Pre-season friendly against Barcelona

[officer_dibble]

So based on that w4e
positives
petrovs crossing
centre halves incl knightmare
sordell

negatives
lightweight in midfield
conceeding possession

[BWFC_Insane]

I paid on the gate W4E??

Anyway as for comments about the game....

First half Knight stood out alongside Mears as looking very sharp and very 'up for it'. Other than that we had one move where Eagles hit the post and Mark Davies had a couple of decent moments. Rest of the time we watched them pass it.

Second half started similarly and LCY looked so far off the pace you wondered what they'd done to him over the summer. But gradually he started getting into the game and we started to look better.

Disagree with W4E slightly, in that Afobe and Sordell together looked like it could develop. Both pacy, and Afobe really really stood out. Holds it up well and looks a good target man with a bit of pace to me at least. Sordell bit different, more a poacher, but looked sharp.

Kevin Davies was dire.

Petrov looked lively and put some great deliveries in.

Alonso did ok going forwards but once again as bad a defender as I've ever seen.

Mills did ok, Ream also.

Pratley impressed me a bit in that he actually bothered to tackle unlike anyone else.

Andrews looked solid without being able to pass very well.

Overall like W4E better than I expected, but still a bit to do.

[Leyther_Matt]

A lot more competitive than I thought it would be and BarcaB were certainly more direct than their first team tend to be.

Don't think there were any poor performances on the whole. Thought Mears had a good game, as did Mills and, as said above, Petrov put in some superb crosses at times. I was impressed with Afobe on Tuesday and thought he did well again tonight, although I'm currently favouring seeing him in a bit of a supersub role against tiring legs with 20-30 minutes left of a game; dare I say it, in the manner of when Ricketts (fat one, not Sam) first signed.

[Worthy4England]

I paid on the gate W4E??

Anyway as for comments about the game....

First half Knight stood out alongside Mears as looking very sharp and very 'up for it'. Other than that we had one move where Eagles hit the post and Mark Davies had a couple of decent moments. Rest of the time we watched them pass it.

Second half started similarly and LCY looked so far off the pace you wondered what they'd done to him over the summer. But gradually he started getting into the game and we started to look better.

Disagree with W4E slightly, in that Afobe and Sordell together looked like it could develop. Both pacy, and Afobe really really stood out. Holds it up well and looks a good target man with a bit of pace to me at least. Sordell bit different, more a poacher, but looked sharp.

Kevin Davies was dire.

Petrov looked lively and put some great deliveries in.

Alonso did ok going forwards but once again as bad a defender as I've ever seen.

Mills did ok, Ream also.

Pratley impressed me a bit in that he actually bothered to tackle unlike anyone else.

Andrews looked solid without being able to pass very well.

Overall like W4E better than I expected, but still a bit to do.

Dunno - I got there about 5 past 8, there were some blokes trying to pay their way in and weren't being let in. So dunno what was going on.

I don't think Sordell and Afobe were bad and both showed some nice touches - the fact that they've probably had less than a week together showed, so they weren't great as a partnership, which is hardly surprising. Not convinced with either as target men (in the "it's in the air" sense), think they both need it on the deck.

Andrews - couldn't make my mind up about - billed as someone who wins and distributes, didn't see enough of either for me. We still look short in the middle of the park for breaking up play and recycling and I think you probably need two players that can do that.

Davo was fairly dire, but did some decent chasing back work - there was one occasion he nodded down in the first half right into a wonderful gap down the middle - no bugger within about 10 yards. If we're not going to play for that, then he becomes even less effective.

[Worthy4England]

So based on that w4e
positives
petrovs crossing
centre halves incl knightmare
sordell

negatives
lightweight in midfield
conceeding possession

Pretty much. Knightmare and Mills worked well together - there were a couple of occasions first half when one or other dropped to cover the ball challenger (which is something we didn't see enough off last year)

I'm not so sure conceding possession is the biggest of the problems, it's our ability to win it back when we do. (obviously if you don't concede it, then you never have to win it back)

[officer_dibble]

Quite. How long did vela get? I'm pinning a fair bit of hope on him in the tackling department.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Quite. How long did vela get? I'm pinning a fair bit of hope on him in the tackling department.

Vela got 15 mins, Pratley near-30. Timings, quotes etc: http://twitter.com/OfficialBWFC

[BWFC_Insane]

Oh and Mears got man of the match over the tannoy, and it was well deserved too. Looked the part.

Vela looked sharp, but didn't do much really. Pratley showed a bit more than Vela....

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Pratley showed a bit more than Vela....

Glad you liked him, cos he's next in line when we sell Mavies

[boltonboris]

From what I've seen of Vela, he's a sensible ball playe and keeps it ticking over. One thing I've noticed is that he doesn't seem the most athletic. Fairly slow in fact. Don't think he's an "action man" (pressing, tackling) or a ball carrier.

[Worthy4England]

Quite. How long did vela get? I'm pinning a fair bit of hope on him in the tackling department.

He got about 10-15 mins - by which time, there'd been so many subs, the game had got rather disjointed.

From the official site

The start of the second half saw four changes to the Wanderers team as Tim Ream, Chung-Yong Lee, Benik Afobe and Marcos Alonso were given one final chance to stake their claim for a place a Turf Moor

Wonder if that's guess or knowledge?

[BWFC_Insane]

Pratley showed a bit more than Vela....

Glad you liked him, cos he's next in line when we sell Mavies

IF DSB if!

[officer_dibble]

From what I've seen of Vela, he's a sensible ball playe and keeps it ticking over. One thing I've noticed is that he doesn't seem the most athletic. Fairly slow in fact. Don't think he's an "action man" (pressing, tackling) or a ball carrier.

Going off that then he soynds like another who should be in a 5 man midfield. Having said that I've hardly seen him. Will know more in a few months I guess.

[boltonboris]

Agree. Big black guy, Vela and Davies would be a decent balance.

[plymouth wanderer]

Agree. Big black guy, Vela and Davies would be a decent balance.

Not sure zat knight would be any good in midfield

He's a shite in defense!!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Pratley showed a bit more than Vela....

Glad you liked him, cos he's next in line when we sell Mavies

IF DSB if!

there's folks round here already got the keys in the ignition

[wanderers_on_tour]

Such a shame we haven got to see a Ngog/Sordell partnership up front so far and would be a bit of a gamble to try it out at Burnley away. Seems they could complement each other nicely if Sordell & Afobe are tad too similar in style and physique.

[BWFC_Insane]

Such a shame we haven got to see a Ngog/Sordell partnership up front so far and would be a bit of a gamble to try it out at Burnley away. Seems they could complement each other nicely if Sordell & Afobe are tad too similar in style and physique.

Afobe is a big un and Sordell is the fox in the box. Could be a great partnership if it develops!

[William the White]

Agree pretty much with BWFC-i's assessment.

Came back from Morecambe thinking we were more likely to drop another division than go up one.

Tonight a much more positive experience. There's some pace and youth in the team, potentially. And that's nice.

Kevin Davies looks utterly shot - so sad to see him like this.

[SmokinFrazier]

Looking at the options we have up front, I don't mind us possibly playing 4-4-2 next season. Afobe, Sordell and N'Gog are all pretty good players but I don't think any of them are reliable enough to score goals on a week in, week out basis, so playing some variation of those three isn't a bad idea. However, we need more structure in the centre of midfield for that to happen which, hopefully, Holden will provide.

I'd start with either:

---------Sordell - N'Gog-----------
Petrov - Holden - Andrews - Chungy

or:

--------------Sordell---------------
--------------Davies---------------
Petrov - Andrews - Holden - Chungy



Unlike many on here, I'm not completely against 4-4-2 though.