Bossed the first half i thought and should have gone in more than 1 up,fantastic clearance from them after Roberts rounded the keeper.Also thier keeper made a cracking save when tipping it over. They pushed on alot more in second half but we still had a few chances but no end product. Draw would have been a fairer result imo but was quite impressed by what i saw(first friendly i've seen this pre-season). Thought the pompey no. 5 looked like a throwback to non league days,nasty piece of work,can see them struggling in the coming season.
Interesting team selection Cox looks like he isnt in Kewells thoughts. one thing Cox usually has is an end ball / delivery which was missing today.
Back four are making a lot of mistakes amongst some good stuff which keeps costing us.
Really think goals will be a big problem. We have a choice of two big strikers bitno pace and we just dont get bodies in the box when were attacking in open play.
Well that was generally much better. I thought that was mostly the best we've played in 2017!
Verheydt finally showed what he's about - good in the air finding players and smart confident lay-offs. Already a big upgrade on Harrold.
Yorwerth was outstanding as the middle playmaker of the back 3 bar the stupid hit in the face of Pitman that might have got him sent off in a competitive game.
Our shape was excellent and often Pompey passed the ball out they were so frustrated. Bullman did the job Smith was meant to do last season. Enzio lively but got to improve the end product. Roberts also very good.
The only below par I saw from the starters was Lelan who continues to lack the skills basics you expect from a league footballer.
At least we know the team for next week and Kewell does have a visibly clear plan. Let's hope we now perform
I would have said 1-2 was an acceptable result against a team one league higher and with much bigger pockets than us. Not every team can go out and sign a player like Brett Pitman who has a good scoring record.
Really it's hard to tell until the season starts. As with the above posts I think we will struggle for goals. It remains to be seen whether we are tight enough at the back.
Post by townmeadleftover on Jul 29, 2017 17:13:41 GMT
The match report states an attendance of 1603 with 778 from Portsmouth
I believe that Jackett was talking about it being a disaster if Portsmouth failed to win this match, I would guess that HK would be the happier manager tonight by a distance
When you consider they will most likely be right at the top end of league 1 this season, that was not too bad at all. Could have been more than 1 at half time.
Thought Verheydt looked very useful as a big League 2 centre forward today, better than I thought. He also made himself available, held the ball well and laid it off well also. Enzio looks bright but often loses confidence as he gets close to goal and like pretty much all of our players cannot cross the ball to save his life. The Bulman/Randall central midfield looked composed and Dannie tidied up most things as usual. I thought there were times though when we just didnt get forward quickly enough to support Verheydt. Also we desperately need a right back as Lelan is a disaster waiting to happen on too many occasions and in the end 2nd half we looked as though we were playing with 2 right backs with Young there as well. Was really looking forward to seeing Camara against a decent side but instead HK brings on Harrold who looked as immobile and ordinary as ever, he really looks a couple of seasons past his best. I do hope Randall is fit for next week as wasnt that impressed with Payne, would rather see Kaby than him. Yorwerth makes his mistakes but is a good combative player and didnt let Pitman bully him even when the ref was basically letting them do what they wanted (including Chaplin doing his multiple Tom Daly diving impersonation). So not bad, just cannot see us scoring enough goals!
Pleasantly surprised after the Brighton and Bognor games where we played what I now assume are our fringe players. For 60 minutes I thought we more than matched them and was pleased so see us closing them down well into their half. Enzio looked to be playing with more freedom and confidence, but agree his final ball was lacking on occasions, but think that will come. Bullman and Randall looked to have a good understanding and put some grit and craft in middle of park. Pleased TV got his goal and got in the faces of the central pair. Lelan is definitely a worry based on some of his decision making today. Thought we faded in second half, but that may be due to them stepping up a gear.
I haven't seen any of our pre-season but am more confident than pessimistic and see a lower table finish. Looking forward to the Birmingham and Cheltenham games. For perspective, I watched Notts County at York yesterday, who were lucky to scrape a 2-1 win. Their No 7 Grant on loan from Nottingham Forest looked a good player though. Ameobi was anonymous. Wasn't that impressed with them.
Tho Kewell overall deserves credit for getting a good performance out of the players yesterday - he has got to look at the final 20 minutes and wonder if his subs affected the game positively. Each one seemed to me to be lessening the pace of the team and that matters when tiring defenders can be exposed. We have a decent squad and I would have liked to have seen Kewell being a bit bolder at the end when it was an experimental game.
Overall I do remain nervous ahead of the new season as we appear to have replaced inexperienced manager with inexperienced manager and it was that lack of leadership experience that got to Drummy in the end, despite the bright passing football his team was capable of particularly in first few months. But hope Kewell starts well and we can all relax and enjoy what he's attempting to do
Yorwerth was outstanding as the middle playmaker of the back 3 bar the stupid hit in the face of Pitman that might have got him sent off in a competitive game.
Doesn't that sentence just tell you everything you need to know about him... when will he realise that dealing with provocation is an essential part of the skill-set, they don't just do it to wind you up but also to make you lose concentration and make silly errors... c'mon Josh, grow up and stop throwing that footballing talent away..!
Overall I do remain nervous ahead of the new season as we appear to have replaced inexperienced manager with inexperienced manager and it was that lack of leadership experience that got to Drummy in the end, despite the bright passing football his team was capable of particularly in first few months. But hope Kewell starts well and we can all relax and enjoy what he's attempting to do
I felt HK was far more involved in the game than DD ever was. He spent the game giving instructions to the players. And he called accross our captain a few times to explain what he wanted. My MoM was our new signing and captain, Danny Bulman. He does the simple things well. It was the first time i have seen TV play and was impressed. He may lack pace but his neat flick ons will bring our speedy wingers into the match. i would like to see us break out of defence quicker. feeling far more confident about the season after yesterday's performance
That was the best we have played in any of the preseason matches - but still think we can improve - with McNenery out with a slight injury and was not risked we could have a back 3 of McNenery,Yerworth and Connelly with Young and Evena as the wing backs - looks like that's what HK wants to play - you could see HK getting frustrated by the basic mistakes being made - also must say that the referee didn't do us any favours - created more chances, took more shots in a game than last season