A healthy budget made available for Peter Taylor who could sign people at his discretion, several talented new signings through the door, pace and height spread evenly throughout the squad, two very good players for each position and, best of all, the exciting claim that we were targeting the play-offs at a bare minimum.
And yet all the optimism dissipated after just seven minutes of the new season, the supposed new era where we were going to really go for it. Seven minutes was all it took to realise that, for all the promises and all the expectations, the fundamental problems of last season still exist. Woking at home, with all respect to Alan Dowson's side, was supposed to be a good start for us. Three points against a part-time, newly-promoted outfit who shouldn't have been able to pose too much of a threat to us given the season that, we were told, was in store for us. It was a game that, on paper, many teams would have wanted to start with. Yet Woking didn't just merely 'pose a threat', but they overpowered us all over the pitch. Two scrappy set-piece goals settled the game but, in truth, it seemed as it was always going to go in the Cards' favour from the moment we saw the starting lineup. Really, we shouldn't have been surprised after some of the inexplicable decisions we witnessed last season. Not starting Joan Luque, James Dobson and Reece Grant was bizarre for so many reasons, especially due to the fact that the latter two were signed for undisclosed fees. We were so interested in them that we were willing to pay fees for their services, something largely rare at this level, only to drop leave them out of the lineup for the first game. It's not like they didn't have a good pre-season, either. Luque, Dobson and Grant were all impressive in all of the friendlies that they featured in, but the reason they didn't start today was because perhaps they showed a bit too much attacking threat. Bagasan Graham and Alex McQueen, wingers that can also play as full-backs or wing-backs, were safer options, certainly more conducive to our game plan which was clearly to limit Woking. Quite why we insist on playing for a point against average-at-best teams will constantly baffle supporters. Woking didn't worry about us at all, instead focusing on their game plan which they executed to perfection. Maybe if we'd have done the same and fielded players who are adept at scoring or creating, then we wouldn't have been humbled at home to a part-time side. That's not to disrespect Woking, who were very good. In particular their defensive line was solid and, at the other end, they pressed with continuity and intensity. Then, when they had opportunities to utilise their aerial power at set-pieces, they seized them clinically. It was a good away victory for them and a lesson that it's more effective to have lesser-ability players that are set-up effectively than have ones that are supposedly decent, but are organised poorly. Meanwhile, 95% of our crosses were either headed away by a defender or effortlessly caught by keeper Craig Ross. Maybe that's because our best crosser of the ball was on the bench, or maybe it's because our target man Joe Quigley offered very little up front aside from incomprehensibly missing our two best chances that were put on an absolute plate for him. We've got strength in every position, yet today we were eclipsed in every department. We've got height in our team, yet we conceded two point-blank tap ins from crosses that weren't cleared. There's a lot that needs to be addressed, but at least we have the luxury of another game in just three days' time at Dover. It may only be one game, but this wasn't a one-off and will happen time and time again if we set up like we did today, with attacking talent on the bench and a centre-half playing at left-back. However, we have to trust that Taylor knows what he's doing and will put it right on Tuesday.
1 Comment
James
4/8/2019 02:41:46 am
It’s gonna be Wayne Burnett all over again!
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