A few thoughts on today by Steve_M 22 Jul 2017 19:30
Yes, it's pre-season and the result is of little real importance and we were severely lacking in central midfielders - Skuse, Huws, Adeyemi are probably going to be the three who play there most -- but a few things stood out.

The main one is that our biggest failing as a side is nothing to do with hoofing the ball or even individual players but the lack of a clear system and sense of purpose as a side. Too much of what we do feels improvised rather than instinctive; the clarity of approach seen in 2012-13's rearguard effort or the Murphy and McGoldrick partnership in the first half of 2014-15 has yet to be replicated despite the various approaches McCarthy has tried since.

In the first half today we lined up in a 4-4-2, midfield of Celina, Bro, Downs and Ward. At times it worked very well and we played the ball around quite nicely at times, Spence and Ward in particular linked up effectively and the latter looked more effective as a winger than he has for a while. When we didn't play down the right though, everything got rather bogged down in the middle, the tendency to over-play things becoming stronger as the half wore on. We should still have been ahead, Garner and Sears failed to make the most of good opportunities.

For all the criticism of Sears being played wide, he didn't show anything today to suggest he should be played as a central striker either, as ever he worked hard but largely ineffectively. I'm more and more convinced that he's better wide in a 4-3-3.

That said, the switch to 4-3-3 after half-time was a bit bizarre, the front two rows left very spread out and too far away from each other. It was pretty poor stuff as the tempo slowed right down, another recurring theme. At one point we even failed to bother crossing a free kick in, preferring to pass it around aimlessly before losing the ball.

And then we went behind, Lee Martin who looked every bit the waste of money we all remember - late challenges, blasting a free kick well out of play, all mixed with some excellent touches -- went down very easily under a challenge from Chambers (who, frankly should have known better) and Eaves converted the penalty easily.

That was about it for the match, an excellent shot from Celina which came back off the post with the keeper beaten, mass substitutions, a similarly good shot from Wagstaff that beat Bart and a headed consolation from Rowe.

Some other points:
- Left-back: Knudsen is clearly going to be number one scapegoat this season, frustrating on the ball and pretty poor in possession today and yet much more reliable defensively than Kenlock who lost his man three times in the short-time he was on the pitch. The second Gillingham goal came from one of them. Mick will start with Jonas but it will leave a weakness in possession.

- Defence. If we want to play passing football, today's first-half line up won't work. Smith and Knudsen next to each other is too slow in possession, both needing too long to assess options. Given Jonas will start, then Chambers and Webster in the middle would be my preference. We were sloppy at the back throughout today, especially after the first goal so think we should play most of the next two games with the side Mick intends to start in a fortnight.

- Flynn Downes. His performance certainly made the trip worthwhile, did simple things well and almost always played the ball to team mates as well as putting in a lot of effort. That recycling possession simply still stands out a mile in our midfield is a fairly big indictment of Mick and this squad.

- Wingers. As mentioned above, Ward looked pretty effective on the right wing in the first half, Celina despite his evident skill a bit less so. We didn't get the ball to him quickly and he had a lot of players around him. - we'll need to work out how to utilise him effectively. Rowe looked good when he came on too, he had more space after multiple substitutions but has a natural tendency to run at opponents. Maybe an option to bring on against tiring opponents if we aren't going to start both him and Celina.

Match highlight: Tommy Smith dumping Lee Martin on his arse.


Two weeks and two matches to go before Birmingham, I'm more optimistic that a stronger midfield will make the side look a good deal better and yet the nagging doubt remains that we'll just be lacking a bit. We really need to keep to a preferred formation for most matches and let players get comfortable with it and each other. It worked in the Autumn of 2014-15 when we had out best spell under MM in a 4-3-3; we just need to do something similar in terms of set-up.