Exeter friendly

[az city]

Re: Exeter friendly

Poor start, manager gone by Christmas, bring in someone like Pulis, end up in mid table, sign journeymen in the summer. Repeat until we eventually go down.

I can't disagree with that except I fear this is the season we go down.

[Hilts]

Re: Exeter friendly

I can't disagree with that except I fear this is the season we go down.

We wont go down.

Far too good at set pieces and will bully loads of sides.

[Citizen's Nephew]

Re: Exeter friendly

Haven't been interested in pre-season club friendlies (or any friendlies - especially at International level) for a long time now. Can't read much if anything - though I'd prefer tough matches and losses before the season starts. Having said that, It's no secret I think we'll struggle this season and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Pretty sure MM isn't the answer but I'm not sure the board know what the question is anymore.

All we can do is turn up and support. At least our away shirts are fab this season (apart from the fact the sizes seem a bit too small each year).

[City123]

Re: Exeter friendly

I can't disagree with that except I fear this is the season we go down.

Bet365 have us down as 5th favourites for promotion! :yikes:

I don't think we'll go down, I can't see much quality in the rest of the division. I think Fulham will walk it

[J R Hartley]

Re: Exeter friendly

Bet365 have us down as 5th favourites for promotion! :yikes:

I don't think we'll go down, I can't see much quality in the rest of the division. I think Fulham will walk it

People say that every year about Fulham. I’ve been guilty of it myself.

[The Hooded Claw]

Re: Exeter friendly

We do have a history of poor performances in pre-season, but I also think we’ll struggle this year.
Whilst some were getting a little over-excited during McCarthy’s hot streak last season, I was expecting the performances to get worse, which they did and things don’t seem to be improving, judging by what’s being said.
If the board do act, then it’ll be another dinosaur - sorry - experienced manager, since they’ve previously indicated that they prefer them and don’t trust the younger, progressive managers.

[Moodybluebird]

Re: Exeter friendly

Just checked our squad from the 2012/13 season and it is jam-packed with quality midfielders : Whitts, Kimbo, Mutch, Gunnarsson, McPhail. It beggars belief that in only 9 years we've barely got anyone in midfield who can trap a ball let alone pass it. Astonished and appalled in equal measure.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Exeter friendly

Just checked our squad from the 2012/13 season and it is jam-packed with quality midfielders : Whitts, Kimbo, Mutch, Gunnarsson, McPhail. It beggars belief that in only 9 years we've barely got anyone in midfield who can trap a ball let alone pass it. Astonished and appalled in equal measure.

I know I’m always moaning about our central midfield, but Pack, Ralls and Vaulks are concerning me even more in these, admittedly meaningless, pre season matches. There was an incident in yesterday’s match where Smithies threw out to Tomlin who ran thirty yards down the right with the ball (this probably explains why he was substituted a few minutes later!) before crossing low into the box. Harris was on by then I think, so we had two players in forward positions for Tomlin to aim for who were, effectively, taken out of the game when the ball was half cleared and rolled out slowly towards the edge of the penalty area where an onrushing midfielder would have been presented with a great chance. To be fair, the opportunity came from one of the very few times we broke effectively from defence, so Ralls or Vaulks would have had to have covered about sixty yards pretty quickly to have been able to exploit the situation, but Tomlin and the front two apart, there was no one within thirty yards or so of the ball as it rolled so invitingly into such a great position for City - if I had to choose one word to sum up the three central midfielders I mentioned earlier in this pre season, it would be lethargic.

There is Bacuna to come in of course, but he’s been part of a malfunctioning unit for more than two seasons, so he had hardly seems likely to change things overnight and so, short of playing someone like Sang, Bowen or Patten there (I think things will need to get much worse before that is contemplated); we’re left with Wintle and it is a little encouraging that he and Ralls were the best central midfield pairing I’ve seen from us so far by a distance when they combined in the second match with Cambridge.

We had another central midfielder in 12/13 - Joe Ralls didn’t play much that season, but filled in well when required and he’s my favourite out of the four we’ve had in the past two years. However, I thought he had, possibly his worst ever season with us last year. Whether it’s that injury he struggled to shake off, I don’t know, but he seems a little slower these days and doesn’t cover quite as much ground. Allowances also need to be made for Vaulks knowing he’s not going to feature in our first three competitive games wherever he does, so that may be effecting him, but, based on what I’ve seen so far, central midfield may well be even more of a cause for concern in the coming months.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Exeter friendly

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[dembethewarrior]

Re: Exeter friendly

We wont go down.

Far too good at set pieces and will bully loads of sides.

I don't think physicality is as effective in football nowadays.

Footballing sides are prospering. We didn't exactly bully Exeter did we, I watched the interview with their manager after the game, sounds like their young striker wasn't phased by our big bully centre backs https://youtu.be/Tz5-h710cMw

[City123]

Re: Exeter friendly

I don't think physicality is as effective in football nowadays.

Footballing sides are prospering. We didn't exactly bully Exeter did we, I watched the interview with their manager after the game, sounds like their young striker wasn't phased by our big bully centre backs https://youtu.be/Tz5-h710cMw

We scored 26 goals from set pieces last season, mainly due to our superior height & physicality. I agree you can't "bully" teams quite as much as in the past, but I think it remains just effective enough to pull us through at times where we can't match the opposition for technical ability

The pre season result are a bit worrying, but I don't think they can be used as a marker for how effective physical football is, the intensity isn't the same

Ideally your side are both technically proficient and physically imposing

[Moodybluebird]

Re: Exeter friendly

We scored 26 goals from set pieces last season, mainly due to our superior height & physicality. I agree you can't "bully" teams quite as much as in the past, but I think it remains just effective enough to pull us through at times where we can't match the opposition for technical ability

The pre season result are a bit worrying, but I don't think they can be used as a marker for how effective physical football is, the intensity isn't the same

Ideally your side are both technically proficient and physically imposing

Yep, your last sentence hits the nail on the head.

Even average midfielders in recent City sides, like Don Cowie for instance, would be a step up from what we currently have and that is a damning statement indeed. Imagine then what someone like Ricky Scimeca could bring to the party. Oh well, back to reality.

[Don Corleone]

Re: Exeter friendly

Our 2 best players, Moore and Morrison, haven’t played a single minute yet, we’ll improve at both ends of the pitch once they came back in

[The Hooded Claw]

Re: Exeter friendly

We can’t rely on set pieces, though - particularly if we have aspirations of promotion. We’ve become a one trick pony.

[Pedro de la Rosa]

Re: Exeter friendly

Our 2 best players, Moore and Morrison, haven’t played a single minute yet, we’ll improve at both ends of the pitch once they came back in

If those two play the majority of the games, we'll be fine. We've lost so much from last season, we're almost certainly going to have to play Collins and Moore as we're so light in the attacking areas.