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Argyle v Chelsea U21 (all merged).
- Thread starter falmouthgreen
- Start date
My summary,
Ok we lost but not a bad performance against some young technical Chelsea players.
Some good individual performances; notably Wootton, Aimson, Byron Moore and Josh Grant who looked outstanding as a holding midfielder. Cooper also pulled off a number of excellent saves.
Chelsea had tidy possession and had done dangerous moments but so did we .. getting in behind them quite a few times. We should have had a pen when Riley was poised to score only to be clattered into, but not given.
I’m not disappointed as this served as a useful game to help with picking a team for Saturday;
I’d start with Palmer in goal, a back 3 of Aimson RCB, Wootton and Sawyer LCB. Wing backs Edwards and MacFadzean, Josh Grant holding midfield. Sarcevic RM and Mayor LM. Up front.. Joel Grant and Byron Moore.
Ok we lost but not a bad performance against some young technical Chelsea players.
Some good individual performances; notably Wootton, Aimson, Byron Moore and Josh Grant who looked outstanding as a holding midfielder. Cooper also pulled off a number of excellent saves.
Chelsea had tidy possession and had done dangerous moments but so did we .. getting in behind them quite a few times. We should have had a pen when Riley was poised to score only to be clattered into, but not given.
I’m not disappointed as this served as a useful game to help with picking a team for Saturday;
I’d start with Palmer in goal, a back 3 of Aimson RCB, Wootton and Sawyer LCB. Wing backs Edwards and MacFadzean, Josh Grant holding midfield. Sarcevic RM and Mayor LM. Up front.. Joel Grant and Byron Moore.
JannerinCardiff":2c7l39yg said:
Thought Aimson went off injured? Would suspect he is unlikely to be fit on Saturday if that was the case.
I disagree. I thought it was far from decent. We couldn't beat the first man from corners, we gave the ball away far too much - in fact in the second half we couldn't string two passes together. Cooper could certainly pull off a save but his distribution was poor. We were out of ideas, zero quality or clear chances.
Chelsea the better side, still a lot of errors in their game but they're young and learning. They had several clear cut chances and deserved to win.
I got no encouragement for Saturday by watching that rubbish.
Chelsea the better side, still a lot of errors in their game but they're young and learning. They had several clear cut chances and deserved to win.
I got no encouragement for Saturday by watching that rubbish.
We carved the better chances whilst Chelsea had the better moves/passages. I also thought a draw at FT would have been fair. Both goalkeepers kept out a number of shots, and both sets of defenders made a number of important blocks, to ultimately keep the scoreline down.
Aimson was the best player in an Argyle shirt and we immediately looked more stretched without him, defensively strong, and his distribution was outstanding for a CB. Cooper made some good saves, but his distribution was lacking.
Nobody who started the game was poor, but apart from Aimson I’m not sure anyone stood out either.
I was impressed by Josh Grant when he came on after his poor display on Saturday, he played in central midfield, he broke up play and spread the ball well, perhaps a better position for him considering he’s much better on the ball than he is in the air/in a defensive line.
An ok workout, we have bigger tasks to come.
Aimson was the best player in an Argyle shirt and we immediately looked more stretched without him, defensively strong, and his distribution was outstanding for a CB. Cooper made some good saves, but his distribution was lacking.
Nobody who started the game was poor, but apart from Aimson I’m not sure anyone stood out either.
I was impressed by Josh Grant when he came on after his poor display on Saturday, he played in central midfield, he broke up play and spread the ball well, perhaps a better position for him considering he’s much better on the ball than he is in the air/in a defensive line.
An ok workout, we have bigger tasks to come.
Yet again we put so much pressure on ourselves by trying to play out from the back. Mike Cooper's distribution was poor, and I lost count of the number of times we lost possession in our own half, with both Randell and McFadzean playing catastrophic balls across the pitch 30 yards from goal, and straight to an opposing player. Thankfully, Chelsea U21 lacked clinicism in the final third. If we give Grimsby chances like that they will take more of them.
With the exception of Byron Moore I thought we really lacked guile and penetration in the final third.
On the plus side both Aimson and Wootton were excellent at the back, especially when having to deal with our best attempts at self-destruction!
Really need Jose Baxter fit.
M.Cooper 5
Aimson 7
Wootton 7
Sawyer 6
Randell 6
Riley 6
Sarcevic 6
G.Cooper 5
McFadzean 5
Clarke 6
B.Moore 7
Josh Grant 7
Joel Grant 6
Canavan N/A
With the exception of Byron Moore I thought we really lacked guile and penetration in the final third.
On the plus side both Aimson and Wootton were excellent at the back, especially when having to deal with our best attempts at self-destruction!
Really need Jose Baxter fit.
M.Cooper 5
Aimson 7
Wootton 7
Sawyer 6
Randell 6
Riley 6
Sarcevic 6
G.Cooper 5
McFadzean 5
Clarke 6
B.Moore 7
Josh Grant 7
Joel Grant 6
Canavan N/A
The record will show another loss. Another game where we failed to keep a clean sheet. Another blank in terms of goal scored. You can dress it up positively but this is another bad result.
Glad we lost. Fingers crossed for the right result in the Rovers-Swindon game to knock us out completely.
And in response to the inevitable comments that will come my way, I shall present the perfect case study into why we shouldn't care about this competition - Sunderland and Portsmouth last season. Both clearly did give a damn about it last season, reaching the final (the EFL's dream no doubt given the attendance). Then towards the end of the season, both were right in automatic promotion contention, before running out of steam and ending up in the playoffs - where they both lost. If only their players had been a bit fresher / played fewer games earlier in the season...
And in response to the inevitable comments that will come my way, I shall present the perfect case study into why we shouldn't care about this competition - Sunderland and Portsmouth last season. Both clearly did give a damn about it last season, reaching the final (the EFL's dream no doubt given the attendance). Then towards the end of the season, both were right in automatic promotion contention, before running out of steam and ending up in the playoffs - where they both lost. If only their players had been a bit fresher / played fewer games earlier in the season...
Another interesting point is the power of marketing - remember in 2017 when we played Chelsea's kids and the club blatantly tried to advertise it as "We're playing the actual Chelsea!". The crowd that night was almost 4,000.
Last night, thankfully, the club didn't do any of that, and the crowd wasn't even half that. The power of advertising, or maybe just the wheels are falling off with this competition already...
Last night, thankfully, the club didn't do any of that, and the crowd wasn't even half that. The power of advertising, or maybe just the wheels are falling off with this competition already...
Best thing that can happen to us is getting knocked out this pony competition asap.
Roll on Saturday.
Roll on Saturday.
