■■■■■■ drew 1-1 with them earlier today
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Joe Masi seems to think no 23 may have been Christian Mbulu rather than Daniels.
I agree, looking at the pictures on line and the few glimpses we got in the game, it does look like Mulubu. I don’t think he has too much league experience though, we still need an Andy Butler type signing at the back.
I was impressed with all 5 trialists tonight, particularly Mbulu/Daniels/whoever and Brewitt (who was much better in RB than CB).
I’m not quite sure how we managed to win that! We were under the cosh for most of the second half but we defended so well that Roberts was rarely troubled. DK was credited with tightening up the Wrexham defence and making them hard to beat - a bit like Sir Ray did when he was our manager. Could this be the way forward?
Cook took his goals well, although their 'keeper could have done better on the second. Ismail was guilty of the “miss of the match” when the score was 0-0.
Altogether, much more encouraging!
From what i saw tonight we looked a very good solid team, i was quite impressed, not only with the defence but with our creativity.It looked like we had invited a team of pros to play in walsall kits tonight and they just clicked.
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Some good news at last. Let’s get signing the triallists asap.
Watched it on YouTube, polishing off my dutch language skills from my time living there! Ajax team was relatively strong, Dolberg up front who bangs in the goals for them in the Netherlands. Excellent defensive display, very impressed on how well organised Keates got a team that might not have trained together at all. Hope we can get them signed up. Cook’s goals were obviously great but I was even more impressed by his knock ons from the long ball. If we can play like that in the league we will be ok, the next week is still crucial.
Something to be optimistic about at last. Looking forward to the season a bit more after that.
Cook could be sold before we kick off.
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Saturday against Stoke we had no idea defensivly or going forward and it was men against boys, completely outclassed. Last night we were rock solid at the back good ideas going forward and we’re always a threat on goal. Completley different team and mind set. Could this be the turning point if we can get (all) the trialist’s in? Hope so.
Some positive stuff.
But.
Let’s not ignore we started the game with a back four made up of three trialists and Luke Leaky.
45mins, or 90mins against a largely unquantifiable opposition isn’t really a lot for Keates to go on with these unattached players. Contracts can soon influence the performance levels of a desperate trialist too. As does time. For example, looks like the Cypriot mystery man’s stock has dropped somewhat over these last 3 friendlies. He’s trending down not up.
Really encouraged by Cook’s play and finishing. Confirming what we thought, hopefully.
Sign two or three experienced L1 players, bulk the squad with a loan, trialist or two and things will look decent going into the 4th of August.
Amazing how the trialists made such a huge difference, Keates stated a number of the trialists arrived at the ground at 6pm and had no idea they would be starting the game and hadn’t even trained with the side previously.
The defence was solid which allowed other players to express themselves.
I think this only highlights the sort of rubbish we have been plodding along with for the last few years.
Note on Leahy , he did well and looked an improved player.
I still can’t believe how resilient we were all night considering the amount of trialists we had. I imagine we’ll have a lot of games like last night throughout the season where we defend for the majority of games then hit teams very quickly.
Also a word on Bakayoko with Cook up top … I thought they worked well together and Bakayoko worked his socks off. More of the same from him please!
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I agree with your comment on Bakayoko. I’m not his biggest fan at all but last night, before he went off. was I think the best i’ve seen of him. Was it a flash in the pan or the turning point for him? Time will tell.
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His performance seems to have been overlooked by many which is a shame, definitely deserves praise.
he played well with Cook , I think they will frighten the life out of teams IF they play with the hunger they did last night.
Personally I think have a solid defence allowed them to play.
Yeah he played well but I think it’s getting overlooked because he was subbed before half an hour.
A decision I disagreed with to be fair. Think it would have been nice to see them for at least a half.
Most of the first team football he’s played has been as an isolated lone striker, really think Baka will benefit from playing with a traditional centre-forward.
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