Match Thread v York

Quoted from GollyGTFC

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.

Listen to DA - he also thought it was terrible. Obviously, he didn’t say that, but tone of voice and what he did say, he thought that…

Quoted from sam gy

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.

The result is irrelevant, you’re right, but if the manager wasn’t satisfied, I’d suggest that even he is concerned. We have a seriously tricky start and seem a million miles away with only a few weeks to get it right.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

The result is irrelevant, you’re right, but if the manager wasn’t satisfied, I’d suggest that even he is concerned. We have a seriously tricky start and seem a million miles away with only a few weeks to get it right.

Can’t say that. Its only pre season so it doesnt matter….

3 weeks before the start of the season starting friendlies with 3 trialists, injuries stacking up, Our best CB and Best CF yet to play a minute


Nah lets not be slightly concerned

We can debate the significance of a poor pre-season performance and result ‘til the cows come home, but potentially meaningful injuries to Thompson and Svanthorsson is far from ideal. Squad looking a bit fragile as things stand.

The team is a mess we knew Rose was having surgery and could miss the start of the season then sign no replacement and 5 defenders all of whom look shocking.
The lad from Reading looks like he has never played football.
We look a poor side York dominated us from minute 1 should of scored 5 that’s a bottom end conference team.

Quoted from Yoda

The team is a mess we knew Rose was having surgery and could miss the start of the season then sign no replacement and 5 defenders all of whom look shocking.
The lad from Reading looks like he has never played football.
We look a poor side York dominated us from minute 1 should of scored 5 that’s a bottom end conference team.

Bit harsh on the right back who didnt even play today - warren I think?

I'm about 90% certain Svanthorsson came off at half time because they just kept booting him and the ref and lino were giving him absolutely nothing, even when he was being cynically dragged down after beating his man. Didn't see anything to suggest he was injured going into the break.

Quoted from Meza

I'm no expert on what successful pre-season preparation looks like, but it started just over 3 weeks ago, and there are 3 points at stake in exactly 3 weeks time, but we haven't done any defensive work or set plays yet. That seems a bit odd to me, but what do I know?

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I'm no expert on what successful pre-season preparation looks like, but it started just over 3 weeks ago, and there are 3 points at stake in exactly 3 weeks time, but we haven't done any defensive work or set plays yet. That seems a bit odd to me, but what do I know?

Yeah, that comment did raise an eyebrow from me. Given that we’re just about set in terms of personnel in the goalkeeping and defensive departments, and least complete in midfield and attack, you’d have thought working on what we do without the ball might have been a logical starting point.

January and Feb are not yet a distant memory; a kamikaze pressing strategy and a complete absence of defensive fundamentals wrought absolute carnage during those cold, dark months - both literally and figuratively. I find the best lessons you learn in life are from the mistakes you make that bring you the most pain - if Artell is to make this season a remote success then learning from what happened around the turn of the year is simply non-negotiable.

I like the notion that this can all be ascribed to a rigorously structured pre-season plan. 😉
Dont worry - we haven’t done any work on defending corners or passing to team mates with purpose or anything yet. That’s next week.  Look over here at the positives……

I’d take York’s evident plan over that. Weeks ahead of us, evidently. Visible strategy, players who seem to get it and can do basic things like control the ball and weight a pass or anticipate and move…..better do it our way. If you wanted to read anything into today’s result and expressed management opinion on it, you’d be forgiven for thinking we look exactly like the team of hapless, disorganised losers who concede goals from minute one and wander about looking like impotent, lost imposters - you know, like we did when Artell first came. The performance was utterly awful and the question/answers in the post match equally bog standard. If you were going to extrapolate or predict anything from that - and I’m not saying you should - you’d say that Grimsby Town team looked like nailed on relegation strugglers today on that showing, and I’d say that if we were also in the conference with York. That’s the point.
I understand choice words were exchanged post match. Pre-season needs a serious, transformative upgrade with three weeks to go. Heaps of injuries, half a dozen players short and a showing today that was utterly sh1t in every way.