Fulfilling Play-Off Potential a non-negotiable necessity for Daggers - 2022/23 Season Preview3/8/2022 It's the calm before an impending ten-month storm of unparalleled entertainment from the most gloriously chaotic division within England. The Vanarama National League is agonisingly close again, ready to deliver a high-octane rollercoaster encompassing every emotion imaginable from euphoric explosions to devastating blows as it pits fallen giants, meteoric risers, medium-range stragglers and various other profiled clubs, all of immensely contrasting stature, against one another in a unique cauldron defined by it's trademark unpredictability - the end result being another two teams ascending into the unanimously-sought Football League. Stockport County and Grimsby Town did so just a few months ago, with the latter achieving the enormously difficult task of managing it at the first attempt via a pulsating play-off campaign in which they struck last-minute extra time winners at Notts County then Wrexham enroute to defeating Solihull Moors at the London Stadium final. That defeated trio are all in exemplary shape to go again, especially the Dragons who have assembled the most expensive squad in non-league history by some distance under their Hollywood ownership, to such a staggering extent that anything less than the title at an absolute canter would constitute underachievement. Among the others well-equipped to compete are Chesterfield, having now stabilised from the immensely unfortunate crisis' that derailed what was a very convincing title challenge, ultimately culminating in them crawling over the line to the play-offs where they somewhat surprisingly defeated FC Halifax Town before losing out at the aforementioned Solihull. Speaking of the Shaymen, they've had a summer of transition triggered by their manager departing for Barrow alongside two key players, but have recruited sensibly in an attempt to continue defying the odds by making the top seven. There are several southern-based outfits who will back themselves to achieve that, though, including Southend United, Woking, Boreham Wood, Bromley and - worryingly perhaps the most objectively fancied of the lot - Dagenham & Redbridge... Seamlessly onto ourselves, then, whom this preview naturally focuses, and the general consensus among supporters is that the play-offs are an absolute must. In truth, that should be the minimum requirement considering our budget, epitomised by the amount of undisclosed fees we've paid throughout the past three years, yet our comparative underachievement in that time has ultimately quelled expectations. Finishing one point adrift last time out, failing to beat King's Lynn and Torquay United before ironically demolishing Wrexham in our final three home games, aptly encapsulated our entirely self-inflicted fortunes. In the end, a Dagenham team that had seemed so refreshingly different fell to the same fate of the predecessors beforehand. It was a devastatingly anti-climactic ending to a campaign that had begun with such promise during those goal-laden opening few weeks, but problems soon arrived when the defence-related cracks that had always hidden beneath the surface suddenly escalated in magnitude. A naïve failure to still be proactive when things were going well kick-started our demise, the rosy façade soon collapsing beneath itself, and a late resurgence appeared too late to resurrect the issues until Chesterfield's freefall created an unexpected opening we nonetheless typically couldn't capitalise upon. Overall, a side undeniably with the quality in abundance, though not the mental strength or resilience, to do what was asked of them. So what have we done in the transfer market to mitigate the above-mentioned frailties? 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Quality over quantity has been the mantra of another low-key summer. The Daggers have once again made a league-low three signings in a drastic change of direction from the large-scale rebuilds that were commonplace beforehand. However, that doesn't quite tell the full story because Daryl McMahon tends to put out fires as they ignite rather than anticipating them by making several additions throughout the season, which, while definitely reactive on his part, also allows players to be fully integrated for the following season like Manny Onariase is now. One would therefore expect more after the campaign gets underway, perhaps most importantly up front, where we now don't have that necessary depth following Ángelo Balanta's untimely long-term injury. Undeniably, though, the emphasis has been on supplementing the existing squad core with little yet massively effective injections of quality. Outgoing first-team trio Callum Reynolds, Will Wright and Brandon Comley have all seemingly been replaced adequately. In many ways, forcibly losing the majority of our backline was exactly what we needed to prompt a much-needed restructure, despite Reynolds and Wright definitely possessing attributes we will miss. Conversely, the defence was our overwhelming weakness and that duo were complicit in that because Wright's driving forward masked his poor marking/one-on-one skills, while Reynolds was prone to clumsy unforced errors. Both depart with the fanbase's best wishes but we're probably better off, especially having recruited well in response. Nik Tavares arrives from Wealdstone highly-rated, having forged a decent reputation while representing Crystal Palace and Croatia internationally at youth level. Then there's David Longe-King, a somewhat enigmatic player whose spell at Grimsby Town last season continued the trend of him not playing much football for his virtually peak-years age. Both factors there would allude to a concerning signing, though he fared well on loan at Woking during the back end of last season and has looked impressive for us in the pre-season friendlies. It's one of those 'wait and see' ones which could really go either way, yet we've been in desperate need of a towering, no-nonsense centre-half so it's certainly the environment for him to stamp his mark. Moving onto our marquee acquisition now, that prompted widespread praise from non-league statisticians and opposing supporters alike, namely Omar Mussa, whose imposing physique plus astounding maturity on the ball belies the fact he is only 21. I don't recall being as excited about a midfielder for absolutely ages, such has been the Belgian's impression already. We could have a real player on our hands here. 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 Dagenham recorded an unbeaten pre-season whereby they nurtured their credentials against a diverse variety of opponents including from the lower-league English pyramid, a Premier League development squad and overseas, each of which posed beneficial tests for differing reasons. There were wins at Aveley and Bishop's Stortford either side of a week's training camp in Portugal, which also featured a victorious game against regional outfit L.G.C Moncarapachense, before the challenges became exponentially harder with clashes versus Leyton Orient, Concord Rangers and West Ham U23s, all seeing the Daggers come from behind to draw. There were inevitably some injuries along the way, with Ansu Janneh and Harry Phipps sidelined with minor infractions while Ángelo Balanta suffered a far more severe meniscus tear. While you'd naturally rather win than not, results are largely meaningless throughout the preparation period and as such supporters have been more interested in the patterns/trends underpinning them. One observation that could be made is that Josh Hare often featured on the right of the centre-half trio, potentially indicating that McMahon wants to mould him there like he did with the recently-departed Will Wright. Another player possibly moving position is Nik Tavares, as the Croatian apparently demonstrated competence in a defensive midfield role. If that does prove the case permanently then he'll almost certainly partner Omar Mussa, who has sparked a wave of excitement within the fanbase, especially by netting a couple of goals in the warm-up friendlies despite it never having really been in his nature to do so previously. 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆? Furthermore on Mussa, there is a genuine case for his presence alongside Matt Robinson and Mo Sagaf giving us the best midfield in the division. It has everything: goals (primarily through Robbo), energy, creativity, strength, tactical awareness - most importantly they have the potential to compliment one another beautifully. There's not much fault you would pick with our strikeforce, either, which features three prolific names in Paul McCallum, Josh Walker and Junior Morias, the only problem being that our system only allows for two of them to start. We were among the highest scorers last season and few would back against that happening again, especially now Morias will be here for it's entirety. There remains question marks over whether the Jamaican can emulate the extraordinary form he demonstrated, though the luxury of this team is that there will always be an able replacement occupying the bench whenever one is having an off-day. Already, this should be enough to guarantee a lofty finish but elsewhere on the pitch is where everything becomes somewhat cloudy. The wing-backs are a fascinating talking point for us as, despite all being very good footballers in their own right, none who play there really suit the position completely - Vilhete, Saunders and Weston seem like reclassified wingers, likewise Ling and Hare full-backs. Often we paid the price for having attacking-minded players perform defensive tasks, thus can't really afford to start Weston and Vilhete because that skews the team's balance. Ling on the right side is probably our best option, and also gives us the possibility of reverting to a back four when the situation demands. On the defence itself, it's an unknown quantity but I feel we're stronger there than last year, plus can always rely on Justham to get us out of jail. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗫𝗜? It's testament to our vast range of options that the only guaranteed starters are probably Elliot Justham and Paul McCallum. It's a toss up as to who starts alongside the latter up front, with Josh Walker and Junior Morias both staking a convincing claim for that role. Our strongest midfield three is widely agreed upon as Omar Mussa, Mo Sagaf, Matt Robinson but it is viable that Dean Rance will displace one of them on opening day, or even Nik Tavares be deployed in a deeper role there instead of in defence, which is equally tough to predict. Elliott Johnson and Manny Onariase should start, the main question being who occupies the other spot. On the flanks, we'll primarily alternate between Mauro Vilhete and Myles Weston on the left, with Josh Hare and Sam Ling the opposite side. Overall, my strongest XI: Justham; Weston, Johnson, Onariase, Longe-King, Ling; Mussa, Sagaf, Robinson; McCallum, Morias A palatable sequence of August fixtures, coupled with our pre-gelled squad, provides us the platform to explode into life again except this time we need to be prepared for a marathon and not just a sprint. This team has hugely high ceiling and simply needs to justify it now. Let the games begin...
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