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This was my first taste of Paul Hurst's town and I'd very much like to try it again. Pocket-sized Paul was greeted enthusiastically as he walked down to his dugout by the home crowd who were keenly hoping to enjoy the day. The first half, after a slow start, was very enjoyable, the high press style certainly looking to become clearer and bought into by the players. West Ham had the bigger, stronger and more experienced team but our boys (and the middle three were essentially just that) showed no fear in taking them on. Worked hard to get the ball and were able to calm themselves with quick 1 and 2 touch passing to get the ball away from the spammers in order to look up and play our game.
The game in question involved some crisp passing over short and long distances, each ball considered and measured with no hopeful/hopeless punts unless in a defensive necessity. We recovered well from a fairly cheap goal from the visitors where Fredericks found it too easy to put a ball into the unmarked Felipe Anderson who just about managed to guide it past Bart's outstretched arm. We settled back into the game with some good passing moves which were met by louder rounds of applause each time. The best of all came from great tenacity in the midfield to win the ball before Dozzell found Harrison and a cure for impotency with a superb defence-decimating pass and our new striker calmly prodded home beyond the other Polish 'keeper on the pitch.
The encouraging first half was brought to a close and a standing ovation was given by the 11k Town fans who were clearly more than pleased with what they had been served.
The second started with us forcing West Ham to hurry the ball behind for a corner but soon settled into a tighter game with the visitors beginning to express themselves without testing our number 33.
One noticeable issue with our set-up is that we leave ourselves vulnerable to the counter-attack and that is exactly how Arnautovic scored what proved to be the winner when he pounced on a lost ball and exploded beyond our back line to finish with class below Bart.
Several subs took the sting out of the game and the spammers held out fairly comfortably, not that that made any difference to how the Town fans felt about the overall performance.
Bart had little to do all game but looks sharper off his line than he has done before, gathering long balls and making one great dash to head the ball away from the edge of his box. Good decision making with distribution as well (though strong winds encouraged floor-level play).
The defense is the most obvious area for improvement before next week - you can tell Hurst isn't totally sold on his fullbacks, both doing a decent enough job though Spence needed Edwards to give him a lot of help whilst Knudsen looks very uncomfortable on the ball at times. Chambers was barking orders throughout the match and is clearly very important to us whilst I don't quite see in Woolfenden what others have been saying - certainly a player in there but was nowhere to be seen for their first goal and was a bit sloppy at times. Fine cover but feel he's not up to week in week out Championship football yet, hopefully Tilt (or whoever) gets done soon.
The middle 3 have plenty of experience playing together and that showed today with all 3 comfortable on the ball, Dozzell showing his class when on the ball, Downes showing zero respect for the opposition with a number of tough challenges, and Nydam showing great enthusiasm in closing down whilst looking to drive us up the pitch. They showed signs of tiring and are not ready for constant involvement but the quality and potential of the lads is clear as day and no-one should have any qualms about them starting if needed.
You can see why Edwards was brought in - like a more productive Paul Anderson he kept Felipe very quiet with great running up and down the line whilst got himself into good positions and delivered a few dangerous balls. Sears isn't back to where he was but he seemed to have a bit of a boost today - selfless running as always but appeared to take Hurst's comments on board as he ran at the defence and put one great cross in which Harrison hammered against the post.
Speaking of Harrison, we've got a fan-favourite-in-waiting on our hands. Superb aerial ability with enough pace and strength to be a real pest to defenders as well as being clever enough to know when to show the ref when a defender is 'over defending'. Cool finish and looked equally adept at playing on the shoulder and coming deeper to challenge for the ball. Early days but full of promise and could well be money very well spent.
We're not there yet, but we're getting closer to what Hurst ultimately wants - we've got the players to make the high press work but just need to fine tune it. We were more 4-1-4-1 today than 4-2-3-1 but Hurst clearly wants fluidity in that midfield with one sitting while the others press etc. whilst the full backs are clearly instructed to make attacking runs and push the opposition back to stop them from being able to clear their lines comfortably. The players on the whole look comfortable with the ball at their feet but the one gripe would be a lack of real testing of Fabianski - far better movement than we've seen for a while but need to make that final pass a bit quicker to get a shot away. Better teams in this division may well have fun on the counter against us but one thing's for sure if today's any evidence - we won't make any game easy for anyone.
For me, and I assume many others, next Saturday can't come quickly enough.
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.
You are pretty much spot on, we may need a to have a bit of patience though, but we now have a manager wanting to make his own stamp on our club and improve how we play.
seven sleeps
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I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 23:34 - Jul 28 with 2787 views
Only thing I would disagree is with Woolfenden. The odd dodgy moment, but looked a real solid defender with plenty of skill mixed in. Loved the midfield today, 3 young footballers having fun and playing their way, enjoying them selves. Harrison looks to have something about him, but I hope Waghorn and Garner stay with us, these three will give us real bite.
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I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 01:54 - Jul 29 with 2553 views
Like you and others can't wait for Saturday,have always tried to get to the first game of the season from 2000 miles away but these past few years it's become a real chore,now can't get on that plane quick enough. PH and his team deserve so much praise for what they have done so quickly and deserves proper backing from ME.
[Post edited 29 Jul 2018 4:42]
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I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 07:40 - Jul 29 with 2321 views
I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 04:40 - Jul 29 by trncbluearmy
Great report cheers
Like you and others can't wait for Saturday,have always tried to get to the first game of the season from 2000 miles away but these past few years it's become a real chore,now can't get on that plane quick enough. PH and his team deserve so much praise for what they have done so quickly and deserves proper backing from ME.
[Post edited 29 Jul 2018 4:42]
where do you live mate?
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I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 07:49 - Jul 29 with 2286 views
I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 07:58 - Jul 29 by m14_blue
Watching our skillful youngsters dominate midfield with their passing when up against far bigger and stronger players was like times gone by.
A real joy to watch.
We won't play as well every week but at least we we're trying to do the right things and be brave in possession.
As you say, we won't always play as well every week and we might not always get the results we expect, but it is going to be an exciting season to be a Town supporter. Now we need to have patience, let Hurst build his dynasty and give this young team the support they will need to improve through the season. For the first time in a decade, it feels like our club is coming together again. After the way Southgate brought the feel good factor back to English football, it is so good to feel the same way about Town going into the start of a new season.
I'll have seconds please - thoughts on today's match on 01:54 - Jul 29 by flimflam
First goal Spence let his man get the wrong side of him so don't see how Woolf gets blamed for that
Not blaming him solely but Anderson ghosts into a central position with no-one around him so it’s a poor goal to concede as a defensive unit really.
Seen several comments on here and Twitter talking about him as if he’s the new Baresi - it’s great that people are being positive for a change but a few seem to be getting a bit carried away and seeing things that aren’t truly there quite yet.
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.
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