Jump to content

Walsall on Sat


BuckoBeast

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 179
  • Created
  • Last Reply
42 minutes ago, B4ev6is said:

Anyone got footage of the goals

Mate was at the game trying to film the goals and he said Baird and Blackman kept standing in front of him on purpose so he couldn't get any footage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always put a little caveat on my posts about matches as I have never played football, only watched, but I went today and did notice that although the formation was 4-4-2 the wide players still played well forward. Fozzy still ran down the line and put his crosses in. My old fashioned idea of a back 4 is maybe outdated? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Ewe Ram said:

I always put a little caveat on my posts about matches as I have never played football, only watched, but I went today and did notice that although the formation was 4-4-2 the wide players still played well forward. Fozzy still ran down the line and put his crosses in. My old fashioned idea of a back 4 is maybe outdated? 

More of a 4231, then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, valleyram said:

Better Laura than muespech ram Eddie don't u think ? 

I think I'll take a leaf out of Laura's book and decline to comment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back from the match. It was an enjoyable pre-season game, which was much more competitive than the ones that I saw last year. Still got the impression that people are playing their way in, which is fine.

They all look pretty fit so that's a great starting point.

My take on the players below sorry it's so long but there were a lot of them!

Interesting first half team and great to see Fozzy out there again. Cleared one good cross from a corner it's like having an extra centre half. Got forward for the first goal (just after a drinks break so I think someone had had a word!) He is looking strong to say he has been out so long.

Shackell was composed and played three or four long cross field passes, one of which came off but the others were close and he'll get better at them if he keeps trying. Pearce looked quite tidy and Baird did his job at right back well.

Midfield - Johnson started well but faded, as did Russell,  who did some great tracking back and winning the ball back early doors. Bryson was fine.

Blackman for me was the pick on the right - when he got the ball. Feels like we aren't quite used to that pass yet! Good runs inside and he looks stronger than last season.

Ince flitted in and out, was involved in the goal and got much better in the second half. Mis-controlled a similar through ball just before the one he scored but took the second very well. Looked to be enjoying himself in the role.

Bent struggled a bit but what can you say he kept plugging away and gets the tap-in and nearly had another. Plays with heart. 

Second half we did look better. Got a bit confused as there were so many substitutions but thought Martin, Hendrick, Keogh upped the skill and understanding when they came on and created what was probably our best spell. Weimann is quick and ran really well - again got better once Martin was on. Worked well with Olsson too. Butterfield sat fairly deep but started off a lot of the moves. 

I was a bit disappointed to see Hughes out so wide, not because he did anything wrong but because you want him in there where he can cause most damage. He battled well and won the ball a lot but sometimes ran out of space to play in. 

Martin wasn't involved in the goal but he also had a header just wide and did some lovely link-up play. Sprinted after the ball on a couple of occasions too and didn’t do any of his mardy stuff! 

Who've I not mentioned? Grant, handled well, got in a full 90 but didn’t have a lot of pressure.  Good distribution. 

Max Lowe is quite quick and strong too. Good positioning made himself available for the out ball. He looks an intelligent footballer. 

Walsall were bright in patches and they did finish 3rd in Division One last season so they are no mugs but we looked a class above today. 

Our fans were great - nearly 1400 for a friendly. Impressive.

Encouraging performance all round.  Right, I'm off for a beer!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Movement's more important than formations. McClaren's initial line up may have been a 4-1-2-3 but on it's day it would end up with our average positions looking like as 3-4-1-2. 

Ince should be absolutely lethal behind the striker if it's Bent or Weimann ahead of him. Martin likes to drop deep and takes Incey's space. Weimann and Bent will create space for him.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, angieram said:

Back from the match. It was an enjoyable pre-season game, which was much more competitive than the ones that I saw last year. Still got the impression that people are playing their way in, which is fine.

They all look pretty fit so that's a great starting point.

My take on the players below sorry it's so long but there were a lot of them!

Interesting first half team and great to see Fozzy out there again. Cleared one good cross from a corner it's like having an extra centre half. Got forward for the first goal (just after a drinks break so I think someone had had a word!) He is looking strong to say he has been out so long.

Shackell was composed and played three or four long cross field passes, one of which came off but the others were close and he'll get better at them if he keeps trying. Pearce looked quite tidy and Baird did his job at right back well.

Midfield - Johnson started well but faded, as did Russell,  who did some great tracking back and winning the ball back early doors. Bryson was fine.

Blackman for me was the pick on the right - when he got the ball. Feels like we aren't quite used to that pass yet! Good runs inside and he looks stronger than last season.

Ince flitted in and out, was involved in the goal and got much better in the second half. Mis-controlled a similar through ball just before the one he scored but took the second very well. Looked to be enjoying himself in the role.

Bent struggled a bit but what can you say he kept plugging away and gets the tap-in and nearly had another. Plays with heart. 

Second half we did look better. Got a bit confused as there were so many substitutions but thought Martin, Hendrick, Keogh upped the skill and understanding when they came on and created what was probably our best spell. Weimann is quick and ran really well - again got better once Martin was on. Worked well with Olsson too. Butterfield sat fairly deep but started off a lot of the moves. 

I was a bit disappointed to see Hughes out so wide, not because he did anything wrong but because you want him in there where he can cause most damage. He battled well and won the ball a lot but sometimes ran out of space to play in. 

Martin wasn't involved in the goal but he also had a header just wide and did some lovely link-up play. Sprinted after the ball on a couple of occasions too and didn’t do any of his mardy stuff! 

Who've I not mentioned? Grant, handled well, got in a full 90 but didn’t have a lot of pressure.  Good distribution. 

Max Lowe is quite quick and strong too. Good positioning made himself available for the out ball. He looks an intelligent footballer. 

Walsall were bright in patches and they did finish 3rd in Division One last season so they are no mugs but we looked a class above today. 

Our fans were great - nearly 1400 for a friendly. Impressive.

Encouraging performance all round.  Right, I'm off for a beer!

Cheers for the report. :)

Wouldn't take much notice of Walsall's finish last season, they've been raided majorly during this window. They've literally lost 7 or 8 of their first team from last season and another missed today's game because he's also about to leave so their team has changed massively from the bunch that finished 3rd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, angieram said:

I was a bit disappointed to see Hughes out so wide, not because he did anything wrong but because you want him in there where he can cause most damage. He battled well and won the ball a lot but sometimes ran out of space to play in. 

It perturbed me when I heard Hughes was out wide. The lesson Wassall failed to learn was that you put a player like him where he's most involved and can do maximum damage to the opposition. Hopefully it was more of a fitness thing accommodating everyone who needed a run out, but even so it seemed wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...