Where eagles dare
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:52 am
An entertaining game for a pre-season friendly, my thoughts on the players as follows:
Eastwood - Once again, simply magnificent - three 'worldies' and confident claiming of the ball from crosses - thank goodness we've kept him
McMahon - no nonsense right back who looks like a good addition, good crosser of the ball but his attention to marking seems lax - Palace's second goal came from Zaha literally strolling into the box unmarked from the left wing to set up their scorer.
Nelson/Dickie - excellent - very strong partnership, strong and good in the air. Dickie will score 5 or 6 from set pieces this season which is something we have sadly lacked for many years.
Garbutt - bit shaky at the start of the game, questionable first touch but grew into the game, can whip in a good cross and hit a cracking shot from 35 yards that stung their keeper's hands.
Brannagan - Solid no nonsense, did his job - a Ledson replacement at present although he has in the past played further up the pitch.
Carruthers - Looked podgy to me but that may just be his body shape. Marshalled the midfield well and has a bit of the dark arts about him - the sort of player who will 'manage a game' effectively if needed. Yellow cards aplenty for him though I reckon.
Ruffels - Same old Josh - good solid performance.
Whyte - showed signs of promise but didn't really see enough from him. We were playing Premiership opposition though and so the service to the front players was always going to be limited.
Henry - reasonable job as a number 10 albeit a bit quiet at times.
Obika - well I don't know what to make of this. His pre-season scoring record is excellent and he did in fairness take his goal well (although he nearly fell over) for me, he isn't the long term answer but given his current scoring, he'll be difficult to drop.
Selected Subs - Napa looked very energetic and his first touch/close control were superb - I think this could be a big season for him. Norman is very tall and athletic and was happy to get stuck in. Lopez has great hair - the OUFC Valderamma?
Overall - a very solid performance but we lacked an out and out winger who would get to the by-line and square it back for a tap-in. We also imho still lack a fox in the box who is going to get the tap-in. Despite the result if I was a Palace fan, I'd be worried - they looked to be very reliant on Sakho at the back and Zaha/Townsend up front. With Zaha reportedly looking for a move, they could be in trouble.
Eastwood - Once again, simply magnificent - three 'worldies' and confident claiming of the ball from crosses - thank goodness we've kept him
McMahon - no nonsense right back who looks like a good addition, good crosser of the ball but his attention to marking seems lax - Palace's second goal came from Zaha literally strolling into the box unmarked from the left wing to set up their scorer.
Nelson/Dickie - excellent - very strong partnership, strong and good in the air. Dickie will score 5 or 6 from set pieces this season which is something we have sadly lacked for many years.
Garbutt - bit shaky at the start of the game, questionable first touch but grew into the game, can whip in a good cross and hit a cracking shot from 35 yards that stung their keeper's hands.
Brannagan - Solid no nonsense, did his job - a Ledson replacement at present although he has in the past played further up the pitch.
Carruthers - Looked podgy to me but that may just be his body shape. Marshalled the midfield well and has a bit of the dark arts about him - the sort of player who will 'manage a game' effectively if needed. Yellow cards aplenty for him though I reckon.
Ruffels - Same old Josh - good solid performance.
Whyte - showed signs of promise but didn't really see enough from him. We were playing Premiership opposition though and so the service to the front players was always going to be limited.
Henry - reasonable job as a number 10 albeit a bit quiet at times.
Obika - well I don't know what to make of this. His pre-season scoring record is excellent and he did in fairness take his goal well (although he nearly fell over) for me, he isn't the long term answer but given his current scoring, he'll be difficult to drop.
Selected Subs - Napa looked very energetic and his first touch/close control were superb - I think this could be a big season for him. Norman is very tall and athletic and was happy to get stuck in. Lopez has great hair - the OUFC Valderamma?
Overall - a very solid performance but we lacked an out and out winger who would get to the by-line and square it back for a tap-in. We also imho still lack a fox in the box who is going to get the tap-in. Despite the result if I was a Palace fan, I'd be worried - they looked to be very reliant on Sakho at the back and Zaha/Townsend up front. With Zaha reportedly looking for a move, they could be in trouble.