Town turned in an impressive performance in their final friendly of preseason, beating RB Leipzig 3-0. Admittedly, our opposition had played a Europa League qualifier the night before and fielded a somewhat weakened team.But they still had Germany and Denmark’s first choice strikers from the World Cup up front, and a few multimillion Euro signings in their starting line up.
Here are a few of my thoughts about the game…
The 3-5-2 system worked well in its first outing of preseason
This was the first time I’ve seen Town play with three central defenders for any length of time this preseason. It was a similar shape to the way we lined up towards the end of last season, and the system worked well. Everyone stuck to their task and there was no space for RB Leipzig to exploit.
Zanka, Schindler, and Kongolo all looked very assured, and having additional cover at the back meant that all of them took the chance to roam forward with the ball when we had possession. This helped to draw players out of position and open up pockets of space for our more attacking players to run into.
This system also allowed Billing, Hogg, and Mooy to start the game together and they look like a good combination. Hogg was the lynchpin, with Mooy and Billing able to push up further and support the attacks. Without proper wingers, it’s vital the midfield push up, to avoid isolating our attacking players.
Mounié scored another trademark goal
This has been a good preseason for Mounié, with him scoring a few excellent headed goals. There’s a certain kind of ball into the box which he reads incredibly well and can nearly always score from. If our fullbacks can hang the ball up at the far post then he can time his run and jump so the defence doesn’t stand a chance.
It’s easy to get carried away with performances in friendlies, but I think Mounié could have a very good season ahead of him. I’d say he’s done enough to be selected in front of Depoitre, and if he can build his confidence with some goals early in the season I think he could be a huge asset to Town.
We looked more attacking when we switched to 4-2-3-1
In the second half Town played their usual 4-2-3-1 formation and this change seemed to coincide with us dominating the game. Both Leipzig and Town made multiple changes too, so it could just be our replacements were of a higher quality, but it also felt like playing with two wingers and a number ten gave us more attacking options.
The second goal was a good example of this, as Depoitre was running back from offside, Diakhaby exploited the defence’s uncertainty and Sohbi played an excellent ball to put him clean through. The finish was calm and confident too, so very encouraging from our new boys. But the goal only happened because we had attacking players committed forward.
My impression is that we’ll play this system against the teams around us in the league, but revert to a more defensive three at the back when we play stronger opposition.
Billing the standout player
I was very impressed by Philip Billing in this game. He was our best player by a distance, and seems to have improved over the summer. He’s always had the quality in possession and a decent range of passing, but he’s now a bit more direct and makes driving runs through midfield.
Add to that his physical presence at set pieces and the long throws he can launch forward and there are a lot of reason to like watching him play for Town right now. Oh, and he scored a decent goal. The finish was relatively straight forward, but the fact he was the one bursting forward to support Depoitre’s run typified his performances and deserved rewarding with a goal.
Billing has shown glimpses of his ability so far at Town, but hasn’t consistently performed at his highest level. The challenge for him this coming season will be to show that he can put in high-quality performances week-in-week-out, then we’ll have a special player on our hands.
Town look ready to give Chelsea a run for their money
I’ve watched most of Town’s friendlies this preseason and there’s been an obvious progression in the quality of the football being played. The two games this week against Bologna and Leipzig showed that we’re now close to being operating at the top of our game.
I’m confident that Town will be in peak condition by the time they line up against Chelsea next weekend. With the Blues having a new coach with new ideas, and their best players having had a limited preseason because of their World Cup exploits, it’s not crazy to think we could cause an upset.