| Millwall game 10:25 - Jul 23 with 1554 views | TomTheWriter |
Arguably the most important test of pre-season. You can only learn so much from games against Needham and a poor Wimbledon side, plus the tests of Arsenal, Palace and West Ham are great learning experiences but you never feel like it is a 50/50 battle.
Against a settled Millwall side however, it should be a clear representation of where we are at going into the season. Potentially only 1 injury unless others have popped up without us knowing. Jackson, Evans and Edmundson all with more minutes under there belt since injury.
It’s symmetry really how last season we faced Millwall 1 week before the season started, and got our asses handed to us by them at our own place. Could have been 6 or 7 with Hladky making a handful of saves.
This time around, with essentially a new starting XI from that game (bar maybe half a dozen), a more exciting style of play, and a more talented coach in charge, it should be a real indication of where we are at heading into the season, and if there are any areas that need a bit of tinkering.
Praying for a JD-Woolf-Fridge back line for the first time this pre season 🤞🤞 |  |
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| Millwall game on 18:20 - Jul 23 with 1375 views | DJR |
We passed the test today. First half was fairly even, with few chances, but second half we upped our game, and completely outplayed Millwall from a footballing point of view. And this despite the fact that Ball and Leigh weren't in the squad. The great thing was that Aluko, Jackson and John-Jules replacing Chaplin, Ladapo and Harness, if anything, improved us as an attacking force. So the abundance of decent attackers, and the option to bring three on, augurs well for the coming season. Of the new players, Harness looked promising, Ladapo looked good, and John-Jules looked real class. A welcome bonus was Edwards coming on and having an end-product. I also thought the defence did very well, the rare Woolfenden mistake aside. The only player who was slightly disappointing was Chaplin, whose touch and passing was a bit hurried and wayward, but he was playing a Championship team who put him under much more pressure than will be the case against a Div 1 team. [Post edited 23 Jul 2022 18:24]
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| Millwall game on 19:24 - Jul 23 with 1247 views | Dubtractor |
The contrast with the friendly a year ago, where we got taught a bit of a lesson, was pretty significant I thought. |  |
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| Millwall game on 20:23 - Jul 23 with 1125 views | stopmoaning |
Exactly.
Wish we finished where they did last year. |  | | |
| Millwall game on 20:24 - Jul 23 with 1118 views | TomTheWriter |
| Millwall game on 19:24 - Jul 23 by Dubtractor |
The contrast with the friendly a year ago, where we got taught a bit of a lesson, was pretty significant I thought. |
Good to hear. Sounds very promising that we seem to go up another gear in the second half of games, which will make us almost unbeatable if we are leading going into half time.
Think that will be a telling point this season. If we can take the lead in a game, we can probably control the rest of the game and either nullify the opposition or add some more goals to our tally.
Having players like Jackson, John-Jules and Edwards in reserve is way more important in my opinion than the likes of Celina or Bonne, because they have the one thing that defenders hate. Pace. If you force League One defenders to start running towards there own goal, we'll probably cause more and more mistakes from them.
Just need to avoid handing easy goals to poorer sides, who'll drop 10 men behind the ball and then take off there 3 strikers for 3 defenders with the 5-subs rule | |
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| Millwall game on 21:51 - Jul 23 with 1031 views | Darth_Koont |
| Millwall game on 18:20 - Jul 23 by DJR |
We passed the test today. First half was fairly even, with few chances, but second half we upped our game, and completely outplayed Millwall from a footballing point of view. And this despite the fact that Ball and Leigh weren't in the squad. The great thing was that Aluko, Jackson and John-Jules replacing Chaplin, Ladapo and Harness, if anything, improved us as an attacking force. So the abundance of decent attackers, and the option to bring three on, augurs well for the coming season. Of the new players, Harness looked promising, Ladapo looked good, and John-Jules looked real class. A welcome bonus was Edwards coming on and having an end-product. I also thought the defence did very well, the rare Woolfenden mistake aside. The only player who was slightly disappointing was Chaplin, whose touch and passing was a bit hurried and wayward, but he was playing a Championship team who put him under much more pressure than will be the case against a Div 1 team. [Post edited 23 Jul 2022 18:24]
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Agree with all that. |  |
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