Bristol City

Thoughts on today (yes I know it was only a pre season friendly)

-the evidence would strongly suggest that we are going to be lining up with a back three/five this season. We haven’t deviated from it once yet this pre season despite clearly lacking the numbers or personnel to play it currently. I see no other reason for doing this other than coaching the players to play in this shape. As others have alluded to, this is concerning considering the lack of both numbers and quality we currently have in the defensive area.

Positives:

-Rothwell looks like a very classy footballer, he glided effortlessly with the ball and his weight of pass/vision look to be PL standard too. I can see why we have been chasing him for so long.

-Hill was very good I thought, barely put a foot wrong. Very solid and won everything in the air against a renowned championship target man. Very mobile and good on the ball too. First impressions are that he has the potential to go very far.

-Lerma played well in the centre of a back three. Dealt with everything he had to well and stepped nicely into midfield while in possession.

Negatives:

-Adam Smith is not a wing back. Friendly or not, he just isn’t comfortable playing there. He just doesn’t pose the attacking threat needed to be effective in that position. If we are going to play wing backs then it has to be Fredericks or Stacey on that side, perhaps even Anthony. It just can’t be Smith because it just won’t work.

-Chris Mepham. Easily the worst performer today which says a lot given that our other defenders were midfielders and full backs being played out of position. He just isn’t good enough. He will cost us goals galore if he plays any great amount of minutes next season.

Final conclusions:

It is pretty obvious where we need to strengthen currently, perhaps the plan is to use Lerma in the centre of a back three who will step out into midfield while in possession. In all honesty I don’t think it’s the worst idea in the world, he certainly has the physical attributes to play there and he is a warrior who will throw his body in front of everything. If Francis can make the switch effectively I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that Lerma could too. We still need to strengthen though, because if we are relying on Mepham at any point this season then we are in trouble.
 
Let’s say we bring in the 2 CBs, does it look like this is a squad/formation that will keep us up? Did we look like scoring?
 
KingKieffer said:
Thoughts on today (yes I know it was only a pre season friendly)

-the evidence would strongly suggest that we are going to be lining up with a back three/five this season. We haven’t deviated from it once yet this pre season despite clearly lacking the numbers or personnel to play it currently. I see no other reason for doing this other than coaching the players to play in this shape. As others have alluded to, this is concerning considering the lack of both numbers and quality we currently have in the defensive area.

Positives:

-Rothwell looks like a very classy footballer, he glided effortlessly with the ball and his weight of pass/vision look to be PL standard too. I can see why we have been chasing him for so long.

-Hill was very good I thought, barely put a foot wrong. Very solid and won everything in the air against a renowned championship target man. Very mobile and good on the ball too. First impressions are that he has the potential to go very far.

-Lerma played well in the centre of a back three. Dealt with everything he had to well and stepped nicely into midfield while in possession.

Negatives:

-Adam Smith is not a wing back. Friendly or not, he just isn’t comfortable playing there. He just doesn’t pose the attacking threat needed to be effective in that position. If we are going to play wing backs then it has to be Fredericks or Stacey on that side, perhaps even Anthony. It just can’t be Smith because it just won’t work.

-Chris Mepham. Easily the worst performer today which says a lot given that our other defenders were midfielders and full backs being played out of position. He just isn’t good enough. He will cost us goals galore if he plays any great amount of minutes next season.

Final conclusions:

It is pretty obvious where we need to strengthen currently, perhaps the plan is to use Lerma in the centre of a back three who will step out into midfield while in possession. In all honesty I don’t think it’s the worst idea in the world, he certainly has the physical attributes to play there and he is a warrior who will throw his body in front of everything. If Francis can make the switch effectively I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that Lerma could too. We still need to strengthen though, because if we are relying on Mepham at any point this season then we are in trouble.
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Looked like a back four during the second half to me.

Agree completely on Hill and Rothwell. Rothwell's corners looked decent too.

Personally I think Lerma as a defender is a double negative. Not good enough and we also lose one of our best midfielders.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
Looked like a back four during the second half to me.

Agree completely on Hill and Rothwell. Rothwell's corners looked decent too.

Personally I think Lerma as a defender is a double negative. Not good enough and we also lose one of our best midfielders.
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It was definitely a back 5 throughout. Wing backs pushed high out of possession and dropped in when defending.

Actually thought Lerma looked good at the back but perhaps I’m in the minority on that one!
 
One other point to make about today is that the way we played was a lot less possession orientated and was more focussed on playing on the transition. There was a lot less playing the ball around at the back and we were looking to play through the lines at every opportunity. I actually quite like the way Parker seems to be approaching this season and think that there are some promising signs, we just need more bodies in certain areas. He is clearly trying to develop a new style of play that is based on us being the underdogs next season.
 
USCherry said:
Let’s say we bring in the 2 CBs, does it look like this is a squad/formation that will keep us up? Did we look like scoring?
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We had several scoring chances but their keeper did well and we hit woodwork. We were technically much the better team. But it is pre season and score didnt matter in my opinion
 
KingKieffer said:
Thoughts on today (yes I know it was only a pre season friendly)

-the evidence would strongly suggest that we are going to be lining up with a back three/five this season. We haven’t deviated from it once yet this pre season despite clearly lacking the numbers or personnel to play it currently. I see no other reason for doing this other than coaching the players to play in this shape. As others have alluded to, this is concerning considering the lack of both numbers and quality we currently have in the defensive area.

Positives:

-Rothwell looks like a very classy footballer, he glided effortlessly with the ball and his weight of pass/vision look to be PL standard too. I can see why we have been chasing him for so long.

-Hill was very good I thought, barely put a foot wrong. Very solid and won everything in the air against a renowned championship target man. Very mobile and good on the ball too. First impressions are that he has the potential to go very far.

-Lerma played well in the centre of a back three. Dealt with everything he had to well and stepped nicely into midfield while in possession.

Negatives:

-Adam Smith is not a wing back. Friendly or not, he just isn’t comfortable playing there. He just doesn’t pose the attacking threat needed to be effective in that position. If we are going to play wing backs then it has to be Fredericks or Stacey on that side, perhaps even Anthony. It just can’t be Smith because it just won’t work.

-Chris Mepham. Easily the worst performer today which says a lot given that our other defenders were midfielders and full backs being played out of position. He just isn’t good enough. He will cost us goals galore if he plays any great amount of minutes next season.

Final conclusions:

It is pretty obvious where we need to strengthen currently, perhaps the plan is to use Lerma in the centre of a back three who will step out into midfield while in possession. In all honesty I don’t think it’s the worst idea in the world, he certainly has the physical attributes to play there and he is a warrior who will throw his body in front of everything. If Francis can make the switch effectively I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that Lerma could too. We still need to strengthen though, because if we are relying on Mepham at any point this season then we are in trouble.
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Friend is a Saints fan who was jealous of us getting Rothwell, glad to know it's looking justified.

Good to hear Hill looks handy too, think he might need to be as he'll be playing Man City in a few weeks at this rate!
 
blandford_cherry said:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/s...d4dYCxuiQjvJz4WgkeV-oMOGVKv2mbC5mgY&fs=e&s=cl
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That's really not a good interview. Suggests he's very unhappy and not seeing the activity he expects in the market. To come out with an interview with such a negative tone just before the season starts is obviously trying to send a message. To say we need help "even to be competitive" isn't great. And what exactly are the difficult circumstances he alludes to? Unless a strict spending limit imposed by the Board?
 
I thought we looked very good. The movement on and off the ball was light years ahead of the start of last season.

No stupid passing around at the back. It looked purposeful throughout.

Lerma was great at the back and gave a stability that wasn't always there last season.

Rothwell was just terrific. No weaknesses apparent. His corners were just spot on. Some excellent chances created. No we didn't score but the team pattern was fine, until Cook and Rothwell went off then there wasn't really a midfield.

I thought there was a huge difference in class between the teams.

Their penalty looked a bit soft but I'd have wanted it if it was us attacking.
 
Remember Chukki scoring two goals in a friendly years ago and he only scored 1 more goal for us in all league appearances and as a sub.
 
AFCB_Liam said:
That's really not a good interview. Suggests he's very unhappy and not seeing the activity he expects in the market. To come out with an interview with such a negative tone just before the season starts is obviously trying to send a message. To say we need help "even to be competitive" isn't great. And what exactly are the difficult circumstances he alludes to? Unless a strict spending limit imposed by the Board?
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Most players of a quality that will survive the rigours of the EPL wouldn't touch us with a bargepole.
 
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