Interesting pre season friendly. My thoughts (partially obscured by criminally cheap Hooch in spoons):
- Brynn kept us in it before we went ahead with a couple of saves where you would have expected the striker to score. I think he made a couple of good stops and claims after we went ahead too. I agree with whoever said that he gives off BFG vibes. Definitely more of the BFG ilk than Kovar.
- Harries looks technically very good (in keeping with the Twitter clip of him neatly controlling it and smashing it into the top left in training). I wonder if we look at certain stats in combination such as time on the ball PLUS pass completion rate. He seemed to have a very good first touch and his pass completion rate was excellent (especially when you consider time from first touch to pass). I also think he had a header against the bar from a ball into the box (can’t remember if from set piece or open play) and I remember him winning another towering header too. There were however one or 2 occasions when he seemed to get a bit caught out leading to opportunities for Woking.
- Shade was on opposite side for first half but on our side second half. He looked to be athletic and good on the ball. Decent sized unit too. He stayed on the half way line when we had corners presumably due to his pace and height.
- Devine - really not impressed on that particular showing. He got in a lot of good wide positions and also managed to drop back into good defensive positions quickly so presumably has good fitness and pace, however his ability to beat the man or indeed to complete passes on today’s showing was less than that of his team mates.
- McKirdy, Gladwin, Reed and Williams looked decent. Gladwin on occasion got caught dallying but on other occasions was superb with his touch, skill and distribution. 2 very good finishes from McKirdy. Williams thankfully didn’t get injured and shows some good skill surging forwards. Reed was Reed - very good distribution etc but no surprise.
- Brennan seemed solid enough and keen to drive forwards.
- Darcy came on and maybe had something about him but he was playing within a second string at that stage so hard to compare with the players from first period.
-Parsons looks like he needs a goal for his confidence. Undoubtedly there is a good player there and he wasn’t bad at all but I would love for him to get the ball in the net by hook or by crook and then see how he does following that.
- Clayton - I can see why people say he is like Matip - although I didn’t get the full measure of him on his brief performance he seems to have height, confidence and the same sort of figure as Matip. I think his possession and passing seemed good as far as I could tell.
-Wakeling - was it him who nearly broke the post with his head?! One other good chance too.
- Massey - on quite late with a team of trialists and didn’t particularly make a mark.
I think 4-0 is an encouraging scoreline but we easily could have conceded a couple. A more clinical opposition may have punished us but I think you can only beat what is in front of you. The first hour felt like a proper starting 11 match and the subsequent minutes seemed more experimental. There are similarities with last year but (particularly in the latter part of the game and maybe due to players knowing each other less well) there was a more direct approach.
I think we had a few trialists - a number 2 who looked vaguely like KHH (he seemed to take up a central midfield berth) and a few others (some may be youth teamers) who did not particularly make a mark. Payne signing would make me club more confident in the squad but as it stands I don’t think it is bad and I hope this result and performance goes some way to quelling the tides of negativity from the resident doom mongers.
Still…better than a 2-0 at Supermarine. No booze in the away end (probably a good thing as well as a disappointment). Good to catch up with a surprisingly sturdy Wobbly Bob too. I hope that he will become suitably oiled and less rigid with the judicious application of real ale as the season commences. I get so bored in the close season and today was a much needed tonic for the lack of football. Roll on the start of the season.
