Small played out on the right we were unlucky not to get 5 or 6 goals and thought Mcleod was having a mare shot wise but would make a capable attacking midfielder.
Not a brilliant win but effort from key areas Richardson looked solid as did Semedo, Fortune, Llera (maybe less confident than others but has ability.), Sam, Shelvey (in first half and towards end of his time in second had a 10 min spell of crap sadly) also thought Small (looked good but Sam is better) and Racon.
Bailey not bad but not brilliant.
Burton unlucky not to score
Wagstaff did quite well
All in all we looked unbalanced, burton and jonjo don't work for me, they both look for ball to feet with back to goal.
We looked more of a threat with dickson and izale but honestly izale was terrible, he was 1 on 1 and the keeper saved and pushed it back to him, i'd live to saw he looked quality but he didn't.
MOM was bailey, spring looked ok and composed.
The right mid sub looked handy but bottled a shot when he had a chance.
Bailey was a bit quiet for me. Sam was a threat all night, he is shaping up really well. Jonjo had good moments and scored a neat (if not a bit soft) header. Richardson will be good for us, as will Llera once they've settled in. Glad to see Fortune back too. Semedo and Racon, both tidy and skillful in the middle. Basey bombed forward a fair bit which was good to see, but where's Kelly Youga? Small had zero time to impress, so can't judge on that.
All in all a tougher friendly and a good step up in our preparations. We played until the final whistle and that was good to see. Come on you Reds!
Sat just behind Parky and he was barking instructions throughout and went mad at Crawley's manager when their players got a bit out of hand tackling Sam. Seemed full of fight and that's exactly what I want to see.
Played there at Bray last week too. He may be blooding him as a reserve right back. Seems odd, but can pass neatly, get forward, a ? over defending, which isn't good if you are in the back 4!
I thought we looked extremely average. Llera was slightly less terrible than at Welling. Richardson was very hesitant and made a couple of very poor decisions, letting balls run and thinking they were going out only to find the attacker had chased it down. What is Waggy doing at RB? Bailey might be a terrier in tackles in a crowd-pleasing way but that's about all he had to offer tonight. Lloyd Sam seems to be carrying on the improvement we saw at the end of last season. We are in desperate need of a striker - Burton, Dickson and McLeod simply are not good enough. And it is depressing to see so many long-ball punts to no one. Crawley really bossed the second half and I thought that the team did nothing tonight to give us much hope for the season ahead. I know it was only a pre-season friendly but....
We did ok, near enough our strongest team. Although Burton rarely shoots, won't score many, he's still a much better all round footballer than McLeod, Dickson or Fleetwood. Could do with a goalscoring striker next to him with a bit of pace, but then that means moving Jonjo back, and there he has a lot less freedom. Not sure what's best really. Semedo gives us a nice balance, but Racon, Sam and Bailey all need to be in the team as well.
Richardson should be solid and hopefully work well with Sam down the right. Nothing spectacular, but our best full backs in recent years in Young and Powell were both like that, reliable without doing anything too exciting.
Not sure why we're using Wagstaff at right back, though pretty sure Solly was injured, he would have definitely been the next in line.
[cite]Posted By: mart77[/cite]I may be reading too much into it, but i think Small may be signing for us as he only came on for 8 minutes at the end.
No time to judge him, can't really remember him, but I can see that happening. Decent bit of experience in League One and the Championship, can play on either side (even though I think he is right footed). Will give us another out and out winger as competition to Sam, I wouldn't say Wagstaff is ready to be starting. If we can get someone else just as good that is left footed they'd be a better option.
[cite]Posted By: Nadou[/cite]We are in desperate need of a striker - Burton, Dickson and McLeod simply are not good enough. And it is depressing to see so many long-ball punts to no one.
Yeah we definitely need a good striker. Someone that can score goals, decent touch and football brain, pace if possible, but where are we going to find someone like that?
When we passed the ball in the first half we had a few good moves. We're not the same once we bring on the likes of Spring, Dickson, McLeod etc - they can't pass and move like the starting players.
There were long balls, there's always some, but I think it could have been a lot worse.
Thought we looked ok again tonight (especiallly first half with Forch beside Llera), granted we were not flying into tackles like Crawley were, but I guess we saw it as a "friendly" to get a little more settled side and they saw it as a chance to get one over on a league side. We won't know for sure until we get to play Wycombe, but the signs are there that we can play neat passing football and with Semedo in there, we have a midfielder to break up things allowing the likes of Racon, Shelvey, Bailey and Sam to get on and play. Agree that we still haven't found the right forward to play in the 4-5-1 which I think Parky will be looking to, which best allows Shelvey to do his thing. Back four look solid enough to play well in League 1 with Youga to add to what we saw this evening.
I thought I did well too, and linked up well with Lloyd Sam.”
Just noticed that on the OS in the interview with Richardson. Thought there were a few signs of that tonight. They passed the ball well with each other, one would make a run and tried to keep it to feet rather than hopeful balls for Sam to chase. Will be interesting to see how they do together in a few more games.
Thought Sam did really well, and has clearly worked on his crossing, picking targets rather than just hoping for the best. Hope he can reproduce under genuine pressure. Small looked ok at Forest Green, but too keen to get decisions instead of scrap during his little cameo last night. As said elsewhere, might be a useful wing option while Waggy develops (hopefully not into a right back, where Solly should do just fine as cover for impressive Richardson). Basey busy in pre-season. Really hope we can find his best position. We all know he lacks a yard of pace but he can play, is whole-hearted, and clearly loves our club. He's also been talking out on the pitch, urging on the likes of Dickson when they slacken. Also thought Fortune did v well after such a long lay off, and big improvement by Llera after Welling.
Hard-working midfield pretty much picks itself - I only see Spring as a stop-gap as he has a worrying tendency to disappear. Seems we desperately need to keep that unit together; where else might the goals come from? Burton clearly the better all-round footballer but can't just play with his back to goal (Norwich apart). For games / periods when we want to go 4-4-2, there's such an obvious place there for the taking, if only one of Dickson, McLeod, Fleetwood could step up and prove themself. Don't think it'll be Fleetwood - Exeter might be a better bet for him. Could McLeod's last gasp prod in after fluffing the real chance finally help restore his brittle confidence? Last night he & Dicko gave us a more direct threat but always look so hit & MISS.
I know! Let's get that bloke who scored 25 for Crewe and can't get in the team at Derby...
Comments
Not a brilliant win but effort from key areas Richardson looked solid as did Semedo, Fortune, Llera (maybe less confident than others but has ability.), Sam, Shelvey (in first half and towards end of his time in second had a 10 min spell of crap sadly) also thought Small (looked good but Sam is better) and Racon.
Bailey not bad but not brilliant.
Burton unlucky not to score
Wagstaff did quite well
i'll upload pics later!
All in all we looked unbalanced, burton and jonjo don't work for me, they both look for ball to feet with back to goal.
We looked more of a threat with dickson and izale but honestly izale was terrible, he was 1 on 1 and the keeper saved and pushed it back to him, i'd live to saw he looked quality but he didn't.
MOM was bailey, spring looked ok and composed.
The right mid sub looked handy but bottled a shot when he had a chance.
All in all, could do better.
Pix are interesting Dazzler, didn't know there was lightning there .....
;o)
Elliott
Richardson
Fortune
Llera
Youga
Sam
Semedo
Racon
Bailey
Shelvey
Mcleod - I must be going insane!!!
Subs
Basey
Davisson
Wagstaff
Spring - god i don't like to say it!
Small
Dickson
Burton
All in all a tougher friendly and a good step up in our preparations. We played until the final whistle and that was good to see. Come on you Reds!
Sat just behind Parky and he was barking instructions throughout and went mad at Crawley's manager when their players got a bit out of hand tackling Sam. Seemed full of fight and that's exactly what I want to see.
Who told you that, Dazzler .... ?
;o)
Richardson should be solid and hopefully work well with Sam down the right. Nothing spectacular, but our best full backs in recent years in Young and Powell were both like that, reliable without doing anything too exciting.
Not sure why we're using Wagstaff at right back, though pretty sure Solly was injured, he would have definitely been the next in line.
No time to judge him, can't really remember him, but I can see that happening. Decent bit of experience in League One and the Championship, can play on either side (even though I think he is right footed). Will give us another out and out winger as competition to Sam, I wouldn't say Wagstaff is ready to be starting. If we can get someone else just as good that is left footed they'd be a better option.
I'm in that one, wasn't you trying to get songs going at the start was it?
Yeah we definitely need a good striker. Someone that can score goals, decent touch and football brain, pace if possible, but where are we going to find someone like that?
When we passed the ball in the first half we had a few good moves. We're not the same once we bring on the likes of Spring, Dickson, McLeod etc - they can't pass and move like the starting players.
There were long balls, there's always some, but I think it could have been a lot worse.
Just noticed that on the OS in the interview with Richardson. Thought there were a few signs of that tonight. They passed the ball well with each other, one would make a run and tried to keep it to feet rather than hopeful balls for Sam to chase. Will be interesting to see how they do together in a few more games.
Izale... i reckon his confidence is on the up..
Hard-working midfield pretty much picks itself - I only see Spring as a stop-gap as he has a worrying tendency to disappear. Seems we desperately need to keep that unit together; where else might the goals come from? Burton clearly the better all-round footballer but can't just play with his back to goal (Norwich apart). For games / periods when we want to go 4-4-2, there's such an obvious place there for the taking, if only one of Dickson, McLeod, Fleetwood could step up and prove themself. Don't think it'll be Fleetwood - Exeter might be a better bet for him. Could McLeod's last gasp prod in after fluffing the real chance finally help restore his brittle confidence? Last night he & Dicko gave us a more direct threat but always look so hit & MISS.
I know! Let's get that bloke who scored 25 for Crewe and can't get in the team at Derby...
We've already got the bloke who scored 25 for MK Dons and can't get in the team at Charlton ...
;o)