And so it begins...
Technically here is a 3 month update, but we'll ignore the semantics for now. Pre-season was hardly worth writing home about anyway, with me attempting to find a suitable combination, before sulking and passing it over to Cornelius Jol to deal with.
My priority was the opening day at home to Gosport. Much like Bonaparte, Urquidi was the early trail-blazer, scoring the opening goal of the season for us. Telstar was another bright spark at the start of the season, with 2 goals in 2 games before picking up an injury. Notthatbright was a handy partner to Urquidi up top, but again injuries took effect as he missed 4 weeks.
With three clean sheets in a row, the defeat to Hampton in the 94th minute was extremely disappointing, Lowerson doing a fair imitation of Gerrard against Uruguay. We recovered though, scoring 15 in the next 3 matches. Dahnert made use of his training as a striker to come off the bench and score a hattrick against Hemel, in our first meeting with Hemel captain Steo.
International call ups as expected caused postponements, and that might cause an issue down the line, but for now, we dealt with it well. A few players have expressed concerns on playing time, but as explained to them, they played badly last time out, so they had to sit out for a bit. It's kept them amused for now.
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As you would expect at this early stage, we sit pretty at the top of the table. The player ratings are dominated by us, but Itamar Gissin also features on the assists chart. Meanwhile, East Thurrock are benefitting from USA international Nate Kronos up top - more on that next month.
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Our fellow players in the north are also getting in some good game time. Lewis is leading the midfield very handily at Telford, whilst Talent and Scully have formed a solid defensive pairing for Altrincham after a shaky start. DanW has also impressed at Gloucester, helping them to just outside the playoffs.
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In terms of our players, there are a couple of standouts. Urquidi has impressed alongside Alarcon, and recently celebrated joining up with the Mexico full squad for the first time. Charlie Bond has been a rock at the back, with Lowerson, Harris or Jameson generally joining him. Surprise performer for me has been Silva, who came through a rocky pre-season to shine so far. So far he's kept Murley out the team, although he has also impressed when called upon.
The two CAM's have suffered a bit as a result of moving to a 4-4-2 recently, but both have appeared in more forward roles in recent times. Hawkins is now also looking at dropping out to the wing as well to provide cover and work more opportunities - especially with Telstars ability to pick up minor niggles and take an extra day or two to recover from them.
The keeper battle is fierce, with both getting opportunities. Both have picked up four clean sheets so far, with Dale picking up a solitary assist. Meanwhile, Lippopodopolis has come to the revelation that he'd be good enough for England... before immediately joining up with Greece. Go figure.
Lastly, captain Darnho has led well from the centre, and is often well involved playing the BBM role in the middle. The other four midfielders are largely jostling for position next to him, but there is yet to be a standout candidate in that role.
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