we looked more dagnerous.

Overall a typical preseason game nothing to get too excited or worried about and i'm certain by the time we have everyone bedded in we'll look much better in the real games. But the one thing i'd say is our fluidity is so dependent on our full backs getting up and down to create space and overloads and Morsy picking up the ball in that 'water carrier' role dictating play. A attacking left back and another Morsy / Evans type CM are essential, plus another winger or 2 wouldn't go amiss. Nothing we didn't already know.
 
Re Shaun MacDonald. Not really his first game in 18 months.
Public game yes, but he has featured in behind closed door friendlies
 
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