Pre Season Friendlies - ALL DONE - REAL FOOTBALL FROM NOW ON

[Denzel Zanzibar 8,120 15.5k]

36 minutes ago, Ogbeche173 said:

Mate don’t get the hype, Oppenheimer much better!

I'm pretty sure they're very different films.

[Ogbeche173 229 261]

27 minutes ago, Denzel Zanzibar said:

I'm pretty sure they're very different films.

Nah they’re both films that deal with existential crises, totally the same.

In a more Boro related note, Sammy Silvera is taking us to the Premier League.

[JonnyMFC 1,911 2k]

For what its worth here is what I think.

As he seems to be one of the main talking points atm I will start with Coulson - Poor passing, almost like he is on a different wavelength to whoever he is passing to. Always seems to be chasing the ball and tackles always see the ball going to another one of their players. Really should have scored.
Fry - solid performance read the game reasonably well as expected.
Lenihan - same as Fry
Paddy - Did ok nothing to write home about, I think it was him that put in the cross that Rogers failed to get on the end of.
Hackney & Barlaser - Both did fine, nothing more nothing less, that being said if that was a league game Hackney would have walked because of Barlasser' mistake.
McGree - He aint no wing back!
Crooks - Noticeably absent to the point where I didnt know what his role was or where he was meant to be playing.
Forss - quiet first half just was getting the service down the channel to run on to, a bit better in the second half.
Rogers - Ive only watched him here and York and im not really impressed by him playing the main striker role, not really quick or sharp enough for that position.
Dieng - I dont think his distribution is as good as the last guy whose name I dont seem to be able to remember, but seems calm enough on the ball and should be ok.

Jones - linked up well when he came on
Silvera - Likes to run at players and shows a lot of promise.
VDB - again looks solid enough

All in all a somewhat subdued performance from us today, I dont know why, maybe they were just being cautious to ensure they are available for next week?
Another thing of note, as it was with the York game, everything was on the floor, corners were short,  free kicks were short and almost nothing in the air unless there was no other option, surely that has to be under instruction in an attempt to to sharpen up the passing game.

[AllBoro10 3,859 4.6k]

Anyone see Akpom at the game or Howson? I never seen them 2 so not sure if they were there but did see Coburn 

[pokeyjoe 147 513]

Never seen the point of micro analysing friendlies tbh

It creates posts I suppose, but that's about it 

[GrimsbyBoro 2,390 3k]

I don’t lay much attention to preseason just wondering who we had been playing at LB. Has it been Coulson all the way through or has McGree had a couple of games there?

[wilsoncgp 10,100 19.9k]

Just now, GrimsbyBoro said:

I don’t lay much attention to preseason just wondering who we had been playing at LB. Has it been Coulson all the way through or has McGree had a couple of games there?

It's been Coulson and Collins alternating generally, though Bilongo has also played there.

I don't think McGree played there until today.

[GrimsbyBoro 2,390 3k]

6 minutes ago, wilsoncgp said:

It's been Coulson and Collins alternating generally, though Bilongo has also played there.

I don't think McGree played there until today.

Cheers. That’s interesting. I would speculate then that is in relation to Giles not signing and probably not being close to a LB coming in. 

I am assuming Carrick doesn’t think the young lads are ready. 

[Neverbefore 14,994 29.3k]

4 hours ago, wilsoncgp said:

It's interesting how without Giles we are playing our left-back more infield and allowing the left sided attacker sit out wide. It was less the case with Coulson in there but it happened on a couple of occasions (think back to Silvera's first preseason goal).

That's why we were still essentially operating as a back 3 with McNair when on the ball. McGree was definitely left back when our defensive shape was tighter but in possession, McGree would often be sat infield so that Silvera could stretch the team out wide. Pretty much how the second goal came about too.

I absolutely cannot wait to see the first goal back though. I still can't understand what happened. Hackney had a shot, it looped up and under the bar even though the keeper seemed to react like it was going over and he had it covered if not.

Was mcgree playing more as a midfielder in possession then? It sounds a lot like what zinchenko, stones and taa have been doing for their respective teams in the prem. I suggested the other day that maybe mcnair could do that role on the right but mcgree is an interesting one. Zinchenko was an attacking left sided midfielder before pep switched his role, they'd have quite similar skill sets too. 

[Brunners 9,051 25.5k]

5 minutes ago, Neverbefore said:

Was mcgree playing more as a midfielder in possession then? It sounds a lot like what zinchenko, stones and taa have been doing for their respective teams in the prem. I suggested the other day that maybe mcnair could do that role on the right but mcgree is an interesting one. Zinchenko was an attacking left sided midfielder before pep switched his role, they'd have quite similar skill sets too. 

Carrick said after the game that the aim was for him to still play his central role as usual when we had the ball so he was basically an advanced cm really yeah

[wilsoncgp 10,100 19.9k]

1 hour ago, Neverbefore said:

Was mcgree playing more as a midfielder in possession then? It sounds a lot like what zinchenko, stones and taa have been doing for their respective teams in the prem. I suggested the other day that maybe mcnair could do that role on the right but mcgree is an interesting one. Zinchenko was an attacking left sided midfielder before pep switched his role, they'd have quite similar skill sets too. 

Pretty much yeah. Because we had so much possession, it was rare to even see McGree playing deep at all. You could argue it contributed to how we got countered for their second goal because it essentially came down Lenihan's left side but I don't think that's a significantly different tactical gamble as with Giles last season.

[ReservoirSmog 70 84]

12 minutes ago, wilsoncgp said:

Pretty much yeah. Because we had so much possession, it was rare to even see McGree playing deep at all. You could argue it contributed to how we got countered for their second goal because it essentially came down Lenihan's left side but I don't think that's a significantly different tactical gamble as with Giles last season.

Yeah it seems like we wouldn't really need to change our current way of playing at all, with mcgree as inverted full-back. Would also rationalise using Paddy as RB as he could tuck inside into a 3 while mcgree goes into midfield

[Denzel Zanzibar 8,120 15.5k]

7 hours ago, Marinario said:

Hey guys, joined this forum to watch how Sammy Silvera does in the Championship and (no doubt) the Prem next year.

He's come from my local club (Central Coast Mariners) who won the A League championship last season. Wonderful player - a big loss for us but we are a selling club and he's going to have a pretty decent career. If you get the chance have a look at some highlights from last season's AL grand final. In particular, Silvera's outside of the boot cross for (I think) the 5th goal is pure class, but his speed and finishing is also on display.

I'm also delighted to see Riley McGree doing well, but would prefer to see him playing as a #10, where we'll want him to play in the Asian Cup shortly. Sammy does well for Boro and he'll be in that squad also.

 

https://keepup.com.au/videos/id/melbourne-city-v-central-coast-mariners-maccas-highlights-isuzu-ute-a-league-grand-final-2022-23/6328511782112/

 

I think Silvera is going to be a big player for us, scored some good goals in preseason and has looked very lively. Made the difference when he came on against Auxerre yesterday.

Not sure about McGree's best position, he spent most of last season floating about behind our winger Aaron Ramsey on the left while Akpom played a central "false #10" sort of position.

It'll be a big blow for us if they both go to the Asian Cup but I guess we did know that when we signed Silvera.

What are your thoughts on Tom Glover? He's been pretty poor so far and looking like he might be 3rd choice keeper for us at best.

["KM" 2,300 15.4k]

Same old mistakes every summer don’t get why fans get so wound up when it is pointed out. Is it because it’s actually true and the truth hurts? 
 

Was actually expecting SG to back MC this summer, I know the window isn’t closed yet, but we’ve still got a hell of a lot of work to do to get anywhere close to last season.

[TeaCider24 18,216 23.3k]

From pre-season, it definitely seems like Dieng and Silvera are the two stand-out signings so far.

Looking forward to seeing them both play on Saturday.

Gilbert's struggled with fitness issues, so I imagine it'll be a wait before he's in to full swing.