Match Thread v York

Speaking of Fleetwood, when do tickets go on sale?

Bag of shíte that. Mcjannet moved out of position presumably to accommodate the triallist (Fieldson?) on his stronger left foot? Didn’t work, meant there was no fluidity in the play and it was hard moving out of the defensive third. Triallist was slow in & out of possession.

Physically weak in the centre of the park especially in the first half - Khouri needs to get on the weights or learn to shield the ball rather than just hoping to roll away on the outside every time. JDS looked sharp but just got kicked all first half. Ladapo anonymous all game but had zero to work with. Thompson the only willing recipient of the ball in front of the back 4, hope it’s just a precaution.

Up front we’re going to waste what little quality we have if we persist with this front 3 formation. Wilson came on & held the ball well but didn’t have much support around him. Gardner had a decent 5-10mins but just got pushed further & further back. Will Artell play Wilson alongside Rose in a 2 or is one going to be forced out wide? Play to your strengths.

3 weeks to go, hope that’s the last of the cobwebs blown off.

Yeah look, no drama, and the result doesn’t matter a jot, but as a calm summing up of a pre-season friendly observed today; we were absolutely dreadful in every single aspect of the game. Even the basics.

On that performance we are down.
Zero pace at the back no attacking intent, no shots on target, new signings are worse than the ones we let go.
Let’s hope there are two teams worse than us or we are down.
It’s going to be a long season.

I went. It was terrible.

It’s preseason. You expect players to be rusty. You expect them to be physically and mentally below where they will need to be.

But what I saw today goes far beyond that. So many of the negative traits of that appalling spell before we ditched “good football” for “pragmatic football” were on display again.

None of the front 5 offering themselves when the back 4 and defensive midfielder were attempting to build from the back.

I get it’s preseason and there’s 21 days until it matters, but York have the same time until their league season starts and they looked like they had a system they all understood in terms of the team and their own role within it.

As such I’m officially announcing that I am mildly concerned.

Didn’t go today well done to those who did, friendlies sometimes tell a manager something, if today told Artell there's a lot to do still which I suspect is the case with most clubs I’d rather he found out now than in 3 weeks time.

That sounds worrying. Is it a similar problem to last season which was a lack of central midfielders willing/able to come and get it? I still think we’re desperately short of real tried and tested quality in the midfield.

Do you know what I saw today, the same football, style and tactics that kept getting us hammered, and that worries me more than anything.
This is now mainly Artells squad, players he's brought in, and we look toothless, again.
Do I think we could be in a spot of hot water by end of October, I'm not 100% convinced we won't be.

Remember when we beat Sheffield Wednesday in pre season and then went on to finish at the dizzying heights of 11th in the Conference the next season.

It doesn’t. flipping. Matter.