Gah!!!! Pressed back on this page and it deleted my darned post!!!
So here's trying again...
Glasgow University and the lowest attendance so far for Aberystwyth Town. But also our first win - despite the students being favoured to win... (I mean - honestly? Even the first team? Bath Uni I could understand as they've had good runs in the FA cup... Glasgow though?!)
As the team still has a long way to go before gelling (plus the number of triallists I was playing), I kept it tight for 30 boring minutes. Then I went attacking and got two good goals from open play before half-time. Toned things down to control possession in the second half and caught them on the break. And late on, as they tired, I caught them again and got the penalty. Nice way to get a first win
They did hit the crossbar (despite creating nothing) direct from a crossbar but it was one way traffic in this match.
The post match report summed it up well:
Next up was Bath (not the uni team either) at home. Oddly I was favourites for this, probably because of home advantage, but comparing the two teams it was pretty obvious that they were definitely a threat in a number of areas (my backroom advice was universally 'this team are better than you').
Bath also chose to play a 4-4-1-1 formation. Which is a bit of a problem for my 4-3-2-1 because the gap between my lone MC and my defensive line is quite big and gives any attacking AMC a lot of space. So to deal with that I turned to two ideas. First idea was to use the shout 'push up' all match. This reduces the amount of space between midfield and defence so the opposition AMC has much less room. The second was to neutralise the lone striker and allow my second DC to remain free to deal with the AMC if he ran with the ball. So I put their lone striker on Tight Mark, Easy Tackling (to stop him getting easy free kicks) and 'weaker foot' (so that if he does beat his marker, he's still got a lot to do to get in on goal). I also specifically man-marked him with my slower DC.
The first part of the match was a fairly dull affair, so I went from standard to control to put a bit of pressure on. Won a corner, and a lovely ball to the far post had my big, lumbering DC licking his lips. He hit the target. 1-0 up. Sorted. So I dialled things down a bit because no pace at the back means you're at risk of getting caught on the break.
Bath did manage to create one decent chance in the second half - a long ball forward which went over my defence, but their striker had to take a snapshot, so I'm not sure why it classed as a CCC. Although Bath dominated possession, it was mainly on the half-way line and so they were reduced to shooting from 30-40 yards. No real problem for my keeper at that range.
Post-match report didn't do justice to a very efficient performance:
The Welsh Trial matches have resulted in a few young strikers being spotted. So I'm hoping one or two of them might come on trial with me and I'll pick up a bargain or two. One of the names I recognise as being a former Premier League trainee...
Odds for the season have been announced, and the bookies agree with the board about us being a respectable mid-league side:
---------- Post added at 05:10 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 11:19 PM ----------
Last two friendlies and then a short break before the season starts...
So first up were Buckley away. Predicted to cane them, and I did. Just standard and then control when I was up worked a treat. The young striker who nicked a goal also signed for me, so here's hoping he'll prove to be of some use throughout the season. Not a lot to say really, although I am noticing that penalties are given fairly frequently in my favour at the end of matches - could just be a sign of last ditch tackling as my AMCs really tear defences up and have the defence all over the shop until someone gets played in for a goal-scoring chance.
Note the possession stats for when I told my team to sit back a bit more. Possession means not a lot if you do nothing with it.
Of course, the post-match report was glowing
The last friendly of the post-season was against Slough. Again, I was predicted to hammer them, but they were a tough nut to crack. And I wasn't able to do it. I was very conscious of not wanting to start the season on the back of a loss, so I did play it carefully - but having a penalty missed was really, really dispiriting as that would have forced them to come out and play at least a little bit. Just didn't break them down, and my cautious nature meant I didn't try as hard as I should have done in all honesty.
The post-match report was flattering - it said I had 'chances' plural. In honesty, bar the penalty, I created not a lot.
First match of the season is against The New Saints (aka TNS). Fierce rivals, away from home and who outgun us in almost every department!
