After a few months of post-season rest I thought it might be useful to write an article about yesterday’s friendly against Southport. At this stage in the season it’s more about getting a few hundred words in the tank and getting back up to full blogging fitness. So don’t expect anything too insightful or interesting from this article, I’m just trying to work my way back up to the, admittedly low, standards that I usually reach.
And my lack of match fitness was abundantly clear when the first half literally sent me to sleep and I missed all of half time and the start of the second half. So apologies if the first ten minutes of that half completely contradicted the rest of the 90, I suspect it was more of the same but it could have featured Lewis O’Brien riding a pink elephant and Carlos Corberán eating his chinos for all I know as I was fast off. Still, I’m buzzing to be back, it’s a great set of lads, I’m happy to get the minutes in the tank and all the rest of the usual clichés.
A workmanlike performance
Friendlies are mostly pointless from a fan’s perspective but having not watched Town for months I’m drawn back to them like a moth to a flame, despite knowing the outcome will be underwhelming. So I can’t complain that I finished this match feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
Having said all that, Town did OK against meagre opposition. Southport worked hard in the heat and had their moments (mostly through their panto villain centre forward that had no intention of keeping it friendly) but Town looked in control for the vast majority of the game and did enough to be deserved winners of a one-sided game.
Playing opposition that compete four divisions below you is a hiding to nothing really. Defeat is humiliating and a victory only what was expected. Still, it was a good workout for the players that were available and showed an increase in minutes played for most of them.
Similar concerns emerge
One grumble I came away from this game with was a familiar one from last season. We dominated the game for long spells but didn’t create enough chances or convert enough of them. There was some lovely interchange between the wingers and midfield at times that created openings but we weren’t clinical enough when the chances fell and often made poor decisions in the final third.
Against Southport that isn’t too much of a problem but when the league starts we need to be a lot sharper. We dropped many points last season because we didn’t have a cutting edge up front and I worry this problem may be a recurring issue until Corberán finds a fix.
In fairness, much of the early stages of preseason are focused on fitness levels and it may be that the next few weeks put more emphasis on improving our attacking tactics.
Notes on the new boys
One of the best things about friendlies is seeing new signings and getting an idea of how they will fit in. Here are my thoughts:
- Lee Nichols – Not given much to do but he carries himself like a proper keeper, which I think is one of Schofield’s biggest areas to work on. Schofield mostly does everything fine but the body language he has on the pitch makes him look a bit panicky. Nichols seems more assured and the first two friendlies suggest he’s the current first choice. For now at least.
- Ollie Turton – Matched Toffolo for forward runs and decent crosses. He’s not as quick as Pipa but looks a huge improvement on Duhaney as backup.
- Matty Pearson – A meat and potatoes kind of central defender. He looks solid, physical and vocal, not the kind of player I’d expect Carlos to want but the type we need.
- Jordan Rhodes – Made some nice runs and looked sharp. Tried a preposterous long-range effort which he skied over the bar but didn’t have loads of other chances.
- Josh Ruffels – played as a winger initially then dropped back to his preferred left-back slot when Toffolo was subbed. Looked OK but it’s hard to say much more from what he showed.
- Levi Colwill – Has bags of confidence on the ball and looks very classy. Not all his passes found their mark but his ability to pick out players further up the field could be a massive asset to the team. Naby Sarr played a lot of games last season but I think he’s got stiff competition from the Chelsea loanee to be first choice left sided centre back. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up playing both in a back three with Pearson.
Holmes and Thomas the bright sparks
Of the players we already know, I thought Sorba Thomas and Duane Holmes were the pick of the bunch with Lewis O’Brien deserving a nod purely for his energetic shift.
Considering Thomas played against higher opposition when he was at Boreham Wood, it doesn’t say much that he shone against Southport but he can only beat the players in front of him. He was lively, looked to take on his man and put in some decent balls.
Holmes played as a winger in theory but he played very narrowly and found plenty of space by drifting inside and behind the striker. He took his goal well and could have scored more if he had done better with the chances presented to him.
Several first teamers are missing in action
One of the most notable things about this game was the number of Town first teamers that were unavailable. Here’s a list of the players that were missing:
Positive covid test: Fraizer Campbell and Rarmani Edmonds-Green
Self isolating after being pinged: Reece Brown, Romoney Crichlow, Josh Koroma.
Knocks / working on conditioning back at Canalside: “A handful”
That last category worries me most as the club won’t even name who’s injured or not part of the current squad. From the top of my head we were missing: Aaron Rowe, Rolando Aarons, Pipa, Danny Grant, Juninho Bacuna (resting after intentional duty), Isaac Mbenza (sat with his bags packed, waiting for a phone call).
I think the monthly updates from the board have gone a long way to improve the communication from the club but this effort is undermined when they make vague statements about the health of players. Many fans are worried that the intensity of training leads to too many injuries, not providing updates on injuries doesn’t help with this.
How’s preseason going so far?
I think it’s going fine. Most importantly, we’ve brought in free agents to fill the gaps in the squad and most are an improvement on the equivalent player that left last season. They’ve got a full preseason to take on board the head coach’s methods and it seems like they’re a good set of lads that add a bit of experience and backbone to the team.
Getting two wins from the first two friendlies means something but not a great deal. Jan Siewert had an excellent preseason before he started his Championship campaign and he still lost his job swiftly after a string of defeats. Carlos will be aware that he needs a good start to remove the lingering doubts about him that the board must have given how poorly we played in the second half of last season.
The big jobs for the club now are to get rid of the players we don’t want (Bacuna and Mbenza judging by Phil’s interview with Radio Leeds), keep out best players (O’Brien, Pipa, Koroma and Toffolo) and bring in a handful of high-quality additions – particularly a ball-playing midfielder.
The players we’ve brought in so far are all bottom end of the Championship / top end of League One, so I see it as vital that we have some additions that genuinely improve the squad and leave us less reliant on youngsters who aren’t ready for this level.
Welcome back, TS. I for one have missed your blog.
I can tell you’re lacking a bit of match fitness (it will come) because
1. You haven’t mentioned the previous week’s friendly so maybe you slept for 90 minutes through that one?
2. If you had watched both friendlies, for me there were two stand-out performances from effectively ‘new players’ that you’ve failed to mention.
Reece-Brown had an impressive 45mins in Match 1. He looked like a forward-thinking creative midfielder. He’s worth another look. But the real jewel in the crown was a meagre 12 mins in Match 2 of Diarra. Wow! That boy can play! I don’t care that he’s only 18. As the cliche goes, if you’re good enough then you’re old enough. And from that brief glimpse, he’s certainly good enough.
And I totally agree with you about Colwill. Again he’s only 18 but he has real class on the ball. A sort of Bobby Moore but with more pace. We must find a way to get him into the starting XI which, as you say, probably means playing 3 at the back.
I’m sure most of us have played this game of picking our starting XI so on the strength of what I’ve seen so far, here’s mine.
With great relief, I start with the name of Nicholls!! Let me say that name again – Nicholls. Hurray! A goalkeeper who not only looks like a goalkeeper but one can actually catch a high ball.
Pearson, Sarr and Colwill as 3 centre backs.
Turton & Toffolo as wing backs although I expect Pipa to challenge for the right wing back slot.
Hogg as the central defensive midfielder albeit he hadn’t done much yet. Vallejo deserves a mention for this position as again he does have something.
Sorba Thomas and Reece Brown are my more attacking creative midfielders.
My wild card is Diarra in a Number 10 role playing behind Jordon Rhodes.
No place in that line-up for Koroma. He would probably get a place in my starting XI if I’d gone for 4-3-3 in which case I’d probably play him wide on the left and have to leave Colwill out. That would be a great shame as well as Colwill being a better footballer than Koroma.
So these are my very early thoughts. The signing of another goalkeeper and a creative midfielder might knock this about a bit but it’s a start.
Here I am, as we probably all are, full of cautious optimism at this stage of a season ie before a ball is kicked! Shame we’ve still got CC at the helm; he didn’t earn a second season but he’s got it so I’m prepared to wipe the slate clean and give him a few matches to see if he’s learned anything. Season number 58 as a Town supporter. Last season I’d have scored my pre-season cautious optimism as a 5 or 6. This season I’m more of a 6 or 7. Very quickly that number can, and usually does, go into a steep decline!
PS You’ll doubtless have observed there is no place in my starting XI for O’Brien. He can, and hopefully will feature but left out because he’s not really done much of great merit in pre-season friendlies…..plus the odds are he’ll be packing his bags before the season starts.
Thanks for your comment Simon. It was an oversight not to mention Diarra, who put in an excellent cameo. Hopefully we get to see more of him soon.
Brown looked decent in the Harrogate friendly too. I’m not sure what the story is with him and why we’ve never given him a chance at Town. It would be nice if he could come straight in and fill the gap left by Eiting but we’ll have to see how he does once he’s back from isolation.
Your starting eleven seems pretty good. If personally always want Koroma to start due to his goal threat but hopefully others will chip in too this season.
I think my optimism is slightly more cautious than yours. I’m hopeful we’ll do well but I’m not seeing a lot of evidence that we’ll be much better than last season. A few good signings and better luck with injuries could change that though.
been waiting for these all pre season,& if i may say,insightful.
many of us still “eat n sleep” these thoughts regardless of club fixtures.
we all want squad to improve,personally i think its been good pre season,early targeted business in all areas we wanted.
also agree,finishing,converting of oppurtunities,may b area i would like a little more squad strength.
loving sorba,fast becoming my favourite player.always makes things happen,has apparent boundless energy,oodles of pace & an ability to run at defenders,but with an end result,creating further space,crosses well.
a definite find.
was thinking similarly about aaron rowe,but may b a step behind currently.certainly impact player from bench.
all promising,as is situation at derby,rumoured to only have 8 players currently.a club unstable,hard to motivate,or plan schedule,organise
could b great time to play them.
good to see your back,i for one am looking frwd to more,appreciate these,thx
Hi Allan thank you for your comment. It’s good to be back.
You might be right about Derby being there for the taking in our first game. Though with Town it’s never that simple!
Thanks TS, great to be back, the comments you make still have a sure touch although I was surprised you didn’t mention Diarra, as Simon points out he looks special.
The points made about Nicholls by both of you are valid. The trials and tribulations of Ryan Schofield have been much discussed, he has been lauded for being an outstanding shot stopper with lightning quick reactions, but has been criticized for his inadequacies when dealing with crosses and standing glued to his line when the opposition advance into his penalty box, Ryan has been coached at Town for a number of years, if these coaches have not addressed these faults then shame on them, if they have done so and failed then why is he still on the books?
The points made about Colwill and a back three are interesting, could this be the way forward as this could give Toffolo and Pipa licence to compensate for the lack of creativity in mid-field.
I still have faith, misguided perhaps, in CC, but he has yet to be given the tools to do the job, the signing of Rhodes would appear to be a glaring mistake on that theme, which is presumably to approximately replicate the approach of Bielsa’s Leeds United, turning sows ears into silk purses hasn’t been achieved so far. I would be more than happy if the Leeds template was adopted and achieved. This comment may be anathema to many Town supporters but whenever I get the chance to watch Leeds’ games I do – why? They are generally very entertaining events regardless of the outcome, as were a number of Town games prior to Christmas, sadly few, probably none, subsequently.
There was one entertaining match post Christmas. Town 4 Swansea 1 on 20 Feb. And if goals define entertainment, there were 7 goals at a Town match in April away at Norwich!
I stand corrected! Lazy research on my part!
A good few minutes against a non league side does not make Diarra the answer to anything in midfield, O’Brien runs forever but is very inconsistent, is no good at scoring and I will not be sorry to see him go. He has been poor preseason and I don’t think he is a Premier League player but if someone thinks otherwise then just give us the money. The brightest point up to now us to have a proper goalkeeper. I will also repeat, Nicholls. Hurray!
Of course you’re logically right about Diarra – 12 minutes against non-league opposition proves not a lot. I was really going by what is said about him by those who have seen him play – he gets rave reviews – and so to come on and perform a cameo right at the end like that was uplifting. We’re looking for a creative spark and Diarra might prove to be the answer.