Pre-Season Friendlies | Page 7 | Vital Football

Pre-Season Friendlies

Can’t help but feel Leam’s seemed a little disconsolate almost in the last couple of post-match interviews. At least compared to normal anyway and especially so given the relatively positive nature of our pre-season results.

Certainly been keen to emphasise there’s improvements to be made and how big of a challenge the Championship will be - even going so far as to quickly say the score flattered us today.

I hope he feels like he’s being sufficiently backed by the board, although I’m sure he would’ve liked more than one in, three out from last season’s squad (excluding Rea, Jones, Robinson) before the start of the new campaign.

Perhaps I’m just misreading it and he’s just being ultra-grounded ahead of what is always a very tough challenge at this level.
 
formbylatic said:
Love your optimism Mooney, but I remain seriously concerned that this squad is going to struggle in the Championship. I desperately hope I’m wrong.
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To be fair Formby, surely you acknowledge that the pre-season games we've had so far will likely have no bearing on our future performances.

Any "concerns" that fans have currently are surely simply down to their nervousness at the start of a new season.

It's not that I'm optimistic ... I'm just not forming an opinion before anything of any importance has happened.
 
ZAKKY said:
Now I know they lost 4-1 but oh how I would love us to play the type of football Wednesday play. The first 15mins was a joy to watch with their pass and move.
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I wasn't there, so didn't see it, but how were they for the other 75 mins? More importantly, how were we after that opening 15 mins?

Reading some accounts from those who were there, it sounds like we played some decent (passing) stuff.
 
I have watched three of the pre -season games and seen us play plenty decent stuff. We seem to have a solid and United squad with some Championship experience and some talent that might just shine this season.

Not sure what some people are expecting from pre-season, it’s a bonding exercise to work on plans and formations, isn’t it?

As far as signings are concerned, I think we look strong at the back and we have goals all across the frontline at any level. But I am looking forward to seeing our midfielders step up, because, I believe, we have real talent there.

Am I right in thinking the transfer window closes at the end of August? So we still have time if things aren’t exactly going to plan.

And we beat Bolton - so it’s not been a bad unbeaten pre-season 😁
 
Well, I have to say, I'm really looking forward to coming up against loads of class players every week who end up on the wrong side of a 4-1 defeat.

Bring it on !
 
walgarthjohn said:
Moonay. Brannan is a class player. He’s the one sort off player we are missing. Would think you would even know that.
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I didn't say he wasn't a class player. However, he was on the end of a 4-1 defeat, so whatever influence he had on the game, it wasn't sufficient to save them. That's all I'm saying.

I asked a question about our own performance, and our own players ... I hear McClean and Whatmough played well ... anybody else?
 
moonay said:
I didn't say he wasn't a class player. However, he was on the end of a 4-1 defeat, so whatever influence he had on the game, it wasn't sufficient to save them. That's all I'm saying.

I asked a question about our own performance, and our own players ... I hear McClean and Whatmough played well ... anybody else?
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He left until 85th min to make the changes which tells you what will be our preferred starting 11 (a safer more experience lineup) next week. Im glad the subs managed to make an impact with the fourth goal otherwise they may have felt short changed.

One other observation, the ref was wearing a feckin' Alice band!!
 
walgarthjohn said:
Moonay. Brannan is a class player. He’s the one sort off player we are missing. Would think you would even know that.
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We had a player like him John, his name was Jordi Gomez however there were some of our fans that were extremely critical of his performances and said he didn't work hard enough.

Bannan is a great player to have when your team is on top but he doesn't do the hard graft, he doesn't defend well or track back often, that is left to the players around him.

His job is to find space and make the telling pass or hit the cross field ball to split the defence, he also has a decent shot in him, all of which he does extremely well, but if he was in a Wigan shirt he would be criticised from some for his lack of a tackle and the way he just jogs about.

Personally, I agree, he is the type of player we are missing, but how long he would last before the criticism started if we went on a losing run I don't know. He would then receive the same tag that Jordi got of being a luxury player who doesn't have a tackle in him or that he rarely tracks back.
 
walgarthjohn said:
I was there. Sheff Wed played some good stuff. Brannan is a class player. Must be on mega wages to stop there And now in the championship we will come across that sort of player most weeks. Still slow all over the park. That’s the problem we have Think we could well see a couple go in the next few weeks to try and bring some players in.
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Slow all over the park yet McClean and Humphs are two of the fastest players I've seen.
 
jeffs right said:
It shouldn't be. Humphs needs to start up top with Wyke or McGuiness or Lang or Keane.
Bury the shite 4-2-3-1 once and for all.
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We play a counter attacking game which suits the
4-2-3-1 formation.
We allow the other team the ball while we have 6 players back trying to stifle a passing game.
When we break Power and Darikwa push up giving us 6 players forward.
It is frustrating and slow but was effective last season.
 
Ooohaaahdonniepage said:
Surely this is the season for Aasgaard to step up. He has all the attributes of a top player and with his potential physicality now developing he should be given a chance as hes too good a player to be on the bench every week. Without doubt the player with the greatest potential at the club
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hopefully he does get many more minutes and atleast a run of games to impress, like Mgrath, Leam is too loyal to some players, it worked out last season though, but this season everyone is in a even footing.
 
FrancosLoveChild said:
hopefully he does get many more minutes and atleast a run of games to impress, like Mgrath, Leam is too loyal to some players, it worked out last season though, but this season everyone is in a even footing.
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Looking at yesterday's line up Leam will stick with his favourites.
I think Thelo needs to bulk up a bit before he's ready for a regular spot. He obviously has the ability but not quite the physique for regular men's football yet.
Humphrys is a bit of a puzzle. Were is his best position? He's got something but blows hot and cold.
His work for Thelos goal yesterday was brilliant but on the other hand he's missed a few sitters during pre season.
I think McGrath will go if we can get another midfielder in. He only played on the right as an alternative to Darikwa in pre season and seems miles away from being picked as an attacking midfielder.
 
Every time we played a good side last season who played pass and move with a high press we really struggled. Sheffield Wednesday were one of the teams that comfortably beat us twice and play the type of football we are more likely to face this season in the Championship. So this was a a good test for our final dress rehearsal.

Sheff Wed went 3-5-2 with everyone in their side getting forward, plenty of movement and comfortable on the ball - they were cutting through us quite easily and dominated us at the start of the game.

We started 4-2-3-1 which has previously not been that effective against teams with wing backs and were chasing shadows. Every time we got the ball we'd generally be forced into mistakes or going long through the high press to surrender posession, we couldn't keep the ball or create anything.

Their goal came from really poor set piece defending but they created a number of good chances we had to defend well to keep out.

A sloppy pass under pressure for Sheff Wed and some good anticipation from McClean got us back into it and after that we improved. Sheff Wed had less of the ball but continued to move it well and create openings but we defended resolutely and started to threaten ourselves, mostly through McClean or set pieces. By the end of the first half we'd made it into a competitive game after a really poor start. It was becoming increasingly apparent that they were very good on the ball attacking with Bannan pulling the strings but weak off it defensively while we were strong defensively but not as effective getting forward. A big difference between this game and the previous 2 Sheff Wed games I felt was Sheffield lacked a physical presence up top and that helped us.

Second half carried on where the first left off, quite competitive with neither side dominating. Overall they probably had more posession, pressure and continued to create more in open play but we defended well and had our own attacking moments on the counter and as usual looked very dangerous from set pieces.

We scored from a set piece that was very similar to the one we conceded, poor marking leaving Naylor free. Then we scored a second from a superb McClean cross which was probably also a bit of a goal keeping error coming for a punch and missing to allow Magennis to nod in. Then Humphrys came on as a late sub and used his pace and power to roll his man to create an opening from nothing to set up a tap in for Aasgaard. Arguably poor defending from them again but it's the type of mistake you can force when you have pace and power like Humphrys. I think by the end we were worthy winners but the scoreline certainly flattered us. I think we coped far better with the Wednesday style of play than we had in the previous encounters, so it showed some progress. We got some luck with defensive errors but we forced all of those errors.

Overall I'd say it was a good work out for us, apart from the goal we conceded defensively we had to face a lot of pressure but generally restricted them to very few clear cut chances. You know you get the battle, hard work, organisation and fitness every week from us and we are superb from set pieces, but in open play we were limited creatively with the exception of McClean who again stood out. Some of that may be down to tactics as the full backs and centre mid weren't as attack minded as they sometimes were last season - I get the impression we are going to prioritise keeping it solid over attacking in big numbers.

I think what we'll take away from today's game is we need to work on being more creative on the ball, we tend to rely on McClean and Lang picking up the ball deep and beating people but they need more help from the rest of the team. I feel Keane in particular needs to go back to coming deep and helping to pull the strings, a bit like Bannan did for Sheffield, rather than playing higher up as a second striker as he's finding himself on the fringes of a game without any service. It isn't going to happen but I think McGrath could be an excellent option in that position.
 
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Yon Mon said:
Looking at yesterday's line up Leam will stick with his favourites.
I think Thelo needs to bulk up a bit before he's ready for a regular spot. He obviously has the ability but not quite the physique for regular men's football yet.
Humphrys is a bit of a puzzle. Were is his best position? He's got something but blows hot and cold.
His work for Thelos goal yesterday was brilliant but on the other hand he's missed a few sitters during pre season.
I think McGrath will go if we can get another midfielder in. He only played on the right as an alternative to Darikwa in pre season and seems miles away from being picked as an attacking midfielder.
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Everytime he has played in the center behind the striker, has always looked good, it is clear some players do not get the chance so it is always impossible to really judge them. Players need a run of games, I mean look at Magennis, was poor for the first 10 games but he kept on getting picked, and eventually, he came decent (doing it at this level is another question).

Thelo is better than Edwards by a mile, and is as gard as Keane in terms of ability on the ball, if not better, minus the goal scoring, which I personally would love to see Keane play, up top. The goals he scored were real strikers goals.
 
Yon Mon said:
Looking at yesterday's line up Leam will stick with his favourites.
I think Thelo needs to bulk up a bit before he's ready for a regular spot. He obviously has the ability but not quite the physique for regular men's football yet.
Humphrys is a bit of a puzzle. Were is his best position? He's got something but blows hot and cold.
His work for Thelos goal yesterday was brilliant but on the other hand he's missed a few sitters during pre season.
I think McGrath will go if we can get another midfielder in. He only played on the right as an alternative to Darikwa in pre season and seems miles away from being picked as an attacking midfielder.
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I think Thelo needs to bulk up a bit before he's ready for a regular spot..... not sure if you've seen him live on pitch in these friendlies YM but when i saw him in the Liverpool game n he looked to me like he'd bulked up a fair bit.....as a caveat to that tho YM, at my age the eyesight isn't as good as it used to be😉
 
FrancosLoveChild said:
Everytime he has played in the center behind the striker, has always looked good, it is clear some players do not get the chance so it is always impossible to really judge them. Players need a run of games, I mean look at Magennis, was poor for the first 10 games but he kept on getting picked, and eventually, he came decent (doing it at this level is another question).

Thelo is better than Edwards by a mile, and is as gard as Keane in terms of ability on the ball, if not better, minus the goal scoring, which I personally would love to see Keane play, up top. The goals he scored were real strikers goals.
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Keane wouldn't suit playing up top on his own as has shown throughout his career.
He can't do the physical stuff Wyke and Magennis do.
I was watching some of our goals from last season recently. 2 that stood out were Wykes 1st at Accrington and Langs winner at Plymouth.
Both came from a killer pass from Keane to completely wrong foot the opposition and put our players through on goal.
That for me is his best position. Not quite a striker not quite a midfielder.
Of course he can only do this if we play on the floor rather than hoofing it.
 
jocklatic said:
I think Thelo needs to bulk up a bit before he's ready for a regular spot..... not sure if you've seen him live on pitch in these friendlies YM but when i saw him in the Liverpool game n he looked to me like he'd bulked up a fair bit.....as a caveat to that tho YM, at my age the eyesight isn't as good as it used to be😉
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I was watching our subs having a kick about at h/t yesterday and thinking how skinny the subs looked alongside Kerr and McGrath. They're not the biggest but had that muscle tone Thelo and the other younger lads don't have yet.
 
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