The team today...?

[true99blade]

I'm intrigued to know how the team and individual players played today. Was Dimaio as impressive as his display against Rotherham?

 

[Paulus]

First half we were poor, we improved after the break, Dimaio looked good, assured touch, confident in possession, hopefully he has the opportunity to develop further.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Dimaio has such excellent natural ability. He started off playing in the deeper midfield role, but as McGinn, Coady, Davies and Porter had poorish games we had to make changes. We swapped Dimaio and McGinn and inverted the midfield triangle for a while at the start of the second half with Diamio alongside Doyle and Coady pushed forward. We never looked great going forward and didn't create a lot. But Dimaio's quality shone through.

The way he controls the ball and pokes it on to a teammate, often with the outside of his boot, is great. Even when surrounded by markers he's cool and composed and can play passes which is exactly put where the receiver wants it. A lot of other players in our team, often need an extra second to gain full control of the ball and therefore has to delay the pass, and when there's no time for that delay you'll often see a backwards pass, a pass slightly behind a player or even a misplaced pass. People should take notice and enjoy the difference in ability.

He's also quite tenacious and good at closing down. When he gets even fitter I can see players finding him a nightmare to get rid of.

It seems to me that Dimaio is used to be the holding playmaker. He was given license to push forward a bit more after the first 25 minutes, but didn't really make many great off the ball runs into the box. He may not be used to do that role and will require quite a bit of work to add that to his game. While he matches Scougall's skill, he doesn't have the same pace and didn't show the same type of forward runs on the ball. Again, it may be something that he's not been asked to do when playing as a deep playmaker. Another thing to work on is his strength. He does have the physique of a teenager and needs to bulk up.

It's going to be very exciting to see if Dimaio can make a claim for a regular starting role already next season. With him and Scougall we'd have the most skilful central midfield in the division, but also one of the most light weight. A bigger, tougher type of central midfielder is probably required to be in there with them. Dimaio and the other youngsters coming through are all quite small. It is going to be a challenge getting the balance right and we must make sure we look for bigger and more physical additions to complement our bright young stars. Tranmere looked dangerous from set pieces and we relied on luck a few times.

All in all, Dimaio was our man of the match for me and I look forward to seeing him play again.

 

[JohnDenver]

A lot of other players in our team, often need an extra second to gain full control of the ball and therefore has to delay the pass

And one or two need the ball boys to retrieve their first touch.