Lessons from the pre-season friendlies

[ChipButtyBlade]

Our current strongest 11.

--------------Cooper
Seriki-Anel-Bindon-Burrows
----O'Hare--Peck--Hamer
Brooks----Campbell----Barry

Positives:

• Plenty of fitness into as many players as possible, plus all the expected expectation with players/positions expected from a new manager.
• Performances by Oné and Ukaki (especially Oné), not good enough to be first team players, but good enough to serve as backup to Brooks and Barry, the odd start with mostly 20-30 minute sub appearances.
• Brooks, O'Hare, Cannon and Seriki look like they've been given a new lease of life under Selles, his style of play seems to suit them a lot more.
• Soumare incoming, Barry and Bindon both making instant impacts, recent links to both a RB (Callum Brittain) and a CB (Holding) showing that RS is keen to address the weaker parts of our squad (RB, CB and CDM)
• Players who look good in multiple positions, someone like Peck who could play as both a CDM (where he has been used this preseason) and as a CM, same with Arblaster when he returns (as both played CM for us last season).

Negatives (sort of):

• We still look a few players (both starting and depth wise) 2 weeks before BCFC, but there was always a chance that might happen anyway.
• Would like a RB, CB and CDM, all of which I think we'll get, probably a Winger who is comfortable on either side as well.
• Yes it's only been tested against lesser opposition, but as long as it gets the players up to speed with the tactics/formation, it doesn't matter too much as our squad is good enough to play like that and beat championship teams with those tactics.

^^^^

 

[coolasanidiot]

Main lesson - don't wet your bed too early

Sorry It’s wettish already. Watched all the freindlies and we have about 7 players who are good and we all know who they are and then about 15 who all look dog shite.

Defence - looks feeble.
Midfield - screaming out for a ‘Vini’
Attack - Campbell that’s it

Without doubt this squad needs 4-5 real quality incomings or the bed don’t dry.

 

[jt64]

Sorry It’s wettish already. Watched all the freindlies and we have about 7 players who are good and we all know who they are and then about 15 who all look dog shite.

Defence - looks feeble.
Midfield - screaming out for a ‘Vini’
Attack - Campbell that’s it

Without doubt this squad needs 4-5 real quality incomings or the bed don’t dry.

Well enjoy your dampness

 

[coolasanidiot]

Well enjoy your dampness

Can’t I’m afraid it’s horrible. Only way this is going to be enjoyable is if new owners properly flash some cash and realise Gus and Anel etc must be kept.

 

[EddieColquhoun]

Attack - Campbell that’s it

You've written off Barry, Brooks, One and Cannon?

 

[BladeByChoice]

Big con is we've hardly signed anyone and there's only 2 weeks to go!

On a more positive note: their are six week to go, as it stands we have enough to be competitive with Bristol and Swansea, Birmingham will be an extra PSF against stronger opposition , we will have bodies in for Millwall /Middlesbrough.

 

[Uganda Blade]

Let's not forget that Bristol City, Swansea and Boro all have new managers all trying to embed their own styles (like us) and almost certainly still trying to get new signings completed (like us).
And Birmingham's manager has no experience managing in the Championship.
So it's not as if we're unique in our situation and starting from behind others.

 

[Frank the tank]

The line ups have changed a lot, but Seriki has partnered Brooks on the right every minute they've played this pre season. A coincidence, or a sign Selles really rates them as a duo? I think they complement eachother well and could be a real strength for us this season.

They never started a game together last season.

On the rare occasion they were on the pitch together they did work really well both defending and attacking and it kind of showed what we were lacking in other areas
No real partnerships or understandings, hope we see more of that this season

 

[ATL Recs]

^^^^

And that midfield will get cut open on a regular basis Hamer needs to play in front of a two if Hamer goes then it’s Ohare in front of the two
The two needs to be Peck or when fit Arblaster and a mobile DM
Can’t see how we can a accommodate ohare and Hammer together unless we don’t use two wingers

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

And that midfield will get cut open on a regular basis Hamer needs to play in front of a two if Hamer goes then it’s Ohare in front of the two
The two needs to be Peck or when fit Arblaster and a mobile DM
Can’t see how we can a accommodate ohare and Hammer together unless we don’t use two wingers

The whole darn thing #31 have a look its highlighted.

 

[SwissBlade]

I'd also say that our back up players are either not good enough, injured/unfit, or both

GK - Davies, Grbic - Both not good enough, Dabies seems injured a lot - I hope Faxon goes out for 6 months. See what he's made of.
LB - RND - Not good enough and always injured/unfit, McCallum - Not a LB, more of a LWB. A liability but presumably on good wages
RB - No senior cover - The young lads are nowhere near
CB - Robbo, if Anel stays. RND is not good enough and always injured/unfit. Dovy is too young. Baptiste is injured and untried.
CM - Shackleton - Dogging, Davies - never fit, Arblaster - we'll have to see how he comes back, young lads are nowhere near
CF - One needs regular football, Moore doesn't fit the system and is likely off. Jefferson and Ukaki need to play regularly at a lower level.

We're likely to be able to put out a first XI who can compete with anyone but struggle for depth

I think what you’ve said there is fair.

As I’ve said elsewhere, we lack depth and whilst bringing youngsters in might pay off later on, possibly this season, the start of the season is where we need to be hitting the ground running.

We’ve lost some good experienced players at this and higher level and brought in young players with very little or no experience at this level.

What we had last year was a squad to start and finish games and we used that depth of the squad. Although even having the squad and using the loan system to it’s limit, with 5 subs, more additional time and games coming thick and fast at times, we were still thin on the ground.

Two weeks to go and knowing Selles likes intensity we need to get more experience and depth into this squad

We’re not clear on the intent of the owners, you’d hope that they have a plan of how they can help support Selles to achieve automatic promotion, but we don’t hear from them, so it’s hard to make judgements on anything else but their actions. Still time to get business done but with the scheduled friendlies finished we will be getting players match fit in league and cup games, which isn’t ideal

 

[Bergen Blade]

And that midfield will get cut open on a regular basis Hamer needs to play in front of a two if Hamer goes then it’s Ohare in front of the two
The two needs to be Peck or when fit Arblaster and a mobile DM
Can’t see how we can a accommodate ohare and Hammer together unless we don’t use two wingers

The formation so far has been 4-3-3. It's not been rigid, but we've had one central midfielder, a 6, a bit deeper, then two 8s, ie RCM and LCM.

 

[robbiez666]

I think what you’ve said there is fair.

As I’ve said elsewhere, we lack depth and whilst bringing youngsters in might pay off later on, possibly this season, the start of the season is where we need to be hitting the ground running.

We’ve lost some good experienced players at this and higher level and brought in young players with very little or no experience at this level.

What we had last year was a squad to start and finish games and we used that depth of the squad. Although even having the squad and using the loan system to it’s limit, with 5 subs, more additional time and games coming thick and fast at times, we were still thin on the ground.

Two weeks to go and knowing Selles likes intensity we need to get more experience and depth into this squad

We’re not clear on the intent of the owners, you’d hope that they have a plan of how they can help support Selles to achieve automatic promotion, but we don’t hear from them, so it’s hard to make judgements on anything else but their actions. Still time to get business done but with the scheduled friendlies finished we will be getting players match fit in league and cup games, which isn’t ideal

For me, we need to sign a couple of permanent experienced players. A CB and a CM. I'd say Bindon and Barry have some experience. Not really at this level though. I've said elsewhere, someone like Worrall at the back would be ideal. We could use a permanent experienced CM as well.

 

[SwissBlade]

For me, we need to sign a couple of permanent experienced players. A CB and a CM. I'd say Bindon and Barry have some experience. Not really at this level though. I've said elsewhere, someone like Worrall at the back would be ideal. We could use a permanent experienced CM as well.

They don’t have experience at this level, which is kind of the point. It’s a very hard league and very hard at the top end, where our owners expect us to be

 

[Davalon]

Another thread just basically saying we need more players. Stating the obvious.

We will have by the end of the window.

 

[GrayBlade]

Main lesson - don't wet your bed too early

Somebody posted last week that at the same stage last season we’d only signed two players, yet by the end of the window most thought it had been a good one. That despite the fact that last season, we needed more of a rebuild rather than a tweak up.

 

[jt64]

Somebody posted last week that at the same stage last season we’d only signed two players, yet by the end of the window most thought it had been a good one. That despite the fact that last season, we needed more of a rebuild rather than a tweak up.

I was referring more to the people throwing their toys out of the pram at Cooper not playing at Burton rather than the general build of the squad, but whatever

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

One of the lessons should be that Robinson isn’t good enough and we need at least one more CB. If we don’t address this, it will come back to haunt us.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

The only thing I really took out of pre-season is that matches will be more entertaining to watch, regardless of result. Cannon isn't as bad as many thought, but that relies on him not playing up top alone, which he won't in this formation, and that we still one more centre back and right back at minimum.

Other than that I'm not reading too much into it as the teams used were nowhere near what will be our starting eleven, and we played lower league opponents.

We also look a lot fitter, quicker and sharper than under our last two managers.

 

[Silky Sabella]

Have got a massive gut feeling that Cannon is going to be a huge part of Selles plans which I would be delighted about, and I believe he will get the nod ahead of Campbell.
Under Slav, there was a connection between Ndiaye and mgw and I honestly believe from what I have watched so far, there could be a similar connection between Barry and Cannon

 

[robbiez666]

It was good to see Cannon talking to the midfielders about when he wants them to release the ball.

 

[coolasanidiot]

Have got a massive gut feeling that Cannon is going to be a huge part of Selles plans which I would be delighted about, and I believe he will get the nod ahead of Campbell.
Under Slav, there was a connection between Ndiaye and mgw and I honestly believe from what I have watched so far, there could be a similar connection between Barry and Cannon

Hope you are right but that is one helluva leap

Ndiaye and MGW= Combined value 100 million plus

Barry and Cannon= Combined value of 10 million if we are lucky

The lesson from these friendlies is as everyone is sighting we are thread bare in defence, need a class RB/CB and DM get that and we will contend for play offs, top2 = no chance.

 

[MiserableBlader]

Watched them all on SUTV (which was good value for £6 and I thought Danny Hall was decent on co-commentary)

Pros:

Lots of players got competitive minutes into their legs
The new system is better to watch
The high press works well against weaker teams
The new system creates more chances
It suits quite a few of our players - Brooks, Seriki, Barry, Bindon, Cannon, Peck
There's a lot more energy

Cons:

Aside from the first 45 minutes of Burton, it wasn't much of a challenge - Ideally I'd want us to fit in another game against a much better team
We have too much dead wood (on good wages) or players not yet ready (including several injuries)
We will concede more this season
We are short in several key positions - especially midfield
I'm not sure how Hamer, and to a lesser extent O'Hare, fit into this system. Moore as well. Not convinced it particularly suits Burrows either.
The defence wasn't tested enough, and when it was it wasn't great

Interesting pre-season. Hopefully we'll bring a few more bodies in before the end of the transfer window.

I genuinely don't know how we'll fare playing like this in the Championship

Potential starting XI

---------------------------Cooper
---Seriki---------Bindon---------Anel/Robbo--------Burrows
---------New-------------Peck-----------------Hamer/O'Hare
--------Brooks--------Cannon/Campbell---Barry

Best team we have at the moment
3-5-2

Cooper
Bindon Anel Robinson/RND
Seriki Hamer Peck Brooks Burrows
Barry Campbell

Keifer Moore coming on for Campbell if he can still only last 60 minutes

Selles is another imbecile with fixed (therefore predictable) demented formations and 'tactics'.
Apparently a yes man interested in working on developing players to get an income stream for his paymasters through sales and doing just enough to keep his job - as at Reading.
Things are so bad as I know I cannot get the job although I would do it best - that it seems WARNOCK would be the best manager we could have (on the cheap per our cheapskate asset stripping owners) who at least has a grasp of the fundamentals of football!
FFS how has football got to this state!
Even Asaba has finally said (at Rotherham) what I have for two years.
Hamer is a No 10.
Listen to Warnock on Tarat(?) and 'do not pass to him in his own half' and WHY!
Like Hamer at Burton and the 4th minute at chesterfield.

'Football is a SIMPLE game complicated by people who should know better'
WORK FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
THINK FOR YOURSELVES

 

[Nick Jansky]

Best team we have at the moment
3-5-2

Cooper
Bindon Anel Robinson/RND
Seriki Hamer Peck Brooks Burrows
Barry Campbell

Keifer Moore coming on for Campbell if he can still only last 60 minutes

Selles is another imbecile with fixed (therefore predictable) demented formations and 'tactics'.
Apparently a yes man interested in working on developing players to get an income stream for his paymasters through sales and doing just enough to keep his job - as at Reading.
Things are so bad as I know I cannot get the job although I would do it best - that it seems WARNOCK would be the best manager we could have (on the cheap per our cheapskate asset stripping owners) who at least has a grasp of the fundamentals of football!
FFS how has football got to this state!
Even Asaba has finally said (at Rotherham) what I have for two years.
Hamer is a No 10.
Listen to Warnock on Tarat(?) and 'do not pass to him in his own half' and WHY!
Like Hamer at Burton and the 4th minute at chesterfield.

'Football is a SIMPLE game complicated by people who should know better'
WORK FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
THINK FOR YOURSELVES

LSD or mushrooms?

 

[Servigliano]

Takes from the Chesterfield match ( in decreasing degrees of certainty)

1. I will still be going no matter what. My wife says I'm stupid - but so what.
2. Seles will outbark all other managers. He outbarked Cooky - and that takes some doing, but unfortunately did need his No. 2 to bark out the orders from time to give his vocal chords a much needed rest.
3. Seles is the most tattooed manager in the EFL - if not all leagues.
4. United will play a lot further up the pitch. Looks good - as long as we get more possession than the opposition who, never forget, have a vote in how we can play.
5. Were way more than 3,00 United fans there.
6. Hamer and or Cooper Ahmed will definitely stay. Or not.
5. Pass and move looks excellent.
6. Will it work though.

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

One lesson would be start organising it all a couple of months earlier from 2026 onwards. That way we might be able to watch United abroad in places like Nice or Salzburg or Pisa (2024). You know rather than find out 2 days before that we’re playing Nice but get told it’s behind closed doors when in actual fact 500 tickets are available to Nice fans.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

Best team we have at the moment
3-5-2

Cooper
Bindon Anel Robinson/RND
Seriki Hamer Peck Brooks Burrows
Barry Campbell

Keifer Moore coming on for Campbell if he can still only last 60 minutes

Selles is another imbecile with fixed (therefore predictable) demented formations and 'tactics'.
Apparently a yes man interested in working on developing players to get an income stream for his paymasters through sales and doing just enough to keep his job - as at Reading.
Things are so bad as I know I cannot get the job although I would do it best - that it seems WARNOCK would be the best manager we could have (on the cheap per our cheapskate asset stripping owners) who at least has a grasp of the fundamentals of football!
FFS how has football got to this state!
Even Asaba has finally said (at Rotherham) what I have for two years.
Hamer is a No 10.
Listen to Warnock on Tarat(?) and 'do not pass to him in his own half' and WHY!
Like Hamer at Burton and the 4th minute at chesterfield.

'Football is a SIMPLE game complicated by people who should know better'
WORK FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
THINK FOR YOURSELVES

Why would Selles change to a 352 now when he's used 433 all of pre-season.

Brooks in central midfield? Barry as a striker? Surely this is a wind up post?

 

[Champagneblade]

Watched them all on SUTV (which was good value for £6 and I thought Danny Hall was decent on co-commentary)

Pros:

Lots of players got competitive minutes into their legs
The new system is better to watch
The high press works well against weaker teams
The new system creates more chances
It suits quite a few of our players - Brooks, Seriki, Barry, Bindon, Cannon, Peck
There's a lot more energy

Cons:

Aside from the first 45 minutes of Burton, it wasn't much of a challenge - Ideally I'd want us to fit in another game against a much better team
We have too much dead wood (on good wages) or players not yet ready (including several injuries)
We will concede more this season
We are short in several key positions - especially midfield
I'm not sure how Hamer, and to a lesser extent O'Hare, fit into this system. Moore as well. Not convinced it particularly suits Burrows either.
The defence wasn't tested enough, and when it was it wasn't great

Interesting pre-season. Hopefully we'll bring a few more bodies in before the end of the transfer window.

I genuinely don't know how we'll fare playing like this in the Championship

Potential starting XI

---------------------------Cooper
---Seriki---------Bindon---------Anel/Robbo--------Burrows
---------New-------------Peck-----------------Hamer/O'Hare
--------Brooks--------Cannon/Campbell---Barry

Who are the dead wood? That always suggests to me players who have been here too long and need moving on.

May be a few younger ones who need to go on loan but I wouldn’t class them as dead wood. Who do you see as dead wood, just curious.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

Who are the dead wood? That always suggests to me players who have been here too long and need moving on.

May be a few younger ones who need to go on loan but I wouldn’t class them as dead wood. Who do you see as dead wood, just curious.

RND is the only player I'd consider dead wood but he's not going anywhere, except maybe on loan, thanks to Wilder. Arguably Shackleton too.

I would also say Jack Robinson but like it or lump it he will be in the squad as back up this season.