P.S.F Torquay United V Plymouth 15th July 2009

Yes you are right - although it semed to me to sort of evolve that way rather than an out and out change. Their forwards were pulling our centre backs out of position so Hatch moved across to cover. Carlisle dropped back a little to fill in the gap created on the right. Nico pushes up a lot anyway and Danny seemed to have one of those days when he drifts around and struggles to get involved. The result was more like a 3-5-2 with Carlisle and Nico as wing backs and Stevens in a free role.

Three formations in one game. Those who moaned about our lack of a plan B can now moan about too much formation-swapping confusing the players.

Once again we know it’s just a pre season friendly, although someone obviously forgot to tell the Plymouth fans that, as they appeared to take it deadly serious, from bringing over half the crowd to getting a tad over excited when they equalised.

First half we lined up 4-1-4-1, there’s no other way to describe it.

Rice
Nicholson Robertson Todd Mansell
Hodges
Carlisle Wroe Stevens Carayol
Sills (capt)

A decent first half performance from us against what must have been the Argyle Reserve team, as apart from the first 10 minutes they looked rather ordinary.

Highlights of the first half for me were;

Hodges: Had a great game sat in front of the back four, broke up anything that looked remotely dangerous from them. He looked really comfortable and I will guarantee that we will see that formation line up at least once away from home this season. He also got a fantastic reception from the Argyle fans.

We played some really nice football in the first half, knocked it around, out to the wings and no hoofs over the top at all. We looked dangerous everytime Carayol and Carlisle got the ball. They both whipped in several decent crosses, unfortunately with Sills up front on his own most of the crosses found defenders or no one.

We opened the scoring midway through the first half, it was a far post header from Sills from a corner, but that only tells half the story. The corner was created from an amazing run from Carayol, picking the ball up on the half way line, he raced away from his marker, knocked it past their right back, did him for pace, got to the bye line and put in a decent cross that was put out for the corner.

More mazy runs from Carayol followed and he tormented their right back, who if a trialist would be considered to be unlucky to come up against an in form Carayol who did him all night. Pace and control.

We had a few more chances in the first half, most notably from Sills who couldn’t quite get hold of a ball that dropped to him from another Carayol cross.

The only notable shot from Plymouth was a direct free kick that Rice saved comfortably.

The equaliser, against the run of play, came in the last minute of the first half. A cross from their left which Roberston misjudged and Rice failed to come for gave their player a free header from about 3 yards which he dispatched with ease, the away fans went wild. I would disagree with any suggestions that Rice or Robertson were blame free.

Carayol: Best player on the pitch, bar none, massively impressed me, looked a completely different player to last season. Second really impressive game in a row. Its almost as if the penny has dropped in the few days back in training. Gone are the constant step overs and in place he has been beating people with raw pace and close ball control. If this continues he is going to be a regular starter and has the potential to be a real star this season.

In summary of the first half,

We were the better team.
Hodges, Carlisle, Carayol had excellent halves.
Robertson and Rice were slightly below par, Stevens struggled in his role in centre midfield.
The rest were fine.

Second half saw many changes not only in personnel but in formation as well. Lining up 4-4-2 as follows;

Rice
Hatch Ellis Brough Nicholson (capt)
Stevens Thompson Adams Carlisle
Benyon Joyce

Although the formation appeared to change midway through the half to allow Hatch to play centre half, which Bucks obviously wanted to see.

The changes appeared to be a case, and rightly so, of getting as many players a game as possible.

An initial look around our team saw Adams stand out as the Tallest member of our team (Though Ellis might be a bit taller??) which meant it looked like a remake of lord of the rings with many ‘hobbits’. Stevens, Rice, Benyon, Joyce, Hatch, Thompson, Nicholson, etc etc. So what did we revert back to doing! Having not hoofed anything forward in the first half, we tried it more in the second half with very little effect.

Benyon and Joyce up front together are very similar, too similar, and I would be very surprised to see this pairing start any games together, they may finish one together but not start. It didn’t help that Carayol was not there to provide any ammunition and that had to feed off scraps. It was hard to assess too much from this, except to say that Joyce does appear to be very quick.

Not sure of the time of the goal that put us 2-1 up, but a quality goal none the less. Even if it was an own goal, it was the build up that was quality. Hatch, already having an impressive game, showed pace down the right, beat his man, whipped in a peach of a cross, perfect pace, perfect height and turned into his own net by a defender. It just goes to show that if you deliver quality balls into the box you will score, even if its not one of your own that adds the final touch.

With about 20 minutes to go, the Stevens was replaced in midfield by Ashley Yeoman. The last time I saw him play was when he came on as a sub, possibly at the beginning of last season??. The first thing I noticed was how well he has filled out. A lot bigger and a lot stronger than his last appearance, he didn’t take long to get involved. It wasn’t long enough to get a real good look, but an encouraging start and one for the future, possibly as cover for Sills??

Chances were few and far between for both sides in the second half as little was created.

On 81 minutes, Plymouth equalised with a strike as sweet as anything you will see this season, in any division. Smashed in from the edge of the box leaving Rice with no chance. Now the Argyle fans celebrated as if they had won the FA Cup, with a mini pitch invasion, for a pre season friendly, go figure. About 6 or 7 fans got onto the pitch and got a bit provocative, the stewards were slow to react and even though you don’t want to see people thrown out, you also don’t want fans on the pitch. It might be a bit harsh but I would have preferred to see them ejected. Probably would have made the 3 Torquay fans who ventured onto the pitch after Benyons penalty think twice before doing it.

It looked like it was going to finish 2-2 until a late bit of drama. In the 90th minute, Mackie ran into the box, got caught in a sandwich between Brough and Ellis and took a tumble, ref pointed to the spot, Summerfield stuck it away with Rice going the other way.

Whilst the score is almost irrelevant in a game such as this, it would have been a travesty to end like that. The ref obviously had the same thought, because we went down the other end the ball was put into the box and Ellis did a dying swan that would have graced the west end and the ref gave us a penalty. Ideal opportunity for someone to hold their nerve, step up to the plate, take a small amount of responsibility and take a penalty into the end of the rather vocal away support, so well done to Benyon for a good job on the penalty, sending their keeper the wrong way.

Whilst Rice can not be blamed for 2 of the 3 goals, he didn’t have a good game. It’s a bit early in the season for any negative comments about any players but Rice does concern me. He has technical deficiencies that I don’t believe he can overcome. He does not have the presence of Bevan, he doesn’t command his area, he gets caught in two minds about whether to come and get the ball or stay and more often than not ends in somewhere in between. I really would like to see him make it at this level, honestly I would, but I’m sorry I just can’t see it.

Ellis: Really impressed me, raw talent that needs a bit more nurturing. He is like a terrier, its almost as if someone has chained him to a goalpost, starved him and then told him the ball is a bone, because he goes for the ball as if it’s the last thing he is ever going to see. All we need now is someone to reduce the length of the chain and stop him from racing up towards the half way line to make challenges when the other defenders are 10 yards behind him as it leaves space in behind him. The one downfall to his game is his distribution, which he really needs to work on, if he improves this he has a very bright future. I know some will say that it’s not important but if he wins the ball but then gives it away immediately it almost defeats the object.

Adams: I thought he had a good game as well, another to show improvements on the little we saw of him last season.

Hatch: Another who had an impressive game, has pace and skill and looks to read the game well. When he swapped with Ellis he looked just as comfortable as he did when he played right back. He would be a welcome addition to the squad.

Positives:

Confidence: The team appear to have it in abundance, last seasons triumph has clearly taken away the edginess and nervousness from their game. I saw all of the pre season games last season and the year before and there was a certain amount of nervousness about them, which continued throughout the season. Now the pressure has been relieved they appear to have relaxed more and it seems to make a difference.

Pace: One of the best attributes a team/player can posses. Carayol, Joyce, Hatch (if he signs) all possess pace in abundance.

Carayol: already mentioned how impressive I thought he was.

Hatch: Sign him NOW, had a great game, defended well, attacked even better, bags of pace and adapted well to playing at centre half.

Yeoman: Promising future, would like to see him on the bench a few times this season. Exactly why the 7 subs rule is such a good idea.


Negatives:

Rice: Sadly, as much as I so want him to make it. One of the highlights of the play off win was him being first on the pitch at the end to run and congratulate Poke. However, sentiments removed I think if Bevan were to get an injury that would put him out for a few weeks, I would expect Buckle to enter the loan market for a temporary replacement. Ok as a sub/replacement to finish a game, but unfortunately not someone I would like to see start, which is such a shame.

The Pitch: Already looking patchy and jaded. If we are going to play open expansive football this season we need a decent playing surface. I know it’s early, but at the start of last season it looked a dream, now it looks like it might not make Christmas.

Stewards: Based on last nights showing, they look inept and out of their depth. Away fans on the pitch doing cut throat motions is not something we want to see this season, or ever, to be fair to them though the yellow lines on the pop side were fairly clear and the bottle tops were removed from bottles.

Overall, whilst these may only be pre season friendlie’s there are encouraging signs. lets hope it continues.

I wonder how you did that Aussie. You going Saturday?

I`m working on my match report which I`ll put up this evening. I hope you enjoy it.

Well Richard if this is just your pre season game match reports, I can't wait to read your league game reports.

First class job done, thanks for putting so much work and time into the report.

Dave

tufc01

I wouldn't imagine we have any intention of playing open expansive football next season, certainly not judging by the price of the season tickets ;D

Much more likely the plan is to make sure there is a surface that will stop any half decent opponents knocking the ball about , make them slug it out with us on the mud & divots...hence the attempt at signing Guy Branston.